From South Africa WITHOUT love: Happy Birthday, Adolph Hitler!
What is this! A birthday message from South Africa to the icon of racism, the scourge of history, the man whose name is a noun, a verb, an adjective...maybe a pronoun...perhaps a gerund?
Yeah, well I'm not gonna go out and celebrate in any way. He was born on this day, April 20, in 1889. On this day those whacko's in Columbine, Colorado went whacko and did their evil deed at Columbine High School. Makes one wonder if they chose Hitler's birthday as a special way to commemorate their bloody rampage.
I write this because this day really does mean something to me. It was on this day last year that a "Happy Birthday - Adolph Hitler" message was read over the public address system of my school...commemorating Hitler's big day. Imagine. My name was attached to the message. It seems two rascal students got permission to submit the message to the office at Flint S.W. Academy. They placed it in a basket where messages are retrieved daily/then they are read over the P.A. system to the staff and students (we have about 1,500 students). Interesting, huh?
The message was read by a school administrator whose name I will not reveal. To me, it seems to have been read with a certain gusto. I, along with my students, was stunned. It took my breath away. I had to sit down. Then the anger came...
Three students were sent to the office. They were given specific instructions to ask the administrator who read the birthday-boy message on the P.A. to come to my room. They did so. Within a few minutes the administrator was at my doorstep asking me what was wrong.
I explained why I was upset. She listened intently. I asked her to get back on the P.A. and issue an immediate withdrawal of her earlier remarks. It was not that she had to apologize to me personally, I just asked her to retract the statement about my name being associated with Hiter's birthday...that it had all been a mistake.
She said she could not do that. She also stated that she would not do it. I received a personal apology from her and that was going to be the end of it...according to her. It was NOT the end of it for me.
Later that day, a fellow teacher approached me and explained his grandmother was Jewish. He asked me, "How could you do such a thing, John?" I was hurt. I tried to explain to him that the whole thing was done maliciously by two of my students (who actually were no longer my students, having been transferred to another teacher). The colleague seemed to understand...
During the day students kept badgering me about the "Happy Birthday - Adolph Hitler" reading on the P.A. It was incessant. Some of the kids laughed, even after I explained the circumstances to them. It was not a nice day.
The next day I decided to counter the reading with an explaination of what had happened to my students. They knew who the administrator was...they understood the "mistake" that had been made. I believe they understood my passion, my anger over the matter.
To make a long story short, I was given an official repremand by the building principal for talking about the administrator in question. It was to placed in my permanent personnel file. The reaction from the building principal, who has since retired, was a shock to me. I thought he was a man who understood me...someone who understood why I was angry over such a matter. By the way, the building principal was Jewish.
I fought the written repremand through teacher labor union channels afforded Flint teachers: The United Teachers of Flint. I was given an ultimatum not to talk about the matter until the end of the semester, that would have been January, 2006. The time is up...
Thanks to the fact that this matter could have been resolved immediately after it happened, it lives on. One good thing resulted from the incident and the consequences I had to pay--those students will never forget about Hitler's birthday on April 20. Is that a good thing? I'm not sure.
I'm telling the story here in South Africa. My students and some of my colleagues know about it now. Maybe they'll remember Hitler's birthday on April 20. Hopefully, most will remember that justice was not served on that day in my classroom at Flint S.W.Academy, Flint, Michigan.
My lesson following the birthday "celebration" was Dr. Martin Luther King's famous quote: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." I wrote that quote on the chalkboard the following day in my room. We discussed it in my classes during the day. I tried to steer the students to my rationale in believing what was done was an injustice. My lesson had to do with even the smallest injustice being perpetrated against someone or a group...was something to be done about it by the perceived victim?
To me, it was a good lesson. And it continues to be a good lesson. I guess a thank you is in order to that administrator, right? I thank you for your insensitivity and inaction that day. You gave me a lesson to teach that is now reaching learners in South Africa. Thank you, thank you, thank you...
Yeah, well I'm not gonna go out and celebrate in any way. He was born on this day, April 20, in 1889. On this day those whacko's in Columbine, Colorado went whacko and did their evil deed at Columbine High School. Makes one wonder if they chose Hitler's birthday as a special way to commemorate their bloody rampage.
I write this because this day really does mean something to me. It was on this day last year that a "Happy Birthday - Adolph Hitler" message was read over the public address system of my school...commemorating Hitler's big day. Imagine. My name was attached to the message. It seems two rascal students got permission to submit the message to the office at Flint S.W. Academy. They placed it in a basket where messages are retrieved daily/then they are read over the P.A. system to the staff and students (we have about 1,500 students). Interesting, huh?
The message was read by a school administrator whose name I will not reveal. To me, it seems to have been read with a certain gusto. I, along with my students, was stunned. It took my breath away. I had to sit down. Then the anger came...
Three students were sent to the office. They were given specific instructions to ask the administrator who read the birthday-boy message on the P.A. to come to my room. They did so. Within a few minutes the administrator was at my doorstep asking me what was wrong.
I explained why I was upset. She listened intently. I asked her to get back on the P.A. and issue an immediate withdrawal of her earlier remarks. It was not that she had to apologize to me personally, I just asked her to retract the statement about my name being associated with Hiter's birthday...that it had all been a mistake.
She said she could not do that. She also stated that she would not do it. I received a personal apology from her and that was going to be the end of it...according to her. It was NOT the end of it for me.
Later that day, a fellow teacher approached me and explained his grandmother was Jewish. He asked me, "How could you do such a thing, John?" I was hurt. I tried to explain to him that the whole thing was done maliciously by two of my students (who actually were no longer my students, having been transferred to another teacher). The colleague seemed to understand...
During the day students kept badgering me about the "Happy Birthday - Adolph Hitler" reading on the P.A. It was incessant. Some of the kids laughed, even after I explained the circumstances to them. It was not a nice day.
The next day I decided to counter the reading with an explaination of what had happened to my students. They knew who the administrator was...they understood the "mistake" that had been made. I believe they understood my passion, my anger over the matter.
To make a long story short, I was given an official repremand by the building principal for talking about the administrator in question. It was to placed in my permanent personnel file. The reaction from the building principal, who has since retired, was a shock to me. I thought he was a man who understood me...someone who understood why I was angry over such a matter. By the way, the building principal was Jewish.
I fought the written repremand through teacher labor union channels afforded Flint teachers: The United Teachers of Flint. I was given an ultimatum not to talk about the matter until the end of the semester, that would have been January, 2006. The time is up...
Thanks to the fact that this matter could have been resolved immediately after it happened, it lives on. One good thing resulted from the incident and the consequences I had to pay--those students will never forget about Hitler's birthday on April 20. Is that a good thing? I'm not sure.
I'm telling the story here in South Africa. My students and some of my colleagues know about it now. Maybe they'll remember Hitler's birthday on April 20. Hopefully, most will remember that justice was not served on that day in my classroom at Flint S.W.Academy, Flint, Michigan.
My lesson following the birthday "celebration" was Dr. Martin Luther King's famous quote: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." I wrote that quote on the chalkboard the following day in my room. We discussed it in my classes during the day. I tried to steer the students to my rationale in believing what was done was an injustice. My lesson had to do with even the smallest injustice being perpetrated against someone or a group...was something to be done about it by the perceived victim?
To me, it was a good lesson. And it continues to be a good lesson. I guess a thank you is in order to that administrator, right? I thank you for your insensitivity and inaction that day. You gave me a lesson to teach that is now reaching learners in South Africa. Thank you, thank you, thank you...
posted by JOBURG JOURNAL at 12:00 AM
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