LETTER: Mountain out of a molehill?

Kudos to Superintendent Rex Weltz of the Polson School District and Scott Wilson, Polson High School principal, whose assessment of the action of two students wearing inappropriate T-shirts for a homecoming event was sensible, immediate and published with no need for “further comment.” (All quotes are from the Daily Inter Lake, Saturday, Oct. 1, “‘White pride’ shirts prompt Polson protest.”)

Questions:

— Don’t the students eagerly tweeting and agitating have any real work, like studying or jobs?

— When has braiding one’s hair become a “cultural appropriation”? Born in 1925, I braided my hair frequently, at school and work. Wish I still could.

— Can’t Caitlin Borgmann, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, find more important issues than the actions of a couple of teenage jerks? She castigates the district for “pushing the blame on students, rather than acknowledging its own responsibility.” Baloney!

— Now Meg Singer, of the ACLU of Montana, is encouraging a demonstration and the civil liberties union is “drafting a strategic plan,” yada, yada, yada, for the school. Meg, don’t you have anything better to do?

— Homecoming has now become a place for a political agenda. How sad! Don’t eager protesters have a job?

“Dustin Monroe, chief executive officer of Native American Change” says “what was disturbing was the braids and the white power.” Forget the braided hair. That leaves one student exhibiting racism.

I respect cultural differences. Sixty-eight years ago I married a Swede. Reluctantly I attended occasional Scandinavian festivals. Eating lutefisk was not an option; it was a part of the marriage contract. Negative reactions to lutefisk were a given and accepted with good humor. Even “dumb Swede” was not a pejorative. No demonstrations or strategic plans ensued.

Where has our sense of perspective gone? —Shirley Anderson, Kalispell