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Why I Support the Principal Who Banned Santa, the Pledge of Allegiance & Thanksgiving
I’m not optimistic that this will stick, but I totally support Principal Eujin Jaela Kim’s decision to ban Santa Claus, the Pledge of Allegiance and Thanksgiving at PS 169 in Sunset Park. I know a handful of folks who would join in support and way too many simpletons that just got a right-wing boner in their boxers because their “rights are being violated” or they’re somehow victims of “political correctness.” Lets tell them why they are absolutely wrong, shall we?
Santa Claus
Before we get all high and holy about religious freedoms, remember that Santa is not in your Bible, nor are his flying reindeer. He’s residual to your religion at best, and even embraced by some non-religious people, but certainly not by all people. It is, after all, 2015. Do I really have to remind you that Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Jainists, Atheists and a host of other types of humans attend public schools? Is there even one good reason to force Santa Claus on any of these children in a public space? Shouldn’t they be learning actual facts or practicalities instead? Or are tax dollars best used to instill nonsense into children?
No one is telling you that you can’t lie to your children in the comfort of your own home, but public school is (obviously) not the place for this particular non-truth, especially as it competes with the very reality teachers are trying to convey. Keep Santa Claus at home, no one is gonna stop you. Get together with your friends and family and celebrate Santa Claus until a steady stream of candy canes shoot out your collective asses. School, on the other hand, is for learning. If anything, children should be taught what myths are so they can identify when they’re being outright lied to.
Thanksgiving
Here’s another lie we love to tell children; Filling their heads with images of Pilgrims and Indians exchanging pleasantries over turkey and football. Anything but teach a child the truth, that this is the rightful homeland of the American Indian, and that white folks came here to kill them, rape them, and spread disease while pulling the land out from under their moccasins. Oh, and please pass the cranberries.
The Principal wants to replace Thanksgiving with a harvest festival where kids may actually learn something practical instead of all this revisionist horseshit. Parents that love to lie to their kids will be up in arms again, but they are free to celebrate Thanksgiving in all its gory glory at home. No one is stopping you, just don’t do it in a public school where this “holiday” has no place. Try to imagine you’re a child of American Indian descent for one moment. If you didn’t throw up, you didn’t imagine hard enough.
The Pledge of Allegiance
I stopped reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in high school when I realized that it was just mindless repetition. My teachers did it halfheartedly and there wasn’t a kid in class who didn’t mumble their way through it, and with good reason. It’s literally indoctrination, and the best of us rebel against indoctrination. That’s what separates us from the Nazis, people. Am I alone in thinking that children shouldn’t be taught to mindlessly step in line? Shouldn’t kids, in fact, question everything? Come to their own conclusions? Are you afraid that kids might actually learn something useful in school?
Are you afraid that kids might actually learn something useful in school?
Yes, it’s possible to say the pledge without “under God,” but there are better ways to teach children about liberty, justice and the republic that don’t involve them begrudgingly mouthing along in a monotone.
I know what you’re thinking; Hey, I did all these things and look at how good I turned out! I got news for you, Sunshine, you didn’t turn out half as good as you think you did, I promise you.
Feel free to celebrate Santa Claus, Thanksgiving, UFOs, racism, homophobia and whatever else you’d like to poison your kids with in private. No one can take those bullshit things away from you, but let’s keep them out of schools, thanks.
If it’s “radical” to teach kids how to learn, then consider me a radical.
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For more on the actual controversy, click HERE.
Almost every year for the past 6 years and on the same day, I’ve posted the same pic of me in the hospital during my temporary and untimely demise in 2015. A few weeks after I was back to “normal”, I asked Eric “Why’d you take the pics?” And he said, “I knew you would want to write about it if you lived.” Eric was right. Eric was often right and Eric always had my best interest at heart. I am going to miss my friend.
You ever meet someone and become friends immediately?! Well this was not the case with Eric. Before he was my manager at Morgan Stanley, I would often see this 6’4″, giant white guy walk up to the only black woman at work, say something then walk away without any hint of human emotion. Naturally I thought he was a jerk until I asked her “Yo, is that dude bothering you?” She laughed and proceeded to tell me he was a great person, which I ultimately got to experience first hand. Little did I know this Italian from Staten Island was more Brooklyn than most Brooklynites.
Eric was not with the shits!! If there were ever someone who lived their life in direct, honest and no uncertain terms, that would be Eric. He would ask me questions at work like “Why are the other consultants making more money than you?” I knew the answer to that question and so did he. Eric then proceeded to increase my salary by 15K. After arguing with all our managers that “You need to hire Alfred!”, they eventually did 1 year prior to the 2015 incident. In the hospital, one of my friends asked me, “What if you didn’t have health insurance when this happened?” I would be in debt for the rest of my life is the obvious answer. I still am in debt for the rest of my life but at least, it is to those who made sure I had a more enjoyable life and for that, I will gladly repay.
My mom loved to tell me the story of how she met Eric. After they told her I was going to be in the ICU for some time, she told the doctor “Well I’m not going anywhere.” She then hears a voice from that back of the room that says “Well I’m not going anywhere either!” That was Eric and in true form, he was at that hospital every single day until I was discharged.
Eric passed away in December 2021 of stage 4 cancer. After feeling faint on his way to my bbq, he went to get checked out and was diagnosed. During the past 5 years, Eric lost his mom, twin brother and dad. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have felt like but I’m glad that pain he was feeling is no more.
From being my manager to my business partner, writer, book editor, artistic director, and most importantly, my friend, I am going to miss you MC Krispy E a.k.a “Enrique Pollazo!” And although you told me Enrique means Henry in Spanish and not Eric, it was too late!
Sidebar. The day I was discharged, while everyone was deciding what was best for me, no one had remembered that I would need clothes in order to leave the hospital. Eric shows up (unasked) with all the clothes I had on the day I coded, laundered and ready to go. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve friends like this but i need to keep doing it! Sidebar complete.
Rest in Peace Eric. “Be Good.”
I had the distinct pleasure of participating in a panel discussion on writing your first book, presented by the Harlem chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Alongside Jim St. Germain, Author – A Stone of Hope: A Memoir and Dr. Keneshia Nicole Grant, Author – The Great Migration and the Democratic Party: Black Voters and the Realignment of American Politics in the 20th Century. We opined on pain points, benefits and strategies regarding our inaugural voyages into authorship. Feel free to watch for your self and I hope this provides some insight to all those looking to make the same voyage. Enjoy!
