Editor's Letter
Silence Not Golden
I
t could have been a prank by thoughtless, unaware teens
"I conveyed to him the pain and revulsion I felt that a swas-
although the culprits have yet to be caught. Whatever the
tika had been painted on the school and in the community to
intent, the vandalism was no less hateful, pernicious and
which we are integrally tied and also what a repugnant affront
the swastika represents to Jewish students, families and all
foreboding.
That's why the concise, powerful way that Principal Rick
decent citizens:' Stulberg told me.
Rightly, she felt the crime compelled a response that the
Jones and Farmington Public Schools spoke out against a
swastika being painted on the student
school and the district had no room for expressions of hatred
rock in front of North Farmington
and their concurrent scars on humanity and history "The
High represented an important public
swastika is a chilling symbol of evil and its brandishing any-
where is a vile assault on the memory of the millions slaugh-
pronouncement.
The school district's zero-tolerance
tered under the Nazi regime she said.
After an exchange of conversations heading into the
policy against incitement of any kind
is refreshing given the rise in anti-
Thanksgiving break, Jones assured Stulberg that the district
was listening and would react responsibly.
Semitism and other ethnic hatred, on
U.S. college campuses especially.
And it did.
The Jewish community could learn
Curiously, the rock incident at North came close on the heels
from Farmington Public Schools'
of an elegy by Jones in the high school newsletter, the Raider
directness and leadership. Just as we
Rap. The elegy spoke to the proud tradition of the rock. It also
are quick to challenge other examples
came less than a year after North's interdisciplinary study
of bias and defilement, so must we respond with resolve in
devoted to the subject of genocide and the menace of hate.
seeking redress from clearly anti-Jewish acts like using swasti-
Given the school's and the district's embrace of diversity and
kas — the signature of Nazi Germany.
multiculturalism, the rock incident presented a unique teach-
The week of Dec. 17, Farmington Public Schools broadcast
able moment to reaffirm that commitment. Exposing intoler-
over its classroom network a spot produced for "Live at 45" and ance is a key first step.
aired on TV10, the district's cable channel. Superintendent Sue
Stark Influences
Zervalic set a critical precedent in condemning the desecra-
tion at North and all acts of hatred and bigotry. The response
The need to spotlight hate-mongering rather than just hoping
stands as the gold standard to which other districts, academic
it fades away is high in light of the resurgence, yet again, of
institutions and public entities should be held accountable
neo-Nazism and the Ku Klux Klan, according to the Southern
when prejudice stakes a claim.
Poverty Law Center and the
Fortunately, swastikas aren't
Anti-Defamation League. FBI
part of the normal landscape of The need to spotlight
data reveal that more than 66
Farmington-Farmington Hills or
percent of the 1,462 religion-
hate-mongering is high in
its schools. The school district's
based hate crimes in America
broadcast described the swas-
last year targeted Jews.
light of the resurgence of
tika at North as a symbol that
The swastika incident at
"sends a message of racism,
North and the subsequent
neo-Nazism and the KKK.
aggression and intimidation
•reports of hangman's nooses
toward Jewish people!' It called
inside labs at Central Michigan
the act "cowardly."
University are part of a larger national trend toward symbolic
It went to say: "We unequivocally denounce this act and
hate, which can morph into physical harm if left unanswered.
what it represents. This type of activity will not be tolerated
New York City's Day Out Against Hate, held last Nov. 29, illus-
at North Farmington High School or anywhere in our school
trates how one city mobilized against hate crimes.
district or community!'
While some argued that we shouldn't rivet attention on the
It declared that "hate is not welcome' at North and that
swastika defacement at North, I side with Stulberg, who main-
"our students deserve learning environments" free of hostility,
tained that the best way to fight hate is to confront it and mus-
intimidation and harassment.
ter a collective outcry. To turn a blind eye signals that hate isn't
That really echoes.
so bad; manifestations thus begin to metastasize aggressively.
Defacing public property with the mark of Nazism not
Taking Action
only is contemptuous, but also may violate federal and state
The backdrop began Oct. 13 when a motorist along 13 Mile,
civil-rights and hate-crime laws. The poster of a new U.S. Civil
west of Orchard Lake Road in Farmington Hills, noticed the
Rights Commission educational campaign sums it up well:
swastika spray-painted on the highly visible rock. Outraged,
"Silence is an ally of hate!"
she went home to get some paint. She returned to the school
Thanks, Principal Jones, for doing the courageous — and
to cover up what some dismiss as graffiti but which I call bla-
right — thing. ❑
tant filth. The witness took photos before she painted over the
rock, according to the Farmington Hills police report.
Is it better to repudiate or ignore
Linda Stulberg, a North Farmington parent whose family
IX
swastikas
in public places?
ti)
was incinerated by the Nazis, learned of the vandalism from
a student. After corroborating the details and speaking with
Z Z How key is it for public school officials
other parents about what happened, she contacted Jones, a
to denounce hatred?
well-respected principal.
oan 2.
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