Image 01 Image 03

I’m A Middle School Teacher And See How Critical Race Curriculum Is Creating Racial Hostility In School

I’m A Middle School Teacher And See How Critical Race Curriculum Is Creating Racial Hostility In School

Providence, RI: Some Students Have Started Calling Me “America” Because I’m White, and Colleagues Accuse Me of Having “White Privilege.”

I have been a public school teacher for the past 22 years, with the past seven in Providence, Rhode Island.  I have had the honor of serving public school children and their families as an English teacher first at the high school level, and currently at the middle school level.

During my career I have always tried to provide the best education for my students. I am designated by the Rhode Island Department of Education a ‘Highly Qualified’ teacher, meaning, I have tenure and experience in my certifications.  I was awarded the English Speaking Union Shakespeare Scholarship for excellence in teaching Shakespeare. I helped implement curriculum and I have hosted multiple student clubs, literary magazines, youth groups and community outreach programs.

I love being a teacher and I care a great deal about my students, almost all of whom are non-white.  This past 2020/21 school year was a sad and worrisome turning point for me as an educator. Providence K-8 teachers were introduced to one of the most racially divisive, hateful, and in large part, historically inaccurate curriculums I have ever seen in my teaching career.

Yes, I am speaking about the controversial critical race theory that has infiltrated our public schools here in Rhode Island under the umbrella of Cuturally Responsive learning and teaching, which includes a focus on identities. You won’t see the words “critical race theory” on the materials, but those are the concepts taught. The new, racialized curriculum and materials focuses almost exclusively on an oppressor-oppressed narrative, and have created racial tensions among students and staff where none existed before.

During fall 2020 semester, we were given our curriculum timeline on the Revolutionary War, and the Civil War. I noticed the stories and books seemed to focus almost exclusively on slavery and racism. Those are appropriate topics that we always have taught, but the focus has become narrow, excluding many other aspects of our history.

You can see in this image of me in my classroom in 2019 that we taught about racism, including the writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, among others.

[Me in my classroom, 2019]

We did not need a new curriculum for students to learn about slavery and racism. We already did that, in great depth, relying in part on the writings of great African-American authors.

American history now is being retold exclusively from the perspective of oppressed peoples during the Revolutionary period through to the Civil War, and also in the literature of the Civil Rights movement. From my position in the classroom, it seemed that much of American history and literature was getting wiped out. No one of these new books, standing alone, would be problematic, it’s the new lack of diversity of perspective that is the problem. Although the 1619 Project itself has not yet been introduced, the historical perspective now has shifted to making slavery and racism the defining events of the founding and growth of America.

Missing from our curriculum during the 2020/ 21 school year was the diversity, perspective, truth, and rigor that previously were taught. Previously vetted books were removed from our classroom and sent to recycling.  Gone was the diverse collection of American and World Literature: House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, James Baldwin Go Tell It On The Mountain, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, essays by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., poetry by Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Anne Frank, Night, The Boy In The Striped Pajamas, Macbeth, Walt Whitman, The Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible , Holocaust studies, world genocide, world art, universal themes, universal characters and any book or short story from the literary cannon.

What saddened me most was that I would not be teaching the Holocaust any longer. The Holocaust unit included one of the following: either Anne Frank, The Boy In The Striped Pajamas, and depending on reading level, Elie Weisel’s Night When I asked the school reading coach where all the Holocaust books were, she said “we do not teach the Holocaust because kids can’t relate to the story.” What? Kids can’t relate to genocide, hate, discrimination, and prejudice? Yes children can relate to these universal themes, we all can. Children would never learn about the evils of hatred during the Second World War?  Why? What was it about the truth and perspective that seemed to escape us during the 2020/21 school year?  Exactly why was all this great literature removed from our curriculum?

Then sometime around January 2021, hundreds of new leaflet style booklets arrived, all poorly written, historically biased, inaccurate, and pushing a racial narrative.  I noticed the book covers right away.  They were odd.  In some cases the book covers browned out the faces of historical characters like Lincoln to look black or brown, none of the books were recognizable, and all the booklets seemed to revolve around slavery or oppression.

Perplexed, I thought there was a mistake. I asked a teacher leader what was going on and he looked jokingly at me saying “Comrade, we were told to remove all classroom sets of reading material in order to make room for the incoming sets of books.” I laughed, assuming this was a joke. But it was not a joke, this was real and happening in my school, in my classroom.

In isolation and without historical perspective, the thematic message in every book was clear: White Europeans were and are evil and African Americans were and are victimized by white oppressors. Woven into this new curriculum was a school-wide social push to focus on Black Lives Matter support groups and other social justice identity groups.

Teachers were encouraged to participate in “white educator affinity groups” where we would be given essays on how not to be a white supremacist in the classroom.

This was a system-wide directive to separate white and non-white teachers for training.

* * *

Internal professional development separating white teachers from black teachers?  How is that inclusive?  During these professional development sessions, black teachers were encouraged to share stories of racism and white educators encouraged to talk about what it means to be white.  I can think of nothing more divisive than dividing us up by race.

Finally, for some students, standing for The Pledge of Allegiance was no longer something they did.  We are not allowed to question why, and the truth is, I knew why.  Already these young people were beginning to hate America. I was the only person standing and the only person that could be heard saying “liberty and justice for all”.

Midway through the academic year, some students started calling me “America” because I was white. These students, whom I love, were turning against me because of my skin color. I don’t blame them, I blame the racial narratives being forced upon them in school.

Several of my colleagues stated I had “white privilege.” I was quickly made to feel as though I was becoming the enemy.  My black colleagues added more similar comments in passing, for example: “You have white privilege Bessinger, your gestures are a rich person’s gestures.”

The school culture for many was becoming increasingly tense. Children asked questions about the never-ending thematic focus on slavery.  They asked me to tell them why I lived in a “white castle.” Where were my students hearing this?  For sure in the new books and new curriculum.

At my school, the increasing hatred towards America seemed on the rise.  I blame the books, I blame the media, the literature showing kids themes akin to America is bad, and white people are the enemy. While some teachers embraced this ideology, many secretly modified the lessons to include historically accurate supplemental materials.

After asking the school Network leaders where this curriculum came from I learned it was purchased from a company that had all preloaded curriculum materials, specifically unvetted preselected books written by predominantly unknown authors.

I have raised my concerns about the unvetted curriculum internally within the school system, and also in public testimony before a Rhode Island State Senate Committee. In response, I have been subjected to attempted intimidation and harassment.

While we must always strive to do better as a society, we cannot allow history and culture to be wiped out by political ideology. We cannot allow our children to be taught they are inferior. We cannot teach young people that white people are the enemy because our students, brown, black, indigenous, and white deserve to be children and not political pawns or political weapons. Any curriculum that shames our children or divides our children by the color of their skin should be banned.  Rather, we need to work together, all colors, all races, all parties to restore truth and perspective to our classrooms and stop the indoctrination of our young people.

UPDATE (7-16-2021)

Providence Teachers Union Confirms Affinity Group Segregation, Historical Books Destroyed, Holocaust Education Ended (Ramona Bessinger Update)

DONATE

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.

Comments

When I asked the school reading coach where all the Holocaust books were, she said “we do not teach the Holocaust because kids can’t relate to the story.”

Then how can they relate to slavery or racism?

    Dathurtz in reply to Milhouse. | July 13, 2021 at 4:48 pm

    Making sense is pretty far from the top of the list for the people in the education bureaucracy.

      Ben Kent in reply to Dathurtz. | July 13, 2021 at 7:00 pm

      MANY MORE TEACHERS WILL COME FORWARD

      There are 1,000s of teachers who are not happy about these changes. They ALL have to come forward for the good of the kids they teach and the good of the country.

      Democrats say CRT is just a “Republican talking point” or “Right wing conspiracy” – If I were a teacher, I could not live-the-lie that they are pushing.

      See the link. Democrat running for governor in Virginia interview.
      https://www.foxnews.com/us/mcauliffe-critical-race-theory-right-wing-conspiracy

      Across the country, many school administrators have been caught lying to parents about race-based education or targeting parents (like they did in Rhode Island). And in Boston the school admins lied to a judge.

      If they are willing to lie to a judge – there is nothing that will stop them from lying to parents. Ask yourself – why is indoctrination in their political agenda more important than your kid’s education ?

        Dathurtz in reply to Ben Kent. | July 13, 2021 at 7:32 pm

        If it shows up in my school, I will set up a holler.

          MisterB in reply to Dathurtz. | July 21, 2021 at 4:05 am

          Did you holler when they brought Communist Howard Zinn into your school? Probably not. The day is rapidly approaching when the hollering will do no good. Let’s get the Federal Government out of the schools and bring back education.. http://www.ashbrookacademy.org.

        JusticeDelivered in reply to Ben Kent. | July 13, 2021 at 8:01 pm

        I have a special needs child, throughout K-12 administrators constantly lied about issues, and I bought their lies up to 8th grade. At that point I spent about $30,000 on special ed tutors. Administrators had claimed K-7 that the child had hit a plateau. They were full of shit.

        Robin in reply to Ben Kent. | July 14, 2021 at 6:58 am

        To disprove the assertion that CRT is merely a talking point, we can use these words from a recent journal paper Mullen was a co-author of. The Senge in the introductory epigraph is Peter Senge of MIT. He is a systems thinker, but is also one of the two people the Hewlett Foundation hired (harvard’s Robert Kegan being the other) to make sure that the assessments being created under the Common Core would be getting at the desired Deeper Learning Outcomes. Probably another thing those booklets also help with.

        “Learning to see the structures within which we operate begins a process of freeing ourselves from previously unseen forces and ultimately mastering the ability to work with them and change them” (Senge, 2006, p.94)

        Educators Must be Prepared to Transform Our Schools

        Students in the United States who exist within the boundaries of groups that have been systemically discriminated against in their educational experiences(i.e. Black, Indigenous, People of Color, residing in low income households, receiving special education services, and receiving English language services) have, on average,disproportionally lower academic outcomes than their peers who exist outside these marginalized groups (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Fry, 2008; Reardon et al., 2015). The disparities in outcomes are often referred to as ‘achievement gaps’;however, these gaps are not represented in the abilities or efforts of students who identify with or are categorized into marginalized groups. Instead, these gaps reside within the current capacity of adults, educators and policy makers,to manifest the conditions and practices needed to allow students who have been systemically oppressed to be successful. Gloria Ladson-Billings refers to this as the “education debt” (2006) that is owed to oppressed groups. Preparing educators to transform education, as the work represented in this study aims to do, represents one way to invest in repaying this debt.

        https://go.southernct.edu/jelps/files/2021-spring-volume5-issue1/2-Improving-Equitable-Student-Outcomes-A-Transformational-and-Collaborative-Leadership-Development-Approach.pdf

        tecwrite in reply to Ben Kent. | July 15, 2021 at 3:33 pm

        Seriously?
        CRT and the resulting racial division has been bought and paid for the public school teachers with their union dues.
        The next you see rioting, looting and burning, thank a public school teacher. She helped fund the violence.

        MisterB in reply to Ben Kent. | July 21, 2021 at 3:54 am

        The answer is simple. To move the United State to a Communist Dictatorship. Red “ The 45 Stated Goals Or The Communist Takeover Of The United Sates”. http://Www.stopk12indoctrination.org.

