Ghastly White
Well, here ya go.
That’s okay. We can live with that, just so long the rest of the schools in the country opt out of Utah. No, seriously. We can take Utah off the map and any references to the state shall henceforth be known as whogivesadamn.
I don’t see a downside to this. I don’t know much about Utah so why teach it at all? Everything I learned about Utah in school has been totally useless in life. Nobody has ever asked me a question about Utah and I’ve never used it to measure anything or figure my tax deductions. So why even teach it or put it on a map?
I guess if you are driving from Colorado to Nevada, you could put up your car windows, put on your Willie Nelson tape and pretend you’re dancing across Texas.
Unless you’re going to drive from Arizona to Idaho and, oh dear Lord, who is ever going to do that? Just forget I even said that. Nobody does that.
It’s a Charter School. What a surprise. Not.
Here’s how to fix this: Have the accreditation agency state that it will lose its accreditation for this. Alternatively, have colleges and universities announce that no students will be admitted from that school. See how easy this is?
1Utah has a long history of discrimination against blacks and white supremacy rooted mainly in the LDS church. The information that some parents at a school want to “opt out” of recognizing the history of blacks is not surprising at all. The article below explains some of the history behind the racism which has not gone away. In the late 70’s, my employer asked me to move to Salt Lake City. I opted out and changed my career, thankfully.
https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-mormon-church-black-members-20180601-story.html
2Seen on a bumper sticker in Wells, Nevada: “Eat, drink and be merry, for tonight you may be in Utah.”
3The Mormon Church, despite it’s history, still necro-baptizes Black people into their religion, as well as all other races and creeds. They expend a great deal of effort tracking down death certificates, but that Utah charter school at least can’t be bothered with living Black people or Black figures of historical importance.
4I say let’s teach about Mountain Meadows in the other 49 states. I doubt many people know that story.
I have some insight into LDS because part of my family is Mormon. There is a sharp divide among today’s Mormons on race and related issues, like immigration. The church’s missions around the world tend toward liberalization of attitudes but as a native Southerner I can tell you it takes a loooong time for that sort of thing to percolate through. And for the oldsters, no hope, just have to wait for them to die.
5What BarbinDC said. All the RWNJs here in Central California dream of retiring to Idaho and so many of them actually have that there is now a housing shortage there and prices are through the roof. So much for lower cost of living. Idaho is also currently promoting a constitutional amendment that would prevent marijuana from ever being legalized. I’m for all the wackos moving to Utah and Idaho where we can keep an eye on them.
6I think we need to take away their representation and electoral college votes, too.
7Wow if I knew that was a thing, I’d’ve skipped English lit and taken 4 years of physics. Looking out at snow means death? If that’s true there’s a whole lot of dead people in my yard today.
Now if only they’d pick up a shovel.
8Halster @ 6
The “through the roof” costs of housing in Idaho are not much different than California prices. State capital to state capital, look similar
Boise 86 Very Competitive Redfin Compete Score™
$419K Sale Price +19.3% since last year
$241 Sale $/Sq. Ft. +24.9% since last year
Sacramento 91 Most Competitive Redfin Compete Score™
9$405K Sale Price +19.1% since last year
$272 Sale $/Sq. Ft. +16.0% since last year
As I recall from my own vibrant youth, the minute something becomes forbidden it becomes a four star hit on the rating scale. Can only conclude that the kids who are forbidden to learn one freaking thing about racism/nativism/etc. will find a way to learn about it. This puts all the elders upholding the forbidden in a tight spot. They have to do something about the “lawbreakers”, usually expulsion. Well, there goes their charter school income.
10john in denver @ 9
I’m not talking about California city prices where real estate is outrageous. I’m here in Central California where housing is relatively cheap. In the entire state of Idaho, only Boise has a larger population than the town I live in. A house comparable to mine in design, size, age and lot size anywhere in Idaho is about $170K higher. Even old tract houses in old neighborhoods are more expensive than they are here. That’s what I’m talking about.
There is not much new construction going on anywhere since the 2008 meltdown so there are only a finite number of homes available. As more people relocate to Idaho, real estate prices will only continue to rise. This is probably already slowing down many retirement dreams.
11I had a customer in SLC and it is the weirdest, whitest, strangest city I have ever been in.
