Education / Schools

Refusing To Be Known As Just The Racist School District, Antivax Added To The Mix

'History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.'

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I love a good follow-up story. This is not one of them. Remember the school from last week that I wished a lawsuit on if racist shenanigans continued? Well, it’s time to call the education version of Marc Elias.

A special education assistant at Mabel Rush Elementary School named Lauren Pefferle woke up one day, covered her face in black makeup (maybe it was Fenty?), went to work to protest a legal mandate that should protect children, and got put on administrative leave? Come on now! I’ve seen people get fired for sitting when they weren’t supposed to.

I can’t even imagine Black history month at this school. It’s likely that I won’t have to, as I’m sure the school board likely considers it too political and will nix it, but time will tell.  Either way, I will bet that they’ll be back in the news in a couple of weeks. How do you even bounce back from something like this? My money is on an apology being released that parents accuse of being “cultural marxism.” As a former educator, my hope is that this will be a tipping point event that encourages frank discussion about the permanence and pervasiveness of race. That this spurs hard questions that teachers and students search for answers to, like why is it so easy for white folks to misappropriate the legacies of black civil rights activists for their own ends, or rather, why do they love the culture as they carry disdain for the people? It’s said better elsewhere by Paul Mooney, but I digress. Chances are, these hopes are too high and I will get accused of pushing CRT onto the innocent minds of Oregon youth. C’est la vie.

In the spirit of historical repetition, furthermore, I consider that Newburg School District must be sued.

Newberg Public Schools Employee On Leave After Reporting To Work In ‘Blackface’ [KPTV]

Earlier: High School Students At School That Banned BLM Flags Treat Black Classmates Like Slaves

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. Before that, he wrote columns for an online magazine named The Muse Collaborative under the pen name Knehmo. He endured the great state of Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com.

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