Teaching Critical Race Theory should not be limited to the history of African
Americans in this country. Every group perceived as "other" has been
oppressed. It has often been covert. It has often been overt. Consider the
Asian exclusion laws which continued into the 20th century. Consider the laws
against miscegenation. Consider the signs and advertisements reading NINA [No
Irish need apply] which were once common. The list is long.
The important difference is that, even when these discriminations were codified
as law, they have largely disappeared. It often takes several generations
after arrival for a group to reach technical equality. The recent attacks on
Asians, especially Senior Citizens, make it clear that this problem has not
gone away. The critical difference is that the mistreatment of African
Americans continues to be institutionalized, as the recent attacks on voting
rights demonstrate.
The Supreme Court has, shamefully, continued this discriminatory process with
their recent anti-labor ruling. It mainly affects the right of dark-skinned
people's right to organize, both in agriculture and in commerce. It remains to
be seen whether the People's Right to Organize [PRO] Act will, once passed,
withstand the inevitable judicial review based on this history. I do, however,
hope it will pass soon.
This should be brought as an anti-discrimination resolution to the DA with the
intent of moving it to NYSUT and AFT. Perhaps it should be proposed as a plank
in the Democratic platform for 2024. The issue will not go quietly into the
night. The "Conservatives" seem to have opened a can of worms.
Eric
________________________________
From: uupretirees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <uupretirees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on
behalf of Marshall Spector <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2021 8:04 AM
To: uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [uupretirees] Opinion | The cold truth about Republicans’ hot air over
critical race theory - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/28/cold-truth-about-republicans-hot-air-over-critical-race-theory/<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fopinions%2F2021%2F06%2F28%2Fcold-truth-about-republicans-hot-air-over-critical-race-theory%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223230429%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=ALUeBvRK2Ymg0pQJclpaj%2BisLCxCKuwNjCAEvX4Z7t8%3D&reserved=0>
Opinion: The cold truth about Republicans’ hot air over critical race theory
Eugene
Robinson<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fpeople%2Feugene-robinson%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223240424%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=9TkVbWRhN2SOvAPAfcKdTtFgYTet2wMBMHBqs0EC35o%3D&reserved=0>
[Image without a caption]
Opponents of critical race theory attend a packed Loudoun County School Board
meeting in Ashburn, Va., on June 22. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
The Republican state legislators falling over themselves to decide how history
can and cannot be taught in schools — and blowhards such as Sen. Ted Cruz
(R-Tex.), who warn that children are being taught “every White person is a
racist<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fnews%2F559208-ted-cruz-says-critical-race-theory-is-as-racist-as-klansmen-in-white-sheets&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223240424%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=XnDxEn7YCejHE7%2FpOhd6Zdn5KWqlR24%2Bgr%2B%2FT3lPyt8%3D&reserved=0>”
— know exactly what they’re doing. They seek to create a crisis where none
exists in hopes of driving up GOP turnout in next year’s midterm elections.
Story continues below advertisement
It’s a cynical ploy. But a party willing to pretend — even now — that Donald
Trump might somehow have won an election he lost clearly embraces cynicism as
its core identity.
It is unclear whether the GOP’s focus on denying the reality of our racial
history will have any impact at the ballot box. Schoolchildren will suffer,
however, because teachers will be forced to keep them ignorant of relevant
facts and perspectives. And all Americans will suffer if Republicans succeed in
squelching the long-overdue reckoning with race that many of us believe the
nation sorely needs.
GOP politicians have especially taken aim at the New York Times’s 1619
Project<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Finteractive%2F2019%2F08%2F14%2Fmagazine%2F1619-america-slavery.html&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223250415%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=thBtykMbldpn8nIECZpFRM%2Bfn2SD68zKCWS9mG3H4%2Bo%3D&reserved=0>,
which provocatively explored the relationship of slavery to the nation’s
founding. Perhaps this is because many Republicans already see the Times as a
nest of villainous “elites.” Perhaps it’s because the 1619 Project was led by a
Black woman, Nikole Hannah-Jones, whom Republican strategists believe they can
demonize. Or perhaps it’s because the project tells so much truth.
Story continues below advertisement
Was slavery key to the colonial economy at the time of the Declaration of
Independence? Clearly it was, and one of the many charges the declaration
leveled against King George III is that he “has excited domestic insurrections
amongst
us<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.archives.gov%2Ffounding-docs%2Fdeclaration-transcript&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223260412%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=5cUM%2B%2FNmDuF3RckmSSqA8fp7W8r6m4ZHcYFLgNZjxlc%3D&reserved=0>”
— seen by historians as referring to a proclamation in Virginia offering
freedom to slaves who joined the British army. The declaration also slams the
king for his passive support of the “merciless Indian Savages” who resisted the
White settlers’ efforts to move westward and take more of the Indians’ land.
Was slavery written into the Constitution? The word itself does not appear, but
the Constitution never would have been ratified without the famous compromise
that allowed states to count only three-fifths of their enslaved populations
for the purposes of apportioning seats in the House of Representatives. The
charter specifies that “free Persons” and indentured servants be counted in
full, leaving only slaves to constitute the “all other Persons” who are subject
to the three-fifths limitation.
Was slavery just a Southern phenomenon? Not at all. Slavery wasn’t outlawed in
New York until
1827<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhistory.nycourts.gov%2Fwhen-did-slavery-end-in-new-york%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223260412%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=xxtaA9TiROJV9bN3gFMVvggoJnUtMcsPWvQ%2BmF7az%2B8%3D&reserved=0>,
and the last 16 enslaved Black men and women in New Jersey didn’t obtain their
freedom until
1865<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fslavery.princeton.edu%2Fstories%2Flegislating-slavery-in-new-jersey&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223270402%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=Oh%2BV2Yc9n%2BMkR5HHULDQAPKi3dgi9HxZE4RHQXUvWs8%3D&reserved=0>.
