Recent outrage over Black Lives Matter and LGBTQIA+ flags in classrooms seems a bit misplaced. Neither of these flags, nor the issues they highlight, is inherently political. Rather, they have been hijacked by politicians to distract from the fact that they have no intention of effecting meaningful change.
What these flags do represent is a human element that is often ignored, if not outright disparaged, simply because people who don’t identify with the flags are made to feel uncomfortable by them.
I would urge those people to imagine a scenario where their child was bullied or harassed for who they were. Wouldn’t you want your child to know there was a place they could seek refuge from that harassment and get through a rough day?
Maybe your child has a hobby that invites ridicule from others; maybe they have a physical variation that opens them up to verbal abuse. A temporary safe space from that torment can be the difference between getting through or giving up.
As one parent pointed out, those who don’t identify with the flags are sure to find solidarity in classrooms that display things they do identify with: pictures of heterosexual relationships, crosses/displays of religious ideology, etc.
Allowing students who are frequently bullied for not aligning with those things to feel equally as accepted is the epitome of inclusivity. Hopefully we can all get past the perceived divisiveness of the issue and embrace the humanity contained within it, whether it speaks to us directly or not
Jeff Dunn
Durango
