To the editor,
Regarding "Inside the Square" by Stephen Kimber, March 1: Mr. Kimber's double standard around stereotypes belies a sensationalist's thirst for blood. En route to tearing away the preconceptions dogging the north end and Uniacke Square he invokes preconceptions used to reinforce the south end in the role of enemy. He needs to know that the reason for those three south end schools having "generated the most press and the most controversy" has nothing to do with privilege or power and everything to do with line-up. Those schools were first in the batting order, the first to face "consolidation." All the other peninsula schools were only a glint in the school board's eye when Saint Mary's, LeMarchant and Inglis Street went to bat for their existence last fall. And what those schools lobbied for—another thing that makes his characterization especially counterproductive—was a process of consultation with the school board on behalf of ALL peninsula schools facing closure, not just themselves. The fate of peninsula schools is a peninsula-wide struggle. At a minimum I suggest that he not perpetuate stereotypes that further fracture the effort of school communities to get the hearing they need.
By Cindy Littlefair
