Our Troubled Times Go More Than Skin-deep: Injustice Threatens Us All
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” --Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I am where I am because of the bridges that I crossed. Sojourner Truth was a bridge. Harriet Tubman was a bridge. Ida B. Wells was a bridge. Madame C. J. Walker was a bridge. Fannie Lou Hamer was a bridge." --Oprah Winfrey
"Never to forget where we came from and always praise the bridges that carried us over." --Fannie Lou Hamer
“Taipei American School: A bridge from an island to the world.” --TAS website
Taipei American School rightly defines itself as a bridge - to understanding, to respect, to humanity, to open minds, and to the future of a complex, challenging, vibrant world. While we provide the programs, people, and places that highlight academic and personal excellence, we constantly look back to our East-Meets-West origins and forward to a constantly changing world. The inter-connectivity of our rapidly changing world demands that we strive to address inequities in all its forms and colors. Many of our bridges tie us to the United States of America, and, thus, to a country in crisis.
Two recent fissures in the foundation of America quickly became abysses, exposing frightening chasms of hollow ground. The first, of course, was COVID-19. The pandemic did more than take away the lives and livelihoods of so many, it helped lay bare a wide spectrum of social inequalities. And, lest we forget, in its early stages, the pandemic uncovered a terrifying streak of racism. Across the country, unkind words to and violent acts against Americans of Asian descent became embarrassing, everyday occurrences. Then, the criminal act against George Floyd lit the fuse to a giant powder keg that was only one spark away from exploding. And explode it did. George Floyd was murdered. That act is despicable, evil, and terrifying. What lies below the act itself is a long history of injustice, systemic racism, and lost lives and opportunities.
To understand the American pandemic of violence is to scratch beneath the surface of current events and look with the naked eye at the obscenity of iniquity in the United States - and the lurid glare of racism that has perverted American society. Way back in 1985, The Chicago Tribune published an important, cautionary article entitled, "In a Nation of Riches, a Permanent Underclass." The article begins, "The existence of a permanent black underclass in America`s cities defies the most basic promise of the civil rights movement and the national conviction that this land offers opportunity, unbridled and absolute, for those who seize it." The authors go on to assert that "an angry resentment exists throughout the nation today." Although the article circulated widely and succeeded in briefly drawing attention to a critical simmering problem, the underlying causes were not addressed. About five years later, when the video surfaced of Rodney King's beating by Los Angeles police officers, a maelstrom of protest swept across the country. The focus remained mostly on the looting, and the ashes of the true problems, social inequity and racism, were swept under the rug. And here we are again.
Martin Luther King, Jr. believed that the goal of true education combines intensive, critical thinking with true character. At TAS our values define who we want our graduates to become: people of conscience, respectful, kind, courageous, truthful, responsible contributors ready to speak up and speak out. Whether our bridge transports graduates to the United States, or anywhere in this inter-connected, rapidly changing world, we need this generation to be better than we are, to have a deep understanding of justice and to recognize injustices and prejudice in all its ugly forms. We need action derived from sound, immutable, critical value systems that adhere to the principles that all people have intrinsic worth, that all of us are created equal, and that no human being should ever struggle to breathe at the hands of another person, including those authorized by the state to keep us safe.
Let me be clear: we stand for social justice and against racism. Period. While there is no silver bullet for solving centuries of injustice, we must shout out louder what we believe in, what we hope for, what we expect to see our students first understand, then address. America is not alone in her racial divides, challenges and history. She does stand alone as a beacon of hope for what true democracy, diversity, and equity can provide. We at Taipei AMERICAN School enjoy exceptional privilege, and we must understand our responsibility to address injustice wherever our bridges lead us.
Faithfully, Sharon D. Hennessy, Ed.D. Head of School Taipei American School 800 Zhongshan North Road, Section 6, Taipei, Taiwan ROC 11152 Phone: +886.2.7750.9900 Website: http://www.tas.edu.tw |