Saranac Lake school tackles bigotry. Clinton County legislators not so much.
If you haven’t heard Chris Knight’s story this morning, check it out. In a few short minutes, his story brings us into the darkness that still courses through the American psyche.
For all our rhetoric about freedom and tolerance and respect for individuality, Knight found deep veins of hatred — against gays, against people of color — in one of the North Country’s best public schools.
“I’ve hated myself and at times have wanted to go into the kitchen, grab a large butcher knife and just end it,” said Saranac Lake High School senior Aaron Burdeau, who is gay. “I’ve been bullied and teased to deep depression. I’ve been kicked when I’m down…”
It goes without saying that the children who are giving voice to this hatred reflect the venom they hear and observe at home. Schools aren’t the source and can’t be expected to cure this problem.
Which is one reason why I’m pleased that Saranac Lake’s district plans to include parents and the community in this discussion. It would be great to see the message of tolerance embraced taken up in our churches, our civic organizations.
This is also why it’s so disappointing that Clinton County legislators didn’t publicly challenge one of their members, Sam Trombley, when he used their official forum last week to describe gay people as diseased, comparing them to male dogs.
In the Plattsburgh Press-Republican, a number of Trombley’s fellow lawmakers said they thought it was pointless to engage with him or challenge his ugly words.
But Saranac Lake’s school district has shown how painful and destructive silence can be, and how ugly things can become when responsible people don’t speak their mind with a passion that equals that of the bigots among us.
Through their efforts at building tolerance — still in its early stages — the Saranac Lake district has also shown that real focus and courage can bring healing.
How can anyone criticize the Trombley? Don’t we have to passively and uncritically accept his comments under “respect” for his “religious beliefs”? I thought you could call anything, no matter how vile, “religious beliefs” and not be criticized?
And by the way, that was a great story by Chris Knight.
Aaron Burdeau deserves an immense amount of respect. He is a much braver man than those that tormented him. We can only hope that all of our SLCSD students graduate with his integrity and honor. I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.
Empathy is a tough one for children. They can be cruel in junior high and grow up to be demagogues (or just mean) as adults. Its definitely worth the trouble to try to get the kids to be good citizens when they are young.
I agree with Peter, If anyone thinks they can get kids to stop tormenting each other…well, best of luck to you. Just remember that what they say to your face and what they do when you aren’t looking are two different things. This includes more than just gay kids. Ask the short dumpy kid or the kid with a pizza face how much fun school was. Ask the not so great looking girls if the best looking girls are kind and compassionate. Heck, ask them if the teachers are compassionate!
It’s a worthy crusade to try and get people to be kind, but you’re fighting human nature.
(PS- all you fat, dumpy, short, not so handsome/pretty/popular kids- all the crap you go through now will make you a much stronger person for later in life. Been there, done that. Stick to your guns, better times are coming!)
Bret: you’re right that it’s a fight against human nature. But pretty much all social evolutions are just that. It’s a fight worth having… especially in places like schools where children are forced to be.
No. We certainly do not need to “uncritically accept comments under respect for religious beliefs.” Often times religious beliefs have nothing to do stupid viewpoints but have more to do with man’s inhumanity towards others. Every religion has its nuts who use religion to promote their idiocy.
As to saying why bother to argue against this, that or the other thing because you are just fighting human nature, you might just as well legalize murder, rape and robbery.
I agree there has always been bullying but so has there always been murder, rape and robbery. It is a big deal and some people never get over it.
I’d like to bring God into this discussion, but I won’t bother. Since you don’t really want to know what He thinks and why He sets guidelines for us it’d be a waste of my time.
However, I will mention a link to a passage called 1 Corinthians
Chapter 6, Verse 9.
Read it sometime and tell me what you think.
I’m remiss for failing to mention that Mr. Burdeau deserves immense credit for the guts he showed in making that public statement. It was no doubt uncomfortable speaking and listening, but there were obviously members of the board and public who needed to be made uncomfortable.
‘Gay’ is often seen as synonymous with weak or soft. But few showed as much courage as Burdeau did.
Brian, likewise, all the kids that aren’t afraid to profess their faith deserve respect. A very unpopular notion here I know, but it’s not “cool” to be a person of faith these days or to have any traditional values whatsoever.
Will all of you support that idea too? Doubt it.
