Racism, If Not Taught, Is At Least Ignored At McCormick Junior High

Racism is taught, and apparently at schools like McCormick Junior High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming after flyers saying …

“It’s great to be straight it’s not OK to be gay.”

“Black lives only matter because if it weren’t for them who would pick our cotton.”

“Join the KKK”

… were taped to walls and passed out by students.

The school’s principal, Jeff Conine, is downplaying the incident saying there were only two flyers, and that they were taped to walls in areas without security cameras, and that teachers found the flyers and took them down before the school day began.

But what about other reports that say the walls of the school were papered with the flyers, and that students with Confederate flags were passing them out to targeted students in the school’s Gay Straight Alliance [GSA] club?

Conine doesn’t know, or so he says; he told Wyoming Equality Executive Director Sara Burlingame that he was not aware that students had passed out any flyers, according to Cheyenne’s Mayor, Marian Orr, Conine told her that students had been handing out flyers.

Oops. Hate is taught, and then covered up?

Conine still maintains his story, though he did confirm a student shouted the word “faggot” at GSA students during a meeting but says he ‘scolded” that student.

A scolding doesn’t stop hate.

Conine said the day’s events were still under investigation and couldn’t say what the repercussions would be for those responsible until they were found. The most severe punishment he is authorized as principal to deliver is a 10-day out-of-school suspension.

For hate; time for the haters to gather and pan their next assault.

Conine also said he believes this was an isolated incident and yet the 40 members of McCormick’s GSA club, and the club’s co-sponsor, Kaycee Cook, a substitute teacher, say nearly all of them have reported bullying this year.

Cook claimed that students have been flashing confederate flags and yelling homophobic slurs at GSA students for weeks. In fact, it was so bad that she reported the bullying to district administrators three weeks ago but was told the incidents did not fall under their purview, and her claims were dismissed. She also says Principal Conine had been informed of the bullying, and that these recent events were not isolated. GSA students have even reported bullying from some teachers who refuse to use students’ preferred pronouns and have called same-sex students holding hands “disgusting.”

Hate is taught; and one way to teach hate is to do nothing when it rears its ugly head, and that’s what seems to be happening at this school. The bullied are being ignored, while the bullies go unpunished.

Until something worse happens…

Torrington Telegram