One final, historical example of exclusion

Again from Hopgood's article, a few quotes on the project to assimilate 'the Indian' in the U.S. back in the 1800s and early 1900s.

The native peoples of America were considered to be like children by the governments in the U.S. during this time period. They were deemed incapable of taking care of their own land and behaving in a civilized manner, therefore, their lands were held in trust until they showed their capacity. Those who could pass the competency test were given "fee-simple titles to the land and thus citizenship during elaborate and heavily symbolic ceremonies conducted by the Indian Office:"

"The crowd would look on while their 'competent' brethren were summoned individually from inside the lodge. The candidates for land titles were dressed in traditional costume and armed with a bow and arrow. After ordering a candidate to shoot his arrow into the distance, the presiding officer... would announce 'You have shot your last arrow'. The arrowless archer would then return to the tipi and reemerge a few minutes later in 'civilized' dress. 'Take the handle of this plow', the government's man would say, 'this act means that you have chosen to live the life of the white man - and the white man lives by work' " (from Frederick E. Hoxie, A Final Promise: The Campaign to Assimilate the Indians, 1880-1920. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989: 180).

This process of "cultural suicide" was continued through institutional schooling which in the words of Captain Richard Henry Pratt aimed to "Kill the Indian in him and save the man" (David Wallace Adams, Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875-1928. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1995: 212, 52).

"Education serves to both clean the slate and replace it with a new lesson" (Hopgood, 18). The trick is that back in the 1800s, the elites were open and proud of this mission - to replace the savage with the civilized, to create an individual who would be worthy of citizenship and participation in civil society. Today, this intention has had to remain part of the subtle background, elite members of a society can no longer openly proclaim their project to erase the savage and preserve the man but, instead, attempt this aim through the promotion of supposedly universal human rights.

Sigh.

A Practical Example of Exclusion

I realize that yesterday's post may have been a wee bit confusing so I thought I'd provide an example - but first a tiny bit more explanation. Civil society, in the sense that I am using it, is a space in which members of a society can engage in free and constructive debate to determine what type of society they want to live in. Citizens (however that is defined) or more generally, members of the society ideally would all have equal access to this space. To me it seems obvious that anyone who is excluded from this discussion suffers a loss of standing in their level of citizenship - a hierarchy is created between those whose opinion is valuable and acceptable and those whose ideas are not.

On with the example. Back in 2006, there was a controversy about a book that had been well-researched and well-written and that dealt with an important topic. The book I am talking about is Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak by Deborah Ellis. This book has been restricted in many school districts, including Toronto, because of a campaign by the Canadian Jewish Congress after the book made the Silver Birch award finalist list. This article by Mary-Lou Zeitoun provides a quick introduction to the situation from one side, here is an article from the Toronto Star posted by the CJC. The issue was whether this book was appropriate for children, and whether it should be made available through schools.

Another book which has been restricted, or banned outright, from various school boards is The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman as well as the other two books in his Dark Materials trilogy after a campaign by the American Catholic League and the release of the major motion picture in 2007 (although the books have been available since 1995). In this article from the CTV, the reason for the removal is explained - Pullman is an admitted atheist and his values do not fit with those of the Catholic School Board. The best part is that in Halton, the review board okayed to book for Grade 7 and up but the trustees voted to ban it entirely. After all, students can always go the "public" library to get the book. Interesting, where exactly does the Catholic School Board of Halton get its funding?

Okay, the point of this is not that books get banned, after all, we've been allowing library boards to do that for decades but that these bannings, I think, point very strongly towards the groups whose views are acceptable and whose views are not. Palestinians, nope, not acceptable. Atheists, nope, gotta go. And, above all else, children must be protected from reality, from the fact that there are terrible things that happen in the world and that there may be people who disagree with the ones educating them.

In order to have a truly open debate we need to hear from all points of view, be able to critically engage with those views, and come to new understandings about why and how we are to live our lives. I'm not sure how this is supposed to happen if we limit the participants of dialogue only to those people and groups with whom we agree and who support our point of view.

To me, that's pretty weak.

Golden Compass banned in Halton Catholic Schools

Sigh. They even banned distribution of the Scholastic flyer that had an ad for the book.

Support Catholic school funding, support banning books. Fun. I'd like to point out once again that we are only committed to fund separate school up to Grade 9, Ontario continues the funding through high school voluntarily.

"Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 07:55 AM
By: 680News staff

Toronto - The Halton Catholic School Board has pulled a fantasy book off library shelves because of a complaint.

The Golden Compass was named the best children's book in the past 70 years by readers across the globe and has been made into a movie, opening Dec. 7, starring Nicole Kidman.

But its popularity didn't stop the school board from banning it.

Two other books in the trilogy by British author Philip Pullman have also been removed as a precaution.

Halton's Manager of Library Services said the complaint came after Pullman said in an interview that he's an atheist.

