Educators, This is Our Call To Arms! by Dr. Michael Flanagan
Original art by Pamela Michaels
*Refuse To Return to schools until districts show fourteen days of no coronavirus cases, and until schools are funded adequately in order to open safely.
In a campaign of hate, you have to constantly throw red meat to the dogs.
Guess who’s the red meat?
As a master of chaos, Trump knows full well that besides hate, division is the key to victory. Foment anger and direct violence against a targeted minority to avoid scrutiny of your own liability. Find a common target.
Educators.
Instead of acknowledging the science of how coronavirus spreads, or analyzing the data that shows both an increase in cases, as well as a trend of younger people getting sicker in larger numbers, the political right has decided that the best thing to do is open up the schools in the fall...because Donald Trump wants to get re-elected.
There is a political push to reopen schools before the November elections. Since there is still a deadly pandemic raging, opponents of that policy will have to be vilified in order to counter the protests. Educators will be the scapegoats.
During an election year that has seen economic collapse for the majority of Americans, record unemployment, and more than 130,000 lives lost to Covid-19 with numbers still climbing, Trump needs a new group to bully. A new direction upon which to focus the wrath of his base.
His administration and its sycophants are willing-eager even-to sacrifice our children and educators to a pandemic in order to salvage the remnants of a sinking political campaign. They are counting on the fact that teachers have historically been a convenient punching bag. Politicians have had practice bullying our profession for years.
We can no longer count on the support of parents, because they may be turned against us when their backs are to the wall. They have been put in a position where they have to choose between their children and their livelihood.
Although our teachers unions are standing strong now, they may eventually bow to the political pressure and capitulate to unsafe reopenings. Our politicians are already pushing for laws that will limit the liability for schools and businesses that reopen, and are attempting to force teachers and students to sign waivers so they can not sue if they get sick when they return. We are in for the fight of our lives, literally.
Once again, teachers and faculty must stand against seemingly insurmountable odds. Besides Covid-19, we must fight politicians, propaganda, greed and racism in order to protect our children.
It is no accident that people of color have suffered disproportionate loss during this pandemic. When the schools reopen, that will continue. It is an attempted genocide. That will please Trump’s white supremacist base to no end.
As schools get closer to reopening, the pitchforks will get sharper, and the angry mobs surrounding us will get larger. But we cannot back down, and we cannot surrender.
Some may not care that educators will die, but they must understand that children will as well. Even if kids do not perish in the same numbers as adults, they can suffer life-long complications from contracting Covid-19. And they will bring the virus home to vulnerable family members. So when the attacks begin, ask those demanding we return to schools before it is safe one question.
“How many dead students, teachers, and family members are you willing to accept?”
Unfortunately, that question will not stop the hate and vitriol of far too many in this country. So, we will have to radicalize. We must sacrifice, organize and fight to save our children, their families and ourselves. This is life and death.
Educators must rally and organize. We can begin by supporting the Refuse to Return movement and push it in every district in the country. We will not return to work until there are no new cases of Covid-19 for at least fourteen days to ensure a safe opening. Or else we must embrace the idea of wide-scale strikes. It will be difficult for all of us, especially our colleagues in the politically oppressed right to work states. But we must draw the line. We have no choice.
So, my fellow educators, this is our call to arms! We must stand together to protect our students and our colleagues.
Be safe, Be strong. Be Badass!
#RefuseToReturn