So, just down the street from me is Saint Paul VI, a Catholic high school that attract students from all over southern New Jersey. [PrecintChair wants us all to remember he's just a Pope right now, not a Saint. But if Drexel got cannonized, I feel the pilgrim pope has a good chance. :) ]
It's located in suburban Haddonfield, NJ. By no means a poor town, but the students who attend run the gamut of social and economic backgrounds. What they all share in common is that their parents wanted them to have a better education than the public schools could provide. To put this in perspective, back in the last century, I attended Washington Township HS, about 45 minutes away (average day, no crashes on the expressway). WTHS was a good school, with an above average college advancement rate, good scores on the SATs and just about every other measure. But I still knew plenty of people who sent their kids to Paul VI. Despite the tuition, and despite the travel.
Anyway, Regena Thomas, NJ's Secretary of State, gave a speech there on March 7th addressing 600 of the schools students, while presenting a V-Free grant from the Martin Luther King Commemorate Commission (I dare you to say that 10 time fast!). The students thought they would hear about bullying between the freshman and sophomore classes. What they got was a ranting tirade about white on black discrimination.
From today's Courier-Post
"From the point of view of some of the students, they found the remarks
to be unduly confrontational and disrespectful to both students and the
school community," Walton said. "Unfortunately, the tone and style of
the presentation did not seem appropriate to her audience and may have
indeed undermined her remarks."
I've heard Ms. Thomas speak before, and she is... volatile. On a good day, or to a fan, you could call her enthusiastic or passionate, instead. :)
I'm trying to get a transcript on this.
I first heard about this last week, from a neighbor who's son attends SP6. Then I read the article today. And on the ride home, heard Dom Giordano talking about it.
Now, from what I've heard of the tone and content of her remarks, they were out of place and out of line. Had a few things been reversed, like the skin color of the speaker, there would be calls for a head to roll. As it is, many parents have written the school expressing concern or even anger, over this speech. At least a few more, like my neighbor, are still stunned.
She's amazed that her son had to listen to this rant, and the implied message that white people are racists and the a black person can't get a fair shake. This, after she and her husband work 3 jobs between themselves, so they can afford our blue collar neighborhood and send their 2 children to nice schools. And what did one of the ranking members of our state's government tell their 14 year old son? You're black. The world is against you. The boys and girls, to your right and left, are racists. I don't need to know them or meet them. You can tell too, if you just look at that white skin.
Now, Ms Thomas has not apologized for her statements; she won't comment at all on the specific things she said that day. She has apologized if she offended anyone.
"What I am getting is that maybe my style or format was misunderstood,"
she added. "If that is preventing the students from hearing what needs
to be said, maybe it needs to be somebody else." -Regena Thomas
She has also offered to match the $3000 given to the school by the V-Free grant, out of her pocket, if it will help smooth ruffled feathers. Classic.
I'll update if I hear more from the parents, or more from the papers
UPDATE 1: For anyone in NJ, and cares to voice an opinion, Haddonfield and surrounding towns are District 6.
Your state congress-critters are:
Senator
JOHN H. ADLER
-
Democrat
District Office: 1916 Route 70 East, Suite 3, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 (856)-489-3442
Assemblyman
LOUIS D. GREENWALD
-
Democrat
District Office: 10 Foster Ave., Suite B-3, Gibbsboro, NJ 08026 (856)-783-0444
Assemblywoman
MARY T. PREVITE
-
Democrat
District Office: 320 Haddon Ave., Suite 4, Haddonfield, NJ 08033 (856)-857-0777
And if you do call or write, please, show class and remain polite. :) Otherwise, you'll just get filed away as nut to be ignored. Or given a posistion in the McGreevy/Codey administration.
Sorry, corruption and graft will be needed as well if you want an appointment to all too likely Corzine admin.
UPDATE 2: I scooped La Shawn. Kinda. In that I blogged it first. :) Had I known this would have floated her boat, I'd have sent her a tip along with South Jersey's most famous native daughter in the blogosphere.
UPDATE 3: According to Technorati, I scooped everyone. Does it mean anything? No. Does it make me feel special? Yes. Like when I used to ride the short blue bus... good times, good times.
UPDATE 4: PrecintChair notices my optimism about Paul VI :)
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