      Robin in reply to Dathurtz. | July 14, 2021 at 6:32 am

      This is the background of the DEI bureaucrat on the memo from the blurb for her 2015 special ed book:

      Dr. Barbara A. Mullen is a seasoned special education practitioner and teacher coach. She began her professional career in Public Relations. Her time in media and journalism prepared her to tackle some of her most challenging clients: students! She made the transition from media to education and has not looked back since. Her teaching experiences ranges from early childhood to higher education and across various disability categories. Barbara received her doctorate in Special Education Leadership and is presently an instructional leader for Special Education at YES! Prep South Side in Houston, TX. She believes that education in civil right. Her life’s work is centered on opening and defining pathways to self-determination for students with disabilities. When she isn’t supporting her team and students at Yes! Prep, she enjoys discussing her book Secure Your Oxygen Mask First.. and conducting teacher retention workshops around the nation.

      Her background is media and PR. She gets to decide what is Culturally Responsive Teaching. It reminds me of a Transformational Social Emotional Learning webinar put on by CASEL this summer. They actually said “we need to make the curriculum accessible to students in k-12–something they can relate to–so that more people who look like us can get PhD’s.”

      It was a “What!!” moment of tragic proportions. All the wrong emphases now in education as the so-called Attributes or Psychological Dispositions of the students are a main focus in the classroom. In fact, Dispositions are upfront as the Desired Learning Outcomes in the Social Studies teachers’ C-3 framework–College, Career, and Citizenship Ready.

      I guess poorly written booklets still can contain the images to cultivate the desired Dispositions, even if they do not cultivate Literacy in any reasonable definition of the word.

        Robin in reply to Robin. | July 14, 2021 at 6:34 am

        https://waterfire.org/about/board-of-directors/barbara-mullen/ from a Providence Arts Center is how we know this is the same person.

          Ben Kent in reply to Robin. | July 14, 2021 at 1:24 pm

          I don’t use the Democrat preferred acronym “DEI” – I use the more accurate “DIE”.

          It better capture what they ae doing to our socierty.

          Robin in reply to Robin. | July 14, 2021 at 1:58 pm

          When you are on as many education webinars as I am, the frequent acronyms become a matter of habit. In fact, one recently complained about how Culturally Responsive Teaching https://www.edutopia.org/article/culturally-responsive-inquiry-learning has the same acronym as Critical Race Theory.

          Several recently have framed Equity as aided by diminishing the emphasis on information processing in education. Fits with that JELPS article above, but still tragic in its implications for our entire society, including BIPOC students.

          Education is no longer to be the escalator out of the circumstances someone is born into.

          artichoke in reply to Robin. | July 15, 2021 at 12:26 pm

          Responding to Ben Kent, I suspect the acronym confusion is a feature not a bug. If you start responding to CRT by complaining about Critical Race Theory, it may be convenient for them to say oh, we meant the other one. We’re having a skirmish in our school district where the reps of the CRT side keep saying that we’re not using exactly the right acronym, that after all CRT is taught in law school and is so “advanced” we don’t teach it in high school, etc. (we just should teach in its mindset and force its conclusions).

          Robin, I noticed something like this a long time ago on your blog (hi!). CCSSO is the Council of Chief Secondary School Officers. CCSSI is the Common Core State Standards Initiative. They probably think it’s neat that CCSS has two completely different expansions in those acronyms.

          They like acronym puns, as well as the changing of the meanings of words like “equity” (used to be something about stock ownership), “excellence” (used to mean, well, excellence), etc.

          Too bad their literacy training won’t produce many adepts who are able to make the next generation of puns. To them, that’s a feature too.

      MisterB in reply to Dathurtz. | July 21, 2021 at 3:44 am

      “Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted”. http://Www.stopk12indoctrination.org

    Whitewall in reply to Milhouse. | July 13, 2021 at 5:43 pm

    A fine comment!

    henrybowman in reply to Milhouse. | July 13, 2021 at 6:30 pm

    When you want to train kids to be Nazis, while calling other people Nazis, you can’t give them books that show how to tell who the Nazis really are.

      JRaeL in reply to henrybowman. | July 14, 2021 at 12:42 pm

      It is more than that. The creation of the state of Israel owed much to the horrors of the holocaust which showed Jews needed their own country. The legitimate existence of Israel does not fit the story of oppressed Palestinians waging a war of defense against a genocidal regime. With the rise of CRT you will also find increased hostility towards Israel.

      This is not just about education, it is about bulldozing a path for Utopia. And that never ends well.

    DaveGinOly in reply to Milhouse. | July 13, 2021 at 11:35 pm

    Bingo.

    puhiawa in reply to Milhouse. | July 13, 2021 at 11:52 pm

    Which I first learned about in America history when I was 10 years old and not even living in a State and could barely speak proper English. (I could read well enough). It is amazing what has happened since college started giving teaching degrees instead of giving degrees in the subjects teachers are to teach.

    MisterB in reply to Milhouse. | July 21, 2021 at 3:49 am

    That doesn’t matter. Google an read: “The 45 Stated Goals For The Communist Takeover Of The United State”. It’s all in the plan. http://Www.stopk12indoctrination.org.

Massinsanity | July 13, 2021 at 4:20 pm

Thank you for your courage Ms. Bessinger. Your post is horrifying though not the least but surprising for those of us paying attention.

I did a quick search on Barbara Mullen, Chief of Equity…. for the Providence schools and landed on this page:

https://www.providenceschools.org/Page/4745

I would encourage others to follow this link and then click on the “Say Their Names” toolkit link found on that page. The content is beyond description. If this is the focus in the Providence schools there is no recovery and it is spreading everywhere.

Private schools are no solution, they are moving in this radical direction almost as fast as the publics. Home schooling appears to be the only option but it is impractical for so many.

    utroukx in reply to Massinsanity. | July 13, 2021 at 5:02 pm

    Nobody wants to hear that because it would require sacrifice and effort.

    It is said “a picture is worth one thousand words”; I’ll limit my comment to fewer.

    The arrogance and entitlement projected in the picture of Ms. Mullen on the linked webpage suggests all that is wrong with public school administrators and affirmative action.

    Those who realize the advantage they have been given via affirmative action (regardless of economic circumstances or “ethnicity”) are far more likely to celebrate the society and culture that they have benefited disproportionately from. And, thus present with a respectful gratitude, generosity and grace which can not be falsified in a pose. … How can I say that ?

    Because affirmative action was predicated on a “zero sum” environment; not an ever growing “land of opportunity” in which each family’s succeeding generations (please note my use of the words “family” and “generations” not “individual”) are given an equal opportunity to achieve their potential. Ms. Mullen presents as one who understands the nation as a “zero sum” economy of which she is now “superior” because in a “zero sum” environment “it’s her turn”.

    Finally, what is missing from Ms. Bessinger’s heartfelt reporting is an acknowledgement that the purpose of public education, especially K-12, was originally (and should remain paramount) to teach students “how to teach themselves”. This fundamental goal is lost on public educators and academics in this country (because it is not in their self-interest) and thus has severely disadvantaged the current, recent and by extension future generations … and, of course the United States of America.

      Dathurtz in reply to Sisu. | July 13, 2021 at 7:07 pm

      You’ll find that your main criticism often boils down to admin and testing, though a lot of teachers are hard in on the commie indoctrination.

      I can’t speak for all teaching situations, but I have almost no time at all for real education because I have to have my students pass a test where that isn’t an issue. My job depends on it.

      It isn’t until junior and senior, where I don’t have to worry about testing, that I can actually teach in a meaningful way. I can bits of it in before, but not how I would like.

        The ‘indoctrination’ is nothing more than selling out for a cushy salary, benefits and days off.

          Foolish. Indoctrination is intentionally causing kids to think or believe certain things or operate in a certain way. The indoctrination is intentional.

        Sisu in reply to Dathurtz. | July 13, 2021 at 10:00 pm

        I understand, and can only imagine the personal conflict the hostile environment you work in evokes. Yet, I must state the obvious: it is “teachers’ unions” that have promoted “standardized testing” as a proxy for measuring individual teacher effectiveness.

        That “standardized testing” measurement “necessary” in order to justify compensation increases, post employment retirement and lifetime health and welfare plans (the private sector has not enjoyed for 50 years – ERISA), and protection from “at will” employment laws, as well as promotions (to “administrator”). …

        The saga began 60 or more years ago in major cities, perhaps first New York City; the “saint” before the current high priestess, Randi, was “Saint Albert (Shanker)”. … I am young enough to remember the violence that the teachers’ unions perpetrated and threatened in the ‘60s (for readers: as well as the then NYC police unions).

        Please do not misunderstand, I am informing (not criticizing) you and others whom may read this exchange. … I would like to motivate you and through you other teachers: you are not represented; you are slaves that are “well fed because you allow others to feed off your labors (your dues) and carry all those ‘members’ unqualified to teach and yet others ‘sitting in rubber rooms’”.

        It is you and yours who have entered into and subject yourselves to “voluntary servitude”. … Your chains are your fear of not being able to replace your income and an “assured future”. Yet you (and your peers and “teachers” that have preceded you and follow) will be your own undoing (see above comment where I state the fundamental purpose of teaching; your kind is unable to teach themselves).

        It is time you and yours realize that your apathy and unwillingness to push back against your union is the genesis of your personal internal conflict. …

        A conflict founded in the fact that you want to “teach” and your union prevents you from doing so, as it is not in the “union bosses’ (locals and national)” interests, i.e., political influence and thus most importantly their incomes. …

        Having suffered the “system” yet having “won” my independence, then moving to a smaller albeit yet metropolitan community only to fight “homogenization” and “teaching to the ‘middle’ (aka lowest common denominator)” over 25 years on behalf of three children (and their peers) – I am unmoved by your “virtue seeking, ‘woe is me’”; when it should be a mea culpa.

          Dathurtz in reply to Sisu. | July 13, 2021 at 10:16 pm

          Not in a union there, chief. I do 100% agree with your criticisms of them, though. I think public unions shouldn’t exist.

          You can feel free to blame teachers all you want. Some are really bad. There seems to be districts where they are all nuts.

          Standardized testing came from politicians, not unions. A bunch of well-intentioned people wanted to hold failing teachers/schools accountable and a horrible, no good, very bad solution was implemented.

          Vote/run for school board. Hire competent superintendents and principals who won’t tolerate insanity from the crazy teachers. Outside of abolishing public education, that is the solution.

          Sisu in reply to Sisu. | July 13, 2021 at 11:33 pm

          Dathurtz, For a teacher you have “fully formed opinions that preclude any disagreement.” As well I would suggest you reflect on whether your “thin skin” precludes your ability to understand that your view of the “world” may be limited by place, experience and career. … Again, I recommend you read your own words; the exchange which we have enjoyed is of your own making – you chose to cavalierly respond to my written comment which was made when I was blissfully unaware of your existence. … But, it has been fun. … Now I grant you the “last word”.

          TruthLaser in reply to Sisu. | July 13, 2021 at 11:54 pm

          You know nothing about what happened in New York in the sixties. I called it the Era of the Institutionalization of the Cop Out as a result of the management of John Lindsay, the mayor (1966-74). In his campaign, Lindsay said, “I am against all public unions.” Courts ruled that the teachers’ strikes in New York in 1968 and in Yonkers in 1969 were provoked by management. The 1968 strike took place in Sept., Oct., and Nov. because teachers in a Brooklyn district were being fired for being union members, white, and Jewish. There was also abuse and violence by the district. The teachers were not violent. Standardized tests were already long required by the state, not the teachers. Shanker correctly characterized the city’s policies saying, “All experiments in education are doomed to success.” The “experiment” was pushed by the city and a former Kennedy administration figure running the Ford Foundation, the same sort of organization supporting the undermining of American institutions today, including unions. Your “mea culpa” remark is blaming one of the many victims.