Moreover, the entire young nation benefited economically from the
plantation-style slavery practiced in the South, which gave the mills of New
England raw material to work with and the nascent banking center of Wall Street
a thriving enterprise to finance.
Story continues below advertisement
Didn’t the Civil War and the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments deal once and for
all with the problem of racial oppression in this country? Of course not.
Reconstruction was cut short, and the states were allowed to establish a system
of Jim Crow segregation that endured for nearly a century. Black Americans were
systematically robbed of land and wages, denied access to capital, confined to
substandard housing, and denied educational opportunities. When some Black
communities overcame these obstacles — as in
Tulsa<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fhistory%2Finteractive%2F2021%2Ftulsa-race-massacre-centennial-greenwood%2F%3Fitid%3Dlk_inline_manual_18&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223270402%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=9ZCUiCso2KHSNKytiuAIcUGPfpcSJpTwZtsz6iE%2Ft8c%3D&reserved=0>,
Atlanta<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.georgiaencyclopedia.org%2Farticles%2Fhistory-archaeology%2Fatlanta-race-riot-1906&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223280399%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=zMJE76jX09l32DjJs2RIR79xBYgVWe4i6zOsHXEeXgs%3D&reserved=0>
and a host of other cities — White mobs burned and
smashed<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fopinions%2F2021%2F05%2F31%2Fit-was-much-more-than-tulsa%2F%3Fitid%3Dlk_inline_manual_18&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223280399%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=OMNVfTDobmq%2Fj0IbjRsRxqd6XLUPmkRyUqlOtutxSEc%3D&reserved=0>
those communities out of existence.
These are all undisputed facts. This is the history that has, until now, been
ignored or played down. Teachers who expose their students to such truths are
not being “woke” or convincing impressionable young minds that the nation is
“irredeemably
racist<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kxan.com%2Fnews%2Fpolitical-news%2Ftexas-sen-ted-cruz-critical-race-theory-is-as-racist-as-klansmen-in-white-sheets%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223290393%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=uoKOW%2BLfAY9lLtHnPNwO5Ha%2FHFIRbiikFIL2EtjRTD8%3D&reserved=0>,”
as Cruz has alleged. They are performing an essential task of education:
contextually explaining where we’ve been so that we can understand where we are
and where we need to go.
This nation can be redeemed — but not without first acknowledging the need for
redemption. The Republican Party is trying to prohibit that acknowledgment, and
is doing so for short-term political gain. The flap over critical race theory
is just another scam from a party that believes in nothing except the
unprincipled pursuit of power.
Story continues below advertisement
Karen Attiah: The challenge for educators amid the critical race theory
backlash: How do you fight hot
air?<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fopinions%2F2021%2F06%2F27%2Ftexas-critical-race-theory-abbott-educators%2F%3Fitid%3Dlk_inline_manual_24&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223290393%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=Pt0qLFjEjEJeiuhfqg%2FeMn3WcexWQPxUQESTXE2mR50%3D&reserved=0>
Colbert I. King: A message to GOP congressmen — In D.C., critical race theory
is simple
truth-telling<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fopinions%2F2021%2F06%2F25%2Fdc-gop-congressmen-critical-race-theory%2F%3Fitid%3Dlk_inline_manual_25&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223300392%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=F1Gr753OYv7seFM6gqnYv7CVc6sWDaGIUNH7XONGgD0%3D&reserved=0>
Vincent Jungkunz: Who’s afraid of critical race theory? Not the students in my
classes.<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fopinions%2F2021%2F06%2F23%2Fspace-traders-critical-race-theory-teaching%2F%3Fitid%3Dlk_inline_manual_26&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223300392%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=U%2BlV9qi5%2BFdBrmAzQFx5uTdDZZPw6qznM%2FNbZhmgPiQ%3D&reserved=0>
George F. Will: A teacher pushes back against K-12 critical race theory
indoctrination<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fopinions%2F2021%2F06%2F23%2Fteacher-pushes-back-against-k-12-critical-race-theory-indoctrination%2F%3Fitid%3Dlk_inline_manual_27&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223310383%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=BrPcFyzbi%2BXVgpZ8cYjvdhuwwnA0DCDPmsb%2BjVhWTGE%3D&reserved=0>
Christine Emba: Why conservatives really fear critical race
theory<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fopinions%2F2021%2F05%2F26%2Fwhy-conservatives-really-fear-critical-race-theory%2F%3Fitid%3Dlk_inline_manual_28&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223320375%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=UZRabAIv2QM1nFW7xhrCYZML29tahLJz2i6n4hXFbNI%3D&reserved=0>
Dana Milbank: Why does Biden hate the flag, family, grace, God and
America?<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fopinions%2F2021%2F06%2F22%2Frepublicans-just-proved-critical-race-theory-correct%2F%3Fitid%3Dlk_inline_manual_29&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223320375%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=H49adM%2FMSUQhQpSBx519kcXytcQCbTn%2BmjSoS9MH6ZA%3D&reserved=0>
Ask Eugene Robinson about the latest news around the U.S. and
world<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fopinions%2F2021%2F06%2F29%2Feugene-robinson-chat-opinions%2F%3Fitid%3Dlk_inline_manual_30&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cc4732b57703a48e01c4f08d93afa5bb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637605669223330369%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=%2Btkl5ndNX%2B64DQ5q8NzypxeCcizwTQRHamqByZkBJnY%3D&reserved=0>
