Superintendent Claims Black Panther Case Closed, Calls Blog "Threatening"

I have been so busy with my family and working with the folks opposing the move of Woodbury Elementary to Crosswinds (if the district acquires it) that I've not had time to post the latest on East Ridge High School's commemoration of the Black Panthers.

At the last school board meeting, the Superintendent, Keith Jacobus, made a point to alert the (maybe) twelve people in attendance that the Black Panther issue is closed.  He went on to say that the blog (yep, this lil ol' blog) is "threatening" and that Principal Aaron Harper is under "personal attack."

Imagine my surprise when I watched the meeting video and heard that they are calling this blog "threatening," and that they had also taken care to remind us that our "children are watching." Curious as to what they thought was threatening about reporting on a controversial incident in a local high school, I decided to read over all the previous posts on the matter to determine what, if anything, could be construed as such.

Here are my conclusions:

1. There is NOTHING threatening about the posts in question.  Unless one reads the comments where I am personally attacked and called names by people who apparently believe that one cannot stand up to a school  administration, and say "Hey, are the Black Panthers really a group that should be commemorated in a school-wide PA broadcast? Isn't this something that should be taught in something like, oh I don't know, maybe an American History class where the full context of the group, its origins and what it meant to America in the 1960s can be fully explored?"  Those comments are threatening, but to me, not to anyone named in the posts.

2. If the children are watching and/or reading this blog, which a) I doubt (my own kids don't even read this blog) and b) if they have, then at least we know that they have received a more rounded education on who the Black Panthers really were rather than the sanitized "The Black Panthers were militant socialist revolutionaries who also started free lunch and medical programs (huzzah!)" as was heard on February 14, 2013 at the school.  Perhaps if the children (who are watching, doncha know?) have read the blog, they've learned some American history of which they didn't previously know.  Which makes this truly the educational opportunity Mr. Harper kept saying it was in the first place.

3. Obviously, Alinsky tactics are alive and well even in our local governments.  Calling a person who is spreading light on the truth of actions/behaviors/etc. "threatening" is tantamount to telling them to "Sit down and shut up!" It is a favorite tactic of Progressives when they are upset that their actions have been called out to the public.  As long as their actions can remain unknown and unreported, they can continue to do what they want without public scrutiny.  The problem is that they forget that they work for us.  We pay their salaries and their pensions and their benefits, so if they really believe that they won't be held accountable, it truly is time for people to stand up and let them know that WE THE PEOPLE ARE WATCHING.

No Investigation by School Board into Black Panthers Honoring Incident

Thomas Sowell says it well:

There are many people in South Washington County School District 833 who seem to agree. Just read the comments following the blog posts about East Ridge High School honoring the Black Panthers for the evidence.

One of the parents who complained to the school board finally received a call back from School Board Member Ron Kath.  He was the member who said that they were investigating the incidence at the last meeting.  Apparently control-freak Superintendent Dr. Jacobus got to Mr. Kath later because now he is agreeing with the Superintendent that the incident was "student-led and misunderstood." Thanks, Mr. Kath, for doing your job and remembering that YOU and the other Board members are Dr. Jacobus's BOSSES, NOT the other way around.  Pathetic.

Suburban School Superintendent Brushes Parents' Concerns re The Black Panthers Aside

UPDATE: The South Washington County School District 833 has removed all information regarding last night's meeting sometime this morning.  Please contact the School District at 651-458-6300 for more information. (Updated 10:36a.m. 2/22/2013)
Another Update: According to the District's Communication director, there was an "issue" with the video, so they took it off the website while they update it.  Look for it after 2pm today. (Updated 11:28am)
The video is back up from the School Board now. (updated 2/22/2013 5:50)

As has been reported over the last week on this blog, East Ridge High School in Woodbury, Minnesota held a school-wide presentation honoring the violent, militantly socialist group, The Black Panthers on February 14, 2013.  Parents were appalled by the idea that a group so unabashedly Marxist and founded by convicted felons, Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, would be "commemorated" by the school for Black History Month.  The story has been reported on by several news outlets from local TV, radio, newspapers to national online and radio (2/14/13) media outlets.

