To the students and faculty of our high school:
I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no
greater calling than to teach young people.
I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to
our school. I am making these changes because I am convinced that most
of the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked
against you, against your teachers and against our country.
First, this school will no
longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white. I could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian or
European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave ships. The only identity I care about, the only one this school will recognize, is your individual identity -- your
character, your scholarship, your humanity. And the only national identity this school will care about is American. This is an American
public school, and American public schools were created to make better
Americans.
If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial or religious identity
through school, you will have to go elsewhere. We will end all
ethnicity-, race- and non-American nationality-based celebrations. They
undermine the motto of America , one of its three central values --
e pluribus unum, "from many, one." And this school will be guided by
America 's values.
This includes all after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs
that divide students based on any identities. This includes race,
language, religion, sexual orientation or whatever else may become in
vogue in a society divided by political correctness.
Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood,
ethnic, racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just
cultivate narcissism -- an unhealthy preoccupation with the self --
while the purpose of education is to get you to think beyond yourself.
So we will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of
art, music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, carpentry and
more. If the only extracurricular activities you can imagine being
interesting in are those based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity,
that means that little outside of yourself really interests you.
Second, I am uninterested in whether English is your native
language. My only interest in terms of language is that you leave this
school speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The English
language has united America 's citizens for over 200 years, and it will
unite us at this school. It is one of the indispensable reasons this
country of immigrants has always come to be one country. And if you
leave this school without excellent English language skills, I would be
remiss in my duty to ensure that you will be prepared to successfully
compete in the American job market. We will learn other languages here
-- it is deplorable that most Americans only speak English -- but if you
want classes taught in your native language rather than in English, this
is not your school.
Third, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor,
everything in this school will reflect learning's elevated status. This
means, among other things, that you and your teachers will dress
accordingly. Many people in our society dress more formally for
Hollywood events than for church or school. These people have their
priorities backward. Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at
this school.
Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this
school's property -- whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic
events. If you can't speak without using the f-word, you can't speak.
By obscene language I mean the words banned by the Federal
Communications Commission, plus epithets such as "Nigger," even when
used by one black student to address another black, or "bitch," even
when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the
time you leave this school, you will be among the few your age to
instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the
holy and the obscene.
Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school,
self-esteem will be attained in only one way -- the way people attained
it until decided otherwise a generation ago -- by earning it. One
immediate consequence is that there will be one valedictorian, not
eight.
Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics
and away from politics and propaganda. No more time will be devoted to
scaring you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual
harassment or global warming. No more semesters will be devoted to
condom wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations as only or
primarily a health issue. There will be no more attempts to convince you
that you are a victim because you are not white, or not male, or not
heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of you
graduates this school and does not consider him or herself inordinately
lucky -- to be alive and to be an American.
Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the
flag of our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers
will hand them out to you. |