Principals have also been ordered not to distribute December Scholastic book flyers because The Golden Compass is available to order."

On Klees... from a friend

I just discovered that one of my dearest friends has a blog - and he never told me! Or he did and I wasn't listening. So I am totally outing him.

This post is interesting... apparently the funding proposal for faith-based schools is from our very own Frank Klees. Ahhh... the pride of Newmarket-Aurora.

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I’ve read an awful lot of commentaries wondering why on earth John Tory would ever have decided to make Faith-Based School Funding an issue in the upcoming election. On the surface it seems like a sure fire way to lose party support given, that the majority opinion of Ontarians are against the move. Well, it turns out that we have Oak Ridges MPP, Frank Klees to thank.

According to Susanna Kelley of TVO’s The Agenda Mr. Klees ambushed newly crowned PC leader John Tory with a meeting between himself and a group of Jewish supporters from Thornhill.

Suddenly, … the media message coming out of the conference was funding for faith-based schools, not at all what Tory and his supporters had originally planned.

Mr. Klees lobbied continually for this to become part of the party platform over the next two years.

If Newmarket-Aurora is looking for someone to be held accountable for this particular Conservative policy… Frenk Klees is your man.

Read the entire article “Frank Klees’ Ambush and Funding for Faith-Based Schools

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--Vanessa

Tory... my two cents on religious school funding

I think it's possible that John Tory is trying to lose this election. Or that he has had some sort of seizure of conscience and is actually speaking his truth instead of trying to win the election. Wacky.

As for funding private religious schools, let me add my voice to the chorus that think it is a very bad idea and will do nothing to make Ontario and Canada a healthier and more inclusive nation. Here are my responses to the two main arguments that I've been hearing for religious school funding:

1. The argument that this will bring more students into the Ontario School System and ensure that they follow curriculum and can be inspected. Holey moley does this piss me off. What a load of bullshit (excuse my language). I can't believe that he hasn't been smacked down in public for making such an asinine statement. And every single one of those people who are arguing for private-religious-school funding ought to be ashamed of themselves. Let me make this very clear:

A school may not grant an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) unless it is inspected and follows the Ontario curriculum. Students will not graduate with a diploma recognized by post-secondary institutions unless they are inspected.

I know this because I worked in a private school and we were inspected every... single... year.

2. The argument is that this will make the system *fair*.

My response is: Since when has what is *fair* determined what the government does or does not do? I agree it isn't fair but the deal with the Catholic schools was part of the very thorny negotiations to make this country come into being 140 years ago. It is a piece of endemic unfairness that is enshrined in the very fabric of our nation. It turns out that only schooling up to Grade 8 was part of the deal and it was only through the 1900s that the agreement was gradually expanded, not reaching OAC until 1984. Let's can this sucker.

To be truly *fair* we could hold a referendum, like Newfoundland did, and hopefully get rid of anything other than a secular school system with education in tolerance and world religions, ethics and critical thinking.

Religious education, if done at all, can be done at home, at church, and after school.

You all know I'm big on the UN, and Ontario has been censured for "discriminating against non-Catholics by funding Catholic separate schools, but not funding other separate schools."

I guess... in the end... I applaud John Tory for having the courage to bring up a difficult issue that should be addressed, I just come down on the opposite side.

On Tory... from a friend

My beloved friend sbd has issued her own little polemic and since she has said it with more conviction that I could myself (and first hand knowledge) I wanted to share (with her permission of course):

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23 September 2007

does this mean I'm going to have to vote Liberal?

Tory.

Seriously.

What the hell are you thinking with the 'funding for all private religious schools' bullshit?

(Obviously you have never seen the product of a private Christian school.*)

If parents are afraid that their children are not receiving the education they would like them to have, those same parents should take it upon themselves to join the PTA (or whatever it's called [what? my first's only in JK - I'm not really in the loop yet.]) and make a positive change in their local public school. (Added bonus: their children will see their parents actually making a difference in the world and possibly grow up not afraid to try to make a difference in their own world.)

Or (and here's a really revolutionary thought) perhaps they could, you know, model what they want their children to learn at home.

And if parents are concerned that their children are receiving an education that involves the teaching of 'evolution' or some other so-called anti-(evangelical) Christian viewpoint, perhaps those same parents could teach their children to be critical thinkers (some people would agree: a very handy little skill to have) by offering them the opportunity to read about other schools of thought and then discuss it around the dinner table.

And do you really think most Ontarians will be thrilled to have their tax dollars going to fund schools teaching young Muslims how to continue the 'Holy War'**?

*No doubt there are some good private Christian schools out there. No doubt. Sadly, I've never seen a student come out of a private Christian school who wasn't either a) terrified of anyone who wasn't a Christian or b) hell-bent.

** Hey, if I'm going to make sweeping generalizations about Christian schools ...

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I love my friends.