Support for EMS teacher
Editor:
This letter is in support of Jefferson County Schools’ continuing and essential support of an Evergreen Middle School teacher being criticized for wearing a Black Lives Matter mask while teaching school last week.
My dad’s 96th birthday was a couple weeks ago, and we celebrated here in our long time foothills community. He is a Purple Heart veteran of World War II. My twins told their grandpa today that they had this teacher in sixth grade, and he was so good. That he pushed them academically and asked them to think from various points of view. He wasn’t easy on them, by no means, and yet they adored him because of how hard he made them work.
My kids told their grandpa this story and about the Black Lives Matter mask this teacher wore during class. My kids were proud of their teacher, and my dad was so impressed.
My dad told the kids that freedoms of expression like this is one reason why he fought the Nazis. That believing and sharing the important message “Black Lives Matter” is not political in nature, but an important moral stand. He praised the strength of this teacher and he said this is the kind of man our young people need.
I totally agree.
Supporting the rights people in a struggle is honorable. All our teachers and administrators should be proud to stand for Black lives. It is true that all lives matter. Therefore, Black Lives Matter.
Denying that black people have a daily, and often violent, struggle related to their skin color is denying the very history we teach in our schools. It’s denial of science, and it is denial of reality. I support this teacher and the commitment that Jefferson County has made to social justice. I look forward to hearing more about how Jefferson County Schools will support the Black Lives Matter movement along with the important rights of our many minority, LGBTQIA, female and less fortunate students on a day-to-day basis.
Bringing this message to middle school students makes us all better. We are a strong, vibrant community, and we can lift each other up by supporting those with struggles outside of our own understanding every day.
Camille Brightsmith
Kittredge