Hesitation and Backlash.

 

Hesitation and Backlash are the guardian dogs protecting institutions from accountability. Its difficult to get around the fear of dealing with the weight on an institution that does not support you looking into their closet and finding all their skeletons. In class today, our peers who are covering Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye said they felt the school system was uneasy with their research into its past. They are dealing with wounds that are fresher than we are with our case. Buncombe North Carolina has been in the news for previous cases like the Kite Runner. I found myself asking where their resentment comes from though. If they are confident they have made the right decision for their students, they should proudly share their beliefs and be open to conversations about their beliefs. I believe that the tension comes from shame. Deep down they understand that they made a move that represented their interests instead of the interests of the people they represent.

Rather than expecting acclaim for their good decisions they make them in secret and try to fly under the radar. They hide in the shadows hoping not to get caught be their parents, “Civil rights” and “The peoples court of the internet”.  I wanted to tell my peers to be easy. They will be protected by their schools and libel cases are easy to handle in the United States. Unlike England, in the United States the burden of proof falls to the accuser. They would have to prove that what you have said is untrue and opinions are hard to qualify into truth. The language should be analyzed to keep it within safe parameters though. If one source says one thing and another contradicts it, put them both up and only say that these sources say something. Its not up to us to be the judge of these sources and decide who is telling the truth.

We are dealing with similar tensions but with a school system that refuses to vocalize anything. We decided to confront the School Board and attempt to view documents ourselves today, but they were closed for the whole week. It was an awkward encounter because someone let us into the building and we had no idea where to go. We walked to the Superintendents office and were met with a startled employee who instructed us that we were not supposed to be in the building. The building is closed to the public and the person who would be able to help us had already left at 3pm. We have been told that no complaint against the book exist in the records but with all the controversy and coverage of it I find it hard to believe. Hopefully they will be more willing to share with us next week.