Suffer the little children!
A tale of starvation brought to you by Waukesha, WI
Wisconsin school-board president who backtracked on canceling free school lunch says it opened his eyes: 'I eat every meal every day. I cannot relate to being hungry.'
When this headline came across my newsfeed, I first thought it was clickbait. For those of you who don’t know what that means, clickbait is a text or some type of link that is designed to attract your attention and to entice you to click that link and read, view, or listen to the linked piece of online content. That content is typically deceptive, sensationalized, or otherwise misleading.
So, there I sat, munching on a piece of fruit as I read this statement. There is no way someone said that; and if they did really make that statement then what were the circumstances. Come to think of it, that does sound like a bit clickbait-y doesn’t it? But believe me when I tell you that if that headline didn’t shock you, the rest of the story is likely to make you sick.
Let me get you up to speed on what happened here.
The school district of Waukesha, Wisconsin at first rejected a “free lunch” program for kids. This was not because there were no hungry kids in the school district. This was not because there already was a free lunch program and so there was no need for it.
No!
It was because they were swayed by the argument of one member of the school district that “children and families could become "spoiled" with free meals.
Yes. Please feel free to click that link and read that article because I guarantee that there is still more of this story left to continue making you regret that extra bit of toast you had for breakfast.
After an online backlash the school board president made the statement above – no doubt after having a hearty lunch. But the statement itself is shameful because it tells us just how out of touch this school board really is. These people are so privileged – and well fed - that they can barely understand what being hungry meant. They could not understand the concept of being famished. They never experienced the sensation of starvation. How blessed indeed!
How about you? Are you sickened yet?
But wait.
There’s more.
Other members of the school did not have the same change of heart as the president. One member, Karin Rajnicek, who was the one who had originally stated that “free school meals could make students and families spoiled,” then doubled down and defended her comments.
Was that enough to make you sick to your stomach?
Wait.
There’s still more.
Other members described the board's changing course as giving in to intimidation. According to the Journal Sentinel, another member, Anthony Zenobia, stated "If it's food and free lunch today, it will be forced masking, forced whatever-we-want-to-do in schools because the mob will have the power to tell us what to do."
Well if that did not do it, then kudos dear reader. You’ve got an iron constitution.
Nevertheless, let’s break this down in real world terms.
There is a place the United States of America, which happens to be a first world country, where children are regularly underfed. We don’t know the economic or financial situation of these children but there are enough of them that it’s a problem. The government – I don’t care about which level of government, nor do I care about the political leaning of said government – decides to fund a free lunch program to feed these children. The people in this place, in this first world country, said “NO! We will not have these children being fed under these circumstances. First you forced us to wear masks. Now you’re forcing us to feed malnourished and starving children. No sir! We will not be taking part in that type of terrible charity!”
According to the US Census Bureau, Waukesha, WI is home to about 70,454 people with a majority White population. The state of Wisconsin is predominantly Christian – over 71% - from various denominations. Given that a cursory examination of the Bible would give you at least 20 verses where it is commanded to be generous to the poor one might rightly ask if by some weird turn of fate, Waukesha happens to have all the non-religious, selfish, self-centred and well-fed people. Or maybe, it’s because when they read Matthew 19:4 of their own Bible, they just stopped at “Suffer the little children!”
At the very least, it appears that the school board is more concerned with playing politics – and eating three square meals a day – than caring for starving children.
Bio: Brian Sankarsingh is a Trinidadian-born Canadian immigrant who moved to Canada in the 1980s. He describes himself as an accidental poet, with a passion for advocacy and a penchant for prose, an unapologetic style, he offers his poetry as social and political commentary.
