September 16th: the day Breitbart -- a conservative news source-- decided it cared about Mr. Sicotte’s sexuality*. Apparently, they cared so much that the network published an article titled Massachusetts Principal Flaunts Sexuality, Race in Front of Children to Stump for Black Lives Matter, written by journalist Breccan F. Thies*.
Why would Breitbart publish such an article, you may ask? Because our principal acknowledged that he is “a white privileged straight man” to the 9th graders on the first day of school. The article drags Mr. Sicotte for this statement, and proceeds to accuse Needham Public Schools of “indoctrinating students” with leftist ideology.
Ironically, the way the article describes Needham High School is… good. While it uses a negative tone -- implying that NHS is engaging in damaging practices toward its students -- the actual words are quite the contrary. The article nicely summarizes Needham’s goals to create a more accepting environment and help students understand the importance of equality.
Let’s break down the top four points Breitbart made against Needham (and why these things are actually good):
1)“Leftist Propaganda” around the school.
Right away, the article insults the “leftist propaganda” plastered around the school. Breibart states that “it was hard to find a single classroom in the building that did not have a sign on the door or wall containing one of the following three messages: Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate, and We Welcome Refugees.” According to their article, the editors of Breitbart qualify messages of inclusion as “leftist propaganda.”
At Needham High, however, many view these signs as a positive aspect of the community. Anika Singh, co-President of the Asian Student Union at NHS, believes that “A sign like ‘Stop Asian Hate’ is not a political statement. It is a statement that reminds us of basic human rights. Whether or not signs are displayed, racism, hate, and prejudice are real issues in and out of our schools. We choose to display these signs as a way to show our support to those who are targeted and remind those who are not that these issues matter.”
Indeed, these signs showcase important messages that acknowledge the very real racism people in the community face and that the school does not stand for such racism. Breitbart can view the signs as “leftist propaganda,” but the reality is much different.
2) Seeking to “prepare all students to be socially and culturally responsive contributors who understand and respect diversity; Act with empathy and courage to ensure equity, access, and an anti-racist culture. Address local and global issues through civic and community engagement.”
Thies’s article further accuses NHS of “training activists” and aiming to “deconstruct the racism that is inherent in the Needham Public Schools (as well as in every aspect of society.)” Reading this quote out of the context of the article, one may think it comes as praise for the school. After all, what is wrong about a school educating students on real issues of society and encouraging them to create positive change?
A school’s job goes beyond teaching students geometry proofs and that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell; it is equally, if not more, important to teach students how to think critically, form opinions, and present solutions to different problems. Educating students on societal issues falls under that umbrella. It is vital to teach students the history of our nation and the negative aspects of our country; this is the way students will be inspired to create change.
A senior at NHS describes how the school’s AP US History class helped shift his opinions on racism and inequality in America: “Taking APUSH at NHS has significantly impacted my view on inequality and racism in America. For much of my life, I went along with what my parents believed and dismissed everything else. Through APUSH, I was forced to challenge my preconceptions and acknowledge a variety of perspectives, ultimately providing me with a much broader understanding of America and the injustices that exist.” Without an education on America’s history and injustices, students will not be able to truly understand such complex issues, and therefore will not be prepared to create necessary changes within society.
3) Having an Elementary Racial Literacy Curriculum
Thies also attacks Needham Public Schools’ racial literacy curriculum in elementary schools. To briefly summarize: Needham has implemented a racial literacy curriculum at the elementary school level to expose children to different races, ethnicities, and cultures, educate them on the importance of kindness, teach them about discrimination and activism aiming to end discrimination throughout America’s history, and how young people can also actively work to end injustices now.
Thies classifies this as indoctrination, stating that “The indoctrination starts in kindergarten with a focus on skin colors, but by the third grade, the school district starts teaching “stories of activism.” Let me ask you: is teaching youth about different skin colors indoctrination? The obvious answer is a resounding no. While Brietbart admits that “Teaching about activism is likely not in-and-of-itself negative,” but that when it goes “too far” -- which they believe Needham does -- it creates damage by “molding [these children] into activists.”
Racial literacy curriculums have been quite controversial over the past few years, as they have become more and more common. Opponents of it, like Brietbart, believe that it turns students into activists, which they somehow think is… a bad thing? However, others have praised racial literacy curriculums as crucial in teaching about empathy and equity.
