Tag: Bruce VanWyngarden

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News News Blog

Flyer Wins Three National Awards at Newsweekly Convention

The Memphis Flyer won three writing awards at the national Association of Alternative NewsMedia convention in San Diego last week. The Flyer competes in the “large paper” category (circulation 40,000 and over) against major city newsweeklies from around the country.

Flyer winners were:
Bruce VanWyngarden, who won first place in the Column category for his weekly Letter From the Editor.
Chris McCoy, who won second place in Arts Criticism for his movie reviews.
Chris Davis, who won third place in Beat Reporting for his story, “The Art of the Deal: What Happened at MCA?”

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Checking Your Privilege

“Check your privilege.”

You hear and read that phrase more and more these days, usually in reference to a white person being unaware of issues that affect people of color. Often, the response from the white person to the remark is defensive, something along the lines of “I’m not privileged. I’ve had to work for everything I’ve got.” While that may be true, that’s not the issue.

Checking your privilege isn’t about being forced to acknowledge you’ve had an easy life. It’s about recognizing that there are certain struggles that you won’t ever encounter, problems and challenges that are specific to certain groups.

If you’re white, you’re “privileged” in countless ways, many of which you’ve probably never thought about. You (and me) are the “norm,” the baseline. We don’t have that little frisson of tension when entering certain stores or restaurants or when being pulled over by a cop or applying for a job. We’ll seldom if ever be discriminated against for our skin tone. Acknowledging that reality won’t hurt us. It makes us better humans.

In fact, there are many types of privilege, including gender, economic status, appearance, celebrity/notoriety, age, and health, to name a few.

If you’re male, for example, you’re privileged in ways you’ve likely not considered, but most women could enumerate them for you: your salary, your confidence that you’ll be listened to when you speak assertively and not be considered “pushy,” the knowledge that you won’t be critiqued for your “outfit,” and that you won’t be sexually harassed or raped.

If you’re straight and not aware of your privilege as measured against those in the LGBTQ community, you need to open your mind. Imagine growing up gay in a small town and keeping it a secret — from everyone. Imagine not being able to hold hands with your loved one. Imagine not being able to get married. Imagine being in fear because of who you love or how you look. You have to imagine it — acknowledge it — because you’ll never live it.

Wealth is another massive kind of privilege: the privilege of never worrying about your lights being cut off or about having to eat the cheapest food available or paying the rent or getting your kids to school or getting your car fixed. You can travel, buy what you want, when you want it — live in ways poor folks can only dream about. No matter how hard you worked to gain your wealth, it’s still a privilege.

Appearance can also be a kind of privilege. Observe the difference in how a beautiful woman or handsome, well-dressed man is treated when entering a business or restaurant, as opposed to how an unattractive, poorly dressed person is treated.

Celebrity also has its privileges: VIP seating, no waiting in lines, the best service possible. And age … If you’re too old, people overlook you and relegate you to insignificance. If you’re too young, people don’t take you seriously. Even health is a privilege, and if you ever lose it, you’ll quickly realize that.

So, would you rather be an attractive, wealthy, black female lawyer or a poor, old white man who works wiping down cars at Mr. Pride? Both have privilege of one kind or another; both are disadvantaged in some ways.

There are no easy answers, because the concept of privilege itself is complicated. It may help some folks understand if instead of saying, “Check your privilege,” we said “Count your blessings.”

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Stay in the Woods

Hillary Clinton gave a speech last week in her father’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania. It sounded a lot like one of her campaign speeches, filled with folksy anecdotes and awkward “plain talk” and a story about bathing in the local lake as a child because her father’s humble cabin had no shower or bathtub.

Then she said: “I am ready to come out of the woods and to help shine a light on what is already happening around kitchen tables, at dinners like this, to help draw strength that will enable everybody to keep going.”

On behalf of one who voted for you, Mrs. Clinton, I humbly ask that you stay in the woods a while longer. Draw strength from the forest, not the spotlight. Yes, I wish you were president instead of the prevaricating buffoon who now holds the office, but you’re not. At this point, you will be a distraction from the only political drama that matters: whether or not President Trump and his campaign aides colluded with Russia to undermine our democratic process.

Clinton is reportedly going to be giving several speeches in the next few months, which is, of course, her right. But that doesn’t make it a good idea, not when the opposing party is busy crapping all over itself.

