Pamplin Media Group – Education is best when it brings people together to discuss difficult issues

Newberg Mayor and GFU President speak out on controversies that have rocked Newberg School District

Over the past few weeks, we have suffered from conflict in our community, much of it centered around the Newberg School District. We know our schools are filled with dedicated educators who invest in the students in our community. It has been a difficult time for them and we want to publicly express our appreciation for their crucial work in educating our future citizens. We sincerely believe that the future of our company depends on the success of their business.

We recognize that our entire community was stunned by two racist acts that caused deep pain to students and staff in our local schools. While painful, recent hurtful actions show the deep need and importance of continuing, broad and meaningful education.

In recent weeks, our local controversies have led some to argue in these pages that education should be narrowly focused and centered on foundational topics like reading, writing and arithmetic, avoiding conversations that could be divisive. and politics. While on the surface it may seem useful, we believe it is not the approach education should take. Education serves our community best when it brings people together to discuss and dialogue on difficult issues. Our nation’s motto, E Pluribus Unum (among many), comes true when we learn to listen, understand and respect the views that are reflected in our very diverse nation.

We also believe that our nation operates on the stories of the past. A great education includes a truthful knowledge of our shared cultural experiences and at times a difficult and careful examination of how our common past has shaped very difficult perspectives of our potential future.

It was painfully clear last week that a staff member from the Newberg School District did not understand the history of “Blackface” in our country and how such portrayal might be viewed by others, especially members. of the African American community. It is impossible to understand the experience of black Americans without a clear articulation of the history of the slavery, segregation and lynching that were part of the fabric of our nation. We recognize our past failures in these efforts and create the foundation for a better future.

True education increases understanding and lays the foundation for developing a healthy community. To achieve this, we believe it is essential that we find ways to solve difficult problems together, respecting different points of view and thus creating a better future for our children.

At perhaps the most divisive moment in our history, President Lincoln wrote this: “The mystical chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot’s grave to every living heart and hearthstone throughout it. vast country, will further swell the chorus of the Union. , when they are touched again, as they surely will be, by the best angels of our nature. ”

The genius of the American Republic is its ability to bring together a very diverse human community centered on the historical principles of freedom, dignity and respect. In a time of heightened hostility, educators stand in the midst of a storm of anger to call for dialogue and civility. This goal is only achieved when our schools are allowed to create conversations that go beyond what some might call facts to discuss the historical accounts and circumstances that have shaped us for better and for worse.

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Rick Rogers is the mayor of Newberg; Dr Robin Baker is President of George Fox University