10 | JUNE 4 - 10, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
CITY VOICES Worcester Magazine’s Letters To The Editor Policy Letters to the editor are a great way to share your thoughts and opinions with thousands of readers and online viewers each week. There is no word limit, but we reserve the right to edit for length, so brevity is your friend. If handwritten, write legibly - if we cannot read it, we are not running it. A full name and town or city of residence are required. Please include an email address or phone number for verification purposes only. That information will not be published. Make sure your letter makes it into Worcester Magazine in a timely fashion — send it in by the Monday of the next issue. Please note that letters will run as space allows. Send them to Worcester Magazine, 100 Front St., 5th Floor, Worcester, MA 01608 or by email to WMeditor @gatehouse media.com.
FIRST PERSON
DON LANDGREN JET-SKIERS ON INDIAN LAKE
Classrooms are set up for social distancing in Burncoat High School Monday, March 15. RICK CINCLAIR/T&G FILE
‘Community means to listen and to love’ Jack Miller Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
Malcom X once said, “Truth is on the side of the oppressed.” Many times in school systems, specifi cally urban ones, there is a large demographic of BIPOC students. Considering the demographic we have been given, justice, law enforcement controversy and white washing are bound to be issues that are talked about. The key to creating a better system for education is to listen to those who say there are problems. I grew up in a very privileged position. Although this does mean I was blind to the injustices around me constantly, I was given opportunities that were not commonly given to my POC friends. I grew up being taught by those that
had the same skin color and ethnicity as me. My fi rst POC teacher was in 9th grade. The fi rst step that would be taken by me as a superintendent for this school system would be to expand the faculty demographic, to provide diff erent views of the world and create a more welcoming environment for POC students. This would be a huge step forward as education is based around allowing diff erent views in your life and fi nding your own way. POC students in school systems, including in WPS, have been saying this for a long time, and to no avail. They have not had that privilege. Curriculum is obviously an integral part of education; however, for it to truly be considered education it needs to be just that: education. In a See COMMUNITY, Page 12
WORCESTERIA
Union buzz seems to be everywhere Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
A couple decades ago, in a land far, far away, I was actually a business journalist. I wasn’t particularly good at it, and I wasn’t very happy doing it, but it’s a weird little hiccup on my resume that sometimes makes itself useful. Indeed, one of the dings on my fi rst and only performance review for that magazine was that I was often too sympathetic toward organized labor, and used a lot of resources from labor unions. Which? Fair. I personally thought they were too dismissive of labor, and too quick to follow well-established party line talking points designed to enrich shareholders and owners at the expense of workers. So my then-em-
ployers were probably right to lay me off , cause that marriage just wasn’t going to work. Still, I can hear those party lines reverberate through the news all the time. Certainly, I’ve been hearing them during the ongoing Saint Vincent’s strike – now currently the longest ongoing strike in the country – every time St. Vincent Hospital CEO Carolyn Jackson puts out a press statement. It’s the same old shtick: Vilify organized labor, cast aspersions on people who perform actual labor, and don’t draw attention to actual fi nancials, save those the company wants to frame and present. It’s worth noting that St. Vincent’s owner, Tenet Healthcare Corporation, is trending pretty well on the stock marSee UNION, Page 12
