Bronx native and famed American author Don DeLillo once said that the word the Bronx sounded like something said through broken teeth. It’s also an area with historic roots in progressive thinking and progressive political needs. Teddy C’s trip to New York City’s boogie-down borough was a silly billy idea from the start. You can see how some Bronx residents reacted to Cruz showing his face in their area peddling his immigration platform here. Needless to say, when CEO of Bronx Lighthouse College Preparatory Academy—yes, charter schools have CEOs—Khori Whittaker invited Republican presidential hopeful and all-around terrible human being Ted Cruz to visit the high school, it was a surprise to say the least. Ted Cruz is going to come here with that bullshit he spews wherever there are cameras and microphones?
Students at Lighthouse were incensed and a group of young activists got together to send a strongly worded warning of protest that they delivered to their principal, Alix Duggins.
"We told her if he came here, we would schedule a walkout," said Destiny Domeneck, 16. "Most of us are immigrants or come from immigrant backgrounds. Ted Cruz goes against everything our school stands for.”
[...]
“A group of students will be leaving during 4th period, as (an) act of civil disobedience in regards to the arrival of Ted Cruz to BLCPA,” the letter said. “We have all considered the consequences of our actions and are willing to accept them.”
Some adjectives used in the letter to describe Cruz: “misogynistic, homophobic, and racist.” Check. Check. And … check! That’s A-plus work in my estimation. In fact, here’s a gold star and I don’t think you need to take a standardized test since it sounds like you have been able to analyze Ted Cruz speeches better than 40 percent of the Republican primary electorate.
“Your points are eloquently argued — in fact, so eloquently argued that upon reading your email, Khori Whittaker, the CEO of Lighthouse Academies has agreed to cancel the visit,” Duggins replied.
“I’d like to commend you and the other students for your commitment to your beliefs and values. I believe that I would not have been able to get the visit cancelled without your actions.
Those are young people in a tough area of the United States making smart decisions and showing a passion for their future. Note that the principal clearly left this squarely on the CEO’s shoulders—I suspect Ms. Duggins may be one of the things keeping the greedy business world of charter schools away from infecting the student body.
You can read the letter below the fold.