Ray Marcano is a frequent Columbus Dispatch contributor.
A law that instills fear is the most potent law of all.
That’s what we’re seeing at the Little Miami School District.
Board members, by a 4-1 vote, cited Ohio’s Parents’ Bill of Rights when it ordered this “hate has no home here” poster removed from a classroom:
Little Miami school board members voted to remove this “Hate Has No Home Here” under district policy 5780.01 – “Parents’ Bill of Rights.”
Huh?
Again, it says, “Hate Has No Home Here.” What’s objectionable about that?
It has hands of different skin colors, and at first, I thought there may be some sort of histrionic DEI protest, but that wasn’t it.
It turns out the school board objected to the hearts with bright colors that could be interpreted as pro-LGBTQ and pro-transgender symbols.
Huh?
It’s true the rainbow flag is an LGBTQ+ emblem and there is a transgender pride flag.
Here’s what they look like, with the rainbow flag on the left and the pride flag on the right.
The rainbow LGBTQIA pride flag and the transgender pride flag together, lying in the grass intertwined.
In fairness, the transgender pride flag colors have a closer resemblance to the heart in the poster.
This is where common sense failed the board and fear took hold.
More: School board removes ‘Hate Has No Home Here’ sign from classroom
Board members noted under the Parents’ Bill of Rights, also known as Ohio House Bill 8, parents must be notified of any “instructional materials with sexuality content” and be given a chance to remove their child from the classroom.
Huh?
How is that poster instructional, unless you take the leap that it “instructs” and indoctrinates children to embrace a certain sexuality?
People, get a grip
It’s a poster.
The colors in those flags can be found in all sorts of schoolwork.
Does this mean the board is going to ban any poster that has the above colors? What if it’s a drawing with red, orange and yellow, or light blue, pink and white?
I don’t expect a small board to fight the state and leave a poster in a classroom whose anti-hate message speaks louder than the symbols. But Little Miami shows us how powerful fear can be.
A poster isn’t instructional material which educators use to teach their class. I know. I used to be a college lecturer.
A flawed line of reasoning
But the board, stricken with fear, used a flawed line of reasoning to skate a controversial issue. It’s easy to place blame on a law instead of taking ownership. Boards have great latitude in deciding what it allows in classrooms, and if it finds the poster offensive, it should say to get rid of it. But there’s fear there, too, because some in the community don’t like the board’s action.
It’s easier to hide behind a law than to take ownership.
Sadly, after a while, the uproar will go away, and people will forget there was a poster in the first place. That’s the cycle of media coverage and life.
But with its decision, the board has taught its students that fear trumps a backbone. Maybe they can add that to their instructional materials.
Ray Marcano, a longtime journalist, is the former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror, and a Fulbright fellow.
Ray Marcano, a longtime journalist, is the former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror, and a Fulbright fellow. He is a frequent Columbus Dispatch contributor.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Fear drove Little Miami School board’s ‘hate’ vote on sign| Opinion
