BY JULIA CORDEROY
ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO
The principal of an elementary school in Massachusetts has opened fire on fall holidays-- writing an email to the school staff calling on them to think twice before celebrating Columbus Day and Thanksgiving. Here’s Fox News.
“Anne Foley is the principal of the Kennedy School in Somerville, Massachusetts. She says celebrating Thanksgiving and Columbus Day is, quote, insensitive toward Native Americans. She’s also banning Halloween because of its association with witchcraft.”
Now media outlets are wondering-- is this a case of extreme political correctness? Or does Ms. Foley have a point? The Dartmouth Review quotes a part of the Principal's email:
"When we were young we might have been able to claim ignorance of the atrocities that Christopher Columbus committed against the indigenous people... We can no longer do so. For many of us and our students celebrating this particular person is an insult...”
The students are also not allowed to dress up for Halloween-- though-- the school is hosting a Halloween party that weekend. Some of their parents tell NECN the principal is taking this too far.
Parent #1: “If you don’t want to celebrate it, then don’t celebrate it. But I don’t think it’s right for the kids that do celebrate it to suffer.”
Parent #2: “This is America and I think people like her stir up all these prejudices.”
But the Somerville mayor counters-- the media is blowing this out of proportion. He argues in an editorial in the Boston Herald that Ms. Foley was just trying to open up a healthy discussion.
“No one is saying people cannot celebrate our traditional holidays, just that there’s more to them than fits on the back of a matchbook... The story of Columbus is complicated, just like history is complicated. Our educators should be having that discussion.”
A blogger for Babble says-- why not have it both ways? Let the kids celebrate, and use that celebration to start a conversation.
“Shouldn’t these holidays be teaching moments for kids? About opening up dialogue? Or should kids be made to feel ashamed for something other people did centuries ago?”
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