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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 2021)
Opinion A4 Thursday, September 2, 2021 OUR VIEW Anti-American or very American? obody can really be surprised if school offi cials get uncomfortable when parents and others start asking questions about curriculum. Nobody can really be surprised if school offi - cials defl ect rather than explain when someone brings up critical race theory. School offi cials can fear they are going to get dragged into a shouting match. And we all know why. That’s the trajectory where some people want to take it: loud, combative disapproval. Their mind is made up that what the schools are doing is wrong. It puts people who want to learn more about what is being taught in the middle of a kind of intersection where any way you look it says “do not enter.” So we did some digging. We tracked down instructional standards for the state. Within those, we looked at ethnic studies. The Oregon Legislature directed in 2017 with House Bill 2845 that ethnic studies instruction be created for K-12 students. In 2019, there was a fol- low-up bill, HB 2023. What are the ethnic studies standards? Are there required texts? Nothing specifi c. It doesn’t say teachers must teach this book or follow this lesson plan. It does give direction. The state Department of Education tries in its documents to tackle head-on some of the criti- cisms about this new line of study. It asks: “Are the ethnic studies anti-American?” Here’s part of how it answers that question: “In recent years, ethnic studies courses or curriculum have become a fl ashpoint in political debates. Some detractors of ethnic studies programs have utilized passages from a specifi c reading or an example of a lesson to suggest that students are only being taught a negative view of the United States or white people. As a local control state, Oregon allows school dis- tricts to select materials that best support their students in achieving the learning required by the standards. Oregon is not requiring any text or curriculum for the teaching of any social science standards including ethnic studies.” So the question becomes “what materials do or will schools use?” There is a list of recommen- dations provided by the state here: tinyurl.com/ ORtexts. Browse it for yourself. We have read some of the books and, frankly, were pleased to see them on the list. Among the off erings, there’s also a free PDF of a book: “Racism in America.” It has a compel- ling collection of excerpts from other books. And there is a “Racial Justice Text Tool.” It is meant to be a guide to help teachers decide if a text or book would be an appropriate teaching tool. It stresses allowing people of color to tell their own stories, decentering whiteness and challenging “the Euro- centric Narrative.” Some people will look at the material and, for them, it will confi rm the worst: that Oregon’s edu- cational system is herding students into a crit- ical race theory worldview that rewards some and punishes others based on race. In the hands of some teachers, maybe that is what would happen. To think that’s what will always happen or regu- larly happen is simplistic. Rigorous lessons and time constraints have always meant teachers made diffi cult choices about what they do teach. If Oregon teachers are being asked to reassess what they do use as their teaching tools, yes, parents are right to wonder what they choose. But pushing teachers to reeval- uate their choices forces them to confront how to teach better. And isn’t that very American? N Sheriff ’s lett er reveals lack of maturity, leadership experience DAVID ARNOLD OTHER VIEWS read Sheriff Cody Bowen’s letter to Gov. Brown regard local masking issues. By way of dis- claimer, I did not vote for Cody Bowen because I preferred a candi- date who would bring to the position of sheriff a good deal more leader- ship experience and maturity, both of which come with time in a job. I was willing to give Mr. Bowen the benefi t of the doubt and assumed, over time, he would indeed become a candidate I would vote for. While I did read his letter in its entirety, I did not have to go further than the fi rst introductory sentence to have questions in my own mind as to both his level of maturity for the position of sheriff as well as the type of leadership experience needed for this position. In just one sentence he claimed to desire a dialogue with the gov- ernor but by the end of that sentence had made it clear, in so many words, I that no one is going to tell him or the citizens of his county what to do. A striking contradiction in motives and certainly a disingenuous letter at best. Unfortunately, this letter did nothing to create conditions for a dialogue around safety measures designed to slow and eventually stop this virus. The offi ce of sheriff is, by being an elected position, a political one, and often popular candidates are elected by popular vote but not nec- essarily elected based on who is best qualifi ed. As the popular choice (not discounting other qualifi cations he may have), I wonder if Mr. Bowen is trying to be the voice of the people who elected him by saying what he thinks they want to hear or want him to say. If so, then his assumption that he speaks for all citizens of Union County is dead wrong. The obvious governor blaming and infl ammatory language con- tained in this letter is highly biased and slanted toward a particular con- servative point of view regarding masking and other safety recommen- dations and, as such, is extremely divisive and not at all helpful in CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES U.S. PRESIDENT Joe Biden The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111 U.S. SENATORS Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Offi ce Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5244 La Grande offi ce: 541-962-7691 Kate Brown 160 State Capitol 900 Court St. Salem, OR 97301-4047 503-378-4582 Bobby Levy, District 58 900 Court St. NE, H-376 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1458 Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us Cliff Bentz 2185 Rayburn House Offi ce Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-6730 Medford offi ce: 541-776-4646 SENATOR Greg Smith, District 57 900 Court St. NE, H-482 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1457 Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us Bill Hansell, District 29 900 Court St. NE, S-415 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1729 Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us STAFF SUBSCRIBEAND SAVE Subscription rates: Monthly Autopay ...............................$10.75 13 weeks.................................................$37.00 26 weeks.................................................$71.00 52 weeks ..............................................$135.00 U.S. REPRESENTATIVE Jeff Merkley 313 Hart Senate Offi ce Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753 Pendleton offi ce: 541-278-1129 REPRESENTATIVES GOVERNOR SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION NEWSSTAND PRICE: $1.50 You can save up to 55% off the single-copy price with home delivery. Call 800-781-3214 to subscribe. establishing any possibility of a con- structive conversation. It only further polarizes already divided opinions on these extremely life and death issues. Mature communicators and problem solvers know full well there are never only two sides to an issue or just one individual or point of view to blame. The lazy and cer- tainly not thoughtful or respon- sible approach is to fi nd a scapegoat on which to put all the fault for the problem allowing for the solution to be all wrapped up in a nice neat package without actually getting to the root of the issues. Mr. Bowen does not speak for me in his letter. I am embarrassed to be associated by region with any- thing he had to say. Hopefully, he is at least mature enough to listen and learn and work harder to establish a true dialogue even if his eff orts may not be popular with some citizens. Then I will know he is willing to grow as a leader. ——— David Arnold, of La Grande, is the former director of counseling and health services at George Fox University. Anindependent newspaper foundedin1896 www.lagrandeobserver.com Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, Oregon 97801 Published Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (except postal holidays) by EO Media Group, 911 Jefferson Ave., La Grande, OR 97850 (USPS 299-260) The Observer retains ownership and copyright protection of all staff-prepared news copy, advertising copy, photos and news or ad illustrations. They may not be reproduced without explicit prior approval. COPYRIGHT © 2021 Phone: 541-963-3161 Toll free (Oregon): 1-800-781-3214 Email: news@lagrandeobserver.com POSTMASTER Send address changes to: The Observer, 911 Jefferson Ave., La Grande, OR 97850 Regional publisher. ...................... Karrine Brogoitti Multimedia journalist.........................Alex Wittwer Regional circulation director .................. 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