Yesterday Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) had a rather rough tour through the Bronx, which was dotted with angry protestors and the cancellation of a visit to a preparatory school after precious snowflakes felt that Cruz was just too racist, homophobic, and misogynist to enter the premises. Students at the Bronx Lighthouse College Preparatory Academy threatened to walk out if the firebrand conservative came to the school since he went against everything the school stands for, or something (via the Hill):
Cruz was scheduled to speak at Bronx Lighthouse College Preparatory Academy, but students at the school wrote a letter to the principal asking that she not allow Cruz to come."We told her if he came here, we would schedule a walkout," said Destiny Domeneck, 16.
"Most of us are immigrants or come from immigrant backgrounds. Ted Cruz goes against everything our school stands for."
The letter explained that a group of students would leave during the fourth period as "an act of civil disobedience in regards to the arrival of Ted Cruz to BLCPA." It said that the act would be the students' opportunity to "stand up for our community and future."
“We have all considered the consequences of our actions and are willing to accept them,” the letter said.
“The presence of Ted Cruz and the ideas he stands for are offensive.”
Oh, my sweet cupcakes there are a lot of things that are offensive. You just have to deal with it. The vision of the school says:
All students will be taught by a highly effective teacher in a nurturing environment and will achieve at high levels. Each student will develop the knowledge, skills and values necessary for responsible citizenship and life-long learning. The impact of our collective efforts will fundamentally change public education.
I’m pretty sure censorship goes against this vision. Banning people who have differing opinions isn’t responsible citizenship; it’s authoritarianism. You cannot develop without being exposed to different points of view. And yes, sometime you might be offended. It may hurt your feelings. That’s life. The irony is that the school’s emblem is a lighthouse, a beacon that’s used to show how a rigorous, well-rounded education can lead to success. Barring people from coming to visit because they’re conservative, or hold different opinion, is the antithesis of any learning environment. At my alma mater, Dickinson College, Bill Ayers visited my school. I attended his lecture. This is a man who bombed the New York City Police Department headquarters in 1970, the U.S. Capitol in 1971, and the Pentagon in 1972. I disagree with everything he stands for, but my retinas didn’t burn, my eyeballs didn’t fall out of my socket, my blood pressure didn’t spike, and I wasn’t so shaken that I needed to run to a safe space. More importantly, the school survived, the world didn’t end, and mass hysteria didn’t ensue. I’m sure the same would have happened at Lighthouse, along with the added benefit of possibly meeting a person running for president. But, alas, the chance to have a dialogue and understand one another was dodged thanks to progressivism.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member