Why We Can't All Just Get Along

     For those of us of a certain age, we grew up with the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We heard the words of his iconic “I Have a Dream” Speech, in which King stated that his hope for America, would be that one day his children would grow in a country where they would not be judged by the color of their skin, but the content of their character. America is not a perfect place, never has been. That is because it is inhabited by imperfect human beings of all colors. We have come a long way toward achieving Dr. King’s dream. Some believe that there is some sort of conclusion to the work of Dr. King’s dream. But it is a dream that has the room to be perpetually tweaked.

     At the risk of sounding as old as Joe Biden, this new generation has not been taught the ideas and ideals of Dr. King. There could be several reasons why that is, we have the first generations who were raised in single-parent households mostly by single mothers who were basically still children themselves. For many of those kids, they learn what they learn from TV, the Internet, social media, and their friends, many of whom are in the same situation. But there are several new factors thrown in. The woke mob, whose goal is to tear down all those traditional institutions like two-parent families, and through concepts like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), divide kids into groups of perpetual oppressors and perpetual victims. Add in the mix Groups like Antifa and Black Lives Matter, who are all too happy to step in and train kids to be up-and-coming leftist warriors.

     So, it really should have been no surprise when a video showing a vicious brutal fight between two female students at Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis, Missouri went viral in a hurry. As happens today, the girls are on the ground fighting, and everyone else is recording the whole sordid affair on their phones. One girl is seen slamming the other girl’s head on the pavement several times. The girl on the ground is ultimately seen lying motionless, and it is later learned, had a seizure. She was rushed to a local hospital where she is in critical condition with a severe brain injury. Here is where things get interesting. The girl whose head is slammed against the pavement is white, and for safety reasons is being referred to as “Kaylee.” The other girl, 15-years-old, is black. It took a few days, but local media is following the story, albeit rather delicately. You have to wonder, if the races were reversed, would they be handling this story with the same kid gloves? As Kaylee clings to life, her attacker was arrested and charged with assault. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has called for her assailant to be charged as an adult.

  

   What is coming to light now, is that the Hazelwood School District has a history of this kind of problem. The Post-Millennial reported that a former Hazelwood East student came forward claiming that anti-white hate was the reason they were bullied 25 years ago at the school. In 2017, a principal claimed that anti-white discrimination was the cause for her demotion. The school issued a statement about the incident that said in part, “It is a tragedy anytime children are hurt. Bullying and fighting in the community is an issue for which we all need to take ownership and work toward a resolution for the sake of our children. The Hazelwood School District offers our sincere condolences to everyone involved, and will offer additional emotional support from our support and crisis team to those in need.”

     Flowery words, that might be designed to fend off what could potentially be a mammoth lawsuit by Kaylee’s family against the school district, the assailant, and her family, which should absolutely happen, but what are they going to do about a problem that may have been going on for quite a while? What if the “support and crisis” team finds out from other white students that this type of bullying happens frequently, but nothing is really done about it, all in the name of DEI? In 2021, the Hazelwood School District answered a survey from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) about whether critical race theory (CRT) or any aspect of the New York Times 1619 Project was being taught. The answer to the survey was that yes, some elements of the 1619 Project were being taught. Did it ever occur to the Hazelwood School District that perhaps teenagers can find plenty of things to fight about and that teaching what has been proven to be an inaccurate account of American history might lead to horrific incidents like this? Obviously not.

     But let’s put the initial blame where many parents have placed it, in the home. Any parents, black, white, or otherwise are most likely going to agree that this kind of behavior begins at home. Where are this girl’s parents? For any child to have this much anger within them, and her parents are so checked out of what is going on with her that they don’t know that? No parent, especially those of teenagers can police their kids 24/7, especially in the age of social media. But there is a good chance that the parents of Kaylee’s attacker may be held responsible for this attack as well for what could well be described as a lack of parenting.

Just a quick thought for the Hazelwood School District, and any other school district that thinks teaching kids to hate each other based on skin color, that diversity, equity, and inclusion is clearly becoming, at least for white students, diversity, equity, and exclusion.