          Dathurtz in reply to Sisu. | July 14, 2021 at 5:25 am

          Thanks! No thin skin here at all, though there is a little impatience.

          The point I want you to consider, which you haven’t addressed other than a weird claim that teacher support standardized testing, is that your criticisms of the system are not due to the whackadoo commies but are are caused by our current “accountability” system.

          You could eliminate the unions, have the best and most dedicated teachers, and have wonerderful students and your original criticism would remain unsolved.

          If you want teachers to teach practical and useful knowledge/skills while working to inculcate the ability to think critically and learn on their own in students, then we have to have a system where doing so is valued.

          Right now a teacher’s value to a school is primarily judged by their test scores rather than their ability to educate. Choose to believe me or not, but that is the main cause of your original criticism.

          Milhouse in reply to Sisu. | July 14, 2021 at 8:13 pm

          Dathurtz, without testing how on earth can we know whether a teacher is able to educate? What other measure of a teacher’s effectiveness exists? How can we, the public, be satisfied that teachers are being evaluated on their effectiveness, other than by testing their students?

        Sisu in reply to Dathurtz. | July 13, 2021 at 10:53 pm

        How! Turkey Feather. Read your own comment – not able to teach until “junior and senior” … You have great patience. And, must be very strong to deny yourself and your students so much. … But, Why ? … What are you afraid of, if not ‘loss of income’ ? … May the Great Pedagogue release you to realize your potential.

        How many “junior and senior” students have you been able to influence over the course of your long life – Turkey Feather ?

          Dathurtz in reply to Sisu. | July 13, 2021 at 11:11 pm

          Enjoy your fully formed opinions that preclude any disagreement.

          Actually teaching is enjoyable, even though it is often constrained by bureaucratic nonsense. I am able to be patient because I will teach the same students every year of high school. The first two years are geared toward the all-important end of course exam that determines school funding and thus the principal’s job and thus my job. You try to fit in as much real stuff as possible and balance it out.

          The next two years (chemistry and whatever advanced biology that class prefers, often anatomy) allow me to show more science methodology and real-life useful things.

          Right now it balances out to acceptable. I may not always be a teacher as that balance gets a little worse every year. If it goes far enough down that road I’ll quit and go make money again.

    JusticeDelivered in reply to Massinsanity. | July 13, 2021 at 8:04 pm

    Parents have to decide that they can live on less money in order to what is right for their children.

      Massinsanity in reply to JusticeDelivered. | July 14, 2021 at 8:44 am

      While I would tend to agree the cold, hard, reality is that we have built an economy that practically requires two income households just to make it. The MEDIAN home price here in MA was $529,000 in April. That is for the entire state not just greater Boston! Within commuting distance of the city it is probably closer to $700k. By glorifying career over family (ignoring the fact that only a lucky few have truly rewarding careers vs jobs), restricting development for the sake of the environment and other social engineering initiatives led by the Democrats we now have a situation where for most young couples having a single bread winner isn’t feasible as it was for my wife and I when we started a family or my parents decades ago.

    alohahola in reply to Massinsanity. | July 13, 2021 at 10:10 pm

    I was ready to write Kara Lafferty (listed in that link) to let her know that she most likely did not graduate from the University of RI with a duel degree in English and Gender Studies.

    Then again, I thought, it looks like English and Gender Studies are, in fact, dueling.

    kyrrat in reply to Massinsanity. | July 14, 2021 at 1:04 am

    Not all private schools are moving in this direction. In my experience with private schools we are notified constantly about content and progress for our children. (Mine will be entering grade 12 this year)

    We had an incident that prompted some noises from administration regarding implicit bias training for the students. After a flood of parents talked to the administration, and the Diocese the implicit bias training was not implemented. In my son’s school (it is religious private) we have a very diverse student body and administration was reminded that a single student’s behavior was more likely to be an outlier, than a representation of the whole study body.

Not really off topic: I can’t find the thread in which Mark311 asked me whether I deny that there is structural or systemic racism in the USA (I can’t remember his exact language, but it boiled down to that). My answer is that I absolutely do deny it.

All arguments for the existence of such a thing are based on the same premise: that if blacks are 13% of the population then one “ought” to find blacks constituting 13% of all subgroups, classified according to any metric one may come up with. If one finds that only 2% of piano players are black, or that 25% of bike riders are black, then there must be some explanation for why these numbers deviate so much from what they “ought to be”, and the default explanation must be racism.

I absolutely reject that premise. There is simply no reason why one should expect 13% of criminals, or 13% of doctors, or 13% of left-handed people, to be black. No explanation is required for why it is not so.

    nordic_prince in reply to Milhouse. | July 13, 2021 at 4:57 pm

    There is no systemic racism currently in the USA, but these radicals are doing their damnedest to enshrine “hate Whitey” racism in the system.

      Ironclaw in reply to nordic_prince. | July 13, 2021 at 6:14 pm

      Not technically true. You can find it in large cities that have been run exclusively by democrats for decades.

        Sisu in reply to Ironclaw. | July 13, 2021 at 6:38 pm

        Instigated, fomented, taught, insisted upon by said racist demorats.

        henrybowman in reply to Ironclaw. | July 13, 2021 at 7:01 pm

        If there is in fact system racism anywhere in America, it is 1) almost exclusively in government, and 2) that almost exclusively in Democrat government. Which should be no surprise to anybody, given the entire history of Democrats.
        The Republicans were KKK enthusiasts the same way they wanted to defund police — entirely in Democrats’ dreams.

      drsamherman in reply to nordic_prince. | July 14, 2021 at 7:38 am

      I can’t speak for law schools, but I can say as a retired medical school clinical faculty member that CRT began showing its ugly head in medical education in the early 90s. It wasn’t so much the faculty pushing it, but instead the medical students who had been indoctrinated in their undergrad programs. Those of us in clinical faculty started to notice a decline in clinical knowledge of medical students in their third and fourth year rotations. They were more interested in provoking arguments over “social justice” than they were in discussing actual medicine and patients. At some points it was so bad that a number of us stopped taking students (and residents/fellows in the postgrad medical education system) at all. It has not become any better, but in fact far worse.

      The patients need clinically and scientifically competent medical practitioners—not a harangue about their supposed “privilege”. What kind of mentally ill person thinks a patient with a life=threatening infection is “privileged” is beyond explanation.

    alaskabob in reply to Milhouse. | July 13, 2021 at 6:01 pm

    The accusation of “systemic racism” is the blanket excuse for any failure. Looking at the core principles of “whiteness” as defined by the African American Museum of the Smithsonian, so many of these values have been the basis of success for virtually all successful societies in the past. There is no easy way to acquire competency in math, reading, and writing. Look at the failure of “new math” or “whole language”. I agree totally that applying a simple ratio to every issue avoids the hard facts of why there may be a disparity.

    Part of my childhood was in the poorest county in North Carolina where many kids looked forward to their 16th birthday to legally leave school, get on welfare and get a one-acre tobacco allotment. Not a single black kid in the school…. failure comes in all shades.

    henrybowman in reply to Milhouse. | July 13, 2021 at 6:59 pm

    It strikes me that if 13% of square dancers were black, and (only) 13% of violent criminals were black, America would already be a much better place.

    If 13% of NBA players were black, we’d also reclaim a lot of wasted time.

      Milhouse in reply to henrybowman. | July 14, 2021 at 8:28 pm

      I don’t see how changing the racial mix of criminals, or or square dancers or NBA players, would make things any better. If the number of crimes remained the same, but more of them were committed by white people and fewer by black people, how would that be an improvement?

      Of course if the number of white criminals remained the same, while the number of black ones were reduced by a vast majority of black criminals reforming their lives, that would be an improvement, not because the criminal population looked more like the community, but because it would be smaller. The exact same improvement could also be made by having all the white criminals reform themselves, thus increasing the black percentage to 100% of a smaller total.

        henrybowman in reply to Milhouse. | July 15, 2021 at 1:40 am

        If you’ve run out of straw after writing all that hairsplitting nonsense, it’s on sale at Tractor Supply this weekend.

    mark311 in reply to Milhouse. | July 13, 2021 at 7:04 pm

    I think you’ve broadened the argument further than certainly I would have stated it. You seem to be saying that structural racism doesn’t exist at all by virtue that statistical difference between racial groups cannot have an explanation. To be clear there may well be gaps in some circumstances where the underlining differences are driven by another factor or indeed multitude of factors, however it’s almost certainly the case that the best explanation for a gap is driven by a racial issue. If I recall correctly the thread where I asked you to acknowledge the mere existence of structural racism I provided a number of examples that could be defined as such. 1) historic redlining which has created segregation to the extent that certain communities are dominated by blacks and these have been riven with poverty issues (which inherently relates to crime outcomes, educational outcomes etc) and 2) the disparity between stop and search for blacks on the pretext of weed and . Where the statistical probability of a white person having weed is higher than a black yet blacks are more likely to be stopped for that very reason. 3) educated blacks earn significantly less than educated whites. It is not really defensible based on the empirical evidence to say that structural racism doesn’t exist. Im not clear that it’s true to say that the argument is that all gaps must be racial driven, that’s a straw man.

    For clarity I don’t support the policies being presented within the article. A wide education is important and it would appear in this case the policy has been reduced to the absurd.

      randian in reply to mark311. | July 13, 2021 at 7:27 pm

      “educated blacks earn significantly less than educated whites”

      Educated in what? How was it determined?

        Dathurtz in reply to randian. | July 13, 2021 at 7:34 pm

        You know that degree from Grambling is super meaningful.

        mark311 in reply to randian. | July 13, 2021 at 8:01 pm

        It’s grouped based on education level not specific subject. Broadly you would expect similar numbers of each race to have similar uptake in each subject so that’s not a relevant point unless you are arguing there is structural racism in a particular profession.

          CommoChief in reply to mark311. | July 13, 2021 at 9:04 pm

          Why would we anticipate or expect education levels to in any way be more reflective of uneven compensation rates than the career choices made by individuals throughout their lifetime?

          Broad statistics are just numbers. They don’t explain the non salary inducements or attractions to a career field or a particular employer. Some people, IMO, waste their money and time earning useless degrees.

          Criminal justice may be fine for a LEO or probation officer but if a student simply wanders into the program for lack of other interests but doesn’t wish to actually gain employment in the field their degree serves little purpose.

          Elementary school teachers are nearly exclusively female. All have a BA or BS some with an MA or MS a very few with more. In some States teacher salaries are average to below State average for the educational level of the teacher.

          This acts as a statistical drag on female salaries overall in comparison to male salaries for equal educational levels but doesn’t show anything to do with gender bias.

          However, the ability to enrol their spouse and children in the generous health care plan along with truly excellent retirement benefits v private sector make the total compensation very attractive. Not to mention generous holidays, summer break ECT.

          Every BA or BS isn’t equal in value to employers. A BA in STEM is worth far more than a BA in x studies.

          Individuals make trade-offs between flexible hours, stress level, danger, working conditions, benefits and salary. They choose what best fits their needs and their family.

          mark311 in reply to mark311. | July 14, 2021 at 1:56 am

          @commochief

          Educational achievement is broadly predictive of salary outcomes. You would expect a difference between groups. The question is why is there a gap? It can’t be claimed there is a gap based on education by definition, it also can’t be explained by background of the people involved since by definition they are educated and have overcome whatever background hurdles may have been apparent. So this narrows the range of options.

