During the confirmation discussion of Dr. Robbie Fletcher to the Kentucky Department of Education, the KSBA tweeted out something said by Kentucky's Max Wise.
Sen. Max Wise says he's "very excited once again that we're bringing into this position someone that has been here within Kentucky has not traveled outside of Kentucky for education and that knows our Commonwealth well."
Max Wise hit upon something that some of my teachers at Oldham County tried to tell me when I left for Boston University, but I just wouldn't listen. NEVER LEAVE KENTUCKY!
Truthfully, leaving Kentucky was probably the most traumatic experience of my life, ranking above the birth of my healthy daughter, but slightly below the horror of paying good money to see Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace.
The things I experienced while at Boston University are not for the faint of heart. I'll list them here, but I want to provide a trigger warning for people who are harmed by new experiences and encounters.
As a student in Boston, I......
- Encountered vibrant student populations of every race and religion who unafraid to celebrate their own culture and heritage
- Realized that some of the jokes and stereotypes I thought were funny were actually racist to people who weren't afraid to call me out about them
- Lived in a coed dorm where I regularly stayed up all night having conversations with the opposite sex, LGBTQ people, and people who weren't straight white male Christians.
- Had professors across the political spectrum who challenged us to think and speak up in class and defend our ideas and beliefs
- Got to see multiple art exhibits of different artists including an incredible Monet exhibit
- Saw the premiere of a Holocaust documentary with a panel that included Elie Wiesel
- Attended classes and lectures with filmmakers, producers, and screenwriters like Michael Wadleigh (Woodstock), William Friedkin (Exorcist, French Connection), Tony Bill (The Sting), Julius Epstein (Casablanca), Martha Coolidge (Real Genius, Valley Girl)
- Had the opportunity to meet or hear several celebrites speak in person, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Reed, Penn & Teller, writer Robert B. Parker, Rick Pitino (seriously), Mick Fleetwood, Don Novello (SNL), and more
- Saw an enormous section of the NAMES project AIDS quilt that forever changed my heart and the way I looked at the LGBTQ community
- Literally lived around the corner from a Planned Parenthood clinic and heard and saw the weekly protests whose obnoxiousness and cruelty forever set me against the anti-abortion crowd. A year after I graduated, that clinic and one other would be shot up by a crazed anti-abortion fanatic, John Salvi.
- Made several 16 MM films using professional equipment at various locations
- Watched an entire city take on an ugly citywide manhunt for every black man with a pulse after Chuck Stuart murdered his wife Carol Stuart and blamed a vaguely described black male for the crime.
- Heard the first usage of the phrase Driving While Black when our Dean of Students described being stopped by cops after the Stuart murder. He was only blocks from where he lived in wealthy Brookline, Massachusetts, but he was a black male in a wealthy white area. He was the first person I ever heard talk about how black males learn early to do everything they can to avoid a confrontation of any sort during stops like this, even when they know they've done nothing wrong.
- Got stopped by Boston Police in the middle of Boston's Combat Zone for going the wrong way down a one-way street while riding in my friend's 59 Buick. Saw that two white knuckleheads will get a pass if they're in a cool car.
- Was a participant in a very tense interfaith session on religious tolerance and diversity that included a Holocaust survivor when four students on my floor had some religious insensitivity escalate into an incident involving a swastika.
- Went to church regularly at one of the many services offered at the chapel on campus.
- Rode public transportation everywhere and saw the benefits of easy access to it.
- Had access to multiple bookstores and record stores of enormous size and scope and fueled my love of reading
- Had access to the great Boston Public Library
- Made my first real trip to New York City and fell in love with Manhattan
- Fell in love for the first time
- Had my heart broken for the first time
- Watched a lot of college hockey
- Met a lot of people who had no interest in college basketball and thought March Madness was a sales event at Jordan's Furniture (it was a Boston staple. Look it up.).
- Wrote a 25 page paper on the classic sitcom tropes of the Golden Girls. Don't judge me.
- Read three newspapers a day (Boston Globe, USA Today, Wall Street Journal)
- Made memories and met friends that have lasted me a lifetime
- Learned how to live on my own and further develop thoughts and beliefs independent of my family and community
- Think I came out a better and more understanding person than when I went in
Horrific, isn't it?
The fact is that our lawmakers and far too many in our communities live in fear of outside influence and change. The idea that we can learn and grow and become better people scares a lot of people for reasons that escape me. Perhaps it's simply a few centuries of cultural inertia that sees change and outside influences as something to be afraid of, even when they're coming from people born and raised here.
Jason Glass committed the cardinal sin of putting out innocuous guidance on how best to handle LGBTQ kids. None of that guidance was controversial or mandated how teachers should feel or behave. None of it told teachers to not involve parents. It was level headed guidance based on opinions from medical, mental health, teaching, and legal professionals. But because it came out under his watch, and our legislature was knee deep in their latest attempt to rile up division and hate in the name of votes, Jason Glass came under attack for this guidance.
I have never met Robbie Fletcher. But I have met Max Wise and I've seen him in action.
I watched how he joined his running mate Kelly Craft in attacking transgender youth. I watched him help ram through Senate Bill 150 against sound medical and mental health advice while ignoring the voice of Kentucky students and their parents who were impacted by the bill. I watched him use the ridiculous attacks of "woke" against anyone who dared express a desire to consider the wants and needs of the marginalized. I saw Max's e-mails of support to the cruel hate group "Mom's For Liberty" after they attacked Max's colleague Karen Berg and her dead transgender son, Henry. I saw Max Wise repeat stupid claims and make false accusations against Mr. Fletcher's predecessor.
Max Wise is not a good person. He's not an educated person who makes decisions based on reason, kindness, and the best interest of students. He's a reactionary political tool.
So when Robbie Fletcher says in response to Max Wise's tweet above that "Senator Wise has been a friend for some time now" and thanks him for his support, I can't help but wonder what that says about Dr. Fletcher. Is his department of education going to be one that only supports the people that Max Wise and his colleagues consider Kentuckians? Or is it one that will recognize the humanity and needs of all of its students regardless of their background?
Maybe we'd all be better served if Kentucky's leaders actually experienced more than what happens in their own backyard. At the very least I think we'd be kinder and more decent human beings. I hope that Dr. Fletcher realizes that Max Wise is a friend to nobody, except those who serve his own political career. And if it comes time for Max to turn on Fletcher or his department, he will do so in a New York Minute.
