Lawrence Hall, HSG
A Lawyer Who Bullies Children
Last week there was an “incident” [Disney World ‘regrets’ performance by Texas high school’s
drill team at Magic Kingdom - NewsBreak] at Disney World: a dance
routine by a high school drill team with the Port Neches-Groves band during a
parade at Disney World.
“Incident,” it says. An incident. A high school dance
routine was an incident.
An attorney – let us call her Miz Grundy – decreed the
performance “racist” [Video of 'Racist' Routine That Spurred Disney World Apology
Gets 1.2M Views (newsweek.com)]:
Cuz
a bunch of kids in fringe chanting “scalp ‘em Indians, scalp ‘em” is honor,
right?
And any Natives who attend @pngisd should prolly just accept their classmates
dehumanizing them cuz “tradition”, right?
Shame on @DisneyParks hosting this. Nostalgic racism is RACISM. pic.twitter.com/ELsJHRgJlw
One is surprised to read that an attorney writes “cuz” for “because”
and “prolly” for “probably,” misplaces commas, capitalizes inappropriately, and
employs quotation marks for sarcasm. Puerile usage tends to compromise whatever
thesis one is trying to make.
Although the Port Neches-Groves band, including the Indianettes
(that usage is admittedly awkward), has visited the Magic Kingdom numerous
times in the past, this is the first time the habitually offended bothered to
notice.
A spokesperson for Disney (the happiest place on earth, and
so on) quickly flung the kids under the metaphorical bus, averring that a
charming and innocent dance routine does not reflect Disney’s “core values”
[Disney World ‘regrets’...].
The Disney Company produced and still profits from Song
of the South, Davy Crockett: Indian Fighter, Dumbo, The
Jungle Book, Peter Pan, and perhaps other films with inappropriate
depictions of different peoples, but they deflect from their own behaviors by piling
on the kids who participate and contribute.
These are the sort of young people we want, energetic and disciplined. But
they are being hammered (that’s a metaphor; the grim Miz Grundy might not
understand that) while the kids whose lives center on playing video games and
hanging out are unnoticed and thus not faulted.
None of us can sort out the often violent history of this
nation. We should do a better job than we have in the past, and deal with it
with honesty, humility, and self-reflection, not self-obsessed ideologies. It
is certain that none of the enormities of our troubled past can be addressed by
censoring, of all things, children’s dance routines.
Angry emails are soaring through the airwaves among Disney,
those who claim to represent the Indianettes, Miz Grundy, and the Cherokee
Nation Principal Chief.
Fine.
Have at it.
That’s democracy in action.
But leave the kids alone.
-30-
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