          With reference to career choice you are viewing this from an individual level, the overall picture should be on average that typically a similar percentage goes into each profession.

          I’m not clear why you are refering to gender biases in this discussion that’s a separate and distinct issue.

          CommoChief in reply to mark311. | July 14, 2021 at 9:32 am

          Mark,

          Gender is important because many females choose a less well paid career field. Females both white and black outpace males in college graduation rates. Black females v black males significantly so.

          That skews the average to lower paid careers which in turn results in a lower pay average when using ‘race’ as the only variable.

          In addition white female college graduates marry at higher rates than black female college graduates. Over 70% of whites v 40% of blacks. Marriage allows a dual income household, allows economies of scale in shared household expenses.

          The excess income over basic expenses can be invested or saved which creates wealth. Of course that’s subject to financial and personal discipline of delayed gratification.

          All these individual decisions explain the so called gap in earnings and wealth for college graduates. Race isn’t the driver. The content of the degree, career choice and marriage rates are far more important.

          mark311 in reply to mark311. | July 14, 2021 at 11:54 am

          @commochief

          Except it would skew the figures in both whites and blacks. A valid criticism would be with regard to the nature of jobs that blacks skew towards not women.

          “In addition white female college graduates marry at higher rates than black female college graduates. Over 70% of whites v 40% of blacks. Marriage allows a dual income household, allows economies of scale in shared household expenses.”

          The stats refer to on average wealth of each person so strictly speaking i’m not clear that marriage gives a reason why wealth would be less. We are talking about Gross income not Net.

          “All these individual decisions explain the so called gap in earnings and wealth for college graduates. Race isn’t the driver. The content of the degree, career choice and marriage rates are far more important.”

          The stats don’t support that https://thinknow.com/blog/education-alone-cant-close-the-racial-wage-gap/

          CommoChief in reply to mark311. | July 14, 2021 at 12:18 pm

          Mark,

          If the folks in group A graduate and work in lower paying career fields compared to group B then your observations about disparities are not due to racial differences they are about career choices.

          Females choose less well paid careers. The overwhelming majority of black college graduates are female. An engineer gets paid more than an elementary school teacher.

          Government service is less well paid in terms of strictly salary than the private sector. Blacks are overrepresented in government positions. This too makes a difference.

          Every degree isn’t worth the same pay and isn’t paid the same. To suggest that black college graduates earn less with the same degree, same experience, same employer, same assignments,same hours worked, same performance metrics, same industry credentials and that the difference is attributable solely to racial discrimination is simply not true.

          In the extremely rare instance where a provable claim is made for racial discrimination the employer’s conduct is prohibited by law. The employee is awarded damages. The employers are fined and sanctioned.

          mark311 in reply to mark311. | July 15, 2021 at 2:34 am

          @commochief

          The disparity is within professions as well so the claim it’s purely based on career choice doesn’t hold hence linking to an article that showed that’s the case.

          mark311 in reply to mark311. | July 15, 2021 at 7:12 am

          @Commochief

          Id be interested to know how far you take your position with regard to Structural racism? Do you acknowledge its existence at all, and if so in what form?

          CommoChief in reply to mark311. | July 15, 2021 at 12:27 pm

          Mark,

          The framework of structural racism has been dismantled longer than I have been on the earth. Clear and unambiguous legal strictures which prohibits racial discrimination in fact replaced the previous discriminatory structure.

          The overhanging vestiges of the impacts of that previous discrimination were mitigated by further legislation expending funds for healthcare, education, job training in addition to the establishment of a system of preferences to address specific individual discrimination in hiring.

          Lending practices have been modified to address these overhangs. College admissions have been modified. Government hiring practices have been modified. Private actors practices are subject to enforcement actions by the Civil Rights Div of DoJ, EEOC ECT.

          An honest effort has been made to address the facts of pre 1964 life. People have individually and collectively adopted the beliefs of MLK and worked to demonstrate commitment to maintaining our achievement in realizing the aspirations of our founding; that all men are created equal.

          The acolytes of CRT/Equity seek to overturn this achievement by rejecting it. They focus on past injustice while failing to acknowledge the very real fact that the US in 2021 bears zero resemblance to 1963.

          Everyone has the opportunity to succeed in modern US. Everyone, no exceptions. Some will have a longer journey. Refusal to begin the journey because you feel it’s unfair for others to have better boots or more money for travel expenses or a better starting point isn’t bringing that person closer to their goal.

          I have zero sympathy for individuals who refuse to exercise responsibility for their own acts or inaction and instead refuse to set foot on their journey because of unfairness.

          The only true systemic issues faced by these folks are those they are creating and allowing to control their life and deter their journey.

        DaveGinOly in reply to randian. | July 13, 2021 at 11:56 pm

        It’s well known that blacks who get into prestigious schools because of their race do less well in those schools than their white counterparts (to say nothing of their Asian counterparts). When a black student, admitted under a racial quota program, graduates, the odds are that his white counterpart did better at the school. The white student will therefore be more likely to get a higher-paying job right out of the block, and the black graduate may never catch up, even though he may have a successful career on his own.

        This is but one example of how no systemic or institutional racism is necessary to account for different outcomes between black and white students. Merely having different outcomes is not an indication that systemic or institutional racism is the causative factor. Indeed, even if systemic or institutional racism does exist, that is not necessarily the cause of any specific disparity between the lives of any particular black and white persons.

          mark311 in reply to DaveGinOly. | July 14, 2021 at 1:59 am

          Actually you can trace by to systemic issues since it’s well understood that the education of many of the students you refer to had a poorer standard of education prior to gaining entry to the institutions you describe. In other words there starting point has been well behind the others at those elite institutions.

          For reference this link is good on the systemic issues

          https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.brookings.edu/articles/unequal-opportunity-race-and-education/amp/

          CommoChief in reply to DaveGinOly. | July 14, 2021 at 12:26 pm

          Mark,

          Did you mean to admit that the quality of the education provided by the largely d/progressive teachers union members in d/progressive governed Cities and States, elected by a d/progressive electorate have failed to educate these children?

          We all know these schools and teachers and governments fail their Students. The parents certainly know it because they are lining up to enroll their children in private and parochial schools where the teachers and students aren’t impeded by union intransigence or bizarre curriculum.

          mark311 in reply to DaveGinOly. | July 15, 2021 at 2:37 am

          @coomochief

          I was refering to the resources of the schools. That is to say areas which have low property taxes have under sourced over crowded schools and wealthy areas have the inverse. I have no means to judge the quality of teaching. That’s a separate and distinct question.

      henrybowman in reply to mark311. | July 13, 2021 at 7:53 pm

      Redlining — a perfectly great example of systemic racism. Required by the federal mortgage underwriting bureaucracy (FHA), due to programs initiated in a Democrat administration (FDR), following the lead of segregated Democrat Jim Crow cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles.

      Later on, of course, the Democrats blamed “those big bad capitalist banks” for the redlining. Just like they blame white supremacists for urban rioting, and Republicans for defunding police.

        mark311 in reply to henrybowman. | July 13, 2021 at 8:06 pm

        It’s good that you acknowledge structural racism is a real thing.

        Sure historically Democrats have done bad things, and sure some Democrat policies are better than others.

        Well given the make up of the Jan 6th rioters calling them white supremacists seems fair to a degree.

        Republicans rejected a bill that includes circa $300B of funds towards police so there is a degree of hypocrisy present.

          Dathurtz in reply to mark311. | July 13, 2021 at 8:18 pm

          Their racial makeup makes it fair to call them white supremacists? You absolute clown.

          What else was in that bill that causes them to reject it?

          I normally think you are at least trying to be fair, even if you are wrong. That post was pure dishonesty. Shame on you.

          mark311 in reply to mark311. | July 13, 2021 at 8:45 pm

          “Their racial makeup makes it fair to call them white supremacists? You absolute clown”

          I never said racial. Idiot. I am refering to groups like the oath keepers as well as individuals referred to with LI who have Nazi leanings

          “What else was in that bill that causes them to reject it?”

          It was the American Rescue Plan so sure there was lots of other stuff in it. It’s fair to say that republicans could have reject the bill on the basis of other aspects. It’s a fair criticism of that point on your part.

          Dathurtz in reply to mark311. | July 13, 2021 at 9:24 pm

          All four oathkeepers that were there? Sure. That’s what you meant. You weren’t in any way implying anything else.

          willow in reply to mark311. | July 13, 2021 at 10:21 pm

          Asshat appears to be making the claim that rejecting the monstrosity is tantamount to defunding the police.

          Ben Kent in reply to mark311. | July 13, 2021 at 10:31 pm

          @ mark311 – it is true that Oath Keepers and some other groups were present on Jan 6. But, you cannot leap from that to the conclusion that Jan 6 was drive by White Supremacy. It would be like saying Some BLMers are murders/arsonists and therefore all BLMers are criminals. >> You would be the FIRST to point out the logic fallacy.

          Actually, it is that exact logic fallacy that Biden is using to justify a range of actions – from purge of the military to pushing against the filibuster as a racist “Jim Crow” era relic.

          mark – you’re so good at pointing out the logic flaws and hypocrisy – how can you still be a Democrat ? I switched because Democrats became the party of virtue-signaling and denying reality. You likely agree more with Rs on policy that Ds at this point. Did you see the post from the Mother Jones reporter who described the massive move leftward by the DNC in the last 10 years?

          MarkSmith in reply to mark311. | July 14, 2021 at 12:30 pm

          Well given the make up of the Jan 6th rioters calling them white supremacists seems fair to a degree.

          Classic 311 cat loving troll.

          First, there was no riot. Second, How do you know what the makeup of the attendees at the protest was? I know and I did not notice any white supremacists there. In fact, I was impressed that there were so many non-whites. I also estimated that there were easily over 700 K people there (closer to 1 M). If is was an insurrection or riot, there would have been serious damage. There was not.

          A BLM riot in DC is a few hundred people. Look at all the damage they did. Over 50 Park and SS agents were injured. They used lasers to injure eyes. They throw frozen water bottles. Antifia and BLM “riots” attack people. The Jan. 6 protesters did not.

          There is no comparison to a BLM LBGTQ screaming at the top of “it” lungs calling a black police officer every nasty name to even the extreme “Jan. 6th protestor”.

          The Jan. 6th crowd that actually picks up litter after a protest. BLM burns building including the church across from the White House.

          Keep trolling. Your credibility is presenting opposition propaganda.

          henrybowman in reply to mark311. | July 14, 2021 at 8:03 pm

          Sure it’s a real thing. And what there is of it has been institutionalized and perpetuated by state and federal Democrats, since well before the Civil War, and every year thereafter..

          So, instead of a new philosophy claiming that everyone born with white skin is a racist, I’d be happy seeing one get entrenched that claims that everyone who votes for Democrats is a racist.

          Plus there is that side effect, that the latter will actually do something to cure racism, while the former just creates more of it.

          mark311 in reply to mark311. | July 15, 2021 at 2:42 am

          @dathurtz

          To date it’s 16 oathkeeperd and you misrepresent what I say. oath keepers are an obvious example of white supremacists it’s clear there were lots of others there too. For example that nazi referred to in LI. I’m sure there would be others if I could be bothered to look it up. Never the less I constrained my argument by saying the jan 6th was white supremacist to a degree.

          mark311 in reply to mark311. | July 15, 2021 at 7:29 am

          “Asshat appears to be making the claim that rejecting the monstrosity is tantamount to defunding the police.”

