"In one class, I had one teacher say she will not judge me for my choice, but that she was surprised that I supported McCain," Catherine said. ======================================================== She will not judge her, Oh The Relief...
nice frigging teacher. hope she's not tenured! On Nov 13, 6:21 pm, "d.b.baker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > [Q] - As the media keeps gushing on about how America has finally > adopted tolerance as the great virtue, and that we're all united now, > let's consider the Brave Catherine Vogt Experiment. > > Catherine Vogt, 14, is an Illinois 8th grader, the daughter of a > liberal mom and a conservative dad. She wanted to conduct an > experiment in political tolerance and diversity of opinion at her > school in the liberal suburb of Oak Park. > > She noticed that fellow students at Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School > overwhelmingly supported Barack Obama for president. His campaign kept > preaching "inclusion," and she decided to see how included she could > be. > > So just before the election, Catherine consulted with her history > teacher, then bravely wore a unique T-shirt to school and recorded the > comments of teachers and students in her journal. The T-shirt bore the > simple yet quite subversive words drawn with a red marker: "McCain > Girl." > > "I was just really curious how they'd react to something that > different, because a lot of people at my school wore Obama shirts and > they are big Obama supporters," Catherine told us. "I just really > wanted to see what their reaction would be." > > Immediately, Catherine learned she was stupid for wearing a shirt with > Republican John McCain's name. Not merely stupid. Very stupid. > > "People were upset. But they started saying things, calling me very > stupid, telling me my shirt was stupid and I shouldn't be wearing it," > Catherine said. > > Then it got worse. > > "One person told me to go die. It was a lot of dying. A lot of > comments about how I should be killed," Catherine said, of the > tolerance in Oak Park. > > But students weren't the only ones surprised that she wore a shirt > supporting McCain. > > "In one class, I had one teacher say she will not judge me for my > choice, but that she was surprised that I supported McCain," Catherine > said. > > If Catherine was shocked by such passive-aggressive threats from > instructors, just wait until she goes to college. > > "Later, that teacher found out about the experiment and said she was > embarrassed because she knew I was writing down what she said," > Catherine said. > > One student suggested that she be put up on a cross for her political > beliefs. > > "He said, 'You should be crucifixed.' It was kind of funny because, I > was like, don't you mean 'crucified?' " Catherine said. > > Other entries in her notebook involved suggestions by classmates that > she be "burned with her shirt on" for "being a filthy-rich > Republican." > > Some said that because she supported McCain, by extension she > supported a plan by deranged skinheads to kill Obama before the > election. And I thought such politicized logic was confined to > American newsrooms. Yet Catherine refused to argue with her peers. She > didn't want to jeopardize her experiment. > > "I couldn't show people really what it was for. I really kind of > wanted to laugh because they had no idea what I was doing," she said. > > Only a few times did anyone say anything remotely positive about her > McCain shirt. One girl pulled her aside in a corner, out of earshot of > other students, and whispered, "I really like your shirt." > > That's when you know America is truly supportive of diversity of > opinion, when children must whisper for fear of being ostracized, > heckled and crucifixed. > > The next day, in part 2 of The Brave Catherine Vogt Experiment, she > wore another T-shirt, this one with "Obama Girl" written in blue. And > an amazing thing happened. > > Catherine wasn't very stupid anymore. She grew brains. > > "People liked my shirt. They said things like my brain had come back, > and I had put the right shirt on today," Catherine said. > > Some students accused her of playing both sides. > > "A lot of people liked it. But some people told me I was a flip- > flopper," she said. "They said, 'You can't make up your mind. You > can't wear a McCain shirt one day and an Obama shirt the next day.' " > > But she sure did, and she turned her journal into a report for her > history teacher, earning Catherine extra credit. We asked the teacher, > Norma Cassin-Pountney, whether it was ironic that Catherine would be > subject to such intolerance from pro-Obama supporters in a community > that prides itself on its liberal outlook. > > "That's what we discussed," Cassin-Pountney said about the debate in > the classroom when the experiment was revealed. "I said, here you are, > promoting this person [Obama] that believes we are all equal and > included, and look what you've done? The students were kind of like, > 'Oh, yeah.' I think they got it." > > Catherine never told us which candidate she would have voted for if > she weren't an 8th grader. But she said she learned what it was like > to be in the minority. > > "Just being on the outside, how it felt, it was not fun at all," she > said. > > Don't ever feel as if you must conform, Catherine. Being on the > outside isn't so bad. Trust me. > > http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-13-nov13,0,288... > > Check out the before and after pic. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