Last night, at the South Washington County District 833 School Board meeting (video Item 2.0), the concerned parents were allowed to voice their objections to the presentation.  Two parents, Steve Ellenwood and Lelani Holstad, spoke about the nature of the Black Panther Party and why it was objectionable to have the group honored in the way it was on Feb. 14: Mr. Ellenwood said it was "paramount to indoctrination" and Ms. Holstad ripped the Board for allowing the school to go against its own bullying policies by endorsing the violent Black Panthers.  She also discussed the more recent incidents involving the New Black Panther Party, including the voter intimidation in the last two elections, the "hit" the group put on Zimmerman (in the Trayvon Martin case), and more.  Both presentations were well done, heart felt and seemed to have swayed at least one Board Member because following the parent presentations, Board Member Ron Kath told the audience that the Board and the Superintendent were aware of the issue and that they would be investigating it.  Then, just prior to the next agenda item, Superintendent Keith Jacobus broke in saying that he had spoken to Principal Harper about the issue and that the issue was closed (among other things, including justifying the commemoration of The Black Panthers by students).  Effectively putting the blame not on the teacher, Ms. Tishanna Brown nor on Mr. Harper, but on the students for the presentation.

Did not the SWC 833 hire Dr. Jacobus? Are they not his boss?  Do Jacobus and Harper believe that their lame excuses will just make this issue go away?  East Ridge High School has many issues, this is just one of them.  A perusal of tweets from ERHS kids (some of whom definitely seem to have been involved with the commemoration of the Black Panthers), shows that not only did Mr. Harper directly "protect" Ms. Brown and the involved students but also that there is a disconnect between the students (mostly minority) and the school community: it is obvious that all the emphasis on diversity has done nothing more than cause the children to see themselves as a separate group from the rest of the ERHS student body (language warning):

The School Board has been given the Twitter information as well as the much of the information about the Black Panther Party that has been presented on this blog over the past week and the lesson plans from Ms. Brown's ClassJump website (see link above).  I would hope that the information would pique their interest and cause them to step up and behave like the so-called District leaders they are supposed to be before they allow the new Superintendent to just sweep this issue under the rug.

What if?

I do not believe in censorship.  I believe so strongly in the First Amendment that I refuse to censor even the most inane and/or offensive comments people post on my FaceBook page, which sometimes causes irritation among my friends on FB, but I tell them this: "If I believe that it is acceptable to censor you or anyone else, what is stopping you from censoring me? To condone, advocate or passively stand by while others' rights are taken away is foolish - what is to stop those people from trying to take away my rights if I allow them to take away others' rights?"  If something is offensive, don't read it, turn the channel, turn off the media, switch to a different website.  But don't sit there and complain that someone is offending your sensibilities because you were too dumb to put the paper down or turn off the TV/radio.

However, there are times when caution needs to be taken when it comes to Freedom of Speech, as in the case of the teacher and principal (who claims to not have known what was planned for announcements that day) of East Ridge High School when they decided to broadcast a presentation commemorating the Black Panther Party to the entire school.  It was not Freedom of Speech, it was Propaganda and Indoctrination.   The students were captive listeners in that situation.  The students in school that morning could not avoid hearing the announcements.  They could avoid actively listening to the announcements, but could not leave, turn off the broadcast, etc. during the announcements.

So, last night as I was talking to my husband about the controversy, I re-read the poem in question, "A Black Child's Pledge," and started to think about the ways in which this poem could be taught in a classroom.  As I said in my previous post, the piece on its own and viewed in the context in which it was written, is an interesting piece and in all truthfulness, is an important one as it was written during one of the most tumultuous times in recent American history.  It could be taught in literature and history classes and serve the purpose of educating students about 1960's lit and the Civil Rights Movement.  Unfortunately, the way it was presented to the students on the morning of February 14th, it was used as a method of commemorating a group of militant, socialist thugs: The Black Panthers.

