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The story behind Martin Richard's peace sign
By adamg on Tue, 04/30/2013 - 8:16am
Bobby Constantino reports on the day he spoke to a second-grade class at the Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester about non-violent protests and the little boy who made what has sadly become an iconic poster.
I wonder if we might try and honor Martin's example by trying to be more like him. When we see someone being harmed, we step up, right here and now, without regard for reasons why not. When we hear about violence in any of its awful forms, we stand up and say, nope, not today, not while there's life and breath in this body.
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Comments
Ahimsa for 2nd graders??
Wow, indoctrinating 2nd graders about "ahimsa"........something wrong about that. Parents and churches should be teaching morality, schools should be teaching RR&R. George Zimmerman wasn't arrested immediately after the death of Trayvon Martin because it takes time to develop the case and it appeared to be a case of self-defense. The pictures of Zimerman's smashed nose and head injuries support that. There is more than a whiff of leftist ideology in a class making these posters and joining the author in a protest "march". Ghandi wasn't all he's cracked up to be. MLK carried a gun. How about we teach self-defense first, then we think about peace? the world is not, not has it ever been, a peaceful place. Posters and "marches" (of one guy) will not make it so.
Really?
Teaching children not to hurt people is "indoctrination" now? Ahimsa isn't some Communist ideology, it literally means the absence of violence. What is wrong with that?
When you see a woman being
When you see a woman being raped, are you going to hold a candle-light vigil, or are you going to do something about it?
...ugh...
WHAT IF IT WAS YOUR SISTER?? OR YOUR MOM?? WHAT WOULD YOU DO THEN, PUNK??
Is there a Godwin's Law kind of rule for people who use that argument? (Not that NotWhitey directly did, but it's sort of a derivation. It gets used a lot in capital punishment arguments.)
I think of non-violence as a tactic. Typically people who go through their lives with only one tactic have a tough time of it. More often than not non-violence, tactfully employed, can be quite effective, but obviously not in all cases. Like a wise man once intoned: "You got to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away and know when to run."
Thank god we don't indoctrinate our kids in school in narrow ideologies...
Physical Restraint != Violence
Just like physical restraint != corporal punishment.
When my boys were small, one of them could get all ragey and start hitting - and it sometimes made other parents nervous that I would simply wrap my body around him and totally pin him down to prevent him from going totally off the rails and hurting other people.
This wasn't punishment, and it wasn't violence. It was physical discipline.
Similarly, it is possible to intervene physically in a situation without violence or violent intent. Putting somebody in a hammer lock, pulling somebody off of another person and sitting on them to pin them down, and restraining somebody who is intent on or committing violence are not violence. They are restraint and intervention.
Punching, hitting, kicking, etc. = violence.
Good police training programs train officers in where the limits are and differences lie.
I'm not sure what your argument is supposed to be
But I can almost guarantee it's stupid.
Troll Award
Let's examine your words about the murder of a child, Kelly Two, by rephrasing them. You wrote "Wow, indoctrinating 2nd graders about "ahimsa"........something wrong about that." Ahimsa literally means "do no harm." So using different words to express your idea, you essentially said that we should be teaching kids to harm. There is something wrong here, but it's your ideas.
Does Kelly Two Go to the Doctor?
In the US? Where 98% of doctors swear to the Hippocratic Oath?
I guess she'll just have to look for those 2% who aren't indoctrinated.
eh?
Extreme bible-thumping is indoctrination. Extreme PC bleeding heart BS a la is indoctrination. Ahimsa IS NOT indoctrination.
Line of the day!!!!
Sure....
I had to look up ahimsa
and it means "do no harm". You weren't taught that in school? I know I was taught about non-violence.
But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln ...
What a bitter, bitter person you sound like.
The rest of us will mourn the loss of a little boy who had seen violence in his own life and wanted to do something about it.
I learned something in
I learned something in church: 'Turn the other cheek'. You're a very sad, scared person I think. Have fun in your hate/fear bubble.
I don't want to be as negative as the previous posters
But I had similar assignments in school, about advertising and advocating peace, non-violence, etc. I like little Martin's poster, don't get me wrong, but too much has been made of it. Posters like this are assignments to make an advertisement of an idea, and some kids just have a knack for slogans.
It's a tragic coincidence that he made this poster prior to his death in a brutal terrorist attack, but it's not a Sign.
I posit
That if you went back there today, and asked if those who harmed their classmate should be forgiven, or fed to the lions, you wouldn't leave with a hungry lion.
Missing the point?
Adam emphasized this phrase:
That to me sounds like a call for action, not a cry to hide or run.
From my experience there have been plenty of people who would prefer to ignore violence than to do anything. They were hawks when it came to telling others what to do, but were ostriches with their heads in the sand when they were called to stop violence that was happening under their nose. I wouldn't be surprised if in many instances of child abuse by one family member that there is another, or are other family members who choose to ignore the abuse. We have seen the same behavior from religious leaders. They fulminate from the pulpit about Gay marriage but were absolutely silent where child sexual abuse was concerned.
Perhaps what was most important in Mr. Constantino's discussion with the children was the fact that he was letting these children know that he, a stranger, acknowledged the violence they have witnessed.
But think about this: a classroom of 2nd graders (7 -8 year olds) where each has witnessed violence? Has violence where these kids live become mundane, regular, predictable and even banal?