Cruelty to Animals

A week or so ago on a Saturday morning Bruce and I were finishing our lax and bagels when we heard a commotion outside. When we went to the door to check it out, we noticed a police car parked in front of the house. What in the world is going on? I walked out to the end of the driveway to see. Two houses up the street a small group of people carrying signs were shouting slogans of some kind into a loudspeaker. "Free the monkeys!" they blared. And then, "Margaret Hogan's hands are covered in blood." (Name changed to protect my neighbor). I checked with the police officer. They are PETA people, he told me. We've been asked to keep an eye out. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), for those who don't know, is an organization that "exposes animals suffering in laboratories, in the food industry, in the clothing trade, and in the entertainment industry." So why were they protesting in front of a specific house on my street? Because we are located within two blocks of the Bethesda campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where scientific research is regularly conducted with and without animals. My neighbor is a scientist who works in one of those labs. Prior to this demonstration she received death threats (presumably from this same group) and the pavement in front of her house was spray painted with similar slogans. I believe that people have a right to protest and demonstrate for their beliefs. My question is: Is it morally justifiable for them to single out an individual in a private home to prove their point? Clearly, they think so and they also think it is an effective technique for getting their message out. I think it has the opposite effect of making people unsympathetic to their stated purpose. As for my neighbor? She moved.

Nine Eleven + Twenty

I was teaching English to a class of 12th graders on the morning of September 11, 2001. My school, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, was a community crossroad of sorts. Located just outside the District of Columbia, its student body was a mixture of genders, races, cultures, languages, and economic status. There were rich (mostly white) kids from the affluent neighborhoods that surround the school, as well as not-rich (mostly black and latino) kids from neighborhoods a few blocks to the east. Then there were kids from all parts of the world whose parents were journalists, World Bank people, or who had other positions that drew them to Washington. On September 11, my class was representative of all these types. After the bell rang at 7:30, signalling the beginning of the school day, the Pledge of Allegiance came on over the loud speaker. As usual, about half of the students stood. We teachers had long since concluded that it was their right to stand or not stand, as long as no one talked or otherwise disturbed the class while the Pledge was being read. When class was over another teacher came running into the classroom. "Have you heard the news?" she asked breathlessly. "A plane hit the World Trade Center." I pictured a small plane, piloted by a novice, swerving into one of the towers creating a small dent. Later, of course, the full story emerged including the attack on the Pentagon. Some of our students had parents who worked there. There was no school the next day. On Thursday when we returned, every student stood for the Pledge.