If Kimberly Swygert were Education Czar, as she should be, I suspect that Ann Arbor Pioneer High School in, you guessed it, Ann Arbor would be in grave danger of losing its accreditation.
In another example of real life (or what passes for it these days) imitating parody, a student at the high school was not allowed to criticize a “Diversity Week” program. When she complained that a panel on Religion and Homosexuality had six speakers all of whom represented the same point of view, Parker Pennington, a prominent science teacher at the school, told the student newspaper that “allowing adults hostile to homosexuality on that panel would be like inviting white supremacists on a race panel.”
Well, yes. That’s why diversity of opinion is called … diversity of opinion. In the old days that was thought to be a Good Thing, especially by liberals.
[Time Out for a {Snide Aside}: At this point I would have liked to point out that the diversity of opinion-fearing science teacher, Parker Pennington, was a Michigan graduate — this document reveals that he does have a University of Michigan email address — and that Ann Arbor Pioneer High School thus appears to be a ideal feeder school for the diversity-fixated hometown university — but, alas, he graduated from Michigan State. Oh well, maybe the whole state has a fixation on non-diverse diversity.{/Snide Aside}
The student, Elizabeth Hansen, and her mother sued the school board, which showed its devotion to diversity of opinion by cancelling “Diversity Week” for the following year (2003). Referring to the policies of the school board as reminiscent of Nazi Germany, U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen ruled just ruled against the school board in a 70 page opinion blasting its practice of “one-way diversity.” Judge Rosen’s blistering opinion began:
“This case presents the ironic, and unfortunate, paradox of a public high school celebrating ‘diversity’ by refusing to permit the presentation to students of an ‘unwelcomed’ viewpoint on the topic of homosexuality and religion, while actively promoting the competing view. This practice of ‘one-way diversity,’ unsettling in itself, was rendered still more troubling—both constitutionally and ethically—by the fact that the approved viewpoint was, in one manifestation, presented to students as religious doctrine by six clerics (some in full garb) quoting from religious scripture. In its other manifestation, it resulted in the censorship by school administrators of a student’s speech about ‘what diversity means to me,’ removing that portion of the speech in which the student described the unapproved viewpoint.”
“All of this, of course, raises the question, among others presented here, of what ‘diversity’ means and whether a school may promote one view of ‘diversity’ over another. Even accepting that the term ‘diversity’ has evolved in recent years to mean, at least colloquially, something more than the dictionary definition, the notion of sponsorship of one viewpoint to the exclusion of another hardly seems to further the school’s purported objective of ‘celebrating diversity.’ In this context, it would do well to recall the Supreme Court’s admonition in another school speech case:
In our system, state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. . . [and] students may not be regarded as closed-circuit recipients of only that which the State chooses to communicate. They may not be confined to the expression of those sentiments that are officially approved.” (quoting from Tinker v. DesMoines Indep. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503, 511 (1969)).
Amen.
“Diversity,” as is increasingly common, is simply used here as a euphemism for “good.” This without even the typical showcase veneer of standard “diversity” supporting pablum.
Essentially they are saying that the officially-sanctioned opinion on this contentious topic is good/diverse, while the opposing view is bad/un-diverse–or if you prefer another left-wing canard–racist, bigoted, homophobic etc.
Diversity is sublime we all know, though only its commissars are qualified to tell us precisely what is, and is not, “diverse.”
“Diversity,” as is increasingly common, is simply used here as a euphemism for “good.” This without even the typical showcase veneer of standard “diversity” supporting pablum.
Essentially they are saying that the officially-sanctioned opinion on this contentious topic is good/diverse, while the opposing view is bad/un-diverse–or if you prefer another left-wing canard–racist, bigoted, homophobic etc.
Diversity is sublime we all know, though only its commissars are qualified to tell us precisely what is, and is not, “diverse.”
Although Pennington would not like to hear it, I just had to point out that a truly diverse panel on race would include supremacists of every color. Listening those types rant and rave, and listening to them get their arguments shot down by more logical folk, would be a true education for the Ann Arbor students.
The solution to bad speech is more speech. Too bad Ann Arbor wants to rule not only certain speech but certain points of view off-limits. If they hold this type of panel again, perhaps some students will demand that it at least be entitled, “Unanimity of Thought And Speech Week”.
Please help. I saw your blog, linked from J Jacobs. We are trying to find a school for our boys. The final straw landed yesterday. Peter’s 6th grade teacher says that he can read any book he chooses during independent reading time. However, he must remain with the class in reading Banner In The Sky and doing all of the assignments. She is aware that P’s reading comprehension level is at 12.9+ but he will still have to stay on track with the other students anyway.
Peter is the third of our 5 gifted boys. We’re not vain, we’re just disgusted. Is there a school anywhere that teaches the basics? That teaches a child on their own level? That does not discriminate due to age, but looks instead at ability? Academically Gifted classes in the schools we have tried have been nothing short of jokes. A student is only allowed to be acad gifted to a certain point and that’s it.
We are searching for a small school, one that time forgot. We are looking for a school that will teach our boys. No more 6th grade poster projects about how numbers are a part of our daily lives. No more 4th grade AG spelling homework that requires the student to make two lists of his spelling words and circle the vowels in one and the consonants in the other.
We are desperate. Any help at all will be sincerely appreciated. We will move most anywhere. We are currently in Winston-Salem, NC. We prefer to stay on the Atlantic coast as we have family here but – hey – education is the priority so we will look seriously at any suggestion.
Thank you so much,
The Sauls Family
StuartT is right on target here–I’ve heard (more times than I can count) people use the phrase “He’s such a diverse individual,” with “diverse” serving as an all-purpose honorific. It leaves me wondering, though, what a diverse individual would look like–two individuals smashed together? A parti-colored featherless biped?