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Location: Keeping up with the numbers! |
A Speech Every American High School Principal Should Give.
By Dennis Prager .
To the students and faculty of our high school:
I am your new principal, and honored to be so.
There is no greater calling than to teach young people.
I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to our
school. I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of
the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked
against you, against your teachers and against our country.
First , this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity.
I could not care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red,
yellow or white. I could not care less if your origins are African,
Latin American, Asian or European, or if your ancestors arrived here
on the Mayflower or on slave ships. The only identity I care about,
the only one this school will recognize, is your individual identity
-- your character, your scholarship, your humanity. And the only
national identity this school will care about is American.
This is an American public school, and American public schools were
created to make better Americans. If you wish to affirm an ethnic,
racial or religious identity through school, you will have to go
elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity, race and non-American
nationality-based celebrations. They undermine the motto of America ,
one of its three central values -- E pluribus unum, "from many, one."
And this school will be guided by America 's values. This includes all
after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide students
based on any identities. This includes race, language, religion,
sexual orientation or whatever else may become in vogue in a society
divided by political correctness.
Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood, ethnic,
racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate
narcissism -- an unhealthy preoccupation with the self -- while the
purpose of education is to get you to think beyond yourself. So we
will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of art,
music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, carpentry and
more. If the only extracurricular activities you can imagine being
interested in are those based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity,
that means that little outside of yourself really interests you.
Second , I am uninterested in whether English is your native language.
My only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school
speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The English
language has united America 's citizens for over 200 years, and it
will unite us at this school. It is one of the indispensable reasons
this country of immigrants has always come to be one country. And if
you leave this school without excellent English language skills, I
would be remiss in my duty to ensure that you will be prepared to
successfully compete in the American job market. We will learn other
languages here -- it is deplorable that most Americans only speak
English -- but if you want classes taught in your native language
rather than in English, this is not your school.
Third , because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor , everything in
this school will reflect learning's elevated status. This means, among
other things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many
people in our society dress more formally for Hollywood events than
for church or school. These people have their priorities backward.
Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at this school.
Fourth , no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this
school's property -- whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic
events. If you can't speak without using the f -word, you can't speak.
By obscene language I mean the words banned by the Federal
Communications Commission, plus epithets such as "Nigger," even when
used by one black student to address another black, or "bitch," even
when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the
time you leave this school, you will be among the few your age to
instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the
holy and the obscene.
Fifth , we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school,
self-esteem will be attained in only one way -- the way people
attained it until decided otherwise a generation ago -- by earning it.
One immediate consequence is that there will be one valedictorian, not
eight.
Sixth , and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and
away from politics and propaganda. No more time will be devoted to
scaring you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual
harassment or global warming. No more semesters will be devoted to
condom wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations as only or
primarily a health issue... There will be no more attempts to convince
you that you are a victim because you are not white, or not male, or
not heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of
you graduates this school and does not consider him or herself
inordinately fortunate -- to be alive and to be an American.
Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag
of our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers
will hand them out to you.
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
  
Location: In the Hills of Texas | JMO..This was written by someone but not a school principal as the principals of today are too politically correct and don't have the backbone to say this and would have never been hired to begin with. This is how it should be but I doubt it ever will. | |
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Location: Keeping up with the numbers! | You are probably correct. I was sent this in an email today and just found it profound and thought I would share. | |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 336
Location: Missouri | I checked this on Snopes.com. It was written by a talk show host and called "A Speech Every American High School Principal Should Give". Too bad - pretty solid ideas in it!
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/principal.asp | |
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  That's White "Man" to You
Posts: 5515
| I like it regardless of its origin. Send this to every educator you know. | |
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 Angel in a Sorrel Coat
Posts: 16030
Location: In a happy place | Whiteboy - 2014-07-08 5:02 PM I like it regardless of its origin. Send this to every educator you know.
Me too. | |
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Regular
Posts: 56
Location: Oklahoma | Love the speech!! Unfortunately, I would no longer have a job if I gave a speech like that to my school........ | |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 331
Location: Loma Linda, CA | Man, I was super excited when I read the title and super sad when I realized this speech wasn't actually given my a principal... I was ready to pack up and move to that school district for my future kids haha! | |
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I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | Slim - 2014-07-08 6:27 PM Love the speech!! Unfortunately, I would no longer have a job if I gave a speech like that to my school........
Exactly my point. Sad..isn't it? | |
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 Ms. Manners
Posts: 1820
Location: Oklahoma | http://www.michiganfreedejurestate.org/constitutionalcharacter.html
http://www.quillnewspaper.com/2012/May/a1603a1.html
Interesting that this "amazing" speech that was supposedly given by a new high school principal is actually pieced together and plagiarized from several sites, including the two above, and other individuals' writing. | |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | The sentiments are wonderful, but principals don't have that much control anyway. | |
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That's White "Man" to You
Posts: 5515
| Three 4 Luck - 2014-07-08 9:00 PM
The sentiments are wonderful, but principals don't have that much control anyway.
or courage. | |
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New High School Principal's Speech