Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Case against Camo

just puttin' this out there:  http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/article_4346caa4-36d1-11df-9f92-001cc4c03286.html

I'm buckling in - tomorrow is going to be a bumpy ride in the HS! 

More comments from me on this when I've actually been in the building and have a better sense of what's going on in response to this print. And for the record - the comments are really tough to take. My heart goes out to the kids who are the victims; the kids who brought their stories to the administration, the teachers, and school services. It's not a new story.

It's going to take a mighty effort to be an effective ally. Their efforts (and rights!) to be at the HS without disruptions to their education and without harrassment is a huge concern to me. I'm very concerned that my students of color will be threatened, bullied, and coerced into silence. Once again.

Listen Up:
Wearing camo doesn't make you a racist. And, racists are wearing camo as a symbol of their hate group identity.  The gang, "Hicks" (they've also identified themselves as CK or "Coon Killers"), have established the camo as a signal/sign of their gang membership.
Said another way:
If you wear camo it does not mean you are a racist. And, racists do wear camo.

Let's not argue about whether wearing camo makes you a "Hick." Let's admit that "Hicks" wear camo. This is a compelling case against camo. The symbol is intimidating to students. Some students feel threatened by camo apparel.

Support your friends, classmates, colleagues, neighbors, and community members - KEEP YOUR CAMO IN YOUR CLOSET!

We need to stop admiring the problem and get to work!

3 comments:

FrogMom said...

I'll be listening closely to what you hear. The comments to that article make me insane but they also illustrate very well why I have little faith that the problems at this school will be fixed any time soon. Too many white students and adults only recognize the most extreme examples of racism (like the deer carcass incident), excuse the offenders, deny there is a problem, and/or blame minority students for not "moving on" and bringing all this on themselves.

Cathy said...

I am curious to what will happen. I was reading this article yesterday and wasn't sure how the school was going to fix this. The comments online were--ICK. Will keep reading to see what the next steps are to really address this issue.

Waiting for Zufan! said...

How horrible. Wow. I had no idea that was going on right next door. Makes me sick.