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 .................. Kelli Craft
Home delivery advisor ............... Amanda Fredrick
Interim editor ....................................Andrew Cutler
Advertising representative ...........Juli Bloodgood
News clerk ........................................Lisa Lester Kelly
Advertising representative .................... Amy Horn
Reporter....................................................Dick Mason
National accounts coordinator ...... Devi Mathson
Reporter............................................Davis Carbaugh
Graphic design .................................. Dorothy Kautz
Intern ...................................................Carlos Fuentes
Page design .......................................... Martha Allen
A division of