“The passing of these laws signals the dawn of a new authoritarian age in the United States, where the state uses laws restricting speech to intimidate, bully and punish educators, forcing them to submit to the ideology of the dominant majority or lose their livelihoods, and even their freedom.” – Jason Stanley
The author puts CRT, Intersectionality, and Structural Racism – bugaboos for the “anti-woke” – into their actual and very valid context.
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
RE: “The author puts CRT, Intersectionality, and Structural Racism – bugaboos for the ‘anti-woke’ – into their actual and very valid context.”
Hogwash. Controlling what children learn in public schools is unavoidable. To call it fascism is a sign of hysteria.
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The hysterics are you people who think being woke is a bad thing.
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The hysterics is actually you people thinking woke is good and should be used to poison the minds of children.
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So how woke were priests and ministers when diddling children by the 100’s of thousands here and around the globe.
Talk about destroying lives. Learning that Kevin has two mommies is not even close.
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What is your obsession with priests and ministers? It’s awful but it is not relevant to every topic.
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“It’s awful but it is not relevant to every topic.”
It is a highly relevant response to a “Christian” who exaggerates the danger to children offered by real history and real concern for others.
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“ To call it fascism is a sign of hysteria.”
Not if it is fascism.
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Then make the case.
The Guardian author conflates book selection with book banning. His argument is extremely shallow.
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“To call it fascism is a sign of hysteria.”
Just like 1930’s Germany?
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Huckleberry Finn is getting banned again in High Schools. This time by Whites.
So are several other classics and ideas. The more common objection is they would make students feel bad. High school snowflakery? The joke last century were the “safe places” and “trigger warnings” by liberal pedagogues.
Now the joke is on the right wing. Heaven forbid something should challenge high school students.
https://wapo.st/3L3gcyA
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Should not be paywalled…I hope.
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Not for those of us who care enough for real journalism to subscribe. 😉
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Success. No paywall.
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RE: “Huckleberry Finn is getting banned again in High Schools. This time by Whites.”
According to your story it was black parents who complained about Huckleberry Finn. Are you stretching the facts to fit a narrative?
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She said it used to be a couple of Black
parents. Now it is the White families.
“ Across two decades of working in education, one Missouri English teacher said she received two complaints from parents objecting to Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” As best she can recall, both complaints came from Black parents upset by the use of the n-word.”
“ But over the past three years, White parents began lodging complaints against “Huck Finn” in the teacher’s largely White and conservative town, she said. The teacher spoke on the condition of anonymity because her district forbids unsanctioned interviews with the news media.”
More importantly to me were the banning teaching from Columbus’ own words. Remember, this is High School, not 5 year olds. WTF are they afraid of. Truth?
Of course, we are the post truth era.
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RE: “She said it used to be a couple of Black parents. Now it is the White families.”
My mistake.
I’m still curious. Do you think it is legitimate for parents to be concerned about political indoctrination of their children in the public schools they attend?
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Of course. So what is the danger in these stories?
I would definitely be concerned if children were taught that slavery was no big deal. Slaves were all happy. That it was a states’ rights issue despite the screeds of the Secession documents.
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RE: “So what is the danger in these stories?”
I wouldn’t know. I’m sure not going to make the argument that they must not be taught. But neither am I going to accept that they serve some kind of ideal purpose that demands to be taken seriously.
If you accept that it is legitimate for parents to be concerned about political indoctrination of their children, then it should be easy to accept the decisions parents make in their own school districts.
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“…then it should be easy to accept the decisions parents make in their own school districts.”
If a handful of very vocal parents are truly against what they perceive as “divisive” on race, gender or history, should they determine what my child learns also?
This smacks of setting the bar at the lowest common denominator to mollify a minority of parents.
Should we consider different classes to accommodate differently acceptable teaching curriculums. I would want my child to be challenged.
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“…If you accept that it is legitimate for parents to be concerned about political indoctrination of their children”
What about my children. I have no say so?