The president’s possible treasonous behavior is, of course, the King Kong in the room, and that investigation will continue, leading to a continuous drip of damaging intel that will put a cloud over anything this administration does. But the Republicans are making a mess of things in countless other ways. The “repeal and replace Obamacare” pledge has led to the creation of a Frankenstein monster of a health-care bill, one that would pare the rolls of those getting health insurance by an estimated 24 million people over the next few years and precipitously increase the cost of getting even minimal coverage for most Americans who participate in the plan. It punishes seniors and gives tax breaks to the wealthy. Several Republican senators and governors have spoken out against the bill, and its chances of passage in the Senate appear to be nil.

In addition, Trump’s proposed “budget,” which looks like it was created on a TurboTax app, cuts funding for public education, environmental protection, the arts, national parks, school lunches, and public television, while allocating billions more for the military and the building of the great border wall that Mexico was supposed to pay for. (No doubt the check from the Mexican government is in the mail.)

The testimony by FBI director James Comey before Congress on Monday left two clear paths for Republicans: They can align themselves with the president and continue to denigrate the federal investigation into Russia/Trumpgate, in essence, putting party over country, or they can stand back and let the investigations play out, thereby distancing themselves from the collateral damage that will ensue should evidence of collusion (treason) be discovered and made public.

We are possibly on the precipice of the greatest political scandal in American history. Our national intelligence agencies have unequivocally confirmed that Russia interfered on behalf of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign via hacking and Wikileaks. They have confirmed multiple contacts with Russians in Putin’s government by at least five Trump campaign aides: Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Jeff Sessions, Carter Page, and Roger Stone, most of whom initially denied or lied about their contacts. Why? In addition, Trump and his family have done billions of dollars worth of business deals with the Russians, as has Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. That’s a lot of smoke for there to be no flame.

Whether the president or any of his people had knowledge of — or colluded with — Russia’s actions is the biggest political question of our time. The investigations by the FBI and other U.S. intelligence agencies will likely take months to play out, but the pall of suspicion will remain on this administration until then. The last thing the Democrats need to do is divert attention to anything or anyone else — like Hillary Clinton.

Please stay in the woods, Ma’am. It’s your patriotic duty.

Bruce VanWyngarden
brucev@memphisflyer.com

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said (July 2, 2015) …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Toby Sells’ cover story, “Engaging the Big Muddy” …

Toby Sells and Brandon Dill captured the mystery, the magic, and the majesty of the big river, not to mention the good-time fun. And Joe Royer is the Mississippi’s greatest Memphis protagonist!  

The only thing not covered were details about safety, e.g., when to go and when not to go — and the myriad considerations paddlers need to make when approaching such a powerful force of nature. Fortunately, there is an excellent guide available on the internet: The River Gator’s Paddler’s Guide.  

Anyone considering safe paddling in the Memphis area (and beyond), please visit the River Gator. Some of the Memphis routes described in the River Gator were pioneered by Joe Royer and his wife Carol Lee. Many Memphians were consulted as experts for the River Gator (including the editor of the Flyer!).

There are dozens of pages covering the many choices for paddlers in between Shelby Forest State Park and Memphis, including the main channel, and enticing alternate back-channel routes such as those behind Brandywine, Hickman, Loosahatchie, and Redman. There is a very detailed safety section describing the specific skills paddlers should know before attempting the challenges of the biggest river in North America.

John Ruskey

About Bianca Phillips’ post, “State Bill Would Allow Religious Clergy to Deny Same-Sex Marriage” …

I’m trying to remember anywhere in all of the arguments over this where gay people said they wanted to force ministers and other clergy members to marry them. Everything I’ve seen has been they wanted the government to allow them to marry and for the government to recognize it. That is all.

Charlie Eppes

I am pretty sure that religious clergy already have the freedom to refuse to marry two individuals regardless of the reason. The only purpose of this proposal is to score political points.

Barf

Today’s ruling clearly stated that no minister was going to be forced to marry a same-sex couple if they did not choose to do so. Again, this is a way of wasting Tennesseans’ taxpayer money on frivolous bills rather than working to decrease our uninsured or create jobs, neither of which the Republican majority has shown any interest in.

Lane Scoggins

This is just the first step toward man-turtle unions and the death of Christianity. I firmly believe that although Christianity survived the Roman empire, it is helpless in the face of gay marriage.

