An Open Letter to Matt Gonzalez on Messages Pertaining to the Mural--and Trauma

I  agree with what you said at Revolution Books this past Thursday.  Could you be more specific about how you think "traumatized" students should be counseled and otherwise helped?

I just got a message from someone that I don't know well but who has very strong feelings against the mural.  When my letter to the editor appeared in the SF Chronicle on August 8, she sent me a message suggesting that I be forced to see the Rape of Nanking on a daily basis.    From today's message I get the impression that her daughter is a Native American--maybe the Dana whose letter is being read in the video of the SF Board meeting August 13.  Here is her message and my response followed by the link to the video.



Her message:

Tina I hope you recall my daughter. The reminders need to be in a museum, not the school in Sfusd where the majority of children have more trauma

My Response:

 Thank you, Shelley. I feel very sympathetic to people like Dana, I'm wondering what Washington High School and the SF Board of Education are doing for students who feel the way Dana does other than censoring this mural. I'll share the video with other people who have the same question I have.


Commissioner Sanchez reads former Indigenous wash student's letter