Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
In a reaction that shocked absolutely nobody, school districts from coast to glorious coast are suddenly clamoring to respond to the gigantic neon sign saying Hey, antisemitism exists, and it’s right here under your noses—a sign, apparently, only becoming visible after a big fancy House Antisemitism Hearing. And here I thought schools were about learning and preemptive measures, not reactive measure taped together like my old man’s glasses!
First off, let’s talk about how the Berkeley and NYC school districts have decided to react. It’s almost as if they discovered fire for the first time. Or maybe it’s the wheel? Either way, the sheer level of naivete or calculated ignorance, pretending not to notice problems until they’re blown up in a congressional hearing, is worthy of an Olympic gold medal in selective vision.
Now, the Berkeley school folks are in a tizzy. They’re rushing around, holding meetings that probably have more buzzwords than a Silicon Valley pitch fest. Inclusion! Diversity! Anti-Bias Education! And what’s next? A seminar on how not to embarrass yourself in public by only admitting there’s a problem when you get caught? The irony is, of course, Berkeley is meant to be this great bastion of progressive thought. A lighthouse in the fog of America’s social issues!
And let’s swing over to the Big Apple, where the NYC school district’s reaction was so swift it would have made your head spin—if it wasn’t so predictable. They’re launching initiatives and programs left and right. “We’re on top of it,” they say. “We’ve been on top of it,” they claim. If they were any more on top of it, they’d be launching from a trampoline on the moon!
The fascinating part of this circus is the sheer audacity of acting like this issue sprang up overnight, like mushrooms in a moist forest. Were the administrators walking around with blinders? Maybe noise-canceling headphones, jamming to their own tunes of detachment?
This isn’t just about antisemitism; this is a showcase in how institutions fail to tackle issues until they’re paraded on a national platform. Then—oh boy—then it becomes a scramble like you’re throwing free concert tickets from a hot air balloon.
Let’s be crystal clear, we’re not talking about some minor oversight. Antisemitism is as dangerous and virulent as it gets. It’s like a bad smell from the fridge that everyone pretends not to notice until someone opens the fridge on live TV and the stench slaps every viewer in the face.
And I guess what truly bakes my cookies about all this, is the pageantry of resolution. All the declarations, all the flashy new policies—feels a bit like deciding to put a smoke detector in Sodom and Gomorrah after the fact. Maybe, just maybe, proactivity in education could’ve been our savior. But no, Rushmore is carved, and we’re only now putting on our chisels’ safety guards.
All in all, the stunning revelation that school districts act when the spotlight’s hot is as shocking as finding out politicians talk out of both sides of their mouths. The true punchline? We act surprised every time. Twist and shout, people. The dance continues.
Source: Berkeley and NYC School Districts React After House Antisemitism Hearing