Jeff

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s Letter From the Editor, “Black is the New White” …

VanWyngarden conveniently failed or refused to admit the lost war on poverty has much to do with the policies of the Democratic Party. Poverty, strife, and divisiveness will continue to swell until politicos stop rewarding bad behavior.

By his own admission, President Johnson’s “Great Society” entitlement programs were created to cement constituents to the Democratic Party. This nefarious scheme damaged the African-American communities most. Instead of the government concentrating on how to get citizens out of ghettos, the entitlement programs too often kept them there.

Victimization has become the key to successful Democratic election results. President Obama’s policies and that of most democratic strongholds in American cities have resulted in the greatest degree of black poverty and black-on-black crime in recent history.

There are no easy answers, but a strong economy fueled by less taxation and a healthier business climate will go far toward creating opportunity for all.

William Pollack

Many whites exist in a poverty of compassion that is compounded by the illusions created by what Douglas Adams called the “Somebody Else’s Problem” effect (SEP). SEP is a psychological effect where people choose to dissociate themselves from an issue that may be in critical need of recognition. Such issues may be of large concern to the population as a whole but can easily be a choice of ignorance by an individual.

Scott Banbury

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said (May 28, 2015) …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Kevin Lipe’s post, “How the World Ends: Game 6, Warriors 108, Grizzlies 95” …

As a Warrior fan (since 1965) I would like to say that the Grizzlies are a classy, hard-nosed team with classy fans. They gave the Dubs all they wanted, that is for sure. Also, I will say that I enjoyed reading your columns during this series and I wish you all the best!

GHN

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s editor’s letter, “The Big Empties” …

Yes, positive things are happening downtown and in Midtown. But rather than the obligatory references to Jack Belz and Henry Turley, I would like to see the grass-roots organizations, most notably Memphis Heritage, get credit for the endless amount of energy they have expended in making all of this a reality.

The Belz family certainly jump-started downtown’s rebirth when they purchased and restored the Peabody, but, as a founding member of the Chickasaw Bluffs Conservancy, all I remember of Henry Turley is he and Mayor Herenton fighting us tooth-and-nail for 10 years to prevent the Bluffwalk from being built on the site where Turley’s million-dollar homes overlooked the river.

Research all the restoration projects listed in that article and you will find Memphis Heritage and other activist groups heavily involved in all, including the battle at Overton Square. Good article, and easy to mention the household names, but there are foot soldiers out there working on these issues every day.

Gordon Alexander

The comment regarding the work of MHA director Robert Lipscomb — especially concerning public housing redevelopment — deserves closer examination. As a graduate student in city planning at the University of Memphis, we have examined both the city’s treatment of public housing and its strategy of using huge sums of public money to finance big-ticket development projects in our studies. 

In regards to public housing: While this system has assuredly had many problems in Memphis and throughout the country, affordable housing is a critical need for the most vulnerable of our population. As one example of the importance of public housing, low-income single mothers often use subsidized housing as a stepping stone to a better life as they are able to save more money and/or get additional training that leads to better employment opportunities. 

When bundled with needed social support systems, HOPE VI (now Choice Neighborhoods) can work, but these safety nets are often absent in the aftermath of relocation. In the worst cases, relocated tenants end up homeless when they cannot keep up with utility bills that were formerly subsidized in public housing. The new mixed-income communities offer minimal affordable housing units, thereby essentially facilitating gentrification. 

In regards to big-ticket development projects that have been the calling card under the Lipscomb’s direction, it is hardly time to declare victory in the use of this strategy. Before we hand him his gold watch, I think a balanced examination of Lipscomb’s record is needed.

Travis Allen

About the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act …

Imagine you are out for a hike with your dog and he gets caught in a steel-jawed leg trap that someone set out on our public lands. Or your children are exploring the woods and they come across a trap. That will be very possible if a bill now moving through Congress becomes law.

The bill, known as the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act (S. 405), is anything but sporting. Already, the majority of our public lands are open to hunting, so there is no shortage of access for hunters. But this bill would, for the first time, expand the federal definition of “hunting” to include trapping, and that would open all U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands to hunting and trapping. Steel traps, basically landmines for wildlife, introduce another risk to your child or pet. Traps are notoriously cruel and barbaric, with animals struggling in pain for hours or days before death. The American Veterinary Medical Association reports that up to 67 percent of animals caught in leg traps are not the intended target and that many “mistakenly” caught and then released do not recover.

