Baldwin-Woodville boy suspended for noose-like art
December 31, 2012 at 5:53 am in River Falls Journal
Wisconsin News
A high school freshman has been suspended for giving a small noose and what is being called a “KKK symbol” to a black classmate.
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He made and presented the items in art class in front of three staff members. Yet, none of them saw anything, but the rest of the class did. Facepalm.
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“bigot”:
“Bigotry is the state of mind of a bigot, defined by Merriam-Webster as “a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially: one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance”.[1] Bigotry may be based on real or perceived characteristics, including age, disability, dissension from popular opinions, economic status, ethnicity, gender identity, language, nationality, political alignment, race, region, religious or spiritual belief, sex, or sexual orientation. Bigotry is sometimes developed into an ideology or world view.” *
I’m wondering if the kid really hates non-white people, or he made a stupid decision in art class to make something he’d seen pictures of and then made his decision even worse by putting it on the desk of a fellow student? is it a case of young & dumb or real hatred? Suspension will hasten maturity, but how can it do anything for the heart change needed to “love thy neighbor?”
Based on the definition of bigotry, I’d say this kid isn’t the only one who could be accused of bigotry.
* wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigotry
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The short article says the kid is a freshman, so I’m thinking he’s likely 14.
And contrary to how you choose to interpret my words, I wasn’t defending the kid’s actions. I’m pointing out the article has little information that would cause me to INSTANTLY label the kid a bigot, especially when it states the kid thought it was a joke.
Therefore, I question if the kid’s motivation was a result of “young and dumb” (a dumb joke), or real heart hatred (bigotry.) If I could “see” the kid’s heart, I could make a definitive statement. But since I can’t, I guess I’ll withhold judgement and avoid slapping a label on the kid.
But thank you for causing me to look up the definition of “bigotry”. If you read it closely and realize the term doesn’t JUST apply to racial/ethnic characteristics, I’d say there are a tremendous number of bigots in the world.
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I was wondering how long it would take you to throw the race card, which is interestingly played rather than conceeding benefit of doubt until more information is learned….which is reinforcing the stereotype typical lib: throw labels before knowing any information beyond some wild headline.
It seems the kid’s mother is horrified at what her son did, and she is reaching out to the girl and her family. That gesture makes me think even more the kid was incredibly stupid and totally unaware his “joke” would have such devasting emotional impact.
I pray this horrible situation will produce many blessings; in the young and dumb kid, the young girl, their families, and the community.
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I was referring to this kneejerk reaction:
Alice Riley said: On January 2, 2013 at 9:31 AM
Little bigot has a lot of growing up to do!
Sorry to burst your bubble, but the news media is hardly a reliable/reputable source of COMPLETE and TOTAL, HONEST, UN-BIASED information. And did those 3 stories you relied upon come from 3 different sources that were verified independently, or were they all stories obtained from one newsource with a bit of rewriting? Via the 1-3-13 RiverTowns.net article (posted after your 1-2-13 comment), the SPPP reports the “hat” was placed on the desk, no where does it state the boy was wearing it…so which of your “sources” wrote he wore it while placing the noose on the desk?
Also, the mother of the girl stated, ” it was apparently an uneducated juvenile prank.” *
The school principal stated this: “the boy’s parents are also upset about the incident, and they’ve asked her how they can help.” *
Now who do you think knows more about what happened: you; the parents of the kids involved, or newswriters? The girl’s Mom says it was an incident of “young and dumb”. How about deferring to her opinion and refrain from destructively labelling a young kid? (I’m curious, if you label a kid as a “bigot” at age 14/15, will you forever consider him a bigot the rest of his life? If not, how will you know he is no longer a “bigot”?)
* rivertowns.net/event/article/id/49386/publisher_ID/9/
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Once again, I’m not defending the kid. I’m defending him from being labelled a “bigot” based on a kneejerk reaction to limited information. And I’m still curious how a 14/15-year old kid you label a bigot can ever earn NON-bigot status from you. What does he have to do, and how long a time does he have to do it? Or is your label a life-time label?
“Young & dumb” is a condition most every person demonstrates, generally in the teenage years. Each individual’s challenge is to grow out of “young & dumb” and take those experiences to build a foundation of wisdom. And along the way you hope Y&D doesn’t hurt others. In this case it did, and the boy was punished. I still pray blessings to both families from this experience.
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The kid was made a big mistake and it was stupid. Any kid of his age should know better. http://www.twincities.com/wisconsin/ci_22298850/wisconsin-mother-victim-bullying-racial-incident-asks-school
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I have to believe if the B-W school district felt this was more a case of rascism then “uneducated juvenile prank” (the description the mother of the girl used), the DOJ would be called in to do their thing. if you remember a while back their was a case of rascism in Menomonie, and the DOJ was involved.
AR sez: “what do you care what I think of him?”
You posted it, I responded. Why do you care what I think?
” … My labels mean nothing”
Words NOT said fall back d_e_a_d. Or as my mom used to say, “sometimes it’s better to keep your mouth shut.”
Remember the definition of “bigot”?
“Bigotry is the state of mind of a bigot, defined by Merriam-Webster as “a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially: one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance”.[1] Bigotry may be based on real or perceived characteristics, including age, disability, dissension from popular opinions, economic status, ethnicity, gender identity, language, nationality, political alignment, race, region, religious or spiritual belief, sex, or sexual orientation. Bigotry is sometimes developed into an ideology or world view.”
Why are you so devoted to your perception this was a case of bigotry/rascism, when the girl’s mom says it was “uneducated juvenile prank”?
And again, I’m not defending the boy. What he did was stupid and insensitive and he has been punished. Do you understand grace? If you did, you might be able to understand why I’m defending the kid from your attempt to label him. And it is because of grace given to us I pray both families are healed and made whole.
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AR sez: “why have you not condemned this boys actions ”
Why do you need me to condemn the boy for what he did?
“…Condemnation … is meant to tear you down. Condemnation continually points out what a failure you are, and how badly you’ve messed up. Condemnation is showing you the problem, but avoiding the solution…” *
So if the boy had given a noose to a white student, apparently that would be okay with you because then it wouldn’t fall under the bigot/rascism label. I think one person giving a noose to another is wrong, regardless of sex/race/age/nationality/religion/income group/occupation, etc.
The boy has been punished, the parents of both kids appear to be trying to turn this situation into good, the principal seems to be trying to find out if there is a bigger problem. Reread the definition of “bigotry”.
* greatbiblestudy.com/condemnation_conviction.php
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OK. This wasn’t a racial incident. You’re right.
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Gobless America.
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