Guest View: Keep identity politics out of the classroom
Parents and guardians, are you frustrated with the identity politics being inserted into the public school system?
Nationwide, 1.4 million students have left the public school system for the 2021 school year. Of that 1.4 million students not returning to public school (concentrated primarily in the lower grades), the pandemic reigns supreme, but we can’t ignore the fixation on identity politics as a reason some parents are keeping children from attending public school.
Take, for instance, the Oregon State Board of Education passing a resolution, which was spurred by Newberg School District’s efforts to remove political and divisive symbols from schools such as Black Lives Matter and Pride flags. The resolution encourages all school districts in the state to display these signs, symbols, placards and flags in an effort to be “inclusive.”
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The only flags that belong in our schools are the American flag and the state flag. Public school should be a neutral learning environment, free from political bias and social justice issues. As Americans, we must unite under one flag, the American flag. The desire for everyone to fly their own special interest flags and symbols in our taxpayer-funded public-school system is divisive.
Students should not have any inkling as to the political leanings of their educators, nor should teachers or the government oversight boards be using their position to push students to the left, right or anywhere in between.
Our Founding Fathers understood that the duty of schools is to teach basic skills necessary to function in society, such as reading, writing and math. The Founding Fathers also believed in schools teaching in a manner that instills our youth with true patriotism, which is neither blind to the flaws or fanatical in its belief that America has always done the right thing.
Schools must also equip them with a deep understanding of the principles America was founded upon. The Declaration of Independence states, “All men are created equal and we all have the unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Identity politics has no place in the education system. It not only places undue importance on racial and sexual identities, but it also further divides by designating groups into oppressor and victim.
As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated so eloquently, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Identity politics is the exact opposite of King’s dream. We must insist in unity by teaching America’s founding principles, the flaws of our past and how we as a nation have worked to right them.
Tiffany Jacob is a We The People Tillamook County committee member and mother of two young boys. She lives in Tillamook.
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