I read the poem again and was struck by the language within it: Instead of pledging allegiance to America, the child is pledging allegiance only to the black members of America.  Instead of pledging to do no harm and to protect other Americans, the child is pledging only to do no harm and protect other black Americans.  The theme of the poem is one of unity within the black community and war with anyone who does not belong to that community.  Is this the inclusive, multicultural viewpoint that has been pushed by educators and Progressive leaders for many years? Or is this more race war tactics of the type that has been perpetuated by our President and other leaders?  And what about the references to "liberation"?  I understand the idea of freedom from the oppressive Jim Crow/segregation laws of the time - but to take the idea of "liberation" forward to the 21st Century makes less sense to me.  When Barack Obama is in the White House, Condi Rice was Secretary of State and Oprah Winfrey is one of the richest women alive, the idea liberation is foreign when viewed through the lenses of race.  Furthermore, how were the children who are not black supposed to take the meaning of the poem?  Were they supposed to raise their fists in a Black Power salute or hang their heads in shame for being seen as oppressors of others? Or were they to just sit there silently listening as a poem affirming black unity was read and linked to a militant, violent group of people who believed fully in the principles being pledged, including but not limited to, killing non-black American citizens if they felt that those non-black people were infringing on their right of liberation?

What if it were any race or creed or religion other than Black and tied with a militant anti-any-other-race group being commemorated, even if that group played some kind of significant role in history? What if, instead of a "Black Child's Pledge" the poem was titled "A White Child's Pledge"?  What if the poem started with: "I pledge allegiance to my White People....I will learn all that I can in order to give my best to my People in their struggle for liberation....make me less capable of protecting myself, my family and my White brothers and sisters....I will train myself to never hurt or allow others to harm my White brothers and sisters...These principles I pledge to practice daily and to teach them to others in order to unite my People." And, what if following that poem, there was a presentation commemorating the Ku Klux Klan as "The People of the Day"? Like the Black Panther Party, the KKK is part of American History.  They were (are) a militant group that began in the post-Civil War (1866) era of Reconstruction, a terroristic organization used to intimidate black Americans and break up Republican meetings (Frances Rice). (The irony of a "White Child's Pledge" being used in conjunction with the KKK is the seldom-mentioned fact that the early KKK lynched at least 1,000 white Republicans who were assisting the newly freed slaves vote, own property and find their way in their newly acquired freedom from slavery.) What if instead of a "Black Child's Pledge" it was a "You-Enter-the-Race/Ethnicity/etc. Child's Pledge" being read in conjunction with a commemoration of a militant group associated with that Race/Ethnicity?  What if it was a "Muslim Child's Pledge" with a commemorative speech about Al Qaeda following the poem? Would parents be appalled to hear that while the Nazi Youth Pledge was read to commemorate Hitler during "German History Month" that some children raised their hands in a straight-armed Nazi Salute? Would there be an outcry of indignation then? Would people go to the school and demand an apology? Would the parents be calling the principle and teacher and demanding to know why such racist drivel was being inflicted upon their children? Would people stand idly by and be placated as the principle said "I didn't vet the information being presented...I'll try to do better from now on...it has to do with history; we feel that the children need to know about important people in history..." Or would those parents pitch fits, threaten to sue, and harass the school staff until SOMETHING WAS DONE ABOUT IT?

So, if the previous examples are offensive and feel wrong to people, why is a pass being given to the principal and teachers of East Ridge High School?  Or is it true that only black Americans have suffered so much that they are the only ones allowed to salute - pumping their fists in the air in solidarity with the poem as it's read and continuing as militaristic, socialist, anti-white, anti-cop, anti-Capitalism groups are commemorated during the month set aside to focus solely on Black American history?  Or have we all become so afraid, so PC that either we fear reprisals against our kids or ourselves if we speak out or we believe that we can't speak out in case we OFFEND someone? Or, have we all been so completely brainwashed that we AGREE with the poem and the militant Black Panthers - as white Americans, we, by virtue of our heritage and skin color, were the ones inflicting the wrongs on every other race in history even though most of us weren't even born while the atrocities were being carried out nor would we dream of ever treating ANYONE the way minority groups have been treated throughout the history of our country?  Or have we forgotten MLK's dream of a land where People are judged by the content of their characters, not by the color of their skin?

