Seriously?

     There seems to be so much turmoil in our country right now.  People are upset with the way the government is acting.  Rumors fly, conspiracy theories abound and sometimes the facts get lost in all the hubbub.  

     I love a good conspiracy theory.  Not just because they hold my attention like a good mystery novel, but because they make me think.  They make me think that if there is just an ounce of truth in them, then they are worth investigating.

     All the turmoil may be part of the biggest conspiracy theory to date.  If everyone is all upset with the goings on in the government, it takes our focus off the little, subtle things.  Things that are happening right before our eyes, but we are not paying attention to them.

     Over the weekend I ran across an article that made me react with an eye roll and an uttering of a favorite phrase, "Seriously?" Then I read it again and my reaction was a much more sobering one, in fact, it frightened me.

     The article was about a principal in a Portland, Oregon school who , and I quote, "picks up on the subtle language of racism on a daily basis."  The connotation of racism was in the form of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich......Your turn to say "Seriously?"

     The principal went on to say that Americans eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but other students who may be "Somali or Hispanic might not eat sandwiches."  

     SERIOUSLY?

     It gets better.  Scarier might be a better word.  Again, I quote from the article, "the school started the new year with "intensive staff trainings, frequent staff meetings, classroom observations and other initiatives," to help educators understand their own "white privilege," in order to "change their teaching practices to boost minority students' performance." end quote. 

     STOP the insanity train right now, I need to get off!

     All this time, my eating of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich has been a "white privilege"?  All these years I have forced fed my children with racist peanuts and jelly promoting their "white privilege"?  Even the bread, the lowly piece of bread has been a "white privilege" used to fuel the terrible racist machine?

     What am I to do?!?  

     I shudder to think of all the times we ate food that would have been considered out of our "white privilege" range.  Does eating tacos, pizza, stir-fry, spaghetti or French bread make me a racist because I flaunted my "white privilege" when I consumed them? Or does it make me a traitor because I ate them in the first place?

     Excuse me while I go flog myself and the rest of my family with a wet noodle.  Wait, I can't use a noodle, they originated in China. Peanuts came from South America, jelly was used by the ancient Egyptians and bread didn't come from this country either.  What on earth were we thinking eating foods that didn't originate from here in order to preserve our "white privilege"?

     Sounds ludicrous doesn't it?  I could go on and on with satirical comments about certain foods being a "white privilege", but that isn't the point I'm trying to make with this story.

     My point is this.  The best way to take over a country is to change the way the young people think.  Feed them the substance of nutrition that takes away their right to think for themselves. Teach them that everything that has been good about this country is suddenly not true.  Tell them that the higher powers, who direct their teachers what to teach, know better than their parents.  Teach them nothing but basics because that is all they need to know.  Put books in their hands that tell them how bad our president was treated because of his skin color and put his picture on the wrapper of their afternoon snack.  Teach them that it's OK not to tell their parents what went on at school.  Lead them down the path of least resistance, not the road less traveled.

      No wonder home schooling is making a come back.  Perhaps it's time to take back our children or at the very least, pay attention to what they are being taught.

     If you would like to read the article for yourself, just Google 'Portland school sees racism in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches' or Joe Newby, Social Issues Examiner.