Head Turkey Resigns

...Well, maybe it would've been more accurate to say, "Head Pilgrim Resigns", but that headline wouldn't have been so attention-getting.

Recently the Indian tom-toms carried the message that Tim Northrop, principal of Condit Elementary School, had quit effective June 30. For some reason, this was not picked up on the John and Ken show on KFI so it took awhile for the news to make it to us.

Readers will recall that Northrop's school was the "Pilgrim" school and the "Indians" at Mountain View School marched up for a Thanksgiving feast last November. The protests, instigated by Mountain View parent Michelle Raheja, made national news and were the top item on the Drudge Report for a day. See here, with links to most of the coverage we saw.

The Daily Bulletin Claremont Now blog gave a brief rundown last week on Northrop's decision. Read it for an extract of his letter. The whole "family responsibilities" excuse is a little threadbare, but he goes on to gusset it with a little story about his life being baseball, et cetera, et cetera, which at least gives him a C+ for originality.

In related news last week the Courier reported Saturday that the school district has brought forth another "district advisory committee" which is usually cover for getting community buy-in for decisions that have already been taken. This is the Committee that Superintendent David Cash promised last Fall to review district policies et cetera et cetera RE: "Cultural Activities". The Courier provided a list of the 19-member committee. And whaddya know? Michelle Raheja is on it, as well as a couple of local professional activists. No worries though, CUSD employees constitute a solid majority (shown in italics, based upon the best information we have) :

Parent/Community
Leslie Corcoran
Marian Gerecke
Siobhan McVeigh
Socorro Pantoja
Michelle Raheja (right)
Alfonso Villanueva
James Wilbur

Student
Wesley Chang
Ana Tinker Valle

Elementary Staff
Patti Amaya
Karen Kellner
Diane Rus
Kim Sapienza

Secondary Staff
Mike Callahan
Sue Hensley

Claremont Faculty Assn
Ann Hardy

Administrative Staff
Steve Boyd
Judy Daley
Mike Lawshe

Kids Being Kids; Parents Being Kids, Too

Photo Uploaded to Flickr by floodllama

At the Insider staff Thanksgiving (pictured, right) the latest community kerfluffle occupied much of the table-talk, and the topic continues to be of interest around town.

The Daily Bulletin followed up on the Claremont Indian-Pilgrim Wars with a story about the backlash Michelle Rajeha faced after she and 15-20 other parents sent an email to a Condit teacher expressing their concerns about the annual Thanksgiving feast this past Tuesday. Traditionally Condit and Mountain View kindergartners had in the past dressed up as Pilgrims and Indians.

In case you've been out of the media stream this past week (lucky you!), the whole event devolved from Thanksgiving feast to media feast, and Rajeha claims she had to contact the police because of a some of the more hateful phone calls and emails she has received.

Yesterday's Bulletin article said:

At the Tuesday feast, Raheja said her 5-year-old daughter was harassed. A parent dressed up as an American Indian, Raheja said, "did a war dance around my daughter." The parent then told her daughter and others to "go to hell," she said.

Raheja, a UC Riverside instructor, said she has contacted the Claremont Police Department and the UC Riverside police because of the hateful phone calls and e-mails.

On Wednesday, she said she had received more than 250 "hateful and intimidating" e-mails.

"They go from being anxious about political correctness to calling me (an epithet). They don't know my daughter's name, but they've said hateful and disgusting things about my daughter."

There have been as many positive e-mails from people in Claremont and worldwide, too, Raheja said.

The Bulletin also had an editorial yesterday that concluded that maybe the adults have forgotten something or someone in this whole exercise:

The main point here is that debate at a school board meeting is entirely appropriate, but a protest ought not involve kindergartners. Innocence is lost soon enough; 5-year-olds should not be used to promote an agenda.

We don't hold ourselves out to be experts on any of this parenting or educational stuff, but it sure seems as if whenever we hear the magic words, "It's about the kids," it's really about the parents.

