Welcome to The New Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools, our houses of worship---in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.
A LETTER FROM RESIDENT TONY GRANGER REGARDING THE (DEI) POLICY 0105 CURRENTLY UNDER CONSIDERATION BY THE CROTON-HARMON SCHOOL DISTRICT/BOARD
Dear Members of the Board of Education:
I was reminded of a humorous quip by a not so religious business friend recently: “If you want to make God laugh, tell him you’re making plans.”
In the same vein, a good number of taxpaying citizens of this Town see that consideration of the DEI Policy 0105 as laughable. They see Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as flowery language and foresee a huge “Virtue signaling” here by the Board of Ed. Caution, huge left turn approaching!
Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas opined that what Black Americans resent is how the American White left wing elitists attempt to “level the playing field” in the interest of “fairness”. White leftists are guilty of what he called “the soft bigotry of low expectations”.
Let me provide a personal example of what Justice Thomas is alluding to. When I was a young boy and learning how to play chess, my father, in an attempt to build my confidence and assure that I’d win, would make a bone head chess move where I could easily take one of his predominant pieces. After a while, I started to catch on. And after he’d make one of those bogus moves, I’d look him in the eye and say “Dad, you really don’t have to do this anymore.”
In a similar way, are we going to give slower students a 10 yard head start in a race just to handicap it to make it “fair”? Do we, in order to avoid bias, give 10 points on a test for the learning disadvantaged for spelling their name correctly?
You see, in the name of “equity”, an action causes an equally (or worse) reaction.
For instance, the State Board of Education has confirmed that it is their policy that a biological boy, who identifies as female, must be allowed to play on the girls’ sports team. Look at the unfairness inherent in that policy. A biological boy makes the starting lineup of the girls’ basketball team. How about the inherent unfairness to the 5th starter as that girl now starts the game on the bench? Or that 12th girl just happy to make the team, now being told she’s no longer on the squad since the team is limited to 12 players and a “boy” took the 12th spot?
And then there’s the story of the Brookfield, CT High School boys. A feminine product dispenser was placed in the boys room and within 22 minutes, was torn down by several students who found it “offensive”. The principal of Brookfield High went public, admonishing the boys. Meanwhile, Greg Gutfeld on his popular Fox News show, applauded the actions of these young men as finally letting “common sense” prevail.
The current consideration of Policy 0105 which purports to address Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and mitigate/addressing “bias” will be determined by whom? Who will make the determination of what fits that definition? It’s laughable that the same Education system that’s banned such books as “to Kill a Mockingbird” and Mark Twain’s classics “Huckleberry Finn’ and “Adventures of Tom Sawyer” have no issue with promoting books such as “Why Heather has Two Mommies” and “I am Jazz”. The cure for “wokeness” isn’t more “woke”. While the education systems in other countries in the industrialized world are lapping the United States, it is small wonder that while their students are solving quadratic equations and studying serious subjects like quantum physics, our students are focused on learning the 400+ gender types and determining the best way to penetrate the moons surrounding Uranus (sic) ( I know!).
Let’s get back to the basics: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic and less social engineering, please?
The world is a rough and tough place. There are winners and losers. There is lots of unfairness. Not everyone gets a trophy.
By insulating and overprotecting our children from what’s to come, you are producing more “snowflakes” ill prepared to transition into the real world.
Suggestion? How about we simply live by the motto “Do unto others as you would have them do onto you”. Works for me.
And thanks for the Policy 0105 proposal--I needed a good laugh.
Best Regards,
Tony Granger
Croton resident since 2015
.jpg)
