General News Virginia county closes schools over arabic writing assignment

*faceplam*

 

Americans need to chill out! The assignment was simply a way to learn about Islam and calligraphy.

 

TBH the message could have said "Jesus Christ is the greatest person ever and I look forward to his inevitable return" and it would still have caused a shit storm just because it would be in Arabic.

 

Good thing I don't live in the US.

 

I'm sick that in my US state basic world geography and history are an elective for a student to graduate high school.

 

Yes, there are ignorant people everywhere, but making a terrorist threat in response seems uniquely southern. The notion that the proper response to something that offends my sense of Christian decency is immediate threats of violence is a cultural left over from the jim crow and klu klux klan era. Especially when, until recently, many states in the south still flew the confederate flag, which despite misinformation to the contrary, was specifically resurrected in the 1960s as part of the segregationist resistance in the south (e.g. George Wallace and his ilk).

That's not to say that there aren't bigoted crazy douchebags all over the northern states - such as Idaho (home of the Aryan Nations) or Michigan (home to a big Christian militia movement). But they are not quite as entrenched into mainstream thought and culture in the north, nor is there the same sense of white entitlement to violence as the proper response. (Keeping in mind that southern Indiana and southern Illinois are really part of the south.)

If this happened in Minnesota or Wisconsin people would be really upset and the teacher would be fired, but a terrorist threat would be much less likely.

 

So they closed schools because the parents are stupid?

 

Well, according to the news story, the phone calls and emails the school received were concerning in "tone and content", which is a way of saying there were threats of violence without actually saying there were threats of violence.

Note that the Sherriff's office said there was "no specific threat of harm to students", which suggests that they were getting threats, but nothing specific enough to charge. Either that, or they are covering up for bad behavior.

Also, I don't think it was necessarily the parents - it sounds like there was a news story that then generated backlash, which according to the reports was from both "local" and "national" sources. Once things get onto the internet, 1000s of hardcore conservatives from across the country can harass the school, just as mayors and other elected officials were contacted by a relatively small but very vocal number of people opposed to taking in Syrian or Muslim refugees.

That said, I doubt the Sheriff's office would close the school unless the amount of local harassment was significant.

 

Just retired to Florida from Vermont in January. Lived there for 56 years. Especially missing it this season. Miss its progressiveness, too. Okay, that's all I have to say, goodbye.

 

Yep, it's Virginia. In most of the state, that's how they do.

The northern part seems to be improving, but I'm always a bit scared, crossing the Potomac, and going 'down there'. You see a lot of confederate flags and stuff, where I don't see any in Baltimore.