Kia ora Middleton Grange Family,

On Friday 17th May, our Board of Trustees welcomed Mike Vannoort, our new principal, to Middleton and introduced him to the staff. Our school leadership team is planning a smooth transition for Mike, and we’re all excited to be working with him. There will be opportunities in term three for you to meet Mike and to learn more about the skills and experience that he brings to the role.

The other big event today was our International Assembly for Years 7 – 13. I took the opportunity to talk to our young people about racism. This is such an important topic that I’ve repeated what I told them below:

RACISM

One reaction to the March 15th terror attacks has been to question whether we are a racist society. I believe that racism has no place in our country or in our school, but unfortunately it can easily appear anywhere at any time. Today is good day to be examining ourselves. International Assembly is a celebration of culture and diversity within our school. Are we racist?

God is not a racist! Jesus was not a racist! Christianity is not racist! Despite that, racism plagues us, and no part of our society is immune. Shamefully, even among Christians, racism is alive and well. It will continue to be a problem as long as we fail to acknowledge that there is actually only one race – the human race.

I ‘googled’ racism, and it’s defined as…….

Prejudice, discrimination or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.

Embedded within that definition is the view that there are many human races, but that’s not how God created humanity. We may come in various shapes, sizes and colours, but we are all essentially the same – human. Racism comes from the idea that some colours or cultures or physical features are superior.

The new testament challenges this thinking very strongly. Galatians 3:26 – 28: For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

We are all descendants of Adam and Eve. We are all made in the image of God. Any idea of superiority is totally wrong. What else does the Bible say about racism? One of the most beautiful and anti-racism scenes is the found in the Revelation of John, the last book of the Bible. He saw a great multitude, which no one could count, all nations, tribes, peoples and languages standing before the throne of God, dressed in white robes. This is God’s image of the human race, all standing together under Jesus. It’s a meeting that I plan to be part of, which will make a school assembly look pretty shabby by comparison!

There are lots of other verses I could quote you, but I’ll just pick one, 1 John 2:9: He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is still in darkness.

One way to halt racism is to educate ourselves about God’s truth. God says we are all one race. We must try to understand this, believe it and act accordingly in our lives and in our school. You were not born racist, and neither was I. We need to be the generation in which racism is totally unacceptable. We need to be the school in which racism is always called out for what it is. Hatred!

When I was a child we sang a song in kids church – “Red and yellow black and white, we are precious in his sight…..” I’m not sure that those are the right words to describe various ethnicities, BUT the song writer got the essential message correct – all one in God’s sight, all precious to him.

One of the most well known speeches of last century was Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech. It was given to a nation deeply divided by racism and hatred that had its roots in slavery.

I say to you today my friends that even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident – that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

These are words for all of us to ponder as we examine our own attitudes. Under the banner of BELONGING/TURANGAWAEWAE, our school theme for 2019, we need to show impartiality and love, and to live it. We cannot say that everyone belongs if we don’t act accordingly. Our churches and our school should be filled with people of all colours or races, sizes, shapes and languages, working and worshipping together as one. Let us loudly proclaim, “there is no place for racism in this world”.

Rod Thompson (Interim Principal)