www.wjhl.com/...
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) – A Sullivan County school teacher and baseball coach is facing possible termination by the school district.
The charges of dismissal come after two incidents pointed out by the school district.
The first was after a parent who complained in early February about an opinion article Matthew Hawn assigned to his Contemporary Issues students by Ta-Nehisi Coats entitled “The First White President,” which the complaining parent claimed painted the former president in a negative light.
Are you kiddin’ me?! Actually, it gets worse:
Director of Schools Dr. David Cox said during the meeting that he’s been accused of racism due to these charges of dismissal against Hawn. […]
“There has been a lot of talk online that accuses me of moving to dismiss Mr. Hawn, because he taught anti-racism lessons.
"Let me be perfectly clear. Sullivan County Schools, and I, in no way condemn racism of any county. We have encouraged all of our teachers, including Mr. Hawn, to promote an environment welcoming to all students of all races of all backgrounds,” Cox said. [emphasis added]
Let’s read that again:
"Let me be perfectly clear. Sullivan County Schools, and I, in no way condemn racism of any county."
Well that’s sayin’ it right up front, isn’t it? Misspoke? Freudian slip? English as a second language?
Matthew Hawn is a popular teacher of a “contemporary issues” class, what used to be called “Civics” or “Current Events” classes back in the day. He’s been a tenured teacher with this school district since 2008, and is also a baseball coach.
He was first “reprimanded” by the school district back in February for assigning the Atlantic Magazine article by Ta-Nehisi Coats, which definitely casts The Former Guy in less than glowing lights. Then a month later, he received another reprimand for showing his class a video entitled "White Privilege" a spoken-word poem by Kyla Jenee Lacey.
Now Coach Hawn is facing a school-board gauntlet of “cancel culture.” They are alleging that Mr. Hawn is
refusing to provide his students with access to varying points of view, which is required under Tennessee law. And these charges are about Mr. Hawn, again, assigning inappropriate materials to his students,” Mr. Cox said.
Oh fergawdssake. This is “cancel culture” hypocrisy at its glaring finest. “We don’t object to your right to express what you think is relevant for your classroom. But we will cancel what you say, if it contradicts our prevailing dogma", (“prevailing” since, oh, about 1619?)
The students, themselves, say, according to the WJHL reporting, that "latent racism was ever-present when they walked the Sullivan Central High School halls."
This situation is so disgusting and objectionable on so many levels. Kudos to Mr. Hawn for his academic ethics of standing firm on his principles of intellectual and academic honesty; and for his firm stance for presenting his students with viewpoints they might not otherwise encounter, considering the (Red State) cultural milieu they are in. And kudos to his students for standing up in support of this valuable teacher in their school.
Wednesday, Jun 9, 2021 · 8:21:13 PM +00:00 · sockpuppet
UPDATE: It has been pointed out to me that the WJHL story that I quoted now says, “Mr. Cox in no way condones racism in any county."
Apparently that was a typo on WJHL’s original reporting article, because I copied and pasted it exactly as it was when I did it. They appear to have corrected their error.
Still, the point of the reporting of this egregiously suppressing action by this Red State school district still stands.