The N&R picks up on Guilford County Board of Education member Deena Hayes’ little hissy fit during Tuesday night’s board discussion of President Obama’s speech to school children.
Look, I’m not unsympathetic. I didn’t get worked up over the speech —- I sent my little one off to Irving Park Elementary like it was any ordinary day. I personally think it’s important for school kids to be aware of our country’s political leaders. One of my earliest memories is standing in the voting booth with my dad in ’72 and watching him proudly pull the lever for —- you guessed it ——- McGovern.
I also saw Hayes’ point that the school system didn’t get all worked up when George W. Bush visited Falkener Elementary back in 2006, because I can certainly imagine plenty of lefty parents here in G’boro not wanting to expose their precious little minds to any ideas put forth by the evil Bush administration. But I don’t remember any such controversy generated by GCS or parents.
Problem was Hayes consciously —she knew full well what she was doing — and needlessly interjected race into the issue by saying that opposition to Obama’s speech was motivated by “racist ideology,” ruining what was a civilized board discussion on the matter. I guess the board wanted to keep the discussion civilized, so no one called Hayes on her comments. It will be interesting to see if anyone else does.
