To the Editor:

One might think that my comment at last week’s BOE meeting … that the vast majority of Newtown is not racist was pretty innocuous. But judging from the spirited commentary in last week’s Letter Hive, this is not the case. Such is the world we now live in.

My comment was in response to what seems to me to be a premise frequently implied at BOE meetings — that Newtown is, in various ways, systemically neglectful, even racist toward the needs of minorities, and that DEI intervention is required.

I fully respect everyone’s right to state what they feel, but I disagree. I feel the vast majority of Newtowners are open and inclusive, and that frequently cited exceptions should not be taken as the norm and serve as justification for school initiatives.

I have years of experience with DEI and know how it operates. It must convince a community it’s systemically racist in order to insinuate itself into its schools. This is why the Racist-Oppression narrative must be continually reiterated, and alternative narratives cancelled.

DEI promotes itself as being all for the benefit of our children. That it produces wholesome respect for one’s self and others … promotes open-mindedness, critical thinking, and improved educational outcomes. But DEI has a problem … its track record. On every count I have found it to deliver the exact reverse, as lawsuits and revolts at school boards across the nation attest.

After studying its origins, ideology, tactics, and outcomes, I’ve come to the conclusion that DEI is not education … it’s pushing leftist identity politics down into middle school with even more destructive outcomes than in adults.

Unity, open-mindedness, and critical thinking are all cancelled by woke orthodoxy. Failure to agree brands one in need of further remediation. For anyone who doubts this, I ask you to push back on DEI ideology and see what happens…

I rest my case.

Educators don’t act like that — political activists do.

I urge everyone to support the wise and dedicated members of our BOE doing their very best to provide academic excellence for all students free of political agendas of any stripe.

Tony Keating

Newtown