To the editor:

April has been designated as National Poetry Month. One of my favorite short poems was written by Emily Dickenson:

A word is dead when it is said, some say.

I say it just begins to live that day.

Two words that are often said and read in our times are “diversity” and “inclusive.”

A synonym for diversity is “variety”. Inclusive means “including everything under consideration.” (World Book Dictionary)

A student in the Rockford, IL area designed a banner that has been placed on numerous public schools there.

The banner states:

In This Space We Believe

There is Strength in Diversity

Black Lives Matter

Women’s Rights are Human Rights

Representation Matters

LOVE IS LOVE

Below these words are five clenched fists in the following colors: rainbow striped, brown, black, blue with a wheelchair pictured, and pink, purple and white striped representing different gender identities.

If representation and diversity and being inclusive truly matter, there should be another banner displayed on each of those schools. This banner should show the symbol for marriage between a man and a woman — the symbols for man and woman with the circles interlocking. Below could be these statements:

In This Space We Believe

There is Strength in Being Respectful

All Lives Matter

Human Rights Start with Conception

Freedom of Speech Matters

Freedom of Religion Matters

This banner could also be hung next to the LGBTQ+ flag in the Marshall Middle School, Marshall.

If the students and teachers in our middle school and high school were asked if they feel included and represented by this flag, or free to express their beliefs, how would they respond?

Do their opinions matter?

The mission of our school district is, in part, “to support all learners.”

Are these words dead or alive?

Trudy Madetzke

Marshall