Joan Acocella in the November 17th issue of the New Yorker magazine had a book review titled "The Child Trap" that examined several recent works touching on the increase in overparenting by so-called "helicopter parents." Acocella noted the paradox of overprotective parents who are also overly demanding of their children:

This used to be known as “spoiling.” Now it is called “overparenting”—or “helicopter parenting” or “hothouse parenting” or “death-grip parenting.” The term has changed because the pattern has changed. It still includes spoiling—no rules, many toys—but two other, complicating factors have been added. One is anxiety. Will the child be permanently affected by the fate of the hamster? Did he touch the corpse, and get a germ? The other new element—at odds, it seems, with such solicitude—is achievement pressure. The heck with the child’s feelings. He has a nursery-school interview tomorrow. Will he be accepted? If not, how will he ever get into a good college? Overparenting is the subject of a number of recent books, and they all deplore it in the strongest possible terms.

....Overparented children typically face not just a heavy academic schedule but also a strenuous program of extracurricular activities—tennis lessons, Mandarin classes, ballet. After-school activities are thought to impress college admissions officers. At the same time, they keep kids off the street. (In the words of one book, “You can’t smoke pot or lose your virginity at lacrosse practice.”) When summer comes, the child is often sent to a special-skills camp. Extracurricular activities and camps are areas where competition between parents, thought to be a major culprit in this whole business, is likely to surface. How do you explain to the other mother that while her child spent the summer examining mollusks at marine-biology camp, yours was at a regular old camp, stringing beads and eating s’mores?

In her review, Acocella also mentioned the work of Hara Estroff Marano, the author of “A Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting":

Marano assembles her own arsenal of neurological research, guaranteed to scare the pants off any hovering parent. As children explore their environment by themselves—making decisions, taking chances, coping with any attendant anxiety or frustration—their neurological equipment becomes increasingly sophisticated, Marano says. “Dendrites sprout. Synapses form.” If, on the other hand, children are protected from such trial-and-error learning, their nervous systems “literally shrink.”

Such atrophy, Marano claims, may be undetectable in the early years, when overattentive parents are doing for the child what he should be doing on his own, but once he goes off to college the damage becomes obvious. Marano sees an epidemic of psychological breakdown on college campuses: “The middle of the night may find a SWAT team of counselors calming down a dorm wing after having crisis-managed an acute manic episode or yet another incident of self-mutilation.” Overparented students who avoid or survive college meltdowns are still impaired, Marano argues. Having been taught that the world is full of dangers, they are risk-averse and pessimistic. (“It may be that robbing children of a positive sense of the future is the worst form of violence that parents can do to them,” she writes.) Schooled in obedience to authority, they will be poor custodians of democracy. Finally—and, again, she stresses this—their robotic behavior will threaten “American leadership in the global marketplace.” That was the factor that frightened parents into hovering. And by their hovering they prevented their children from developing the very traits—courage, nimbleness, outside-the-box thinking—that are required by the new economic order.

All this overparenting and the atrophied psyches Acocella speaks of certainly sounds a lot like the apotheosis of the Claremont Unified School District's philosophy of education and child development. This may explain the lack of intellectual flexibility we've seen expressed over the years both with CUSD boards and the Claremont city government.

Perhaps that "robotic behavior" that Marano fears is really what CUSD and our other local leaders want. Let's hope they don't get what they wish for.

The Evening News

Some of the media coverage of the Claremont Culture Wars:

Update, Wednesday Morning:
Los Angeles Times, Wednesday morning, with best video we've seen (linked on Drudge as this is written)

Los Angeles Times, editorial (links this website with letters describing original Thanksgiving)

Contra Costa Times (picked up from article by Inland Valley Daily Bulletin writer Wes Woods II)

Claremont Courier, opinion by publisher Peter Weinberger

United Press International

John Birch Society

A related article, not on the Claremont event

Tuesday Evening:
KABC-TV (video on link)

Los Angeles Times

KFI News--Jody Becker (audio on link; listen to a sound bite by Michelle Raheja--the "horribly wrong" quote)

John and Ken 3 o'clock hour (fresh; good reporting and audio from Jody Becker. Most of the hard news is in the first 20 minutes, the rest is commentary, rants, and phone calls)

John and Ken 5 o'clock hour (a recap of the earlier segment; again, most of the substance is in the first 20 minutes. John calls the protesters "nimrods".)

