Is it the 1950s or the 2000s?
Just judging from our top story, "Okaloosa School District responds to accusations of racial tension," I couldn't tell the difference.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People may sue Okaloosa Schools as allegations of racial discrimination surface at Baker's K-12 campus.
Some military families say their children who are black or biracial have been bullied, called the N word and shown a photo of a Ku Klux Klan member holding a noose.
The stories are shocking.
Look, Barack Obama's election as president was never going to solve racism entirely, but seriously.
Aren't we past this?
Who does this sort of thing?
Especially, who does this to family members of our military — people who sacrifice so much for our freedoms?
It's unjustifiable.
And it reflects poorly on Baker.
These assaults on human dignity apparently exist in a community that Business Insider named Florida's most conservative town in 2014.
That casts a pall on Baker and, to outsiders, puts a black eye on conservative values.
It's unfair, because most Baker residents seem to treat others with respect and get along well — otherwise, folks would hear about the issue more often. But when people in New York and California read their NAACP news alerts and scroll to a link about accusations of racial tension in Baker, Fla., they will perform more web searches about this small community they've never heard of, happen upon Business Insider's article, and you know they'll make the connection.
Respecting everyone's human dignity should be the No. 1 reason, but hometown pride should be a close second for residents to correct someone who makes a hateful remark about anyone in our community.
“We have a problem here in Okaloosa County,” Ray Nelson, the local NAACP chapter's president, was quoted as telling the audience who attended a meeting about the issue on Saturday in Crestview. "If we’re going to solve it, you have to stand up and speak up. Silence is acceptance.”
Well, I hear you loud and clear, Mr. Nelson. And I'm speaking up.
So is Okaloosa School Board member Dewey Destin.
“We need to fix this problem,” Destin was quoted as saying. “No one should have to face discrimination because of the color of their skin.”
That last line should be common sense.
What makes people think they're better than someone else because they have lighter skin?
Or, for that matter, because they're a certain sex?
Or because they worship a different god?
Or because they have a certain sexual orientation?
Much has been said about whether the NAACP needed to step into the conversation about Baker School; perhaps the matter is better left among those directly involved with the situation, many of our Facebook fans said.
It's a fair point, but that doesn't minimize the issue's gravity.
When I heard about these accusations — which are corroborated, since the families shared similar experiences — I was stunned.
Seriously — who is racist in 2015?
What's your view? Write a letter to the editor or tweet News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: BONI: Seriously, North Okaloosa County — who is racist in 2015?