This legislation is unnecessary and unfair. Senator Lamar Alexander is an important vote on this bill. Please contact him and let him know that you oppose trapping on public land.

Cindy Marx-Sanders

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said (December 25, 2014) …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Joe Boone’s music feature, “Venerable Studio Changes Hands” …

What did they do with the hundreds of pictures of Sai Baba that were hanging everywhere?

Yeah Man

About Steve Steffans’ Viewpoint, “Southern Democrats: Down, Not Dead” …

I’m going to get this article tattooed to my forehead so I don’t have to keep saying this over and over again when I talk to any Tennessee Democrat who isn’t from Memphis.

Autoegocrat

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s letter from the editor, “Good Cop. Bad Cop” …

I’ve been an advocate of a constitutional ban on union representation for public employees for quite a while.

But I have to admit, if I were a police officer and had heard and read all of the idiots and their mindless followers blaming “economic inequality” as the root cause for the recent highly publicized police incidents, I’d probably want a good union steward, too.

Nightcrawler

Your call for police departments to “man up and acknowledge their bad apples” is one of the best positioned arguments on the issue I have read. Unfortunately, this posture of “protect your own no matter what” permeates so many organized labor organizations, to the detriment of the reputation of the organization overall. From teachers to bus drivers to NFL players, the representing labor organizations seem to go out of their way to protect even the most obviously unqualified or, at times, criminally inclined members at the expense of the reputation and good work of its majority.

There are bad people in every profession. If others in those professions would acknowledge that and help clean house, it would benefit everyone — fellow professionals and the customers of those professions alike.

rjb

I’m still wondering why no one is talking about the fact that Ohio has an Open Carry law. In fact, the city of Cleveland’s ban on open carry was overturned by the Republican legislature — something the NRA praised. And before you say, “Well, kids are not covered by open carry!” Remember that the officers after the shooting called in: “Shots fired. Male down. Black male, maybe 20.”

Charley Eppes

About Wendi C. Thomas’ column, “The Roots of Protest” …

It appears Obama and the Democrats are going to fix the black unemployment problem by opening the borders to millions more illegals and giving amnesty to those already here. I’ll admit I don’t understand how flooding the job market with an unending supply of cheap labor is going to help African Americans get jobs, but I’m sure all of the black Democratic politicians have it figured out because none of them are complaining.

GWCarver

Every Republican and Democratic administration in the past 30-plus years has refused to enforce the laws that would have fined employers of illegals thousands of dollars per hire. That simple upholding of their sworn duty would have saved those jobs that big business couldn’t export via the myriad of free-trade agreements. It ain’t a Democrat vs. Republican thing.

CL Mullins

The prospect of low-cost labor has been very appealing to both Republicans and Democrats alike. And the lack of any sort of sustained protest from the general public who enjoyed those lower priced goods produced by that cheap labor was also a factor. Call it the Walmart Factor. There are many who scream about what they consider Walmart’s “slave” wages, but they also enjoy the low prices, so they really don’t complain too much.

Arlington Pop

I can agree that public investment in Graceland is nonsense, but what other economic development plans are on the table for Whitehaven? Southbrook Mall? That is even more nonsensical by a large margin.

If it’s all going to boil down to race for everything that occurs, then the point that the money is being spent in Whitehaven rather than downtown or in East Memphis should amount to something. But it is conveniently forgotten in this column.

Brunetto Latini

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said (November 20, 2014)…

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s Letter from the Editor on urban vs. rural voters and fear …

You’re seriously comparing racism to a fear of… cows?

Count Dracula

“Aren’t you worried about those cows coming after us?” That’s the funniest line I’ve read in a long time.

Nobody

One of my favorite movies is Defending Your Life with Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep, and Rip Torn. In a nutshell, Brooks’ character dies and finds out the afterlife is a review of one’s life, and it’s to determine if you have to return to earth and try it again or get to move on to the “next destination.” The determining factor is fear. If you let fear rule your life, then you will return to earth and try again in a new life.

Rip Torn’s character explains it with this quote: “Fear is like a giant fog. It sits on your brain and blocks everything — real feelings, true happiness, real joy. They can’t get through that fog. But you lift it, and buddy, you’re in for the ride of your life.”