FOXNews, Brit Hume

Detentionslip.org

See our earlier post for a summary
of the events to this morning

Pictures of Claremont Kindergarten T-Day Event

Some people enjoyed the day (pictures courtesy of a parent):




See also the KFI website for a gallery of six photos taken by KFI's Jody Becker. Be sure to read the captions.

Claremont: Polite Pilgrim Protest--Or Not

At about 10 a.m. (see below for update) we got a report on the Pilgrim-Indian Protest. (The link in Drudge has floated up to the top of the first column since our post this morning: prime position)


About half of the 5-year-olds left Mountain View in paper vests and Indian headbands. The Press was there; two TV location trucks representing KTLA, CBS, and KABC. A clutch of parents saw the kids off; occasional horns were honked in apparent support. One lone cop on a motorcycle (not Claremont PD) did a drive-by, then left.

At Condit, as the line of Indian-Kids approached, shepherded by a bunch of parents and teachers, a polite, no-voices-raised discussion was being filmed by at least five news cameras. There was one major spokesman for the tribal contingent; he'll probably be all over the news. There were a couple of guys standing around who looked pretty out of place: they were either Secret Service agents or Claremont Unified School District staff. As the marchers turned into the school, the cameras rolled and about a dozen protesters unfurled make-shift signs saying, "You are not honoring anyone", "Respect", "Don't Celebrate Genocide", "Racist", and "No Thanks, No Giving".

After the marchers passed, the protesters broke out a drum and did an Indian song, whether of war, or lamentation, or victory, our correspondent couldn't say.


This broke up after no more than five minutes, and the small group of protesters moved up the sidewalk to huddle. The head guy handed out what appeared to be words to the next song, while the "Respect" sign-carrier walked away from the group with her ear to her cell-phone, in the way of someone on an important call. A communal song followed, but it didn't appear the cameras were rolling.

Meanwhile, the 5-year-olds of Condit and Mountain View Elementary Schools played games together on the grass.

Update, 12:45 p.m.

The L.A. Times Blog, L.A. Now, has the following update by the Times reporter, Seema Mehta: it appears things got heated after awhile and the Claremont PD were called and had to separate the protestors. We're sure this will be covered on the John and Ken radio program, 640 on your A.M. dial, starting at 3 p.m. this afternoon.

Police are also "paying extra attention" to the home of Superintendent David Cash, only blocks from one of the schools, after he reported receiving what he characterized as "hate emails" and feared for his safety. Our advice: Cool it, people.

(click on link just preceding, or on image below to enlarge)

Parents Revolt

The kindergarten parents of Mountain View and Condit are going to send their kids to school tomorrow wearing their Thanksgiving costumes. And it is likely that many of them will keep their kids out of school on Wednesday to deprive the Claremont Unified School District of Wednesday's coveted ADA (Average Daily Attendance) money from the State.

Mountain View kindergarten mother Dena Murphy got another half hour on KFI's John and Ken drive-time radio show (640 on your AM dial). To put it charitably, the shock-jock hosts are not sympathetic to Michelle Raheja's idea to keep the kindergartener's from wearing their construction paper and white paste Indian and Pilgrim costumes. We have covered this earlier, here, here, and here.

Raheja is an Assistant Professor of English at UC Riverside and the mother of a Condit Elementary kindergartener. UCR also hosts the California Center for Native Nations which, among other projects, seems to advocate removing the image of that old Indian fighter, Old Hickory, Andrew Jackson, from the $20 bill. This seems of a piece with Raheja's "history-defying" (that's a word from this website page) campaign to remove the Indians and Pilgrims from Thanksgiving. Why, next thing you know, they're going to want take the "X" out of Xmas.