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RE: “If a handful of very vocal parents are truly against what they perceive as ‘divisive’ on race, gender or history, should they determine what my child learns also?”
Possibly. A lot depends on whether the very vocal parents happen to be correct, whether the educational objectives at issue are sound and can be achieved in some non-controversial way, and whether your child has schooling options other than public school.
I think, too, it is important to remember that K-12 education is inherently limited, because K-12 students are children.
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The article was about High School.
So a vocal minority doesn’t have to leave the school. I do?
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RE: “The article was about High School.”
K-12 includes high school.
RE: “So a vocal minority doesn’t have to leave the school. I do?”
What, do you want a permanent, “I am always right” pass? Vocal minorities are not always wrong, but whether they are or aren’t you still have to make your own decisions.
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“ What, do you want a permanent, “I am always right” pass? Vocal minorities are not always wrong, but whether they are or aren’t you still have to make your own decisions.”
So this is what conservatives are trying to pull off. My way or the highway. Threatening phone calls always help. Terrorism if you don’t get your way. And that allows outrage if those threats are investigated.
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RE: “So this is what conservatives are trying to pull off…”
What in the world are you talking about; have you lost your mind?
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So teaching abbreviated version of our history that only has the “good” parts is pretty much Soviet style schooling.
That is indoctrination.
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YOu mean like this?
https://theweek.com/political-satire/1021304/abbotts-education-vouchers
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“Do you think it is legitimate for parents to be concerned about political indoctrination of their children in the public schools they attend?”
It is a legitimate concern. Governor DeSantis and other “Christian” Nationalist MAGATS should cut it out.
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It is very funny to watch white extremist left wingers try to act as crusaders for blacks by attempting to push false narratives of modern day oppressors and oppressed, phony white privilege and phony claims of racism on children. Not only does that mean he thinks children should be used as political pawns, blacks are too stupid to make their own arguments but then fails to recognize black privilege. Imagine the uproar if half of whites polled said it was not ok to be black and some black cartoo.nist said that makes whites a hate group. A new civil war would ensue and the black cartoonist hailed a hero and a sage. Now that’s privilege.
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“ Imagine the uproar if half of whites polled said it was not ok to be black.”
First of all, the poll Adams used was bogus. About 23% of Blacks agreed. That means 77% didn’t. Margin of error was 8 points.
The poll and his rant was just trying to divide us even further with a phony push poll.
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A total of 46% said no or weren’t sure, not I guess or yes. That’s almost half not agreeing it is ok to be white.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/poll-only-54-of-black-people-think-its-ok-to-be-white
I don’t know why anyone decided to run this poll but it is what is and the results are very disturbing which resulted in my favorite cartoon being cancelled.
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If only 53% of the White people in Nebraska agreed it was OK to be Black, Democrats would call Nebraskans a hate group.
But I am surprised the numbers aren’t worse. The Woke have been telling Blacks that White people are oppressors, that Whiteness is unjust, and that “They want to put you back in chains.”
The language of the BLM leaders regarding Whites is not that different from the language of the KKK about Blacks.
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Having firebrands on both sides of the race issues is hardly news.
If you grandfather and father raised you to act deferentially and subserviently to Blacks to avoid confrontation, persecution or prosecution, you might think differently.
If I had grandchildren today, they would be in High School or older. These are the ages taking to the streets to protest.
Humans are not bots. Your values are from your upbringing.
Dick Gregory once joked that if you want to see justice in action, go to any courtroom and you will see “just us”. That will wear on even the most resilient minorities anywhere in the world. And there are terrible cases of ethnic hate and persecution everywhere.
The difference we need to look at, in my opinion, is that we both pride ourselves about being an immigrant nation as well as vilifying that very notion. And it is coming to a head today. About two generations from a very brutal and dehumanizing form of apartheid. When that ended, we effectively accepted 12% of our population as real Americans. Before that they were “immigrants” we tried to shunt aside.
And the legal changes were not immediate by any measure as far as applied universally and with open arms for decades. Whites fought hard to circumvent the Civil Rights legislation. North and South. Why?