If any of the previous statements is the case, there's no wonder there were people rallying for Christopher Dorner and his sick manifesto in California this weekend without reprisal or condemnation from anyone in the MSM or left-side of the aisle. And there's no wonder why the principle of East Ridge High School and his Sociology teacher, Ms. Tishanna Brown, continue to believe that what happened on Valentine's Day was just not that big of a deal.

East Ridge High School & The Black Panthers

KSTP News interviewed Ms. Kelly Fenton, concerned East Ridge parent, about the controversy surrounding the use of announcement-time to promote the Black Panthers under the guise of "Black History Month." They also interviewed Principal Aaron Harper.

KSTP presented the issue as unskewed as can be expected by a MSM outlet.  However, they focused primarily on the fact that the poem, "A Black Child's Pledge," had been read during the announcement, with a little attention paid to the fact that the poem was from the Black Panthers.  What readers and KSTP viewers need to understand is not the fact that the poem was read, it is the context in which it was read to "commemorate" the Black Panthers.  Therein lies the difference: the poem as a literary device is innocuous, the poem being read in conjunction with a description of the Black Panthers as just a group of "militant marxists who are ok because they also fed children and helped with community organizing" is offensive.  

Aaron Harper claims that he hadn't "vetted" the content that was to be read during Thursday morning's announcements and that it was "student-led." He assured KSTP that he would be better about paying attention to the information dispersed over the PA system of the school.  The fact that Mr. Harper is shielding Tishanna Brown and claiming that he should have been more aware of what was being read leads one to wonder what else Tishanna Brown has been up to in her classroom - what part of her interests and biases are filtering through to her students, and why didn't Mr. Harper know what was being read to his entire school that morning? Furthermore, if it wasn't such a big deal, why is he assuring parents that he will "keep a closer eye" on things from now on?

Please stay tuned for more updates as this story continues.

Suburban High School Honors Black Panther Party

This story has been picked up by KSTP Channel 5 (Twin Cities); they will be broadcasting an interview with one of the concerned parents tonight on their 6pm program.

East Ridge High School in Woodbury, Minnesota decided to use Valentine's Day as a day to commemorate the Black Panther Party in a school-wide presentation.  Apparently, the day set aside for all things love is the perfect day on which to roll out information about one of the most violent and militant groups in the USA's recent history.

According to the transcript obtained by a concerned parent (after the principal refused to honor her request for a written copy of the announcement that her son had heard that morning. A few hours later a district representative contacted her and gave her the transcript) the presentation, led by Social Studies teacher, Tishanna Brown, began with a reading of A Black Child's Pledge, by Shirley Williams, which was originally published in The Black Panther Newsletter on October 28, 1968:

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO MY BLACK PEOPLE.

I PLEDGE TO DEVELOP MY MIND AND BODY TO THE GREATEST EXTENT POSSIBLE.

I WILL LEARN ALL THAT I CAN IN ORDER TO GIVE MY BEST TO MY PEOPLE IN THEIR STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION.

I WILL KEEP MYSELF PHYSICALLY FIT, BUILDING A STRONG BODY FREE FROM DRUGS AND OTHER SUBSTANCES WHICH WEAKEN ME AND MAKE ME LESS CAPABLE OF PROTECTING MYSELF, MY FAMILY AND MY BLACK BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

I WILL UNSELFISHLY SHARE MY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING WITH THEM IN ORDER TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE MORE QUICKLY.

I WILL DISCIPLINE MYSELF TO DIRECT MY ENERGIES THOUGHTFULLY AND CONSTRUCTIVELY RATHER THAN WASTING THEM IN IDLE HATRED.