Charley Eppes

About Harold Ford Jr.’s Viewpoint column, “A New Day in Washington” …

Yikes, a lot of that made sense. How did that slip into this week’s Flyer? It’s not sour grapes like every other piece.

Not a Midtown Liberal

Why should the president take advice from a perennial loser? Yes, this election is a wonderful opportunity for soulless, bottom-feeding Democrats to suck up to Republicans and sell out your party and your people for an invitation to a Washington cocktail party.

Thanks ever so much for bringing up our old friend, the Keystone Pipeline. This Canadian boondoggle that promises to bring thousands of well-paying, short-term jobs (not including strippers, I suppose) in exchange for a leaky pipeline delivering, as Charles Pierce says, the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel across an aquifer that waters America’s breadbasket — and then to the world’s, but not America’s, gas tanks. It’s such a sweet deal, the Canadians themselves didn’t want it crossing their land, so they looked south for a sucker and found one named Harold Ford Jr.

Jeff

Was he out of the country during the 2010 and 2014 elections? Blue Dogism is dead, so are the careers of Lieberman, John Barrow, and all the others. On Election Day we settled all family business, and we are drifting rightward as a party no more.

LeftWingCracker

About Clay Skipper’s cover story, “Drake’s Dad” …

How nice that you featured Dennis Graham. Excellent approach to journalism. Terrance and I have met him at DKDC for one of Marcella’s shows, and he rocks! Very cool man — down to earth, warm, and friendly.

Cynthia Simien

This was a very good article. People rarely write articles like this, these days. It was like a novel.

Odera Okoye

About Toby Sells’ post, “Big River Crossing Construction Begins on Harahan Bridge” …

This is one of the biggest boondoggles ever concocted. Total waste of money. The proponents must have never been to West Memphis. It ranks as the mother of all armpit jewels in the U.S. Can’t this colossal waste be stopped? I sure hope so.

xtraxtra

Talk about a bridge to nowhere. What a waste of money.

Wicketr

It’s not a bridge to nowhere. It will connect with the Mississippi River Trail and, once across, you will be able to ride the levee to New Orleans and eventually north to the river’s source in Minnesota. From what I have seen, projects like this boost a city’s draw, making people want to live inside the city limits. Having people stay or move into the city will be a long-term benefit to the tax base. Think of it as an investment.

Mark Hendren

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said (October 15, 2014) …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s Letter from the Editor on Amendment 1 …

When I see the “Yes on 1” signs in yards all over town, I just want to go up to those people and say “Do you really know what that means?”

It means we voluntarily give up our rights to privacy. And we invite our elected state representatives and senators, whoever they may be, now and in the future, to make whatever kind of laws they want to make about a woman and her family’s personal business. I am especially bothered by churches that are promoting this idea that we should defer to politicians about our private medical decisions.

It is gullible to condone government overreach on a promise from elected officials who may not even be in office two years from now. If the “Yes” people want to say their religious dogma compels them to believe this or that about abortion, that’s fine. We all have a right to believe what we want to believe. But, when those same people want laws passed that force me to abide by their beliefs, that’s a violation of my rights under the Constitution.

It really does not matter which political party we align with or whether we are black or white, rich or poor. Women of all stripes and persuasions have problem pregnancies and are vulnerable to incest and rape. What a travesty it would be to pass an amendment to the constitution that affords no protection to us in those cases. Vote “No” on Amendment 1.

Tonya Wall

My husband is an Episcopal minister. We are both Christians and adamantly opposed to Amendment 1. Although some people view this amendment as a religious litmus test, we must really look at the bigger picture. Amendment 1, if passed, would threaten our cherished system of government. The proponents of the amendment in the legislative branch are basically saying to the judicial branch of our government, “Since you struck down the laws we passed in 2000, we found a way to get around it. We will just change the very document we’ve sworn to uphold.” The sad thing is that they have hooked people of faith onto the idea that they can legislate morality and undermine our system of checks and balances.

The passage of Amendment 1 would set a dangerous precedent and could become a slippery slope for many issues, not just abortion. The Constitution ought to be about protecting people’s rights, not taking them away. If you read the proposed amendment, you can see how vaguely it was written: “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion … not even in circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.”

While none of us likes abortion, if we or someone we loved was in one of these extenuating circumstances, we would want these personal and very private medical decisions to be made in the doctor’s office and not in Nashville. Please respect the dignity and worth of each woman in our society by voting “No” on Amendment 1. And remember to cast a vote for the governor of your choice.

