I started to think more about this as a Peace Corps Volunteer over 15 years ago. That experience also laid the foundation for how I understand this idea of “community.” I started to actively think more about my own contributions and how I show up for others in my community, as a public servant or on behalf of public service.
Public service, to me, means pursuing a calling to serve others—your community or mutually beneficial causes—over personal profit or gain. I don't mean sacrificing your basic needs or that of your family—though public servants often risk financial security, health and safety for their increasingly undervalued, underfunded, and under attack work.
Who are public servants? Teachers. Nurses. Journalists. Elected officials, to name a few. At their best, these are the folks who put the public’s interest at the center of the work—not a single individual, not a single religion, not a single political agenda, and not a profit margin from which only a few benefit. Teachers do the hard work of educating kids of a wide age range (with varying degrees of interests, resources, circumstances, and abilities) how to read, write, calculate, care, listen, and learn—and most of them do it with empathy, love, and compassion day after exhausting day, no matter how difficult it gets or how thankless it becomes.
Recently, North Carolina teachers marched to Raleigh because the NC General Assembly hasn't passed a budget in over 300 days as of recording, leaving teachers in financial limbo while the cost of living continues to climb and their wages stay stagnant. Even if the NCGA manages to pass a budget before this commentary airs, there’s still a community discussion to have.
Our teachers, among other public servants, often bear the consequences of political rhetoric and identity politics—and are often billed as the enemy, especially when they dare ask for better wages and resources. They’re called groomers and accused of indoctrination, while simultaneously criticized for poor test scores coming out of their defunded school districts. A quick look at comments on local coverage of the March to Raleigh reveals something else:
contempt. Bizarre, unhinged contempt—not for policies or politics that have diminished this critical service—but aimed at this profession charged with our collective future (even for the individualist) in our state and country.
Rather than buy into the notion that public service, such as teaching, is unworthy of respect or investment—try to think about where that notion comes from. Think carefully about who stands to benefit from your distrust, your disdain, and your divestment from public schools, teachers, and other public services in your community.
Shannon Rae Gentry is a writer, collaborator, educator, and community-minded creative working to reimagine encore magazine, our region’s longest-running alt-weekly, not just as a newspaper, but as a shared space where culture, civic life, and local voices meet.
WHQR commentaries don’t necessarily reflect the views of WHQR Public Media, its editorial staff, or its members.