Director of the National Spelling Bee nails it when dealing with a bigot

[Panich52]

Daily Kos

Director of the National Spelling Bee nails it when dealing with a bigot

The 88th Scripps National Spelling Bee has now come and gone and, just like the 87th last year, ended in a two-way tie. And, just like last year (as well as many other recent years), the champions have come from Indian ancestry. Naturally, this doesn't sit well with a certain segment of society, the members of which have made their unhappiness known in predictable social media rants. Apparently, at least one of them has also made it known to Paige Kimble, spelling bee director. Her response, however, was perfect in its simplicity:

The domination of the bee by Indian American spellers over the past 15 years has created some backlash, including an ugly outburst of racial insults on social media last year. Paige Kimble, the longtime director of the bee, said that she was approached Thursday and asked whether any “Americans” made it to the finals. “ ‘Yes, they’re all Americans,’ I told them,” Kimble said. “We obviously still have a long way to go.”

. ...

The only thing I might add to that is that if you don't like the fact that children of Indian, or Chinese, or Japanese, or Korean, or whatever other heritage are outperforming those of your own, maybe instead of directing your frustration at the children or their families, you might try directing it at the elected officials who are responsible for overseeing the performance of your own school. Oh, and maybe do your own part while you're at it, if you happen to have children in that school.

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[Fred Sanders]

1. Americans in general have always been sore losers. Bigots and racists are just losers. Jealously much, bigots?

Good on the Director for pointing that out.

[cui bono]

5. But Americans won.

[n2doc]

2. And I would add, perhaps those folks who are so jealous of other people's kids

Should pay more attention to their own, and push them to excel as much as they can. Too many parents seem to think that all they have to do is send their little darlings off to school and everything will be perfect. Those parents of the Bee winners push their kids hard to excel.

[bluestateguy]

7. yes, exactly

Parents need to take an active part in their child's education. And they need to supplement the education they get in school by promoting it in the house, reading to your child, watching documentaries and taking your child to museums, zoos, etc.

But whenever I say that around here, I'm denounced as elitist.

[monmouth4]

3. The bigots should also check to see how much TV time is watched and other devices in these

homes. I would imagine very little.

[LWolf]

4. Good reply from Kimble.

Not so much from RightHeaded.

The two winners this year were Americans. FROM AMERICAN SCHOOLS.

If American children of Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or whatever other heritage are outperforming others, try directing frustration at the "uniquely American" anti-intellectual segment of our culture.

[Cirque du So-What]

6. I have pondered dominance in the spelling bee arena

Aside from the ambition that brings immigrants to this country plus the likelihood that the parents restrict useless activities like marathon video gaming, I believe that being raised in a bi- or multilingual environment supercharges the linguistic portion of the brain, providing an edge in the spelling bee.

Leave it to bigots, whose first impulse is to restrict competition, to piss and moan due to their xenophobia and anti-intellectual mindset. Here's a clue: monster truck rallies do not provide the same intellectual stimulation as a trip to the museum.

[kairos12]

8. The complainers are morans.

[SheilaT]

9. Back in 2000 and 2001, when my older son

went to the National Science Bowl, it was quite amazing how the vast majority of the teams consisted of kids whose ancestors clearly hailed from Asia, or who were pretty obviously Jewish. Almost no girls. My son's team stood out because the first year two of the five were girls, and the second year three of them were girls. And the first year only was was a kid whose father came from Korea. Everyone else was basic northern European. My son is Jewish on his father's side, but not so's to be able to tell.

Anyway, my point is that ethnic stereotypes have a basis. And anyone who complains about some one ethnicity dominating a sport of some kind, just doesn't get it. Heck, I personally wouldn't want my kid to spend the kind of time needed to make it to the finals of the National Spelling Bee, but that's just me. I recognize these kids have put in a lot of work, and they deserve the win.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

10. FOX "News" tells them to blame the teacher's union....

That makes sense to them because Saint Ronnie and stuff.

[Buzz Clik]

13. meh. Ignore the idiots.

[Eleanors38]

11. As FDR opened his speech to the Daughters of the American Revolution: "Fellow immigrants..."

[Buzz Clik]

12. About this: "you might try directing (your frustration) at the elected officials..."

"... who are responsible for overseeing the performance of your own school."

That won't get it done, either.

Ever wonder why the kids ask about the origin of the words? It's because certain sounds are spelled differently depending on the word origin. How do these kids know this? Well, they study their asses off and they are fluent in more than one language. These kids are tutored and driven and focused on winning.

It's no accident that the kids who dominate the spelling bees come from a limited number of ethnicities; their undying work ethic is hard wired into their brains.

[freshwest]

14. I know many emigrants. Their constant refrain: 'America is the land of opportunity.' They do well.

I know many and rejoice.

[mainer]

15. American kids of Asian extraction went to those same public schools

So you can't really blame it on the schools when they outperform their white classmates.

"you might try directing it at the elected officials who are responsible for overseeing the performance of your own school"