In private chats people have accused the writers of this blog of not delving past the initial blurbs of news articles. Well, if I was paid in more than glory to post here I'd do more research, but unfortunately for this story I couldn't find more than the blurb despite some effort to find more information.
The entry "Jenna is unwanted" in this article tells us that the group Artists and Activists United for Peace (who I couldn't even find a website for) plan to rally against Jenna Bush during the RNC because she doesn't have the character to teach children and she is apparently taking a job away from a black person. While I am sure there are several ludicrous things about this blurb, a few come to my mind immediately.
First, why is an organization dedicated to peace calling for this rally? Does Jenna have a history of inciting violence? Will she incite hate among the students? I imagine her goal is to educate the children. Not only do we not know what her views are, even if she does fully supports her father on the war, the idea that somehow she'll be passing along the idea that "War is super!" is crazy. Besides, are all teachers checked for their political views? It would be silly to think that a person cannot teach your children because she has a different social outlook. Teaching students skills and information should be the key factor in deciding who should be performing the job.
What are these misadventures that have impugned Jenna's moral character? There is this vague opinion that Jenna is a "party girl", whatever that means. Of course, there were the two instances of underaged drinking 3 years ago (at the age of 19), which ranks right up there with going 10 over the speed limit on the crime wave chart. If all individuals who have committed any crime, no matter what their age, are made ineligible to teach, then there are going to be 200 students to a classroom. Not only are they removing the concept of maturing from the picture, equating moral character and a criminal record is always a bad idea.
Finally, are there 50 teachers for every position in Harlem? Is Harlem one of those rare places that have an overabundance of qualified individuals just lining up to teach the children? I suspect that this might not be the case, so to accuse her of stealing a job from another individual is a little ridiculous. To further state that a black person is being denied an opportunity in-particular is just racist and xenophobic.
Posted by boo at July 24, 2004 01:11 AM | TrackBack