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How is that relevant to the issue of encouraging racial strife by telling Blacks they are justified in hating Whites?
Yes people North and South opposed the Civil Rights movement. I was 16 when the Civil Rights Act passed. The people who opposed it are mostly dead.
Why is it so important to the Democratic party to keep hatred alive?
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I am not sure you read what I wrote. You are obviously not willing to accept upbringing as it affect people when they get older. Or reality as late as the 80’s. Or the early 2000’s when McCain was villified by SC Republicans for having a Black child. Or Jesse Helms ads about job losses to unqualified minorities. These are not one offs by local folks, these were candidates for national office. A those ads hit a nerve. Bush beat McCain in the primary.
Bide a Wee golf course, on public land leased to Harper was blatantly racist until the city ended the lease and open the course to all citizens. Exact time I have to verify, but it was in the mid to late 80’s or later.
Who is keeping hatred alive? These are long after 1965.
As far as I can tell, Democrats are not the problem. If you beat the crap out of someone long enough, they may very well fight back.
And you don’t like that, evidently.
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Nope.
Had the same poll been issued 10 years ago, I doubt that more than 5% would have said it was not OK to be White.
This animus is new, and only appeared, paradoxically, since Obama was elected with a majority of the White vote.
That is the poison of CRT and BLM, validating racial hatred.
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Well, “nope” settles the issue.
Typical and sad.
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…”validating racial hatred.”
According to YOU it doesn’t exists and never did?
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“ How is that relevant to the issue of encouraging racial strife by telling Blacks they are justified in hating Whites?”
How about telling Whites the same thing. You are blaming one side of the issue. “Thugs” kneeling at pro ball games. “Welfare queens”?
Again, typical.
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RE: “This animus is new, and only appeared, paradoxically, since Obama was elected with a majority of the White vote.”
I remember the racism of the 1960s. Today’s racism is a different animal.
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We may not have shot up supermarkets and churches as much then. Well churches were burned down then and that continued until the 90,s.
Why the lingering hatred.?
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“How is that relevant to the issue of encouraging racial strife by telling Blacks they are justified in hating Whites?”
What are you referring to? Something you saw on TikTok maybe? Who is telling Blacks they are justified in hating Whites? Donald Trump maybe when he racially slimed Barack Obama, but who else?
If you are referring to the actual history of this country as being too “divisive” to be taught then you are laughably out of line.
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“This animus is new . . .”
Some of it may well be.
That is what happens when a racist party runs on racist ideas and wins the Presidency. Donald Trump made his bones in the GOP spreading the racist lie that Barrack Obama is not an American. Republicans denounced President Obama for offering sympathy to black victims of white violence. The MAGA-Republican Party today LIES constantly about BLM and Critical Race Theory in order to capitalize on racial animus in their base. You do it all the time. The MAGA-Republicans are now trying to whitewash the history of slavery and racial injustice. They have even tried to stop the teaching of AP African-American History to interested high school students.
So, yes there may be more animus today. But it is the MAGA-Republicans whose slogan ought to be “Keep hate alive” who are the obvious reason for that. Not the Democrats. Not President Obama. Not President Biden.
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“So, you don’t believe this is a problem that is getting worse?”
I do.
And that is why MAGA-Republicans need to be kicked to the curb in every election until they straighten up and fly right. THEY are the people stirring up hatred to score political points in a party now dominated by out and out racists and homophobes. If you piss off thedeplorables you will get nowhere in MAGA primaries. You have to pander to them.
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Just imagine Psychology Today publishing the reciprocal
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culturally-speaking/202006/what-is-whiteness
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…” my favorite cartoon being cancelled.”
Pears before Swine is better. – IMO
Also, I read somewhere that Dilbert will be available through Adams’ website or soem such entity.
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“Just imagine Psychology Today”
It was a bullshit push poll with a tiny sample – about 150 black people – and ambiguous questions. Is that really so tough for you to understand? Or you just don’t want to? Really eager to believe that most black people hate you?
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