Dr. Shaun Harper, race and gender expert and University of Pennsylvania professor, explains that “We can’t even do racial equity if we don’t even know how to talk about race. Racial literacy… It is about being able to read, both in actual literature, and also how to read situations and read people. But more fundamentally, it is also about how you talk comfortably and competently about racial realities in classrooms and departments and workplaces and student affairs divisions, and so on.”
While Needham High does not have an official racial literacy curriculum in place, Mr. Sicotte says, “We’ve been really thoughtful over the past few years, and we will continue to be, around how we’re making sure that the content that students are engaging with within the classroom, the curriculum itself, is reflective of the diversity of our nation…There is rich literature from all over the world and to be able to broaden that interaction with our students is really valuable to us, and it allows us to ensure that all of our students are seeing characters of different backgrounds and identities. We’re looking at human experiences here.”
4) Teaching about activism
Thies’s article concludes by quoting Parents Defending Education’s Director of Outreach, Erika Sanzi, saying: “The place seems more like a re-education camp than a public high school.” The reason? They believe that “activist themes [being taught] are being deployed to further a political movement called “action civics,” which seeks to indoctrinate children from a very young age to mold them into activists, such as those in Black Lives Matter or Antifa.”
Ironically, many consider action civics as positive, as a way to correct the injustices of our society. Brian Soika, Digital Content Writer at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, states six reasons why action civics is important. Among these reasons are that it “prioritizes student engagement,” is “rooted in research,” and has many positive outcomes; action civics has been shown to increase civic engagement later in life, increase students’ civic knowledge, and increase one’s belief in their own ability to succeed.
Since its foundation centuries ago, America has developed into the nation it is today through average citizen’s civic engagement, average citizens working toward a more equitable world. There is nothing wrong with encouraging students to engage in such actions, even if Brietbart believes otherwise.
In his article, Thies raises the concern that teaching action civics will lead students to become activists “such as those in Black Lives Matter or Antifa,” implying that such activists are violent. However, there are, in fact, quite a few flaws within this line of thinking. First of all, the BLM movement is not inherently violent whatsoever, and there is a false notion that most Black Lives Matter supporters engage in violent protests. Tomiko Brown-Nagin, dean of the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard, says, “opponents characterized activists as lawbreakers or as violent when overwhelmingly they were nonviolent.” Secondly, teachers are not promoting violent protests; I can confidently say my teachers have never promoted violence in activism. Rather, they are promoting standing up for what is right. Learning about impact activists throughout history shows students that change is possible, and that there are ways students can help create said changes through peaceful demonstrations.
Taking everything that the article writes into account, it is clear that the article was trying to portray Needham High in a negative light. Unfortunately for Breitbart, the article was received quite differently in the community. Mr. Sicotte says on this matter: “For people in this area who recognize and share the values of any of the schools, there was a real appreciation and sense of pride for [the things stated in] the article.”
In an interview with The Hilltopper, Mr. Sicotte shared his goals for the comments he made that inspired Breitbart’s article: “My goal [in calling myself a straight, white male] was to highlight that as, even with the challenges that I’ve faced in life, and there have been many -- between growing up poor and struggling with a lot of mental health within my family -- the challenges I’ve faced were not because of my race, or gender, or sexual orientation, or my physical ability, or anything of that nature. And that’s the privilege that I’ve had: that I haven’t had new or additional challenges based on my identities. So I was trying to reframe the thinking for students to help them better understand the concept of privilege, and that it’s not necessarily something to be ashamed of, it’s just simply to acknowledge and to recognize it does mean you are less likely to experience certain challenges in life than others.”
He further goes on to state that “we have students from all over the world, all different backgrounds, and with all different experiences, and if we’re not creating a safe, welcoming space for everyone, it would not allow students to be here and to learn. You can’t learn if you’re not seen, you can’t learn if you don’t feel valued, and so we need to make sure we are seeing and valuing each person that comes in this building.”
So, Breitbart, many staff and students at NHS want to give you this message: teaching about very real racial inequities in our society and creating an environment where people of all backgrounds is not “indoctrination.” The school will continue to educate students on societal issues and encourage them to go and create positive change.
*This is a joke. I repeat, this is a joke and should not be taken seriously.
*It is also worth noting that Mr. Sicotte did not once mention the Black Lives Matter organization as Breitbart stated in their article’s title, so it seems Breitbart has resorted to clickbait to get readers (though I guess I did the same for this article… oops).