          No i’m not claiming that, they are separate and distinct questions

          @Ben Kent

          “it is true that Oath Keepers and some other groups were present on Jan 6. But, you cannot leap from that to the conclusion that Jan 6 was drive by White Supremacy. It would be like saying Some BLMers are murders/arsonists and therefore all BLMers are criminals. >> You would be the FIRST to point out the logic fallacy.”

          Which is why i said to a degree. However I would say that there are plenty of examples which further support the statement. I merely gave a couple of simple examples.

          “Actually, it is that exact logic fallacy that Biden is using to justify a range of actions – from purge of the military to pushing against the filibuster as a racist “Jim Crow” era relic.”

          I’m not clear what exactly is being purged? So far the fillibuster is intact, there are argument for and against.

          “mark – you’re so good at pointing out the logic flaws and hypocrisy – how can you still be a Democrat ?”

          Its a question of choice, the Republicans don’t actually have any policies and the wholesale lack of integrity with regard to Trump is no acceptable. There is a place for moderate conservatism but not the deranged sycophancy exhibited by many Republicans. In fat id go as far to say its a cult of personality which is authoritarian in nature.

          “Did you see the post from the Mother Jones reporter who described the massive move leftward by the DNC in the last 10 years?”

          I did, it was strange reading it. Bearing in mind that I live i the Uk so ion the cited issues its odd shall we say my specific positions are as follows:

          1) Same sex marriage is a right,
          2) Gun laws in the states are ludicrous (sorry I’m not a 2nd amendment fan)
          3) Abortion should be legal but I take the gradualist view in that 3rd term is in part a medical decision
          4) Tax well I believe in the welfare state so happy to pay more tax depending on the merit of the proposals
          5) I’m atheist so not religious at all

        Massinsanity in reply to henrybowman. | July 14, 2021 at 8:49 am

        There was a huge push to end “redlining” about 16 years ago. That ended well.

      thetaqjr in reply to mark311. | July 13, 2021 at 9:26 pm

      “ You seem to be saying that structural racism doesn’t exist at all by virtue that statistical difference between racial groups cannot have an explanation.”

      You, Mark, seem to be misinterpreting what he says. The point is that most differences you claim to be driven by some rotting structure can be explained in other, intellectually reasonable ways.

      First, why is it so hard to believe that often the differentials are explained by chance alone, not some evil boogeyman’s white intentions.

      Other differences can be explained in other ways. For example, you asserted in a post a few days ago that there exists a large disparity in incomes, white compared to black.

      That’s just not the case if you consider the degree type. Annual income of Black engineers is similar to whites. There are just not many of them. Black teachers, black school principals, the same.

      In Law, blacks can’t pass the bar, in Medicine,they can’t pass the state boards. Often, their multiple attempts are followed by multiple failures.

      Far too many blacks earn their degrees in fields that do not garner premium salaries. See this. https://www.aps.org/programs/education/statistics/aamajors.cfm

      From The Atlantic, 4/19/2017: “In 2017, there were more than a dozen fields—largely subfields within science, technology, engineering, and math—in which not a single doctoral degree was awarded to a black person anywhere in the United States.”

      In a conversation the chairman at a state university, a few years ago, granted, told me that the department was desperate to admit qualified black candidates for advanced degrees. There just weren’t any to be found.

      I’m not going to try to find the Internet “proof,” you can find it, but as a similar example, no black American has earned a PhD in statistical mechanics in recent memory.

      There is nothing wrong with structure of institutions of higher education in the US. It is strong. It exists, and it exists as a system of opportunity open both to qualified members of all groups. And, as been asserted by folks in this thread, readily admits those lacking qualifications.

      __________________________________

      By the way, many of the folks who “debunked” The Bell Curve obviously hadn’t read the book. I refer you to WSJ,December 13, 1994, “Mainstream Science on Intelligence: An Editorial with52 Signatories, History, and Bibliography . Most who comment on the book haven’t read it. It’s free online.

      But one the twenty-two chapters deals with racial differences in IQ. Of the 600 pp. in the text, 23 pp. address that third rail. And the authors make no claim that genetics is determinate in explaining the differences. None.

        Dathurtz in reply to thetaqjr. | July 13, 2021 at 9:56 pm

        The only real criticisms of that book that I have seen are just appeals to the different definitions of intelligence.

        I loan my copy out a lot and ask critics to fins me the racist parts. Nobody has been able to, so far.

        The left just cries “debunked!!!” As a way to handwave inconvenient truths.

          willow in reply to Dathurtz. | July 13, 2021 at 10:26 pm

          I see someone already pointed it out. The fact that it had to be pointed out shows a lack of critical thinking. He brings out the worst in me…

          mark311 in reply to Dathurtz. | July 14, 2021 at 12:07 pm

          Not really, the argument the book makes is that IQ is a product of genetics whereas that’s at best only part of the equation. Environmental factors are a big part of how IQ is formed. Additionally there have been criticisms on the assumptions made and the manner in which the statistics have been used (incorrect weightings).

          Further to the above there was controversy over how the authors publicly described the issues and the manner its presented within the book).

          “In an article praising the book, economist Thomas Sowell criticized some of its aspects, including some of its arguments about race and the malleability of IQ:

          When European immigrant groups in the United States scored below the national average on mental tests, they scored lowest on the abstract parts of those tests. So did white mountaineer children in the United States tested back in the early 1930s … Strangely, Herrnstein and Murray refer to “folklore” that “Jews and other immigrant groups were thought to be below average in intelligence.” It was neither folklore nor anything as subjective as thoughts. It was based on hard data, as hard as any data in The Bell Curve. These groups repeatedly tested below average on the mental tests of the World War I era, both in the army and in civilian life. For Jews, it is clear that later tests showed radically different results—during an era when there was very little intermarriage to change the genetic makeup of American Jews”

          Its also the case that the book only delves into arguments that explicitly support its argument, it makes no effort to identify contrary viewpoints.

          henrybowman in reply to Dathurtz. | July 14, 2021 at 8:18 pm

          “Debunked” is just a leftist reflex word, like “baseless,” “fascist,” and “racist.”

        DaveGinOly in reply to thetaqjr. | July 14, 2021 at 12:08 am

        My ex-wife is a black woman who earned a PhD in urban planning. She would watch other black people, usually on TV-the race hustlers, leftist academics, and political “leaders”-and shake her head and say “My people will never get anywhere.” What she was decrying was the culture of too many American blacks that doesn’t value education, that demands hand-outs, and would rather smoke crack and listen to gangsta rap than work a 9 to 5 job. Culture is responsible for much (if not all) of the disparity between blacks and whites today, as culture is responsible for the gap between whites and Asians (who are over-represented in higher ed and many high-paying professions).

    You lost me at “Mark311 asked me”.

    Milhouse: All arguments for the existence of such a thing are based on the same premise: that if blacks are 13% of the population then one “ought” to find blacks constituting 13% of all subgroups, classified according to any metric one may come up with.

    That is incorrect. Various specific mechanisms of systemic racism can be readily identified, nor can racial disparities be facilely disconnected from the history of systemic racism.

    Slavery was systemic. Jim Crow was systemic. But the effects of those policies didn’t just disappear the moment Strom Thurmond sat down and sang Kum ba yah with the hippies. Nor did racism. Only be grappling with the specifics of that history can you possibly reach a reasonable conclusion that systemic racism is no longer significant. And when you do grapple with that history, you will find many instances where systemic racism still has impact on people today.

    Or are you saying systemic racism immediately disappeared on July 2, 1964?

      The many Zachs, you wrote, “Various specific mechanisms of systemic racism can be readily identified.”

      Great. Identify three.

        Fuzzy Slippers: Great. Identify three.

        • The old boy network: While it is natural and reasonable to hire those you know, and people recommended by trusted friends and colleagues, when a society has a history of racist segregation, this leads to continued racial disparities — even if no one is racist. If a few still have racial views, the racial disparities can persist for generations.
        • First past the post elections combined with gerrymandering: First past the post dilutes minority votes. Gerrymandering exacerbates the dilution.
        • Blacks receive harsher penalties for the same crimes as Whites.
        • Blacks have lower starting capital in life, at least in part due to past discrimination.
        • People with ethnic Black names are less likely to receive a callback on job applications.
        • For something more up-to-date: facial recognition software results in more false criminal positives for Black faces than for White faces. (There’s an interesting side-story about this: https://petapixel.com/2015/09/19/heres-a-look-at-how-color-film-was-originally-biased-toward-white-people/ )

        • Added bonus: James Joyner blogged on an interesting instance of systemic racism.
        https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/heirs-property-and-fema-relief/

        Black farmers in the Deep South were often pushed off their land, but some held on through the Jim Crow period. However, they were largely locked out of court houses, so inherited property deeds were not always recorded. They own the land, but don’t have the paperwork to prove it. When disaster hits, and farmers are provided relief through FEMA, but Black farmers often can’t provide the necessary deeds to prove ownership.

        The interesting part is that FEMA isn’t acting in an overtly discriminatory manner. Quite the contrary. They realize the problem, but have yet to find a solution. Yet, the result is that, due to historical racism, Black farmers are locked out of disaster relief to which they would otherwise be entitled. Systemic racism.

        (By the way, this has been a problem for generations of indigenous peoples worldwide. They may have lived somewhere for centuries, but for some strange reason, they don’t have the paperwork.)

          mark311 in reply to Zachriel. | July 14, 2021 at 12:10 pm

          Interesting comments and links Zachriel, thanks.

          MarkSmith in reply to Zachriel. | July 14, 2021 at 1:07 pm

          I just checked out the link:

          Here’s a Look at How Color Film was Originally Biased Toward White People

          There is nothing there that actually supports purposeful White People bias. What it really says in that technical advances help normalize color variations. You have to remember, many “white” people are actually dark including Italians and French. So much so that my fathers skin color was darker than many of his “black” co-workers.

          Systemic racism, I doubt it. CRT is systemic racism and an all out attack on acceptable identities that we experience daily in positive ways. CRT divides just like the findings of this so called film is bias crap. Nothing in the article or video proved that the technology was purposefully excluding blacks from being film correctly. As technology progressed, it was able to capture wider color patterns.

          In fact, if anything, it proves that the technology was under developed as a nature of the invention. So is nature naturally bias?

          As for the FEMA discriminatory, yea, the government has been. Look up Pigford. Here was a ruling that was to correct the government errors, but was abused totally by people who did not have a claim for it.

          An look who was behind a lot of that discriminatory action, the democrats. In fact, those government pro-slavery policies started with the founding of this country within the Democrat-Republican (now the Jefferson Democrats) party. The Federalist were pretty much anti-slavery.

          CommoChief in reply to Zachriel. | July 14, 2021 at 1:07 pm

          Zach,

          Your are recycling this trope. I expect more original content from the collective ‘we’.

          In fairness the economist De Soto’s theories on the impact of ‘dead capital’; unclear land title are intriguing. The problem is your attempt to transfer the argument from Latin America to the US.

          If title exists then it exists. A will provides plenty of evidence along with title docs. If the title was present and recorded in the CT house at some point then not transferred to anyone it seems pretty simple.

          Bring copies of the wills and property tax payment records to the CT house, get a title search and go find an Attorney.

          No will or proof of property tax payments? No way to prove chain of title? Problems indeed.

          Who paid the property tax? Why wasn’t it sold in a tax auction if no one paid? CT houses have been open to everyone for many generations.

          Did elites swindle the poor of all stripes out of land? Absolutely. Suck it up butter cup. My family in direct lineal descent had this occur. First in S Carolina after the revolution, the in Tennessee before the war of 1812 then in Alabama post civil war.

