Winston and Tolerance

Of the thousands of students who have passed through my classroom, Winston is the most memorable. As the years pass and the faces become curiously confused in my mind, Winston's name and face remain vivid.
Winston bounced into class that first day with a big grin as he stuck out his hand to introduce himself. Almost a foot shorter than his seventh grade classmates and anxious to get started, he asked, "Where do I sit?"
Winston took his seat and proved to be a very attentive listener. In fact, he seemed to enjoy the class like no other student had before or since. He loved the corny jokes and soaked up the information presented orally as a sponge absorbs water. He was truly a delightful student to have around despite the learning disabilities that made reading and writing monumental tasks for him. Winston truly was looking forward to middle school as being the greatest experience in his life. Nothing prepared me for what was to follow.
Within a few weeks, Winston seemed to linger around the classroom in order to talk with me and the rest of his teachers. He would then scurry off to his next class in order not to be late. He often time would run as fast as he could to the next class. Soon I noticed the first of many uncharacteristic bursts of anger toward his peers in the hallway and at lunch. Fights were followed by crying and an inconsolable spirit. This went on for weeks and weeks while staff did everything they could to stop the symptoms. What all of the adults in the school were missing was the harassment, taunting, rejection and bullying that Winston was enduring from his classmates.
Peers had targeted Winston because he was indeed "different" from them. The harassment was perpetrated by the few leaders in the class and allowed to continue by the silence of the rest. I have never seen a group as amoral as these students were. To make matters even worse, Winston's family was also targeted by many adults in the community when they were out and about. The behavior exhibited by the adults was often interpreted by their children as the green light to continue Winston's torture. It was, what I view, as my first look at true evil.
The school year ended with the sad realization that this evil had won the day. Despite all of our efforts to intervene, the harassment continued. We all felt as though we had failed Winston and his family. Indeed, we did. The light that glistened in Winston's eyes on the first day of school was all but extinguished by the last.
I'd like to rationalize this experience by saying we did all we could and move on but there is more to the story. Four years after leaving my class, Winston died of a brain tumor. I can't help but feel that Winston's illness is somehow connected to being rejected by his "society". I can't help but feel somehow responsible.
So why blog about Winston today? Having experienced this evil horror, I am somehow more sensitive to those people society feels are different for one reason or another. Listening to hate radio, hearing of the prejudices and lack of tolerance of others makes me very aware that those who would like to divide others into the worthy and the worthless are the same evil that seemed to follow Winston around during his short tortured life. We must stand up and fight for those who the haves of society have deemed as not worthy. The Discrimination Amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution and talk of the "Law of the Jungle" are but two of the manifestations of the evil that man heaps upon those he perceives as different. If you look many more examples will be found. We are all responsible if we stand by passively. Evil counts on it.