“Everyone is welcome here” is a poster I’ve had in my classroom for years. It is a small, simple poster near the bookshelf. It helps build relationships with my students without saying a word.
It doesn’t matter what you believe, how you look, or who you are. If you are a student, a child, you are welcome in my room. I will love, protect, and help you grow.
You are safe.
It's the type of poster made for the classroom.
Apparently, this pisses people off.
A teacher in Idaho is being forced to choose between her posters and her job. Sarah Inama was asked to remove two signs, one being a larger version of the poster in my room. The other poster says, “everyone is accepted, important, respected, encouraged, valued, equal.” She put these posters in her room five years ago. They weren’t a problem. I imagine they helped create a positive classroom environment.
According to the people in power, they are a problem now.
The principal told Inama the posters had to be content neutral and should respect the rights of people to have differing opinions.
What is the differing opinion of everyone is welcome. Inama had the same question.
“There are only two opinions on this sign: Everyone is welcome here or not everyone is welcome here," she said. "Since the sign is emphasizing that everyone, in regards to race or skin tone, is welcome here no matter what, immediately, I was like, the only other view of this is racist. And I said, 'That sounds like racism to me.'”
Inama felt pressured to take the posters down but returned over the weekend to hang them up. She emailed her principal, and he warned her further action may be taken.
As of now, she has turned down compromises. I have so much respect for this teacher. Although it probably shouldn’t matter, I feel compelled to mention Inama is a white woman. She has no skin in the game. She is doing this because it is right. That is enough.
So many people have theorized about what they would have done if they were alive during Nazi Germany or Jim Crow (relatively recent events). Moments like this answer that question. It would be so easy for Inama to take the path of least resistance. It wouldn’t personally impact her life, but she understands taking those posters down opens the doors to infinite injustices.
Personal experiences
I’ve been prepared to lose my job for a few years now. This is the type of stuff I’m talking about. I knew teachers who care about ALL students would become a target once parents in my area started complaining about Critical Race Theory a few years ago.
CRT was one of those hot button topics in the news. Teachers were accused of I guess teaching racism was bad, everyone is racist, and white children should feel bad. This is obviously not the case.
I was called to the principal’s office on the first week of school. Parents received my rubric and saw a unit called “social injustice.” From there, they assumed the Black teacher was teaching CRT. It was especially amusing because the unit didn’t have a single minority creator or minority character. The unit was about Animal Farm and Fahrenheit 451.
I had to bring my materials down and prove to the principal that I wasn’t teaching CRT. (The English 1 department came up with this unit together, but I was the only one parents targeted.)
From then on, I knew where the world was going. I’ve prepared myself.
The last principal, a Black man, seemed desperate to please our wealthy white parents.
Our new principal follows policy, but he also doesn’t seem as quick to confront teachers with these issues if he can assuage parents’ concerns himself.
Most of my issues recently have been with individual parents or students. To Kill a Mockingbird is one I always receive a complaint or two about. The only time anyone complained about my poster was when one student asked loudly, “What does this poster mean?”
He was also a kid who asked me if I would beat him up if he said the “n-word” and told an Asian student to pick up rice. I guess the new rules are protecting gentle children like him.
Nevertheless, I don’t see my principal fighting for the kids when it opposes policy. If they tell him to go room to room and check for positive posters, he would do it. I’ve watched him attempt to get rid of special needs students because they messed up his report card numbers. This isn’t the type of man who puts sympathy and empathy first.
I don’t see many of my peers fighting, but I’m so glad to see other teachers are willing to stand up for what is right.
Can anyone read this story and truly believe it is okay. Why are we removing posters from a classroom because they welcome everyone?
Are people going to say they agree with this and in the same breath claim to be Christian or even a good person? Are you really going to claim you aren’t racist when you want to take down a poster welcoming everyone?
Due to some recent changes in my life, I really need my job. If I lost it, it would make my job much more challenging. I would make the same decision without hesitation.
Real change requires being a little uncomfortable. It requires a little sacrifice. If we bend every time we get a little uncomfortable, sooner or later the injustice targets us.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of LG Ware's work on Medium.