Episode 3 “Unchained” Transcript

Rogue Castaways:Hostile Takeover

Episode 3 – “Unchained” Transcript

Well, we HAD several items we needed to cover in this episode of Hostile Takeover to bring everyone back up to speed on what’s happening at Mason Classical Academy…..

However  , recent national events have put the spotlight back on race relations in the United States….and I would be remiss if I didn’t take a second to recognize those that are suffering over something much bigger than the option of good schools we have to choose from here in Collier County.

Because that’s the reality of this struggle folks.  We may disagree what constitutes a good school and a bad school, but choosing between MCA and one of the other schools in Collier County does not have the life or death implications it has in other parts of this country.

And While millions of people in this country are sympathetic to those hurting over the circumstances that led to the death of George Floyd, this is nothing new to those that have suffered through discrimination for their entire lives.  

The George Floyd story is not new and unfortunately, this same story has repeated itself time and time again throughout the history of the United States.

We as a country have forgotten what it’s like to be a ‘we’ and unfortunately, it takes the senseless death of an innocent black man to bring that struggle back to the forefront. 

Now we are at risk of letting this injustice slip to the backburner again, if real and meaningful change isn’t pursued.  

You might ask me, what has the story about Mason Classical Academy got to do with race relations and the death of George Floyd?  Your podcast is about MCA isn’t it?

Well…. yes it is….but an email that was sent out by Kelly Mason Lichter yesterday to all the parents of MCA students is a perfect example of why efforts at real change in this country have failed in the past.  

To put the email sent by Kelly Lichter into context, you need to read the email sent out by Kamela Patton, the superintendent of the Collier County Public Schools on June 4th.  

Ms. Patton’s email addressed the death of George Floyd and shared her opinion that we all need to communicate better with each other to make sure that those who might be marginalized due to their race or ethnicity can be heard and treated equally.

Kelly Lichter’s response in her email….. was to complain that, “MCA has not been heard.”  She goes on to point out that she has a report detailing all the false accusations of the alleged wrongdoing leveled at the leadership of MCA and how the parents and children of MCA have been ‘terrorized’ by Collier County Public Schools.  

Yes she actually used the word “terrorized”.  

I’ve watched the video of the police officer with his knee on the neck of George Floyd…..THAT is someone that was terrorized.  Not Kelly Lichter.

Kelly refers to Ms. Patton’s email and likens her problems at MCA to those that suffer racial and prejudicial discrimination, showing how little some people understand the impact of being disregarded as a human being because of your race, creed, or color. 

The email in and of itself is a racist act….even though it is unlikely that the author would ever recognize it as such.  

Her single mindedness and pure hatred towards people have blinded her to recognizing what she has done by writing this email.  This is the true nature of racism.  The failure to even understand what you are doing by putting your egotistic desires above all else, even another person’s humanity.

I’m going to cut this episode short today, in the hopes that you take the time you would have spent listening to this podcast to pull your children and loved one’s aside this weekend and teach them about racism and respect for one another.

Have a great weekend….and thanks for listening.