JAY — Two community members reached out to the Livermore Falls Advertiser with resource information Saturday morning, Jan. 28, after reading an article written by one of its staff writers was published in area newspapers that morning.
John Benedetto had asked Regional School Unit 73 Board of Directors Thursday night, Jan. 26, to provide a definition for colors (in relation to human skin tones) after his daughter was called black by classmates.
“She has come to me asking what this means,” Benedetto of Livermore Falls said. “I say to her that I do not have an exact definition of what color she is. I have reached out to the RSU 73 system asking for a definition of what a white would be. There have been quite a few discussions. I have asked publicly, now this is directly affecting me and my daughter because she is upset that multiple students are calling her a color.”
Janet Pence of Litchfield called after reading the article in the Kennebec Journal. She spoke of a 2018 edition of National Geographic about race with a couple pages focusing on skin tone colors.
An online search revealed the April 2018 magazine, in marking the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination National Geographic explored what race means in the 21st century. One article in that issue is titled An Artist Finds True Skin Colors in a Diverse Palette. Copies of the magazine are available to purchase on eBay or it can be read online with a subscription to National Geographic.
“Hello – hopefully some of these resources can help your schools and families deal with the situation that was presented in this morning’s Sun Journal newspaper,” Karen Choate, a teaching assistant in the Lewiston School Department wrote in an email Saturday.
Three students, some girls, some boys had been calling his daughter Black at different times, different places, Benedetto said Thursday night.
“To me, we are all humans,” he stated. “I don’t give a damn about color but there is this thing going on in society and being perpetrated about color and race. It is perpetrated in books like White Fragility so I am formally asking if I can have a definition of colors, that I can explain to my daughter what color she is.”
Benedetto said he would make a formal complaint to the district, request his daughter be recognized for the color she is and that students recognize her as such.
Later Benedetto told the Sun Journal his wife is from Singapore and her grandparents from China. His background includes Italian, Irish and Indian, he noted. He added his daughter is a second grade student.
Second grade students from Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls attend Spruce Mountain Primary School in Livermore.
The polarization seen today is tearing apart the fabric of society, Benedetto said. “I want the same privileges for everybody,” he added.
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