This timely letter went out Newton South students and faculty today.
Dear Newton South students,
I am writing to share that yesterday the faculty of Newton South High School met, and committed to addressing and discussing with you the events unfolding in our country over the past several weeks.
Of course it’s not just the past several weeks. Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd are only the most recent Black Americans that we know of who were murdered, but their names are echoes of other names that we have heard over the years: Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner…
This is why we say, here and now, Black Lives Matter. It’s atrocious that we would need to, and yet vital that we do so.
This next paragraph is for those of you who do not understand why we are not saying “all lives matter.” I saw someone explain it this way – when a house is on fire, we don’t ask the fire department to pour water on every house on the block because all homes matter. We respond to the fire. We say “Black Lives Matter” because Black Americans are being killed and murdered in our country. It does not mean that White lives don’t matter. Being anti-racist is not the same thing as being anti-White.
Dr. Martin Luther King said: “a time comes when silence is betrayal.” In classes, we will be talking about not only what happened, but what we can do next. What you can do, and what we can do together. Dr. King also said “True peace is not merely absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.” Some of us may be tempted to want to move on if/when the images of violence and tension ebb from our media feeds. But Dr. King makes it clear that in order to have a community where all are free, we must actively pursue equity and justice for all of us.
We practice these concepts often in our school: whenever you put the team’s goals before your personal goals; whenever you consider the impact of your actions on others; whenever you stand up in support of what is right rather than remain silent and let it pass. Choosing Kindness, Listening First, Showing Respect, Taking Responsibility. We must now turn these skills into action: we must learn what it takes to build a fully anti-racist Newton South, so that you are ready to take these lessons to your communities after you graduate. It’s never been more clear: this is urgent. If not now, then when? If not us, then who?
So as you discuss and ponder what may be uncomfortable topics for you, remember that we all have a role to play, and that this work will never be over. Being anti-racist is not a state of being, it is continually taking action.
Thank you, Newton South, for your energy, care, and attention. I know that you will rise to this occasion, as you have before.
As for me, I acknowledge that even these words are a product of who I am, and my experiences as a 51-year-old White male. My words here are not perfect, and they may never be, but I must not be silent – that much I know.
I am very proud to be principal of a school with such caring, thoughtful, and passionate students and adults.
Best regards,
Joel Stembridge, Principal
I recently read commentary to the Newton community from Mayor Fuller, City Council President Albright and School Committee Chair Goldman regarding George Floyd. I’m concerned about their sweeping statement that there is “on-going violence across the country against the Black community” coming from our “schools and law enforcement,” which they claim “are imbued with bias and uneven treatment.”
Since I believe there is no evidence of current widespread racial bias by our police departments and schools, I’m looking for the statistical basis upon which they make such sweeping assertions, as well as the basis upon which they claim that Mr. Floyd lost his life “due to the color of his skin.”
I’m also wondering whether School Superintendent Fleishman’s hiring of a Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as announced in the commentary, represents a new publicly funded position, and whether this is in part a response to what they term the “murder of George Floyd.” Since they elect to use the term “murder”, they may or may not be aware the official cause of Mr. Floyd’s death, according to the medical examiner, was cardiopulmonary arrest, not asphyxiation, and the report points to contributing factors that were not mentioned by the family autopsy, stating that Floyd had heart disease, was high on fentanyl, a powerful opioid, and had recently taken methamphetamine.
Really Jim? Type in “black police statistics” into Google and take your pick. In general you are 2.5 times more likely to have a fatal encounter with police if your skin is brown or black.
As for calling it”murder” – don’t ask Newton officials, ask the City of Minneapolis who has charged the perpetrator with homicide, asks the police chiefs across the country who have deemed it murder, ask just about anybody who has seen the video.
Have you seen the video? Are you defending the police actions? Are you really blaming this on the victim?
Jerry, since you raise a “2.5 times” fatal encounter with police for “brown or black”, you of course unfortunately have to compare that to a crime rate ratio of the particular group to other groups (which you leave out).
Homicide is not the same as murder (it includes negligent or other manslaughter as well as excusable and justifiable homicides). Moreover, there has been no conviction.
Also, were you aware that there had been discussion among the cops at the scene as to the best way to place a fentanyl victim, stomach/face down or up or to the side, precisely to avoid death — after the victim went crazy in the cruiser unable to be seated — and thereafter an ambulance was called? Are you aware of the pressure of the knee (perhaps there was criminal negligence, but I don’t see a murder conviction).
I thought this site was a safe place. I feel threatened with these type of posts.
My mother always told me if you want a good life, show respect to adults, do well in school, go to college, hang around good people and know there is a higher power. I grew up very poor. I ate more peanut butter and jelly and cheese sandwiches more than anyone I knew. I never knew my Dad and my Mom was a waitress. I did all of those things she told me and I got into college and just bought her a house. It’s not that hard, you just have to want to.
Racism is evil. Our history of it is sickening and brings great shame for our country. But I am not racist, never have been. I guess because i’m half white, half black i’ve never understood how that even works.
I do believe that my mother was right and i also believe that had i not done those things, I would not have a successful life. I also understood that if it was to be, it was up to me.
Black lives DO matter there is no doubt. And at the end of all this, it’s not that we will forget it’s that by the end of the day we are responsible for our own lives. No one does anything TO me, what happens to me I attract on my own both good and bad.
You see, life is like a plain crash. When something goes wrong and it falls out of the sky it is ALWAYS as a result of a series of mistakes and decisions that happened way before (sometimes years!) the moment the plane is falling out of
the sky.
Principal Stembridge, your words are comforting and empathetic. No one could ever have a problem with what you said. But unfortunately, you’re right, they’re just words.
I am responsible for Me. Only I can do it. No one can do it for me. And as politically difficult as it might be to say it, it is the absolute Truth whether you’re Black or White. You know it, I know it and others know it. RIP George Floyd and all the rest of those whose life was cut short. May those who pulled the trigger pay for their terrible misdeeds. But what we must understand is that the downfall of George Floyd’s life began way before the moment a knee was put to his neck. He alone, is responsible for all of the decisions made that eventually put him in that very tragic position.
Racism is horrible thing. So is homophobia and any hate that we pour onto a person for any reason. But it is as fact of life. We all judge one another by superficial, stereotypical, foolish things. It is a part of who we are as imperfect humans. Did you know Americans are not able to purchase a home in Japan? How many black and white people were on the last Chinese Olympic team? Racism is everywhere. it is a part of life. We are “pack herders.” We feel drawn to others who are similar to us and there is nothing wrong with that. If “Black Lives Matter” means we all have to sing kum ba yah and hug each other everyday and pretend that we live in this perfect Utopia whree everyone gets along, i’m out. Because that’s not authentic.
If Black Lives Matter is about better policing, taking the chip off the cops shoulder, trimming down an ego or power trip just waiting to arrest and or shoot someone. If Black Live Matter is about criminal justice reform, changing how we treat and punish people for things like drugs and taking non-violent people out of jail and allowing them to get a job rather than attaching a lifelong life debilitating scarlet letter on them, then i’m all for it!!
Thank you.