Last night, during the presidential debate, a friend of mine, a counselor, posted on Facebook “Chris Wallace is like a counseling intern who can’t get control over a couples counseling session.” At first, I laughed. But my laughter faded when I remembered that it is strongly recommended not to attend couples counseling with an abusive partner. One reason is that counseling is successful only when both partners are participating in good faith and willing to take responsibility for their part,...
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The GOP’s Fake Outrage
There are some in Howard County who are clutching their pearls with such vigor I’m concerned they may asphyxiate themselves.
I’m referring to the self-righteous, gasping reaction over the weekend to District 1 Board of Education candidate Matthew Molyett’s announcement that he had received the endorsement of the District 12 Team (Senator Clarence Lam and Delegates Eric Ebersole, Jessica Feldmark, and Terri Hill), who also endorsed Jen Mallo for District 4 earlier this year. BOE member Vicky...
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Who Are We Really Policing?
If you haven’t seen Ava DuVernay’s Netflix documentary 13th, and if you haven’t read Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow, they’re both excellent, eye-opening resources for anyone looking to form an opinion on police officers in Howard County public schools.
Some of you may be wondering why I didn’t suggest resources having to do with Columbine, Sandy Hook, or Parkland. That’s because I don’t necessarily believe that school shootings are the reason why there are police officers in HCP...
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A Hall of Shame For the History Books – September 11, 2020
Yesterday was a truly shameful day in Howard County.
Howard County Public School System led off the first week of virtual school with important social-emotional learning lessons at all school levels. These lessons of respect, compassion, acceptance of differences, diversity, inclusion, and equity are extremely important in today’s national climate. And yet, our friends in Howard County Neighbors United were incensed at the idea that anyone would be teaching their precious darlings to respe...
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Hollow Victories
Imagine a track race. The contestants are lined up, ready to give it their all. When the gun goes off, they take off running, except for the Black man; someone has put heavy weights on his ankles. He struggles to run as the others pull farther and farther ahead. As the other contestants reach the home stretch, a race official finally stops the race and points out that the Black man has been wrongly and unfairly handicapped. The race officials take the weights off the Black man’s ankles, pa...
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