          On each occasion the elite used their associational and economic privilege to manipulate the system to force my family off their land and dispossessed them. That doesn’t include my Creek and Cherokee cousins getting the shaft.

          Private property rights and enforcement of contracts are the basis for our government. We can’t sit and bitch and moan about historical dispossession by the elite. They have better Attorneys, more funding and better associations.

          If these folks are still on the land, farming it and paying the property tax who exactly has dispossessed them? Maybe the SPLC among other public interest law firms would provide better service by advancing their provable claims than it’s other activities.

          MarkSmith: There is nothing there that actually supports purposeful White People bias.

          Yes! Now you got it! There doesn’t have to be overt racism for unwarranted racial disparities to occur. In this case, it was because white skin was considered “normal”. It’s the same problem with facial recognition software (which had led to criminal arrests of innocent Blacks).
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4DT3tQqgRM

          MarkSmith: TIn fact, if anything, it proves that the technology was under developed as a nature of the invention. So is nature naturally bias?

          No, the technology was tuned for “normal” skin colors.

          MarkSmith: As for the FEMA discriminatory, yea, the government has been.

          In this case, FEMA is trying not to discriminate, but there are persistent systemic issues due to the vestiges of Jim Crow.

          Consider that there are Blacks alive today who were denied an education because some localities shut down public schools rather than integrate. These Blacks are poorer, and their children have less inherited wealth. The problem persists.

          henrybowman in reply to Zachriel. | July 14, 2021 at 8:25 pm

          “Here’s a Look at How Color Film was Originally Biased Toward White People’

          Yeah, better living through racist chemistry, I’m sure!

          Hey, how about those iPhone Xs, the ones that let any Asian person face-unlock any other Asian person’s phone? Silicon Valley racists!

          henrybowman: Hey, how about those iPhone Xs, the ones that let any Asian person face-unlock any other Asian person’s phone?

          Sure. Again, there doesn’t have to be a conscious effort, as this minor example shows. Oftentimes, it’s a White world, and everyone else is just a visitor.

          mark311 in reply to Zachriel. | July 16, 2021 at 9:54 am

          @Ben Kent

          “I base my view on the fact that your comments are prolific and involve rhetoric, viewpoints and research”

          A red flag is when someone does research? Of course I am guilty of rhetoric and having a viewpoint but at least I try and justify it with research. I would be delighted to be shown that others with there own viewpoint can actually back up there own rhetoric and viewpoint with something grounded in fact and logic.

          I won’t rehash what Zachriel has stated other than to say its a good summary of my position as well,

        Ben Kent in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | July 14, 2021 at 1:50 pm

        Zachs – you claim to have a problem with racism. Then you must really hate the neo-racism which includes CRT and pushed the nation that society should use more racism to fight past or perceived racism.

        Funny – I’ve never seen any comment from you that opposes neo-racism. Maybe you are too brainwashed by Progressive propaganda to know actual racism when it is happening. Or maybe you’re just a closet racist – as long as it is racism against those who have the skin color that the mob says it’s fashionable to hate this year.

          Ben Kent (from previous thread): All of the neo-racism is completely opposite to the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. MLK outright rejected the concept of using racism to fight racism.

          Ben Kent (from previous thread): Neo-racism is a catch-all phrase applied to all the programs that seek to use racism to justify more racism.

          Is this neo-racism?

          Whenever this issue of compensatory or preferential treatment for the Negro is raised, some of our friends recoil in horror. The Negro should be granted equality, they agree; but he should ask for nothing more. On the surface, this appears reasonable, but it is not realistic. For it is obvious that if a man is entering the starting line in a race 300 years after another man, the first would have to perform some impossible feat in order to catch up with his fellow runner.

          Ben, you’re new here. The many Zachs are not. They are our resident trolls, like mark311. Of the two, the many Zachs are worth engaging . . . now and then, sometimes, if you’re bored and are smart enough to get that you are banging your head against a wall.

          All of us who ever engaged these trolls imagined we can win them over; we cannot. Ever. The many Zachs, the Mark311s, they are playing you for fools And winning. Stop being a useful freaking idiot. Seriously, that’s what you are at this point. Ditto CommoChief and all the other morons feeding these trolls. You are being played. Hard. And it’s not a good look.

          Fuzzy Slippers: All of us who ever engaged these trolls imagined we can win them over

          The way to do that is to marshal evidence to support your position, rather than waving your hands.

          LOL, you’re a leftist troll group. We see you.

          Fuzzy Slippers: We see you.

          Case in point. You asked a question relevant to the topic of systemic racism. We gave a substantive response, providing a variety of examples of varying currency. Instead of replying, you diverted. You could have replied that, sure, systemic racism once existed, and it even persisted for a while after the end of Jim Crow. (How could it not?) But the intervening years have attenuated the problem, and continued efforts are now more often counterproductive. But it’s easier to engage in fallacies of diversion — easier, but not persuasive.

          To return to the topic, try this. American chattel slavery was systemically racist, by definition. Jim Crow was systemically racist, by definition. Did systemic racism disappear on July 2, 1965?

          July 2, 1964

          henrybowman in reply to Ben Kent. | July 14, 2021 at 8:28 pm

          “the first would have to perform some impossible feat in order to catch up with his fellow runner.”

          A bullshit criterion indeed. That’s not how this particular race is run. It’s about making it to the finish line, not beating all the other runners.

          I don’t see any of this “starting line” BS holding down the Hispanic immigrants, many of whom are LITERALLY starting fresh in country.

          henrybowman: That’s not how this particular race is run.

          So, you are granting that it illustrates a basis of continued racial disparities.

          Ben Kent in reply to Ben Kent. | July 15, 2021 at 12:47 pm

          @Fuzzy is largely right. Mark and Zach clearly have an agenda. I am aware of that. Half the people on this site have some agenda too. I would not object to someone just because they have a different POV. But I do have a concern about Mark and Zach (see next paragraph).

          @Mark and Zach – I have ready most of your posts for the last 3 months. I’ve become concern is that you are both political operatives – not just interested individuals. I am simply an individual with a POV as is, I believe, nearly everyone on this site. Political operatives don’t have a POV – they spout whatever talking points they are told. I base my view on the fact that your comments are prolific and involve rhetoric, viewpoints and research that is beyond the level I have seen from other individuals – except those who run the site for a living. A major red flag – for me – is the way you both pretend to know nothing about neo-racism and CRT – as if it has not been a major subject of discourse on this site for the last 3 months and in the general public for many months. In that same vein, CNN recently did a report where they pretended that no one knows what CRT is. It is frankly impossible for you both to play dumb on this topic when you have highly researched and politically incisive comments on a wide range of other topics. Also impossible for anyone with half-a-brain to not see how neo-racism/ CRT is just re-packaged racism. The fact that you guys, who both claim to be against racism, but can’t bring yourselves to condemn racism in this new form – is disgusting and, again, indicates your not here arguing matters of personal principle.

          So, straight up – are you political operatives or reporters or opinion writers?
          _____

          In a prior post, Zach gives a misleading quote about a 300 year lag in economic participation of black people. Zach fails to mention the fact that Asians came to this country in large numbers about the time Affirmative action started. So you don’t have to go back 300 years – just 50. Asians started at a great disadvantage compared to Black people who all spoke English and had more education, income and home ownership than the new Asian immigrants. Now, 50 years later, Asians, as a minority group, have excelled far beyond blacks in every respect. Including the fact tar, per capita, Asians commit less than 1% of murders while Blacks commit over 30%. Even adjusting for income – Black murder rate is more than 10x the murders that of Asians. But Progressives try to downplay the comparison between these two minority groups because it shows how important culture is to success. For over 70 years Black people have been force-fed a culture of dependency based on democrats policies.

          Ben Kent: I have ready most of your posts for the last 3 months. I’ve become concern is that you are both political operatives – not just interested individuals.

          Our opinions are our own, and freely given. You’re welcome.

          Ben Kent: A major red flag – for me – is the way you both pretend to know nothing about neo-racism and CRT

          We never expressed unfamiliarity with the terms; however, the right-wing echo chamber is using “special” definitions.

          Critical race theory is part of critical theory and has been around for decades, so it is very strange for it to become a right-wing meme. The term is now overloaded to mean just about anything concerning a discussion of race that makes some people uncomfortable. It’s the new “War on Christmas.”
          https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E4rgf-sVgAE-2Wu?format=png

          Similarly, the term “neo-racism” has been around for decades, but has now been repurposed by the partisan right, so it is reasonable to make sure we understand exactly how YOU are using the term.

          Ben Kent: In a prior post, Zach gives a misleading quote about a 300 year lag in economic participation of black people.

          Well, that would be Dr. King whom YOU invoked when you said, “MLK outright rejected the concept of using racism to fight racism.” We provided a direct quote which appears to directly contradict your interpretation of King. And we asked, per your understanding, and in light of that quote, whether Dr. King is a “neo-racist.”

          Ben Kent: fails to mention the fact that Asians came to this country in large numbers about the time Affirmative action started.

          Most Asian immigrants to the U.S. over the last generation have higher education and speak English upon arrival.

          Ben Kent: But Progressives try to downplay the comparison between these two minority groups because it shows how important culture is to success.

          That’s the very point. When you destroy a culture, it has a lasting impact. It’s not an accident that Blacks and Indians face many of the same difficulties.

          mark311 in reply to Ben Kent. | July 16, 2021 at 9:56 am

          @Ben Kent

          “I base my view on the fact that your comments are prolific and involve rhetoric, viewpoints and research”

          A red flag is when someone does research? Of course I am guilty of rhetoric and having a viewpoint but at least I try and justify it with research. I would be delighted to be shown that others with there own viewpoint can actually back up there own rhetoric and viewpoint with something grounded in fact and logic.

          I won’t rehash what Zachriel has stated other than to say its a good summary of my position as well,

          PS managed to post in the above section – my mistake

          Oh BTW in respect to the following “So, straight up – are you political operatives or reporters or opinion writers?”

          none of the above I’m just a guy interested in issues. Being an opinion writer sounds fun but I don’t have the time.

        CommoChief in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | July 14, 2021 at 5:58 pm

        Fuzzy,

        Thanks for the description as a moron. I was unaware that posting comments on a long form site in response to another post was sufficient to qualify me as a moron.

        Though that begs the question about certain editors no? 🤔

        If you believe that Zach and Mark are trolls and don’t really contribute to advancing discussion then demonstrate that by using your powers and ban them or restrict their account or whatever.

        By doing nothing, other than insulting me and other commenters who engage their sophomoric and hopelessly ideological rhetoric, you let their comments stand unchallenged.

          henrybowman in reply to CommoChief. | July 14, 2021 at 8:31 pm

          Let me just chime in — banning “misleading opinion” is now the social law of the land. If you want us to stop wasting time on fools, ban the fools. This isn’t a hypocritical stance — as soon as Twitter, FB, etc. reverse their ban-war against conservative thought, feel free to reverse yours immediately.

          mark311 in reply to CommoChief. | July 15, 2021 at 3:02 am

          @commochief

          I appreciate your integrity in this, whilst we disagree on many things I at least appreciate the engagement in civil discourse.

          @Fuzzy

          As Zach has said you don’t seem capable of engaging in the argument, the arguments you have in the past presented have been poor to say the least. It’s one thing to stay out of conversation and just listen it’s quite another to accuse others of engaging in bad faith when on the evidence it’s clear that there is a genuine attempt to engage.

