On this day, January 4, 1945, Two men working near Medford, Oregon, heard a blast, saw flames, and found a twelve-inch-deep hole in the ground where the bomb had exploded. The U.S. Office of Censorship asked the news media not to publish reports for fear it might cause panic. It was the first of a Japanese balloon bomb, experimental weapons intended to kill and cause fires.
Also on this day, January 4, 2018, the state of Oregon sued Monsanto over pervasive pollution from PCBs and sought $100 million to mitigate pollution , particularly along a 10-mile stretch of the Willamette River. Federal authorities in 2016 announced a $1 billion cleanup in the area.
School Board suggests white kids not impacted by racism
At a recent Salem-Keizer School Board meeting, a resolution was brought forth by Vice-Chair Ashley Carson Cottingham that some Board members are claiming is a Commitment to Equity and Anti-Racism, however skeptics are pointing out that the resolution seems to be filled with discrimination against white students solely based on the color of their skin.
Leftist members of the school board seem willing to dismiss any such concerns, justifying the discrimination by claiming that white children are not subjected to racism at all, and that only BIPOC, non-white students are victims of racism.
As Chairman Osvaldo Avila explains, "What we're trying to do here is make sure there is no power and privilege over, just because of the color of your skin, this is because historically, white supremacists have enslaved people, used power and privilege, using racism and divisive and hateful signs, language, flags now, and that's not what we want in this school district," said Board Chairman Osvaldo Avila.
Director Marty Heyen explains to the rest of the board how she believes that the term "white supremacist" is used incorrectly, and the that word is "like a tennis ball in a tennis match, it's thrown around so loosely to insult people, that it's thrown around to shut people down, and used when you want to end a conversation." She explains that the overuse and misuse of the term will only make problems worse.
"I've been voting for the equity policy every year", said Heyen. "I believe the first year was 2015-2016, my first year on the board. And, it doesn't seem like this policy has made a difference. It seems like there is more anger, and more divisiveness, than less.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
The board seems to dismiss her concerns, with Zone 5 Director Karina Guzmán Ortiz quickly moving on and stating that "I would like to include the Asian community into paragraph 5, the Asian community and our Asian brothers and sisters are also impacted by racism and white supremacy and a lot of other racism..." She then gaslights Director Heyen and suggests that anyone offended at being called a white supremacist is probably a white supremacist, in her estimation.
The Resolution will be voted on in the October 12th Salem-Keizer School Board meeting.
You can watch the entire Salem-Keizer School Board meeting from September 14th here.
