The philosophical/ethical argument of the “seamless garment” holds that there must be a consistency in the application of moral principles that value the worth of all human life. Made popular in the 1970’s by Roman Catholic theologians, this theory maintains that issues such as abortion, capital punishment, militarism, euthanasia, social injustice, and economic injustice all demand a constant and balanced praxis if we are to remain true to our valuing of all life from conception to death. In essence, the seamless garment theory states that “you can't protect some life and not others."
In an all too familiar way, the Trayvon Martin tragedy reminds us just how deeply the scars of racism impact our everyday lives. On the surface, if we simply describe the scenario of a teenager walking home in the evening with the hood of his sweatshirt covering his head, nothing out of the ordinary seems to call out for any special attention. However, if we contextualize the specifics: a young, urban African-American male, walking alone with a hoodie concealing his face, a myriad of preconceived notions start to flood our “reality”. Our xenophobic impulses kick in and we are suddenly face to face with our fear of “the other”. President Obama even alluded to this knee jerk reaction when he spoke of his grandmother’s fears of passing a black man on the street: “…if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know...there's a reaction that's been bred into our experiences that doesn't go away and that sometimes comes out in the wrong way, and that's just the nature of race in our society.”. And that debilitating, depressing and, often, denigrating reaction to race in our society is the epitome of the disjointed, distorted, and disturbing response we witness with issues around class, poverty, gender, age, sexual orientation, political affiliation, and religion that we see played out every day.
Trayvon Martin, even in death, has challenged us to re-evaluate our sense of equity, our sense of power and privilege. Through a horrible tragedy, we are given the opportunity to assess once again our capacity to empathize, to embrace differences, and to defend those who are not sharing in equal rights. We are offered the opportunity to profess, as we have been taught by our Native American kin to “never judge another person until we have walked a mile in their moccasins”. And the hoodie has become symbolic of every form of unfair treatment to all different groups.
As Director of Education at The National School Climate Center, I am privileged to collaborate with school communities on the essential issues of how to structure our academic institutions to best serve the needs of those who will be our “change agents” both now and in the future. I am fortunate to listen and learn and partner with students, teachers, parents, and community members to ensure that all our youth have the tools and skills to become democratically informed, successful, and civically engaged citizens. We concentrate on questions like: How does our school deal with conflict? How do we deal with bullying and unfair treatment of others? How do we celebrate our differences? How do we practice restorative methods of discipline that educate instead of castigate? How do we embrace different learning styles and different contextual realities? Most of this boils down to educating ourselves to accept that: “we are in this together”. The African concept of Ubuntu perfectly captures what we need to embrace as our essential task. When I can accept that "I am what I am because of who we all are", then we can start to create a societal fabric that is truly a seamless garment. Far from simply adapting slogans, pep talks, canned/cookie-cutter or other “cockeyed optimist” approaches, this work is sometimes gritty, sometimes difficult, sometimes uncomfortable but always enriching (especially for me!). And, I am rapidly learning that it is essential if we are to avoid future tragedies such as Trayvon Martin.
The hoodie that purportedly targeted Trayvon for suspicion and derision is a powerful symbol for all of us. It is that object that “set him apart”, that made him “the other”. So the query posited in solidarity marches throughout the nation: “Do I look suspicious?” is rightfully and aptly asked by young African-American males. As study after study proves, they are wrongfully profiled, wrongfully searched, wrongfully singled out for discrimination, and wrongfully judged, and their treatment hurts us all. When President Obama stated that, “…if I had a son, he would look like Trayvon”, I’d like to believe that his larger meaning was much broader than race and included the concept of Ubuntu. That is, when an injustice was done in this situation, all of us were harmed and, therefore, all of us are called to respond. In a tremendous show of solidarity, this refutation of “the other” is also proclaimed by Muslim women who in their Million Hijab March assert that: “hoodie or hijab, racism is racism”. So, the challenge given to us by young African-American males (and young Islam females), then, is for us to broaden our vision, open our eyes, embrace the diversity in our midst and realize that we are all diminished when any of us is humiliated or diminished, when any of us is tortured, violated or oppressed. Trayvon’s hoodie, now more than ever, needs to become our “seamless garment”, energetically and vociferously refuting the societal message that some lives are worth “less than” others and, instead, teaching our youth the inherent value in all of us.
The UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools recently published: Turning Around, Transforming, and Continuously Improving Schools, a policy report that takes a critical look at the school turnaround models and the current federal priorities illustrated by Race to the Top, the School Improvement Grants and the US DOE's Blueprint for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Findings highlight the ongoing marginalization of practices (e.g., student and learning supports) that directly address barriers to learning and teaching and re-engaging disconnected students. The analyses highlight the need for federal school improvement policy to shift from the two-component framework currently dominating school improvement thinking to a three-component framework, which includes the critical aspects of engagement and learning supports.
