A 14-year-old Chicago-area student has discovered those who cry for "tolerance" the loudest may be the most intolerant.
Just before the election, Catherine Vogt conducted an experiment in political tolerance at Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School in Oak Park. On the first day of her experiment, she wore a T-shirt with the words "McCain Girl" written on it.
"People were upset. They started saying things, calling me very stupid, telling me my shirt was stupid," Catherine told Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass.
"One person told me to go die. It was a lot of dying. A lot of comments about how I should be killed." One student even suggested she should be crucified.
Catherine recorded all of the comments in her journal.
The next day, Catherine wore another T-shirt, this one with "Obama Girl" written in blue. And an amazing thing happened.
"People liked my shirt. They said things like my brain had come back, and I had put the right shirt on today," Catherine told the Tribune.
Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus on the Family Action, called it a disturbing trend.
“Too often we see tolerance being awarded and promoted for only one viewpoint — the more liberal one — while students who dare to express more conservative leanings are shunned or ridiculed.
"The good news is, there are students who are bravely calling attention to the double standard.”
Catherine turned her journal into a report, earning extra credit.
— Jennifer Mesko