From the glares when I crossed the street against the light – without a car in sight (spent many young days in NYC) to (after finding like the only liquor store in the city) the gasps of horror walking through the hotel lobby with a 6-pack (They didn’t have a bag big enough) it’s the nuttiest place in America.
This little gang of Goth kids hanging outside the mall smoking cigarettes told me where it was 🙂
I was there in February and there was a temperature inversion so all the snow on the mountains looked orange through the pollution.
The National Parks in southern Utah are well worth the effort. Much less weird. You can get beer on tap in Moab. They’re all about tourist $$$$$
12I imagine if those kids whose parents don’t want them to learn any black history find a way to do just that, it won’t be them that gets expelled. The school administrators weren’t very happy about the exclusion. The parents should be expelled and shunned by their neighbors.
13Update: TheHill.com
Utah school will no longer allow parents to opt students out of Black History Month curriculum.
It’s amazing what a little backlash can do.
14My younger kid spent a year in SLC and really liked it, but was living and working with people who shared his interests. He’s as liberal as I am. And white. His main complaint was the terrible drivers. As for Utah, it’s got some of the most beautiful National Parks & Monuments in the country. Idaho also has some beautiful scenery and none of it is around Boise, but Boise is a nice city. My older kid & his wife live there and love it (she grew up there). In his profession he has to deal with people all over the state and doesn’t suffer fools gladly, but he’s diplomatic which keeps him out of trouble. That, plus professional ethics. LOL. Unfortunately, as mentioned, housing prices have skyrocketed. The kids probably should have bought a house already but haven’t and prices keep rising. It’s nuts. Boise used to be so affordable.
15When I was a teenager in the early sixties my father was stationed at an AF base in Utah. We lived there 4 years. My father insisted on me going to Catholic high school. I lived 15 miles from the school and needed to take two different buses each way. Imagine having to wear the usual Catholic school girl uniform in public. The boys didn’t have to wear a uniform. People were obnoxious, name calling, vulgar remarks, whistling, etc.
16When I got old enough I tried to get a job but, in those days, the forms asked for your religion. Needless to say I was never hired.
I was never so happy to leave a place.
As i write this I think it sure sounds like a big whine but it really affected my 13-17 year old self. (BooHoo) I’m now 76, do not participate in any church and will never go back to Utah. To this day, I can spot the Morman Missionaries and if they ring my doorbell i chase them away with my broom.
I’m glad the parents backed off. What surprises me is it was a Montessori school, which in my experience draws a more liberal
17clinetele than one would expect in Utah.
If you ever find yourself in Provo, choose an ethnic restaurant. A lot of Mormon missionaries come back to BYU for grad school and end up opening restaurants based on what they learned about cooking in other countries.
I had better Brazilian food in Provo than in Manhattan.
On the other hand, Utah Lake is No.2 on my list of environmental crimes (right after Ducktown, Tennessee).
18“Mormon hypocrisy” should be just one word. Utah is run by the LDS Church; the state is as close to a functioning theocracy as the US has. It’s no wonder they always vot GOP and elect people like Mike Lee and Orrin Hatcher.
I grew up in Utah; Most public schools of any size have “seminaries” next to where students go for classes on Mormonism. Of course, they always had great activities and facilities in an attempt to proselytize Gentiles.
19I actually made that drive from Colorado to Nevada in 2012. I was on my way from my home in Virginia to grad school in Berkeley.
Utah ends in the salt flats – you know, where they drove those fast land cars in the 1960’s – and Nevada begins in neon, luring wayward Mormons with girls, booze and gambling.
It’s a strange drive.
That said, I do love to ski there!
20We’ve driven through Utah several times, visiting the spectacular National Parks. Don’t miss Capitol Reef, Arches, Escalante Grand Staircase, as well as the more famous (and crowded) Bryce and Zion. Even found a wonderful brew pub in Moab walking distance from the campground. Once we are covid contained, hope to visit friends who winter in Park City, and friends at Powder Mt someday. Utah-Great place to visit, wouldn’t want to live there.
21fran, I went to Park City once. Well, almost, the women in my party skipped the scenery for a gigantic outlet mall.
I thought to myself, this must be what Timbuctoo is like: retailing in the middle of an empty desert.
22Black History Month?
Really? Only in February?
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