The Return to School

Everyday -- there is something swirling in my day. Work, PTA Council, and --- graduate school.

School has been the toughest to add in to my daily life.  It's been 25 plus years since my last days of graduate school. Trying to understand reading text, taking notes and participation in a distant education environment has not helped any. Assignments are a little different--discussion board, online whiteboard sessions and everything that is handed out are not through folders in different sections.

PTA council is one of those things that I could have done later but not really. I already spent two years as president-elect. I'm obligated now.

I try to keep my head up and don't get distracted or off track.  It is a constant juggling.

Restaurant in North Charleston and Racism

Racism is still here.

A group of 25 African-Americans were denied service at Wild Wings in North Charleston because a customer(s) felt threatened by their black presence.  In an effort to deter the group, the group waited almost two hours before being told service was being denied.

Here is my interest. Who had enough influence, enough pull to say they felt threatened and caused this reaction by the restaurant management?

Yeah, racism is here. How can that be--we have a black president. A lot of people voted for a black president in 2008 to try to be Pontius Pilate and wash their hands of their racism.

We all profile. We see Jeremy Lin play professional basketball but how prevalent are the "slant eye playing round ball" jokes. Profiling.

We see a house with a bunch of cars around it. Hispanic, we think. Profiling.

We see an old mini-van with a bunch of kids rambling around inside. Hispanic, we think. Profiling.

We see a group of 25 African-Americans wanting to be seated in a restaurant and we feel threatened. Profiling.

We are sitting in a car and see a black male with pants hanging low--black gang banger, we think. Are my car doors locked? Profiling.

If you're black and it's past 5:00, don't be caught in town--numerous cities in the North, South, and West. Racism isn't a Southern thing; it's everywhere.

And let's not even discuss our society's thoughts and reactions to interracial dating and marriage. Racism is still here; ignore and deny if you wish.

Praying Each Month for School Safety

Ok--I read a weird article today about a group of people going into the schools, laying hands on school walls and praying for safety of the school. Each month.  Wow--talk about some weird stuff.

Hey I'm as Christian as the next person but this seems really odd.  But if a group of people want to go lay hands on school walls each month, let them pray. We all want school safety and our children to be safe.

But I'm not supporting it.  It's a real throw into the face for other religious beliefs--you're Jewish? Get out of the way and let us pray.  We are all instructed to have prayer in appropriate places, not as a tool to flaunt ourselves as holier than thou. This to me is exactly what this is: flaunting with an extra slap in the face in a government building.

And then the comments on Facebook. Some of these comments are disturbing--there are people like this in Chattanooga? Wiccans are threatening to go into schools and throw salt. Ok--this type of absurdity is why the Bill of Rights freedoms were outlined.

Unlike some clueless Facebook commenters who stated that this country was founded on Christianity--it was really founded on freedom from persecution no matter the religious beliefs!! 

The First Amendment protects all religious beliefs from government designation. No Founding Father wanted one religion above another. Freedom FROM not freedom for. Big, huge difference. Hey, you want to be a Druid like many Founding Fathers were, find your tree; no one is going to stop you.