Request for Censure, Part II

At our most recent public forum meeting, on April 17th, I once again was asked to lead the board in censuring a fellow County Commissioner.

At minute 18:15 of this video, speaker Randy Thompson makes his case that the board should censure Doug Underhill over some comments Underhill made regarding recent marches in support of tightening gun legislation...

At the completion of Thompson's remarks, the board considered his comments and no censure of Doug Underhill occurred. 

It was a good discussion about free speech and also the consequences of free speech, but we as a board were not convinced that we were the ones that needed to act to censure a colleague. 

For my part I opposed a the idea of censuring my counterpart, because we are not his behavior police.  I stand by that.  He is free to say what he wants, and he will have to bear the consequences of his remarks--but it is a slippery slope to go down if we are to start micromanaging each others' speech at the behest of citizens who request this at our public forum meetings....

This is America, we have free speech.  But even in America with our free speech rights--there are limits.  If the speech reaches a level that is unacceptable, the court of public opinion and more importantly the ballot box tally will right the wrong.  That is the appropriate mechanism to correct behaviors and speech of independently-elected constitutional officers.

                John Denver testifies before congress on the importance of free speech in 1985                                     

In 1985, wives of U.S. Senators attempted to censor the Music Industry because these ladies felt some of the music was offensive.  One of the speakers they brought in, ostensibly to back their position and agree with censorship, was beloved and highly regarded Country-Western artist John Denver.  But something interesting happened at the hearing that day.  A very eloquent John Denver destroyed their arguments and stood steadfastly in opposition to censorship next to Frank Zappa, Dee Snider (of Twisted Sister) and many record company executives.  So impressed was Dee Snider after that hearing, he was quoted saying "I'll Kick the S&#T out of anyone that says anything bad about John Denver"  I'll never forget watching Denver's testimony that day--and it kind of reminds me of this issue. 

John Denver was right then, and I am right now.  In America we don't censor Art, Music, and speech.  Not if we want to keep the liberty we all enjoy...

Textbook Battles Continue...

Earlier this fall, a local school board in Jefferson County Colorado found itself embroiled in controversy after it voted to pull an Advanced Placement U.S. History text from the district.  Some of their complaints had merit, however a massive backlash formed, students walked out, teachers walked out in protest (some schools had to close due to the high number of teachers not showing up).  Eventually that board relented and began to teach the course again, as it was designed by the College Board.

This week, the State Board of Education in North Carolina is taking issue with the same course and text, as it could potentially violate state law on the administration of U.S. History.  From an article in the Charlotte Observer:

"The State Board of Education will hold a conference-call meeting Monday to hear from the College Board, which developed the class for high school students, and from a leading national critic of the revamped course. The course has drawn charges from critics that it focuses too much on topics such as slavery to promote a negative view of American history.
“The theme of ‘white superiority’ and the ‘subjugation of Africans and American Indians’ plays a key role in the College Board Framework,” writes Larry Krieger, a critic of the new course, in a handout for Monday’s meeting... the New Hanover County school board passed a resolution saying the framework “reflects a radically revisionist view of American History that emphasizes negative aspects of our nation’s history while omitting or minimizing positive aspects...The Texas Board of Education voted in September that AP U.S. History teachers are to follow the state curriculum in addition to the College Board’s revision. The board also passed a resolution asking that the course be rewritten “to accurately reflect U.S. history without a political bias." 

Meanwhile, out in Arizona, a Biology text is being challenged by one district that asserts that two pages of the 500+ pages of text violate a 2012 state law that restricts abortion.  The allegation is that the biology text describes pharmaceutical methods to terminate pregnancy, and this discussion troubles some members of a local board, as well as some lawmakers.  From an article on this subject from Friday's New York Times:


"the school board in this suburb of Phoenix has voted to excise or redact two pages deep inside the book — 544 and 545 — because they discuss sexually transmitted diseases and contraception, including mifepristone, a drug that can be used to prevent or halt a pregnancy.A law passed two years ago in Arizona requires schools to teach “preference, encouragement and support to childbirth and adoption” over abortion, and the school board decided that those pages were in violation of this law — even though the Arizona Education Department, which examined the book for compliance, found that they were not...The controversy has turned into a referendum on the 2012 law, with supporters saying the textbook content cannot be removed fast enough and opponents crying foul for any number of reasons: technical, ethical, pedagogical."