The report concludes that only by unifying student and learning supports will it be feasible to develop a comprehensive system to directly address many of the complex factors interfering with schools accomplishing their mission. And only by developing such a system will it be feasible to create school environments that foster successful, safe, and healthy students and staff. School climate is emphasized as an important quality of this system that ensures schools are dedicated not only to instruction and management/governance, but to essential learning supports as well. We at CSEE, strongly believe that school climate is an integral link to student success, and provide comprehensive assessments, targeted professional development supports, and free resources to support schools in this effort.
What do you think encompasses a truly successful school improvement system? How is your school or district meeting the needs of students and staff?
Urgent Call to Action: Your Opportunity to Provide Input into the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
Democratic and Republican members of Congress have starting working on a bipartisan reform of the nation's primary federal education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) - currently known as "No Child Left Behind." Please note: This call for action targets the same legislation detailed in our previous notice to House members, but is now directed to the Senate. Please view the call for action from the Senate to learn more.
This is your opportunity to provide input on the reauthorization of this important legislation! Please send your email comments directly to: ESEAcomments@harkin.senate.gov. You may also send them to ESEAcomments@help.senate.gov. Address your comments to: Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee.
Important: The deadline for providing input is Friday, May 7th!
If you want to help ensure the new Federal legislation includes language pertaining to school climate and the character education/social emotional learning of students, please provide your email comments to the committee. This is very time sensitive, and your quick input will help ensure school climate gets the priority it deserves.
National advocate for character development and school climate in schools, Ms. Linda McKay, has attended initial hearings in both the House and Senate. She believes the best strategy for success is to encourage Congressional leaders to include language that supports measuring and improving school climate as a strategy that supports the whole child, character education/ social emotional learning and the whole school community.
She adds that it will also be important to show examples of why support is important for students, teachers, school district staffs, parents and communities. Providing examples of positive results will strengthen your input!
CSEE thanks you in advance for your advocacy and civic engagement in this important matter.
Take Action Now to Secure Necessary Funds for School Climate Improvement and Character Education
Below is a letter that will be sent to Senators from Senator Dodd and Senator Bond asking for continued support in the FY2011 Appropriations Bill for “Improving School Culture & Climate”. Currently this is the only source of support for those interested in federal funding supporting character education, social and emotional learning, and school climate strategies.
Please contact your Senator’s offices today and ask them to support signing onto this letter, by doing the following.
1. Call and ask to speak to the Senator’s legislative assistant or education staff person. You can find your Senator’s contact information here. Ask for their fax number and then fax a copy of the letter with a short memo (see below).
2. Follow up to see if they received your fax and try to find out if the Senator will support signing onto the letter.
It is important to maintain support for what has been approved as we work to expand future funds and specifically support for the Safe, Successful Healthy Students Program which has been proposed in the Administration’s Blueprint for Education Reform.
Senators need to agree to sign by Friday, April 16th, so please contact your Senate office today! CSEE thanks you for your continued advocacy in this matter.
DRAFT MEMO:
Senators Name
Title
Recently your office should have received a copy of the attached letter from Senator (Bond –if your Senator is a Republican, Dodd if your Senator is a Democrat) which sends support of "maintaining the funding" for the Improving School Culture and Climate Program as this is the only program left in the Department of Education budget that supports character education.
I am asking for your support in signing this letter.
2nd Paragraph—State in three sentences why it is important in your community or for the country to maintain support for this funding.
3rd Paragraph—Please note this request is NOT asking for more money but to maintain the support that was approved last year. The investment we make by supporting the initiatives to improve our nation's school culture and climate is minimal compared to the price we pay for not promoting these essential life skills.
Urgent Call to Action: Your Opportunity to Provide Input into the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
Democratic and Republican members of Congress have starting working on a bipartisan reform of the nation's primary federal education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) - currently known as "No Child Left Behind."
This is your opportunity to provide input on the reauthorization of this important legislation! Send your comments directly to: eseacomments@mail.house.gov. Please address your comments to: The Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the House Education & Labor Committee.
Important: The deadline for providing input, at this stage, is Friday, March 26th!
If you want to help ensure the new Federal legislation includes language pertaining to school climate and the character education/social emotional learning students, please provide your email comments to the committee. This is very time sensitive, and your quick input will help ensure school climate gets the priority it deserves.
National advocate for character development and school climate in schools, Ms. Linda McKay, has attended initial hearings in both the House and Senate. She believes the best strategy for success is to encourage Congressional leaders to include language that supports measuring and improving school climate as a strategy that supports the whole child, character education/ social emotional learning and the whole school community.
She adds that it will also be important to show examples of why support is important for students, teachers, school district staffs, parents and communities. Providing examples of positive results will strengthen your input!
CSEE thanks you for your advocacy and civic engagement in this important matter.