We now can link to the audio stream of the four o'clock hour. The Claremont issue takes up the first 40 minutes or so of the 60 minute clip. (This link may change when the audio goes to the KFI on-demand page; we'll try to keep it current.) John and Ken have posted a poll that at this writing is running 25 to 1 in favor of the parents. A few minutes ago, when we captured the screenshot, it was 99 to 1.


John and Ken also recapped this issue at the top of the six o'clock hour--the link is here. They wonder whether the kids will have their feathers confiscated. The riff begins about 30 seconds into the clip.

The event goes down tomorrow morning (Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008). The kids are scheduled to leave Mountain View at 9 a.m. and march up Mountain Avenue to Condit. The parents send their kids to school at 8 and the principals have an hour to sort things out before the march is to begin. There is sure to be a lot of confusion. Be there.

Map of Mountain View and Condit Elementary Schools
click on image to enlarge

Celebration of Genocide?

The Claremont Unified School District, through its District Cabinet and prinicpals, has adopted the "Thanksgiving as a Celebration of Genocide" view and cancelled a key element of the kindergartener's - kindergartener's! - Thanksgiving Feast event scheduled for Tuesday, November 25. Unlike previous years (40 if the story is correct) the students will not dress in construction-paper-and-white-paste-crayon-accented Pilgrim and Indian costumes. Instead, they will be in their usual school field trip "spirit" t-shirts.

This is in response to a letter from UCR Assistant Professor of English, Michelle Raheja, a Condit Kindergarten parent and a Seneca. (The letter was read yesterday afternoon on the KFI John and Ken show; we don't have conveniently-edited versions yet, but you may listen here, starting about halfway through the clip.)

The notice to the Mountain View parents, from M.V. principal Clara Arocha, began in the usual bubbly school administrator-speak: "This year we continue the wonderful tradition of sharing a feast with the students of Condit. What an incredible opportunity to celebrate the spirit of friendship and giving at a Thanksgiving gathering..." It goes on to describe the events [click on the image for a larger version. We took it from our predator drone high above the school yesterday.] It sounds as if the two elementary schools are going to have yet another happy merry party.

The money line comes in the third paragraph: "In order to be sensitive to the Native American culture, we will not celebrate our feast together in costume."

This was the issue that occupied at least a half hour at Thursday's school board meeting, described by Wes Woods at the Daily Bulletin. The Courier also covered it on page 3, but you've gotta buy Saturday's paper. [a good idea in any event, but we now see the Landus Rigby account of the brouhaha is online]

We received a note that made us pause a bit, more than anything for the suggestion that policies ought to be dictated by subjective feelings and not be fact-based. And in fact, wrongness ought to be respected. We have to admit to belonging to the old-fashioned school that says wrongness ought to be cured.

My sense is that there are many, many people concerned about and in agreement about this [that is, the outrage at the costumes]. I don't know, myself. For all I know they are wrong about a great many things. You may well think they are wrong about a great many things. I do think it compassionate and respectful, however, to take people at their word when they say that something is hurtful to them, and to avoid the hurt where it is possible to do so without inflicting similar harm to others. To prefer a game of dressup to the sort of hurt reported in this case - that I cannot understand. Even if they are wrong, they should be respected.

Further, on that note, I don't understand why people who desire such a celebration don't simply arrange to hold one, outside of public school?

So the question is, "what are the parents going to do?" Are they going to defy the school administration and hijack the event to a public park?--or even block Mountain Avenue and herd the kids off the school property and produce the costumes and show the little tykes some real civil disobedience? Chances are not.

One line in the district letter especially catches our attention: "We are attempting to give authentic representation of those two groups [Pilgrims and Indians] by having members of Pilgrim's Place [sic], and a local tribe attend the feast." Huh? The Pilgrim perspective is represented by an elderly retired missionary, and the Indian's viewpoint by one of the usual Tongva suspects.? William Bradford was 30 years old in 1620, and the Tongvas were camped on Indian Hill and in the canyons of the San Gabriels--3000 miles from Plymouth Plantation. If one of the complaints is inauthenticity, then this plan ought to be tossed in the dumper.