It’s gotten to the point where you must call-out bigotry when you see it. Just giving it a pass, with a shrug, suggesting it is business as usual, or politics as usual, or normal for adolescents, doesn’t cut it. By giving it a pass, you are accepting and abetting such behavior. But it simply is not acceptable, in kids or in adults. Rich or poor. Suits and smiles or workmans’ clothes. It is not ok. Get over it.
Accepting public bigoted behavoir without challange should cause each of us to look in the mirror. If we don’t accept it, it will stop. If we do accept it, it will not stop and we, in a very real sense, become the bigots ourselves.
I’ve stopped being nice about this sort of stuff. I never let it pass any more. People do not like being called a bigot. But it sure does get them to pay attention to their behavior, and change it. The ‘B’ word is powerful and it offends just as strongly as the prejudice behavior it describes. It should.
Not long ago, a winning path to becomming President of our country was simply trashing gay people. That will never happen again. We are making progress.
I am always fascinated by people who think they know what God thinks or feels. There was a time when the ancestors of these people thought they knew that God thought it was okay to have slaves.
Realist, glad to hear you say that. It’s good to know some one else will be beside me calling down the hate mongers when they pick on people of faith. Thank you.
three cheers for adk realist!
generations ago it was ok to be a racist in public. now it’s not. and i think that people taking a strong stand against racism played a big role in that.
i think that’s how it’s going to go with homophobia too.
Bret – I didnt know people picked on “people of faith” as a general class. I thought it was people of one faith picking on somebody of a different faith.
Actually – as is generally said -kids pick on anyone perceived to be different. If “people of faith” become a small minority, they will be picked on in Junior High. As in China they might become targets of repression and hate-mongers.
Peter, open your eyes. Your post is a fine example of the underlying hate for people of faith. That’s my point exactly. It’s all well and good to celebrate some gay kid for standing up for his feelings and belief, but if it’s someone of faith, with some non-PC value, that adheres to some traditional belief or practice that goes against the leftist view of things then they are freaks to be trashed at every chance. IMO it’s sheer hypocrisy to believe you can take the moral high ground because you support gay rights and at the same time be a virtual hate mongering bigot as far as anything else goes. If you respect someone for speaking openly about being gay, then shouldn’t you also respect someone who benignly professes their faith, takes a stand on other issues like war or food production or traditional practices or maybe political stances on spending, revenue, anti-discriminatory practices, illegal immigration or any of an number of other things? A good example of this type of thing is the way the left tells us we must be open minded about Muslims, that it’s a few extremists that cause the problems, that we must seek to understand the Muslim position. Where is that open minded benevolence when it comes to anyone labeled a Christian? Is the Israeli position given the same consideration as the Palestinian position?
You know, my time here among you fine folks has taught me that my mind was often closed to possibilities other than those I’d previously considered. My opinions haven’t changed a great deal, but I do find myself at least considering both sides of things more often. The more that happens, the more the hypocrisy of some other posititions becomes apparent.
Peter, re your 8:23 comment- TRUST ME, kids that openly practice their faith are nothing more than dog meat in high school.
Whether it’s bigotry or anything else rural areas have a tendency to think it just doesn’t happen here. I’ve lived in St. Lawrence County all my life and still find it amazing the double standard in place. People will be appalled by such things as drug use, alcohol abuse, cronyism, patronage, bigotry at state and federal levels yet deny it happens all to frequently here. I like living here and prefer it to any other area, but that doesn’t translate into thinking I’m better than or more righteous than those in any other geographical area. Our media has a lot to answer for in this area, whether it’s a matter of living in rural communities and becoming too close to certain people in those communities, or just a normal human desire to think that since they are part of something it must be at a higher standard than it is in reality, I don’t know, but it is a disservice to the community in the end.
Bret – trust me – I am well aware that kids get beaten up for their religious beliefs. My father says that when he was a kid in Austria, Christmas was a time of year when you hid or else you got beaten up by the Christian kids. I firmly believe that If people of any faith are being bullied for their religious beliefs at school, the school and the community should stop it forcefully.
I wish the school my best in tackling this issue. They need to keep in mind that childhood bullies and bigots often grow up to be adult bullies and bigots. Our NY State office had several; most have retired and the change in the atmosphere when the worst offender left last year was swift and remarkable. You ask: “How did such behavior thrive in a NYS office where there are policies against bullying and bigoted behavior?” Answer: Inept management.