Oct 19, 2011
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A Massachusetts elementary school has declared Thanksgiving, Halloween and Columbus Day as “insensitive” holidays. The principal at Kennedy School in Somerville sent a controversial letter to teachers ordering them to be careful about how they mark the celebrations — especially Thanksgiving.
“When we were young we might have been able to claim ignorance of the atrocities that Christopher Columbus committed against the indigenous peoples,” wrote Kennedy School Principal Anne Foley wrote in a letter obtained by Fox News & Commentary. “We can no longer do so. For many of us and our students celebrating this particular person is an insult and a slight to the people he annihilated.”
Principal Foley was especially concerned about Thanksgiving, the time Americans gather to thank God for blessing our nation.
“On the same lines, we need to be careful around the Thanksgiving Day time as well,” she wrote.
Tony Pierantozzi, the superintendent of Somerville Public Schools, sent me a written statement, affirming his support of the principal’s email.
“The email was intended to spark healthy faculty discussion about the teaching of Christopher Columbus and the European colonists, which it did,” Pierantozzi wrote. “A brief internal message intended simply to generate adult discourse became a front page news item.”
“Lost in the 30 second sound bites is the concept that celebration is very different than education,” he said, explaining why holidays might be “offensive.”
“When we teach and learn about history, we do so with the knowledge that history is complex and a full story takes time to study and learn,” he said.
Pierantozzi said “at no time did anyone representing the Somerville Public Schools state that holidays or celebrations would be reduced, chagned or curtailed.”
But his email does not explain exactly how teachers will tell the Thanksgiving story.
The controversy has even hit Washington, D.C.
U.S. Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) tweeted his displeasure, writing: “Let’s not take political correctness to the extreme.”
Fallout from the email was so massive that the school system sent a robo-call to parents from Principal Foley, according to the Somerville News.
“If this message had been intended for a broader audience, I would have chosen less inflammatory words and provided more of a context for the message,” said Foley’s robo-call. “I apologize if my words offended anyone, that was not my intent.”
Mayor Joseph Curtatone told the Somerville News that he disagreed with Foley’s use of the words “atrocities” and “annihilated.”
“I didn’t agree with the words she used. But as the principal, she has a right to say it,” the mayor told the newspaper.
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Are you f***ing kidding me? Ms. Foley, I hope you get hit by a train.
Your tax dollars at work. LibRules think feelings outweigh facts.
More IDIOCY from the left.
here we go again, no prayer no pledge what next. thanksgiving is giving thanks for the country we have and what the lord has given us. left wing politics are disgraceful.
Columbus came here in 1492. The Pilgrims who celebrated the first thanksgiving came here in 1620 the two events are 128 years apart and are not related. This principal is not only an un-American leftest, she is ignorant of history and should not be in charge of educating children.
Maybe this idiot needs to know history. The indians were just as guilty of slaughter. There were attrocities on both sides. The fact that we endured and founded the nation we have is a testament to that fortitude. Oh! Principal Foley, Columbus didn't actually land on Plymouth Rock. Oh! And those pilgrims? That was over 100 yrs later. Pick up a history book instead of your left wing ideology handbook.
and if hitler and the nazi's had " their message been intended for a broader audience", 60 million people wouldn't have died during WW2. and the principal doesn't have the right to push her ideals onto unprotected youth.
Ah yes, we need to continue to increase spending on education to ensure we have principals like this political hack!
The most loving thing you can do is pull your children out of the public school system.
She is just part of the plan to brainwash the country into a socialist state. Can't have anyone feeling different or left out. What a bunch of bunk. I agree with thegibbonsfamily, until they fix the public school system, or do away with it completely, get your kids in a private school!
Here's how they'll teach it: "In 1620, the Indians, already scarred by the evil Christopher Coloumbus were visited by Christians (remember kids, Jesus is a fairy tale) who then proceeded to kill all the Indians vengefully." The kids will then all watch the INCREDIBLY historically accurate "Pocahontas" and go home and watch football. Say hello to another batch of ignorant kids. But at least they're "tolerant"!