In an unprecedented act of concern for the most vulnerable among us, a Seattle public school system sponsored a โBabiesโ Lives Matterโ day. Most of the teachers and many of the students wore tee-shirts with the photo of an unborn baby inside a womb on the front and this quote from Ronald Reagan on the back: โI notice that all those who favor abortion have already been born.โ
The action day was designed to bring attention to the injustice of abortion. Middle school teacher Hiram Morgan said, โCan there be any more innocent person than the unborn child? And yet a million and a half of these precious children are butchered each year in this country. It is disgraceful that this country, founded upon the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, denies the first right, that of life, to these helpless infants.โ
Another goal of the day was to point out the racist background of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States. โMargaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, was a racist,โ declared Latisha Sullivan, a high school counselor. โSanger wanted to exterminate the black race in America and referred to blacks as โweedsโ. And letโs not forget that over eighty percent of the Planned Parenthood clinics are located in minority areas. Why should taxpayers be forced to support such a racist organization?โ
Elementary students in the school system drew pictures of unborn children inside a womb. Some also drew abortion clinics with women crying on the street outside. Third-grade teacher Megan Jones-Kinsley said, โMany of our children have known the heartache of abortion because they have seen their mothers or relatives suffer the aftermath of abortion. Young children are very perceptive and can sense sadness in others.โ
High school students participated in a workshop where local pro-life activists showed videos of abortions and led discussions about how young people can change the abortion culture that is destroying the minority communities in the country. Marvin Williams, the principal of Norton High School, was angry when he heard that some parents protested the day of action. โTheir neighborhoods are being destroyed by violent crime. If a society condones the taking of a childโs life, then life becomes cheap and unprotected. Something must be done, and this is the first step. I ask them to join us.โ
Wow! Itโs hard to believe this could happen in a public school system. Itโs hard to believe because it didnโt happen. Below is what really did happen.
A few days ago, in the Seattle public school system, two-thousand teachers and students participated in a โBlack Lives Matter/ We Stand Togetherโ day. Rallies that day featured the slogan โBlack Lives Matter at Schools.โ
One of the goals for the day was to point out the school-to-prison pipeline and to insist upon racial equality in education. The day had the full support of the Seattle Public Schools, the Seattle Education Association, and the Seattle PTA. In addition, several luminaries on the social justice front sent letters of support, including Olympian, Carlos Jones, of the clenched-fist salute at the Mexico Olympics and long-time activist Noam Chomsky.
The advisor for the the Black Student Union said, โThis movement is also broader than police accountability. In a school system as dramatically unequal as ours, itโs incumbent upon educators and families to stand up and say something about this.โ
Organizers of the event used the day to explain โthe ways institutional racism impacts education, our nation, and our world.โ
If there is any better example of why public education is a joke, I donโt know what it might be. Perhaps if the teachers of Seattle would have an โEducation Mattersโ day, they would see dramatic improvement in student achievement. But, no, they choose to tell their charges that a racist America is preventing them from achievement. How sad that so many children will be indoctrinated with this self-destructive message. And how ironic that the Black Lives Matter movement is itself racist.
If my fictional โBabiesโ Lives Matterโ day had actually taken place in a public school, the Left would have been apoplectic. The media would have decried the obvious abuse of the โseparation of church and stateโ doctrine. Administrators and teachers who participated in such an event would have been fired in a babyโs heart beat. But waste an entire day promoting a political which hunt, and the media gushes with approval.
The public school establishment will never take an honest look at why minority students do so poorly. They will not condemn single mothers and the men who impregnate them; they will not condemn absentee fathers; they will not condemn the millions of abortions in their communities. Instead, they will play the race card, and the children be damned.