Am I happy not having any of my grand children attending your classes Ms Anna Price-Farago. What you have written there is far from bright… to say the least.

I am the teacher who created one of the videos you claim to be a “song that praises Barack Obama”. Although you are more than entitled to your own opinion, I feel the need to clarify a few points.

The video we created does not praise Obama, but rather praises the speech he gave during his inaugural address. Our intention was to celebrate the moment of his election, not the man specifically. At the time we created the video, Obama had only been in office a couple of weeks. You may not agree with his politics now, and you may not have voted for him during the election, but let’s not dismiss the moment a black person was elected President of the United States, simply because you don’t agree with his eventual political decisions.

As a teacher, there are many memorable moments, but as the years pass, it takes a lot for a moment to remain memorable. The day that Obama was inaugurated is a day that I do believe will remain memorable in my life and in the lives of many of my students, and not just the ones in the video.

The day that Obama was inaugurated, the classes were shut down (which was a board-wide decision) and students were allowed to watch the inauguration in the auditorium if they so chose. We expected students to leave the building, but they stayed, and they listened, and they learned. They didn’t all listen to his words for the political message, but they listened to the message that was being sent by having a man who was not white be elected by a country that has been sending troops to drop bombs on their home lands and a country that has a history of enslaving their ancestors. It may not feel like as big a deal now that Obama is fully into his position and is having to make hard decisions, but believe me when I remind you; the day a black man was elected President of the United States of America is a BIG DEAL.

The message in the video is not about Obama’s platforms or political riding; it is about the fact that a black man was elected the President of one of the most powerful and influential nations in the world. Period.

The making of the video came about because I offer to help make a video every year for our Black History month assembly. In the past we have used Martin Luther King and other famous speeches. This year, the kids wanted to do Obama. They chose lines from the speech that they liked; I hit record on my computer, they listened to the speech and they sang whatever came to them. It was beautiful.

This video was not part of any class and the students were not forced to be a part of it. The creation of this video was an incredibly difficult task because it is not part of my job description. I wish the students could have received credit for it because they got more out of creating this video than they have out of any boring lecture or following along in an ancient textbook. I wish I could have a million memories like the making of this video, but I know that’s not going to happen, so I am compelled to defend the few that I do have.

I hope you recognize the value of dialogue like this. I talk with the students about the comments that are made and they learn from them. We don’t have to agree with you, but we are willing to listen. I hope you’ll keep an open mind and do the same.

Sincerely,
Anna Price-Farago
Teacher