Mr. Mendola states that the election of a Black president and Supreme Court justice proves racism doesn’t exist in the U.S. So, I ask him, what about lynching, the KKK’s terrorist acts, red-lining by banks, the attack on the Capitol by white, confederate flag-waving, assault rifle-toting domestic terrorists, racial profiling by law enforcement (featured on the front page of the Monitor the day his own rant against democracy was published), inequities in the criminal justice system, etc.? To list the wounds Black people suffer daily would take volumes.
With their politically-motivated agenda, Mr. Mendola and Commissioner Edelblut, along with other Trump toadies, put forth one goal for indoctrinating children: a closed-minded, unquestioning, heterosexist, misogynist, white Christian orthodoxy, criminalizing those suggesting differently. Anyone valuing the “Other,” is anti-democratic. Cue the irony track.
His remarks point to the fallacy of “Replacement Theory,” which is yet another example of how fearful those in power are of the ones they themselves mistreat. Silencing those “outcasts” will not make them go away. It simply denies their right to exist, the true “replacement.” As with Fox News, the GOP’s mouthpiece, and Tucker Carlson, in particular, giving him space on the opinion page only encourages the violence perpetrated against the victims of his screed. His libeling John Dewey is another example of playing fast and loose with the truth. At Dewey-inspired Goddard College, we were taught to respect all, question assumptions and biases, and learn by doing.
Darlene Olivo
Concord