03-07-2025
The Republican shift against American pluralism
There is a common aesthetic in elementary schools, one centered on rainbows and stars. The world is grueling and cruel, but we generally let that reality sink in only once kids get a bit older. Until then, our presentation is optimistic, cheery and equal.
You can understand, then, why sixth-grade teacher Sarah Inama would have been surprised to learn that a banner hanging in her classroom was triggering an outcry. Showing a range of heart-holding hands, each in a different hue, the banner read, 'Everyone is welcome here.' It's an anodyne sentiment, at worst, but also a celebration of multiracial community. And for that reason — and explicitly that reason, as a school official explained in an interview in March — the banner was determined to be unacceptable.
