And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 00:01:04 EST
>Subject: Fwd: Erwin
>X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 230
>
>
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 23:18:11 -0400
>From: David Voyles <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Organization: AT&T
>X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.02E (Macintosh; U; 68K)
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Erwin
>References: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>Hello Friend (Thank you for considering me one, as I do you.)
>
>You make a very good point about the deception on which the student vote
>was based, whether all parties considered it deception or not. I will
>share this with my colleagues at every opportunity.
>
>I more than understand your anger. As I told my wife, the more I read,
>not only of the history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but
>recent history (L. Peltier & the Oglala incident, for example), the more
>I am impressed with how patient you have been. It has been twenty years
>since I read "Bury My Heart..." but it is time to read it again. Thanks
>for the reminder.
>
>This information may not help you, but I will share my feelings with you
>from my conversations with school board members in the past two weeks.
>Steve Ensley (a fellow teacher) and I have been lobbying the board in
>preparation for our statement on Thurs. We did not want them to feel
>that we were surprising them with anything, and we also wanted them to
>view the videos I mentioned before. (We sent copies to all whom you had
>not already sent copies.) We did not want to alienate them because we
>think some are close to making the decision we want. We also had been
>wanting to make an official statement as faculty members for some time.
>I have talked with four board members and Steve two. I believe that four
>of those six would like to change the mascot (one is still pretty
>neutral) and are beginning to understand (stress beginning) that this is
>a moral issue and not only a political one. Regardless, they definitely
>understand now that it is a legal one. Of course there's the distinct
>possibility that they are just telling me what I want to hear. I tell
>you what we've done just so that you'll know; in no way am I suggesting
>what you should or shouldn't do. Whether your plans of demonstration
>will push them towards our mutual goal or away from it, I can¹t say.
>
>By all means, I will continue to help in any way possible; I look
>forward to seeing you at the Board meeting on Thursday (you'll be there,
>I understand?)
>
>Rather than wait until Mon. I'm going to type the faculty statement in
>for you now. This is the copy I have at home, and it is pretty close to
>the revised one, if not exactly it. Keep in mind, it expresses a
>majority, but unfortunately, not all of the faculty. (By the way, we
>are not mentioning the numbers, pro or con, of the faculty poll. We
>don't want this to be an issue of numbers, it's an issue of what's right
>or wrong.) If you would like to use the final copy after Thursday in
>any publications, of course, you¹re welcome to it. The intent is to be
>public record.
>
>Definitely with you in spirit,
>David
>
>Faculty Statement
>
> In the belief that a public education institution has not only a
>social responsibility, but a moral obligation to respect and to teach
>respect for all people, regardless of race, religion, gender, or
>culture, we, the undersigned Clyde A. Erwin High School faculty,
>respectfully request that the Buncombe County School Board examine its
>previous decision to allow the mascots at Erwin High School to remain as
>the ³Warriors and Squaws.²
> The directive to allow the student body at Erwin High School to decide
>whether or not to change the mascot placed the faculty in an awkward
>position. While the intention of providing students with an opportunity
>to participate in the democratic process was commendable, a consequence
>of this exercise was to convey the message that decision-making is based
>on personal preference rather than what is right or wrong.
>Additionally, continuing to use ³Warriors and Squaws² has caused many of
>us to feel that by our silence, we are giving our tacit approval to a
>practice which we find morally wrong. We are finding it increasingly
>difficult to live with such a feeling of hypocrisy, that is, the idea
>that we teach tolerance and acceptance of all people, while perpetuating
>a stereotype which demeans Native Americans through our continued use of
>the Erwin mascot.
> Although we acknowledge that no harm or disrespect was ever intended to
>be directed toward Native Americans, we also recognize that to use any
>group of human beings as mascots encourages and perpetuates
>stereotypical depictions of those people. We believe that if we truly
>desire to honor Native Americans, we would refrain from using likenesses
>of them or objects often associated with their sacred ceremonies and
>beliefs.
> Unfortunately, even on a national level, when research is conducted on
>the topic of racism in schools, the names ³Clyde A. Erwin High School²
>and ³Buncombe County Schools² surface. We have an opportunity to be
>recognized instead as an example of a school system that made a
>conscious decision on its own to promote a genuine spirit of respect for
>all cultures and all people.
> In that spirit, we, as members of the faculty of Erwin High School
>would like to encourage the Buncombe County Board of Education to act
>courageously and honorably by effecting a change of mascot at Erwin High
>School, not because it is the politically correct thing to do, but
>because, quite simply, it is the correct thing to do.
>
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
