Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Birthing Biases

Today's most disturbing news item amidst word of war and rumors of war in distant Georgia is that several families in Kansas are suing a Roman Catholic parochial school because of an English only policy recently instituted in response to playground behavior problems that resulted in an expulsion. The students and families involved are all evidently either U.S. citizens or legal immigrants. The problem seems to stem from the fact that at least one of the students was using another language on the playground to make disparaging remarks about fellow classmates, faculty, and staff, thus inciting negative attitudes and behavior in others. Though the lawsuit was filed in May, it's making the news today because the the civil suit is commencing.

When I first heard the teaser for this story, I thought there was another battle brewing about bilingual education. Unfortunately, this is not such a simple case, for this involves the attempt of a private school to control the behavior of its students. It's not a public school, so the students are there by choice, not perforce. The students involved are native English speakers, so it's not a matter of denying them academic access or hindering their learning. And let's face it: kids talking smack is an ever-present problem, regardless of where they congregate.

On the other hand, whether the school is allowed to make and uphold its own policy or not, the fact that the issue has been raised is a problem. Schools need to be able to enforce discipline and private schools have the right to try to inculcate their chosen value system on their students, but does anyone have the right to try to control talk and thoughts, especially during free time in open spaces? It's all very disturbing.

Then there's the news today that the Spanish Olympic basketball team posed for a photo for a courier company that is one of the team's sponsors. The problem is multifaceted: the ad involves all the team members using their fingers to make slant-eyes and has been running daily for well over a month back in Spain; almost no one on the team or associated with the team sees a problem with this; nothing seems to be happening in response to the recent concerns raised by international journalists, the issue being viewed by the Spaniards as a tempest in a teapot.

So the change we seek for unity in a globally diverse world is still evidently a bit of a ways down the road, it seems.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Proof That Blonde Is a State of Mind

Cokie Roberts, the ABC journalist who feels comfortable taking a cheerleading name into professional journalism, is reported in this morning's newspapers as characterizing Hawaii as "foreign" and "exotic", even though she admits to being aware that it is, in fact, the 50th state. She questions the wisdom of Barack Obama's decision to take a weeklong breather in the town of his birth and youth after a grueling year on the campaign trail, even though part of his stated purpose is to visit his aging grandmother and sister, who both still reside here. Ms. Roberts suggests that a man in serious pursuit of the presidency of the United States would be better off vacationing in an east coast resort such as Myrtle Beach. Is this professional journalist by any chance aware of the provincialism evident in such a perspective?

I never cease to be amazed that those who style themselves as cosmopolitan or at least sophisticated can be so oblivious of the narrowness of their own perceptions as to what constitutes "the world" and that which matters in it. Is the east coast the only relevant geographic arena in our country? Is anything to which one cannot drive beyond the bounds of acceptable?

I do remember the fuss and furor when Ronald Reagan set up a "West Coast White House" because he was desirous of occasionally returning to his California ranch and horses to get away from the hubbub of D.C. Lyndon Johnson and the Bushes have periodically returned to their Texas homes for rest, recreation, and even occasional political liaisons.

Still, since Hawaii is strategically positioned in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and claims the title of "Crossroads of the Pacific," is it not at least as well-placed, if not more so, than Washington, D.C. as things heat up in Georgia and the world turns its attention to Georgia?

The world's still a big place, albeit shrinking in perception daily. If one travels far enough, one circles back. The days of easy access only by cart or car are long past. Legislators travel from all fifty states to congregate and serve in the capital, and no one has serious problems with either travel or communications. If a sitting representative does not occasionally make it back home, the electorate wonders whether or not s/he remembers the roots from which such a representative came. Everyone else vying for leadership in this country discounts Hawaii as too distant and too insignificant to bother visiting during an election. It's nice to know that a native son has managed to take time, at least once, to come home and remember the family and friends who have contributed so much to the shaping of who and what he now is and hopes someday to be.