“Our character is not defined by the battles we win or lose, but by the battles we dare to fight.” – Robert Beatty, “Serafina and the Black Cloak,” 2015.
At its first meeting of the new year, January 9, 2023, the Board of Directors of the Clover Park School District (CPSD) unanimously approved the motion “that a presentation be made to the board on the matter of equipping our children with the ability to navigate issues surrounding race and racism.”
What happens when a young child, prepared for her search for the truth, “dares to enter the very forest and down the dark paths that she has been taught to fear”?
The answer to that question is what prompted Beatty to write the Serafina and Willa novels, stories of heroic young girls he composed for his three daughters to inspire them, in turn, to live, in real life, their own stories of heroism.
“Serafina and the Black Cloak,” became a #1 New York Times best seller, was on the list for more than 60 weeks, and won the prestigious 2016 Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize.
It was the first of what would be the Serafina series, and the books are being taught in over a thousand classrooms nationwide.
What dangers may lurk down the road and into the places the CPSD School Board has chosen to travel?
That same day as the CPSD Board’s decision, the Everett Herald quoted Deborah Rumbaugh, Superintendent of the Stanwood-Camano School District as saying “we will always be fine-tuning what that (anti-racism) means for the students and the adults in our system. I don’t think we would ever say, ‘We’ve got it. That work is done.'”
Rumbaugh was referring to the need for “deeper anti-racism work,” the ‘catalyst’ for which was the November 4, 2022, football game between Stanwood and Lakes High School where investigations found racism was ‘likely’, according to an article in the Tacoma News Tribune.
Ron Banner, CPSD Superintendent, wrote recently “This unfortunate event serves as a reminder that all of us have an important role in creating an environment that is inclusive and respectful for all.”
TheCPSD Board agrees.
More important than racial slurs; more important than assessing blame and consequences, the racial incidents on the field and in locker rooms have generated needed discussions in the classrooms and now in the board room.
As a community member said during the public comment portion of the meeting this past Monday night, “it will take strong leadership to change course and convince others to follow,” on this “journey to a more tolerant and understanding community.”
A school board’s ever-vigilant pursuit “to gain a deeper understanding of issues; to provide the public opportunity to discuss issues, and to exhibit cultural, racial, and ethnic understanding and sensitivity,” is all characteristic of what is meant by good governance as referenced in the Washington State School Directors’ Association publication entitled “Washington School Board Standards.”
Certainly, equipping our children with the ability to navigate issues surrounding race and racism is in keeping with those standards.
Per Procedure 4400-P1 of the Public Disclosure Commission, and like regulations, I am authoring this article as an elected official (Board Director, CPSD) but I am doing so on my own behalf, and not on behalf of the district.
The word racism was used throughout this article, but when I use it I am put into moderation delay.
Regardless, I find racism as a topic to be very one-sided, as if it is impossible to be discriminated against if you are a “white” male, or less specifically “white” in general.
That has not been my lived experience, especially of late.
Isn’t it odd that those who insist on racial focus also insist on tearing down and rewriting history?
Even more odd is that these folks would reference a fiction novel instead.
Battles may define our character alright, but they also determine our future. That is the only reason to fight them.
In reality you only get to fall on your sword once. You only get to die in battle once, like all of the brave and unfortunate people who have over the ages – real people of history, not some video game or fiction novel.
All the lessons we will ever need have been learned and forgotten over and again.
Heros are defined by their actions, not their desires.
Actions are what determine one’s merits.
A merit-based society loves its heros.
All these fiction novels are chock-full of them.
How about we focus on real heroism where race has no bearing, like those who sacrificed so much, that we can live lives of self-determination – free of tyrants or collective destruction or a gas-lit topic that favors some and shames others, like racism?
The word “racism” is one of many words that trigger a moderation on a comment. I had the opportunity to read the article in question before publishing it on my website and exercise the same privilege on comments.
Thanks for clarifying that.
I figured as much but also figured others would like to know how that works as well.