Letters to the editor concerning recent Atascadero Unified School Board meeting
Do not compare wearing masks to the Holocaust
To the editor,
Dear Atascadero School Board members:
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and Congregation Ohr Tzafon (COT) of Atascadero, we are writing in response to statements made by two board members at the recent school board meeting. We are fully supportive of the right of every person to full free speech. However, we are concerned about what these specific statements say as a reflection of the choices these individuals have made as leaders and specifically, as leaders responsible for the environment and curriculum of future generations.
There is no comparison that can be made to the murder of over six million Jewish people, nor to the generations of racism baked into our society, and the decision by those who do not wish to be vaccinated. Vaccinations are a choice, with subsequent consequences. Neither those who perished in the Holocaust nor those who have suffered from racism had a choice. To link the two eliminates this very important distinction.
We believe that one of the best avenues to not only express our opinion, but to ensure there is true understanding of what it really means to be discriminated against or to know what the Holocaust was like, is to be educated. Toward that end, Congregation Ohr Tzafon (and many other synagogues and congregations around the world) coordinate an event on or near Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah) where we focus on both educating and remembering this tragic event in world and Jewish history, to ensure that it does not ever happen again.
This year, COT is hosting our Yom Hashoah event on Thursday, April 28 at 7 p.m. at our synagogue in Atascadero and it will last approximately an hour. One of the keystones is community involvement. We would welcome and enjoy the participation of any or all of the school board members and invite you to join us for the program of learning, music, readings, and refreshments.
Kind regards,
Jackie Ramsdell
Congregation Ohr Tzafon President
Surprised and disgusted by school board
To the editor,
I’m not that easy to surprise, but at the last Atascadero school board meeting, I was not only surprised but also disgusted.
School district board president Terri Switzer compared being asked to get vaccinated during a pandemic to what the Jews suffered during the holocaust.
Board member Ray Buban compared the treatment of non-mask wearers to what African Americans suffered during the days of Jim Crow, having to sit in the back of the bus or not being served at the lunch counter.
Have these people no sense of proportion? These comments disgusted me; I can’t imagine how offensive these grotesque comparisons would have sounded like to a Jew or an African American. Switzer and Buban owe everyone in our community a resounding public apology for these insensitive, ignorant, and downright ludicrous comparisons or even better, they should both resign.
Signed,
Susan Robinson, MD
Paso Robles, Calif.
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