    JAB in reply to Milhouse. | July 14, 2021 at 2:44 pm

    There are ample statistics showing that far more than 13% of crimes are by blacks

Old Soldier | July 13, 2021 at 4:31 pm

I gave up on the public schools a long time ago and bit the bullet on Catholic schools for our children without a single regret.

    Dathurtz in reply to Old Soldier. | July 13, 2021 at 4:45 pm

    Are they really much better? Most of the catholics I know are progs.

      Sisu in reply to Dathurtz. | July 13, 2021 at 6:41 pm

      And, in general I have come to understand most Roman Catholics know little of Christianity and Christ’s teachings. They learn compliance and rote behavior; not contemplation nor what it means to “love one another” or “to be meek”.

      Valerie in reply to Dathurtz. | July 13, 2021 at 8:50 pm

      My Catholic elementary school was a haven of peace and quiet, where the kids were encouraged to learn. I got dropped into public school overseas (military brat) and it was about like the second circle of Dante’s Hell.

      As a parent, I found that any private school (one Catholic, one completely secular) was better than the best of the public schools, which had chaos every day. This was true in Illinois, Maryland and California.

        Sisu in reply to Valerie. | July 13, 2021 at 10:15 pm

        Yet, as a “sweet, quiet child” (now a cynical, optimist) transferring in the third from one parochial school (closed) to another was to be struck by nuns with yard length dowels and line up with others against the building wall as targets for dodge ball aim. … And I have heard worse; both from now adult former students and nuns who wanted impart lessons in “parenting”.

    Massinsanity in reply to Old Soldier. | July 13, 2021 at 5:08 pm

    My observation… a high percentage of Catholic school teachers tend conservative but the administrators are disproportionately leftist.

    Catholic schools are struggling/closing in many urban areas, parental disgust at what is happening in the public schools could be their lifeline if they can keep their administrators from rushing into this CRT lunacy.

      henrybowman in reply to Massinsanity. | July 13, 2021 at 6:46 pm

      Went to Catholic schools in Providence, ecxlusively. You would think that with worldwide hierarchy and a Latinate tradition (at the time), they would tend conservative. Wrong.

      Sophomore history class: “Every student is required to subscribe to a weekly news magazine and read it, we will discuss those stories in class. Not US News & World Report, though — too Republican.” (Yes, verbatim.)

      Elderly, respected nun, repeatedly: “In class, we choose the greatest good for the greatest number, and we share from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” Younger nun who actually taught in Guatemala most of her life: “That’s communism!” Hm, when you’re eight years old, who to believe?

      Part of the problem has got to be that convents and monasteries are literally communes, sworn to personal poverty and patriarchal obedience. It’s tough to teach America when you live Tehran.

      DaveGinOly in reply to Massinsanity. | July 14, 2021 at 12:09 am

      Hell, the damn pope is a commie.

2smartforlibs | July 13, 2021 at 5:02 pm

Yet the liberal echo chamber parrots “that’s not taught in primary school only in advanced indoctrination”

    Ben Kent in reply to 2smartforlibs. | July 13, 2021 at 6:50 pm

    Liberal claim CRT is only taught in Law Schools. They play sematic games such as splitting hairs to precisely define CRT so narrowly that it is not associated with the general concept of anti-white racism. Like if you say “the Sky is blue” – they will say, “Well you cannot be talking about the sky on earth because the earth sky includes ay colors other than blue like white and purpose and dark blue, etc” This technique is so disingenuous – and they know it. But they cannot bring themselves to admit the reality of what is happening because it would blow their whole worldview. They think they are the good guys – just like Nazi guards thought they were the good guys right up to the end. They were in denial about the evil that they actually acquiesced to or facilitated..

    They also claim CRT “its just a theory”. Another semantic device.

    And they claim Republican who are against CRT are doing so because they do not want the history of racism taught in school. This is another rhetorical device – undermine your opponent by claiming they have a position you know most people would object to. This is especially powerful if your opponent is not there to push back. Media do this ALLL THE TIME. Especially CNN and WaPo.

    henrybowman in reply to 2smartforlibs. | July 13, 2021 at 7:10 pm

    Proper response: “You’re just lying now, because you got caught.” Just keep repeating it.

Old Soldier | July 13, 2021 at 5:08 pm

The parochial schools here (Virginia Beach) are petal-to-the-metal. The local Catholic high school had its near-death experience 30 years ago when it was faced with closure after years of dwindling enrollment, budget deficits, and Sixties re-treads running the place. The crew that took over revitalized it, moved it from Norfolk to Virginia Beach, and turned it into a real Catholic college prep school. The lay faculty there now are more committed to living out the teachings of Holy Mother Church than the faculty at the place forty years ago.

Old Soldier | July 13, 2021 at 5:09 pm

I took a look at the “Say Their Names” link and it is the “antiracist” claptrap. Horrifying.

My daughter has a Doc in Ed… got hers quicker than Biden’s sidekick, that being said, she was a wonderful Administrator, principal of a middle school in East Texas. She stepped down to raise her family. The oldest will be starting kinder next year.
She lives now in North Texas and assures me that the school system is conservative… it’s too close to Fort Worth, the last bastion of big city conservative in Texas… soon to fall no doubt.
I want her to go to a Baptist school where she has been going to the Mothers Day out for 2 years… still working on her.
I don’t think she realizes how bad it has become…
Doesn’t want to , but she’s a smart cookie, I’m sending this post to her

    Dathurtz in reply to gonzotx. | July 13, 2021 at 7:37 pm

    We need all the good admin we can get. It is hard to stay good more than a few years. For some reason, the farther you get from the classroom the more you fall for the insanity.

      gonzotx in reply to Dathurtz. | July 13, 2021 at 7:58 pm

      Not my daughter. She has a great head on her shoulder, is half Hispanic and doesn’t believe any of the crazy race crap. All the teachers and even janitors loved her, the kids adored her. 7 years she was Principal.
      I was at a party this last w/e with one of her previous coworkers, she was in awe of my daughter, she said, L&&&& could do anything and be successful, anything…
      She is right, she has that it factor, the condense leadership you feel good following..

      The parents were nuts however , worse part of her job. Parenting is hard but people have become God awful at it…

        Dathurtz in reply to gonzotx. | July 13, 2021 at 9:22 pm

        That’s awesome.

        People that are good parents and are otherwise sane don’t understand why admin/teachers get jaded about parents.

        One of my flaws is that it takes me a minute to realize when I am dealing with a functional parent and modify my approach.

        DaveGinOly in reply to gonzotx. | July 14, 2021 at 12:17 am

        “…my daughter…is half Hispanic…”
        And half gonzo?

    Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.

LukeHandCool | July 13, 2021 at 5:52 pm

I’m sorry, Ms. Bessinger.

You must be mistaken. I’ve heard our elite betters state in no uncertain terms that CRT is NOT being taught in our schools … and the AFT has a legal defense fund to defend teachers … umm … not teaching it?

I’m not an educator, so obviously I can’t comprehend the logic there.

“[W]e do not teach the Holocaust because kids can’t relate to the story.”

Really? I grew up an upper-middle class, gentile boy who spent endless hours trying to wrap my head around the Holocaust and the other tragedies and atrocities of WWII. I read books about the war and my friends and I would buy model airplane kits almost every weekend. I had pictorial encyclopedic books on WWII with many pictures of the Holocaust and the endless tragedies of the war. The pictures made it even more relatable than the words.

And then my father hired a man who had barely survived the Holocaust whose wife and only child had been killed. He became a family friend. That made it even more relatable.

If the people behind this dangerous indoctrination want to make the Holocaust more relatable, why not have guest speakers who survived the Holocaust, or their family members?

But, there is the catch. The people behind this don’t want to make it relatable to the kids.

“Say their names.”

All six million of them.

    alaskabob in reply to LukeHandCool. | July 13, 2021 at 6:12 pm

    The techs needed assistance to get an IV in for a CT scan (1989). Simple… put on the tourniquet , extend the arm and look for a suitable vein… right..next.. to .. the .. tattooed serial number from Auschwitz. Nothing drives home history as coming face to face with it. Few are left and soon it will just be history with no living link. 11 million and more to follow if the war had failed… never forget.

    Dathurtz in reply to LukeHandCool. | July 13, 2021 at 7:40 pm

    I have a horrible feeling that a lot of people are about to really understand how an event like the holocaust can happen.

    Hell, about 1/3 of the country would cheer as you and I are put put up against a wall and shot.

    gonzotx in reply to LukeHandCool. | July 13, 2021 at 8:01 pm

    The Holocaust also drove my love and interest. I so wanted to hunt Nazis with Wiesenthal. I couldn’t believe people could be such monsters, and such monsters they were. I felt so guilty with the German blood running through my veins…
    And here we are on the verge of monsters in America
    It is so sad

      Sad, yes. Inevitable? No. But a civil war is, unless we secede.

      n.n in reply to gonzotx. | July 13, 2021 at 9:56 pm

      That’s the problem: “I felt so guilty with the German blood running through my veins”. This is the exercise of liberal license to indulge diversity [dogma] (i.e. color judgment) and the foundation of Critical Racists’ Theory. This is an empathetic and sympathetic religious order. This is taking a knee.

      Most people recognize individual dignity, people as individuals. Most people recognize individual conscience, our minds and thoughts are our own. Most people recognize intrinsic value, that we are worth more than the sum of our colorful parts. The Pro-Choice religion conflates logical domains, denies women and men’s dignity and agency, and reduces human life to property.

      From the Nazis braying Jew privilege, to the neo-Nazis braying White privilege. One step forward, two steps backward.

      Can they abort the baby, cannibalize her profitable parts, sequester her carbon pollutants, and have her, too? Baby Lives Matter

        gonzotx in reply to n.n. | July 13, 2021 at 10:23 pm

        Your delusional…

        The war had just ended a few years prior, it was easy to be ashamed of having German blood after they were responsible for the murders of 6 ,000,000 people

          n.n in reply to gonzotx. | July 13, 2021 at 10:26 pm

          No, the point is that you need not, you should not, be “ashamed of having German blood”, not to empathize, nor to sympathize, in order to stand on principle to oppose, condemn, and pledge to prevent another Holocaust.

          n.n in reply to gonzotx. | July 13, 2021 at 10:35 pm

          Same thing with slavery, and the progressive policy of diversity, inequity, and exclusion. Where once there was white slaves, the traditions and practices of black African slavers changed the calculus to favor black “burdens” and slaves in their societies. Americans are Pro-Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, without diversity and other class-based bigotry, precisely to mitigate the progress of adversity bred by this dogma and the nominally “secular” tradition conceived with a double-edged scalpel.

          mark311 in reply to gonzotx. | July 14, 2021 at 12:14 pm

          @n.n

          “Where once there was white slaves”
          Where.

          Ben Kent in reply to gonzotx. | July 14, 2021 at 1:52 pm

          Indentured servitude is slavery.

          CommoChief in reply to gonzotx. | July 14, 2021 at 10:07 pm

          And peonage practiced by the Spanish or tenant farmers thrown off the land prior to harvest of all colors, or miners paid in scrip to limit purchase to the company store or the same in light manufacturing and textile mills in the rural South.

          Everyone of every stripe has been effed over by the elites at one point or multiple points, some in very recent history and none of these episodes were exclusive to a particular group or ‘race’.

          A psychologist would tell their patient to focus on what he can control and to stop allowing past transgressions real or imagined to control his life.

