Fwd: New High School Principal's speech to students.

Endless 3ndless at riseup.net
Tue Feb 2 01:42:23 PST 2016


> My kinda speech,
> Zenaan
>
> ---
> New high school principal
>
> A Speech Every Australian High School Principal Should Give.

Hello Zenaan,

Wouldn't it be nice if we all lived in a world without racism? A world
without prejudice based on ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation?

Prejudice and racism propagate in locations where people are not exposed
to other cultures and taught to look outward towards the world in view
of peace and tolerance. Banning cultural, national or ethnic
celebrations creates an environment where only one cultural outlook is
valued and respected, contributing to the idea that all other cultures
should be shunned and dismissed. This is the essence of racism and
intolerance, founded in ignorance and lack of outward perception.

Open clubs created in order to promote understanding of differing
cultures and people belonging to different minorities, said to "divide
students" in the speech you have so relevantly and tactfully distributed
among this mailing list, aid in supporting a message of tolerance and
acceptance of diversity to the point where they may form the core of a
school's strategy against racism. Banning or otherwise dismantling such
clubs would further reduce opportunities for a school's students to
engage with other cultures and develop a wider perspective that takes
into account the differences of all people in this world.

Furthermore, allowing some classes, designed to cater for international
students, to proceed in a language other than English, is critical in
fostering an environment where students from other cultures are welcome
and able to learn alongside students that are typically considered
"ethnically Australian". Failing to foster such an environment not only
results in an ethnically homogenous school population, characterized by
strong opinions against diversity, but also tears down the advances in
tolerance and global thinking put forward by programs such as open
school clubs and cultural celebrations.

In today's connected age, where it is not longer important, but
essential, to be able to interact with and understand those from
differing cultures and geographic locations, neglecting the importance
of cultural awareness is not only failing to prepare a school's students
for a better future, the main goal of all education, but also resorting
to an incredibly outdated and naive view of education that has primarily
been demonstrated in centuries past, where the purpose of school, as it
used to be, was to equip students with the skills necessary, and only
the skills necessary, to carry out a repetitive task known as their
"job", mandated by a central power.

It seems that the narrator of the speech you have posted deems such an
"education" to be the end goal of all schooling, clearly demonstrated by
their adamant insistence in ensuring that all students are to compete on
the "Australian job market", rather than adopting a more modern
perspective that acknowledges the existence of a global, or at the very
least, international, potential for employment.

Finally, the drive and commitment to an Australian national identity, so
fervently expressed by the narrator, fails to take into account that
Australia's national identity relies on a global perspective to provide
cohesiveness within Australian society and that "Australian culture", as
understood by the majority of Australian residents, is rather
superficial to the point where Australia is deemed "primarily
culture-less", relying instead on a strong attachment to multiculturalism.

I truly hope that you did not mean "your kinda speech" to be one of
intolerance and prejudice, similar to the speeches supported by and
created in the interests of nazi and neo-nazi supporters or parties.
Rather, I am optimistic of the idea that you have posted such a speech
as a result of a desire to take the point of view of a devil's advocate
and are indeed seeking a better world, one where racism, prejudice and
intolerance are notions of the past.

All the best,
Endless

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