If you want authentic 21st-Century Pilgrims and Indians, how about getting someone who makes a frequent pilgrimage to the Indian Establishment below:

It's Not About Noodle Necklaces

More today on the Great 2008 Condit-Mountain View Pilgrim Indian Battle.

Yesterday we heard about the plan of some Mountain View parents (at least; perhaps there were Condit parents, too) to storm the CUSD Board meeting last night. They were concerned over actions by Condit principal Tim Northrop that they thought denatured the traditional Thanksgiving celebration at the two schools.

As we understand it, while traditionally the students of the two schools would visit each other dressed in paper Pilgrim garb and paper Indian garb, with noodle necklaces, this year they had a complaint from parents about the "dress-up" aspects of the event. So Northrop had changed the event to have the students wear their "school spirit" shirts, whatever those are.

These plans set the traditionalists against the insurrectionists.

One of "traditionalist" parents got the attention of KFI's John and Ken, and the piece was on KFI late Thursday afternoon (see below).

We hear that the school board took no action, and cut off the public comment in accordance with its previously stated policy on limiting comment to 20 minutes on a single topic.

The complaint by the Condit parent runs along these lines (from this webpage), written by Kanatiyosh, a Mohawk and Onondaga woman of the Deer Clan.

As a child, in Kindergarten the class was asked to participate in projects that were supposed to teach us about Indians. Some of the projects included cutting out of paper eagle feathers and then pasting them into an Indian headdress, which was a western style war bonnet. The class was also asked to learn Indian songs and dances. I was asked to pump my hand over my mouth in a mocking war hoop, to dance around like I had ants in my pants, and to sing the song "Ten Little Indians".

I remember feeling badly.

On the other hand, a Mountain View parent writes,

Both my kids were Indians [at prior-year events] and still keep their "paper vests" & "clay necklace" that they so proudly made. I was speechless when I heard a few days ago that because of a handful of parents at Condit, our Kindergartners would have to take their vests home & stuff them in a box without even having the opportunity to wear them. A 40 year old tradition between the two schools is almost coming to an end because of these parents. Does the voice of "one" outweighs the voice of "many"? I understand this parent feels offended by the fact that these 5 year olds wear vests made out of construction paper because they are not "authentic". I also understand that she finds offensive that the word "Indian" is used in some of the songs these 5 year olds sing at the event.

Kanatiyosh goes on to deconstruct "Ten Little Indians":

Asking children to sing "Ten Little Indians" is pure racism. The song is an Indian annihilation song that the Pioneers sang to their children to soothe their fears. If you remember the song, they count up and then they count backwards until there is only one Indian boy left. Today most people do not even know about the hidden message of eradicating the Indian people in the song; however, this song still plants seeds of racism and stereotyping in the minds of our children. This song must be stopped from its use in schools today!

So this is much more similar to the Pomona College Alma Mater controversy than we had originally supposed.

For now we'll omit our usual pithy comment. We provide a convenient extract of yesterday's John and Ken show below. We had to cut a few minutes off the end for length reasons; we suggest you listen to the whole thing on the KFI website, here (a little more than halfway through the clip). And, be sure to tune in this afternoon, Friday, November 21, on AM 640 from 3 to 7. They promised to deal with this issue again.

Indian-Pilgrim Wars in Claremont

A battle is brewing that will come to a head at the meeting tonight of the Claremont Unified School District. It seems that a parent, who may be a professor of English at UC Riverside, is protesting the 40-year tradition of the students at Condit and Mountain View Elementary Schools celebrate Thanksgiving by dressing in Pilgrim and Indian garb.

There are petitions flying. This was covered during the 4 o'clock hour on KFI's drive time show, John and Ken.

If you want to see muskets charged and scalps taken, be sure to attend the meeting tonight, 7:00 p.m., at the NEW Kirkendall Center, 170 W San Jose Avenue, Claremont. (This is in South Claremont, not at the former district offices on Baseline.)

There may be a connection to all of this and our post this morning. We are not the sharpest arrow in the quiver and are only now connecting the dots. More later...