Janice Richie

Greg Cravens

About Jackson Baker’s post, “Bailey Hits ‘Deal … Political Machinations'” …

I hear there’s a special costume for Halloween this year, with a fuzzy grey-haired cowboy in a black mask and big 10-gallon hat, sitting astride a white stallion. They call him The Lone Dissenter.

OakTree

About Wendi C. Thomas’ column, “Husband Wanted. Unemployed Need Not Apply” …

I have an idea: How about the men not make the choices that will put them in prison and give them a record?

Breckrider

There are a lot of issues Wendi is pointing out here, and I can see why her critics like to give simple rebuttals like “don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.” They like these simple talking points, because it hurts to actually wrap their heads around the complexity of the issues.

Charlie Eppes

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Jackson Baker’s column, “Insularity Breeds Defeat for Democrats” …

I said it before the election, and it has proven to be true: A reboot is in progress.

There is simply no way to ignore the concerns of young people, Hispanics, South Asians, or any of the many subgroups of people who would normally be attracted to Democratic positions at the national level, and expect to win elections. The message of hate, distrust, and identity politics has run its course.

Memphians, by and large, are bigger than that. Just travel to any other place in America, then come back home. Ask yourself, after talking to people one-on-one, where you can find such an open and welcoming populace. Is there poverty here? Sure. But we’re working on it. Is there crime? Yeah, but that’s improving too. Are there still remnants of structural racism that make it hard for minorities to get a fair shake? Indeed there are. But we’re on the ground floor of a change. And many of us who are trying to make our hometown a better place can see it … feel it.

No one is going to take the politics of division seriously anymore.

OakTree

About last week’s Fly on the Wall column …

WTF MF? I receive The Commercial Appeal the old-fashioned way, at my door, so I have not had to endure the “rough patch” the CA hit recently with its digital editions. However, after 25 years in print, I expect the Flyer to at the least print the crossword puzzle somewhere within the classified section as listed in the index. Not only was it not in the classified section, the darn thing was nowhere to be found between the front and back pages. Perhaps a little more editing and a little less web browsing is in order

Maryellyn Duncan

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s Editor’s Note on the recent election …

Without a doubt, the best assessment of what went wrong for Democrats on Election Day! As a Germantown Democrat, which makes me a rare bird anyway, I’m one of those white “cross-overs” the party leaders hate. But since they insist, as a Democrat I’m obligated to vote for whatever clown they run, and they will keep coming up short. Give us some decent candidates like Cheyenne Johnson and Lee Harris and there will be better results.

1956Gold

About the state of sex education in Shelby County Schools …

Jean-Baptiste Karr said, “The more things change, the more they stay the same”. There was a guest column in this past Sunday’s Commercial Appeal about the state of sex education in Memphis. I’m getting on in years, and sometimes memory fails me, but as I read this I remembered a letter I wrote to the CA editor 23 years ago:

“Last night, the Shelby County School Board voted in a sex education course that is the equivalent of putting blinders on our children and sending them out into the streets. The state of Tennessee has decreed that the board must adopt a sex education program that addresses the problem of AIDS by the end of the calendar year. This is a worthwhile goal. Where the state falls short is in allowing the schools to pick and choose their programs, as opposed to setting a standard. Memphis chose a new program titled “Sex Respect,” a curriculum touted as even more conservative than the much discussed “Family Life” program. The Sex Respect program does not make mention of contraceptives. It ignores the issue entirely. The basis of the program is pure and simple, abstain from having sex until you are married, and even then be careful. This is the moral equivalent of teaching someone how to drive and not mentioning that the car has lights because you don’t want them to drive at night. 

It is a fine thing to teach our young people the virtues of abstinence. But please, for their sake, tell them everything. Remember there may be some people out there inclined to behave in a manner inconsistent with your beliefs and these are the ones who are being deprived of valuable information that may cut down on both the spread of disease and the skyrocketing statistics of illegitimate birth.”

My, look how much more progressive we are in the 21st century. The more we as a nation try to move forward, the more ignorance stays the same.

Joey Hagan

Categories
Opinion The BruceV Blog

“I Love Memphis” Podcast With Bruce VanWyngarden

If you’ve always wanted to listen to a 30-minute interview with Bruce VanWyngarden, well, here’s your chance. He’s the subject of this month’s “I Love Memphis” podcast.