          Blaming an ‘other’ is easy. It’s also lazy. Doing so transfers responsibility to external v internal forces, but also removes agency for those who do it.

          henrybowman in reply to gonzotx. | July 14, 2021 at 10:38 pm

          If you consider Semites white, the Middle East was full of slaves. Try reading a Bible.

          “And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried…”
          –Mark 3:11

          mark311 in reply to gonzotx. | July 15, 2021 at 3:10 am

          @commochief

          That’s a good example and an excellent counterpoint. Debt slavery is vile but at least you could work yourself out of slavery. In the case of colonial slavery that wasn’t possible and the scale was industrial.

          @Henrybowman

          Hmm not sure I’d consider middle Eastern to be Middle Eastern. The wider point remains though in the sense the region had a lot of historical slavery.

          mark311 in reply to gonzotx. | July 15, 2021 at 10:23 am

          @henry bowman

          I should have been clearer, slavery in the modern setting. Comparing pre dark ages slavery to modern colonial slavery is a tad tricky.

      artichoke in reply to gonzotx. | July 18, 2021 at 7:55 pm

      Please don’t let that make you irrational. Besides, you did not participate in the Holocaust unless you’re a lot older than you look.

      I had a German-American friend who was inexplicably far-left. He was extremely rational except he had this odd social-justice compulsion. I couldn’t talk him out of it, and if it matters, I’m Jewish. Maybe it was some sort of guilt from the Holocaust. Maybe it was a mental weakness typical of what provided a fertile soil for the Holocaust. But coming out it, we have far left Germans and far left Jews and having damaged people on either side doesn’t help.

    Yes, I can relate. Yet, nothing promotes understanding like seeing numbers tattooed on the inside of another’s right forearm. … And, for the most part current generations have not and can not imagine walking into a bakery or other business and seeing “normal, everyday people” going about their work, focused with such marks on their arms. … 20, 30, maybe 40 years and the marks are forgotten as the individuals left the workforce. … History insists on repeating itself.

“Critical Race Theory” is a subversive, racist, neo-communist, black supremacist, subversive, anti-Jew, anti-Christian, anti-American ideology of hate and totalitarianism. This ideology is a transparent cancer upon American society, and, the vile Dhimmi-crats are gleefully propagating it throughout all of our institutions.

What is race? How many people know what race they are? For example, Jessica Alba went through her DNA tests on TV, and she was surprised and disappointed which is probably the usual reaction. It seems pretty silly to try to divide society based on something that is ambiguous.

    DaveGinOly in reply to InEssence. | July 14, 2021 at 12:23 am

    A person’s race and racial heritage are not ambiguous. It may be unknown, but it’s written in the genes, waiting to be read. Once read, it often reveals itself to be far more complex than the “just so” stories that we’ve been taught about ourselves and about others.

    artichoke in reply to InEssence. | July 18, 2021 at 7:57 pm

    Which DNA tests? I’ve heard 23 and me, besides harvesting DNA, throws in some African in the report that necessarily actually there, in the pursuit of mutual understanding or social justice or something.

Our school district has gone this way. Now I know what they meant by on “decolonizing” the library.

Lest we forget, kids can be assholes.

#1- Most learn nothing at school, especially from teachers who buy into this garbage. There are kids going into the 4th grade that don’t know the months of the year.
#2- More than a few Spartan parents will take it upon themselves to “teach” and no one envies or bullies the children of Sparta. They will make you hate life, because you (the teacher) have no real power.
#3- Counter culture is a thing. I’ve noticed already kids are rebelling on PC nonsense at the high school level. Kids may be ignorant, but quite a few are not dumb.
#4- More than a few black kids are going to resent being portrayed as a victim. That will be interesting.

Lastly- mocking this stuff and anyone who buys into it is very useful. “Good morning…. it’s 9:00, have you suffered any victimization or racism yet?”

    artichoke in reply to Andy. | July 18, 2021 at 8:01 pm

    What does #2 mean? Of course parents have to teach, the school should really just be supporting what parents are teaching at home. (If the parents are uneducated, their kids will get only what’s taught in school, which sets the minimum that the school should provide to be able to grant a HS diploma.) And if the school is doing weird psych stuff, the parents have to un-teach and correct that, to the extent they can figure out what’s going on.

caseoftheblues | July 14, 2021 at 7:48 am

LI….PLEASE get someone in to design a better site and more workable comment section….

drsamherman | July 14, 2021 at 7:50 am

My children took all of the younger ones out of private schools and are now doing homeschooling. Thankfully, Texas is a state friendly to homeschoolers. There is a standard Texas curriculum in math, literature, sciences, history, language, etc. to follow, and there are also elective courses at just about every grade level available. And with some greatly varied and focused content like religious studies, AP/honors work and even college credit in multiple subjects. It’s also cheaper than private school tuition. All in all, it was a great choice. My grandchildren are enjoying the ability to “learn ahead”, and my children are enjoying be more involved in the day to day life of their kids. Not perfect, but as best as we can do to avoid the mess of Texas public schools.

Good to see someone speaking out but, whike I may be wrong, most likely this teacher has voted Democrat/Left her entire life and will continue to do so. Beliefs and actions have consequences.

    Ben Kent in reply to Longplay. | July 14, 2021 at 1:56 pm

    People are waking up to what’s been happening. Don’t blame her. Blame the politicians and the media who have worked so hard to keep people in the dark.

    We trusted our politicians to keep us informed and to do what’s right. Now we find that our trust was misplaced and we have been deceived by people with their own agenda.

The whole point of teaching CRT is to spread division and cause unrest among minorities. The philosophy is an outgrowth of “black history”, which originated at Berkeley in the Sixties and the Chicano myth that sprang up around the same time. Slavery is a small blob on US history, not the main focus. CRT advocates borrow from Jews who make persecution of Jews the main focus of World War II. The intent is to advance a cause. Blacks, in particular, use so-called racism as an excuse for their failings. I see no way out. White liberals let it happen and now it’s biting them in the ass.

    mark311 in reply to SamC130. | July 14, 2021 at 12:17 pm

    “Slavery is a small blob on US history” From 1776 to 1861 years followed by another century of Jim Crow laws. That’s a significant part of American history. That’s assuming you ignore the colonial era.

      MarkSmith in reply to mark311. | July 14, 2021 at 1:16 pm

      You make an assumption that all of American supported slavery. You fail to consider the huge influx of immigration that made this country great. Maybe the issues is not so black and white as you want to make it.

        MarkSmith: You make an assumption that all of American supported slavery.

        That not what he said. While it is true that many Americans did not support slavery, he said that slavery is not “a small blob on US history.” It wasn’t. Slavery was built into America’s foundation, so much so that it took a violent civil war to end the institution.

      Gersh204 in reply to mark311. | July 14, 2021 at 2:31 pm

      These left wing “educators” are useful idiots. CRT will help bring on total chaos in society from will spring forth the marxist revolution that the communists dream about. 2022 midterms may be our last hope so donate

        AF_Chief_Master_Sgt in reply to Gersh204. | July 14, 2021 at 9:28 pm

        Our last hope was the 2020 election. The Marxists know that they can easily steal elections, and Republicans will sit around with their thumbs up their ass.

        Good luck with that.

      henrybowman in reply to mark311. | July 14, 2021 at 10:41 pm

      “That’s a significant part of American history.”

      That’s because it’s so hard to keep Democrats away from the levers of power for long.
      People like you keep voting the bastards back in.

    artichoke in reply to SamC130. | July 18, 2021 at 8:07 pm

    It’s aimed at reparations, if they can get it.

    The next act after selling “equity” is “investment” and “educational debt”. Racial groups with lower performance will be said to have greater “investment” (a total misuse of the word, they never invested squat) and we owe them “educational debt”.

    That starts making it legalistic, which is the plot, and also it expands the set of financial words they can use to calculate a bill, which they will then act as if we’re supposed to pay!

I do not have children, but some advice for those who do:

This style of hateful, paranoid, racist rhetoric-based pedagogy at a young age is very likely to lead to psychological harm and mental illness in your children.

The left is sodomizing your children’s minds, just as pedophiles sodomize their body and psychologically scar them for life.

These lunatics are destroying your children. Treat them accordingly.

Stop arguing with them, stop debating with them. Do everything you can to SHUT THIS MARXIST PLAGUE DOWN.

Ramona, next time before writing an article you should really do some research. Many of the titles you complain that we are not teaching anymore or actually taught at the high school level in our district. Now if you want to argue that the ARC reading program isn’t engaging or is subpar then I’m with you. In addition Rhode Island state law 11-22 – 16 B states that any person not wanting to stand from for the pledge is exempt.
Honestly your privilege is showing with this article and I’m embarrassed we’re part of the same union.

    henrybowman in reply to RIteacher. | July 14, 2021 at 10:43 pm

    “Many of the titles you complain that we are not teaching anymore”

    Got caught, did you?

    Don’t you dare all someone out for their “privilege,” you racist.

      RIteacher in reply to henrybowman. | July 15, 2021 at 1:12 pm

      Henry…that wasn’t my complete sentence. I stated (and yes there’s a typo- but there’s one in your response as well so let’s rise above that) that the books this teacher is complaining about not being taught ARE taught at the high school level. It seems her issue is she can’t teach high school novels. She’s a middle school teacher in my district and she’s wrong. We do teach the books she listed- in high school where it’s an appropriate Lexile level for those students. And I am 100% calling her out on her white privilege here because what she painted here for the readers is wrong. She would know that if she paid attention to the curriculum in the high schools.

    artichoke in reply to RIteacher. | July 18, 2021 at 8:09 pm

    “Your privilege is showing”? Is that an argument?

AF_Chief_Master_Sgt | July 14, 2021 at 9:27 pm

White parents are going to rue the day they allowed their children to go to public schools now.

I hope these kids grow to hate their parents for what they allowed to happen to them.

I hope white parents lose sleep at night worried that their privileged white children may kill them in their sleep.

America is dead.

    henrybowman in reply to AF_Chief_Master_Sgt. | July 14, 2021 at 10:44 pm

    Why kill them when you can rat them out to the Stasi and save the hand soap.

    Julian A Smith in reply to AF_Chief_Master_Sgt. | July 15, 2021 at 7:31 pm

    “ America is dead.” No, America isn’t dead. But America is at a crossroads—we’re fighting for things that have been taken for granted by us for too long, thinking we could continue to take the rare, and hard-won (think: The Revolutionary War; The Civil War) privileges we secured as a given. Worst of all, we’ve turned our backs to the ONE responsible for allowing this nation to be, as Abraham Lincoln put it “…the last, best hope of earth.” GOD, who cannot lie, has promised: “If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven , and will forgive their sin, and will HEAL their land.” II Chronicles 7:14 (Emphasis mine) Also, consider this from GOD’s word: “The wicked shall be turned into hell, AND ALL THE NATIONS THAT FORGET GOD.” Psalm 9:17 (Again, emphasis mine) Speaking as an American, of African ancestry.

    You’re unhinged, hoping any children would kill parents in their sleep.

    Even focusing on educational choices, they are limited. Private school means paying twice for school — taxes for the public, plus tuition for the private. And some privates are worse than the public, see the far left crap that’s taking over the $50K per year (if you can get in, and that’s just tuition, there’s no dorm) NYC private schools!

      artichoke in reply to artichoke. | July 18, 2021 at 8:14 pm

      Oh I see you were just hoping the parents would worry their kids would kill them in their sleep … that’s a little better. I apologize for misreading what you actually bad.

      But what you actually wrote is still very bad. What’s wrong with you?