I WILL TRAIN MYSELF NEVER TO HURT OR ALLOW OTHERS TO HARM MY BLACK BROTHERS AND SISTERS FOR I RECOGNIZE THAT WE NEED EVERY BLACK MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD TO BE PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY STRONG.

THESE PRINCIPLES I PLEDGE TO PRACTICE DAILY AND TO TEACH THEM TO OTHERS IN ORDER TO UNITE MY PEOPLE.

The presentation went on:

"Good Morning, East Ridge! I'm _____________. 'Power to the People' and 'Black is Beautiful' are two of the slogans associated with todays "Black History Month" person, or should I say, "People" of the day.  Today we commemorate Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, co-Founders of The Black Panther Party for Self Defense.

In October of 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. In the most part to address the rampant police brutality faced by many black communities around the country.  The Panthers practiced militant self-defense of minority communities against the U.S. Government, and fought to establish revolutionary socialism through mass organizing and community based programs such as free lunch and medical programs. The party, consisting mostly of men and women under the age of 25, was one of the first organizations in U.S. history to militantly struggle for ethnic minority and working class emancipation" (SIC)

Page 1 of Original Transcript

Page 2 of Original Transcript; note the change in
font and lack of punctuation; evidence of the
teacher "cutting and pasting" info from
www.marxist.org

According to an East Ridge parent, the principal told her that this presentation was one of many the school was doing for Black History Month and meant to draw attention to the historical significance of the Panther's movement.  So, basically, folks, there is no reason to freak out because this was just an educational exercise.  There were no other groups that are historically significant in Black American History that should be given the same level of honor and significance.  There aren't any other positive historical Black Americans from which to choose, nope, we must choose the ones that somehow manage to mix "revolutionary socialism" and "militant self-defense" with "organizing and community based programs such as free lunch and medical programs..." (Which, by the way, how did the teacher say that sentence with a straight face?)

It is no wonder that with the glorification of such groups as the Black Panthers that there are people who are excusing and adoring another cop-killer this week, Christopher Dorner.  It is no wonder that our kids have no real concept of American history when they are fed sound-bytes like the one above.

It is offensive to me and should be to any American that out of the many people and groups who could be honored for Black History month that East Ridge would choose The Black Panther Party as one that they chose to honor. I wonder if I were to go to the school, enter American History classes and ask random students who Hiram Revels was, if they'd know he was the first Black American elected to the Senate in 1870? Or what about CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) a group of which MLK was part, which focused on non-violent actions to gain racial equality?  Google or Bing "Black Americans in History" and hundreds of links pop up - even a lazy teacher could do that and come up with better examples of Black Americans in History than the Black Panthers.  Either the East Ridge Principal, Aaron Harper and his cohort Tishanna Brown are ignorant of the great tapestry of Black American History and too lazy to research examples of people worthy of honoring or they have an agenda that they are following to further some perverse purpose of encouraging children to believe that "militant self defense" against the US Government and police is ok as long as one is combining that with "free lunch and medical programs."

Another point: say a student's interest in the Black Panther Party was piqued during this presentation, so s/he goes online to check out the group.  What will that student find? The following is an example of what a brief search would give that student:

In October of 1966, in Oakland California, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The Panthers practiced militant self-defense of minority communities against the U.S. government, and fought to establish revolutionary socialism through mass organizing and community based programs. The party was one of the first organizations in U.S. history to militantly struggle for ethnic minority and working class emancipation — a party whose agenda was the revolutionary establishment of real economic, social, and political equality across gender and color lines.

Oh, but wait, isn't that the EXACT language used by the teacher in the presentation? Why, yes, it is.  Funny, but isn't that called PLAGIARISM? Which website did Ms. Brown steal this from? That's right, www.marxist.org.    It looks like Ms. Brown cleaned it up and made it a bit nicer by adding "like free lunch and medical programs," but otherwise, she seems to have been at a loss as how to write an original statement about the Black Panthers herself.

But, never mind that, parents, there is no agenda here. This was an educational opportunity used to enlighten and educate the students on Black American History.