I never thought I'd call a high school valedictorian metal but that was before this kid called for school board members to resign over their participation in racist and queerphobic oppression targeting students during his valedicory address.
The kids are out there putting it all on the line, fighting not to be dragged into a theocratic future. Adults could learn a thing or two.
Calling for the school board to resign at graduation. Fuck yeah he did.
@kumarvibe @e_urq @mhoye I believe you’re thinking of the Orange County in CA, although one district there did ban CRT. This Orange County is in VA.
@tweetsjen @kumarvibe @e_urq @mhoye And typically they don't ban "CRT", that is lazy reporting or political rhetoric. They specifically ban things like teaching that "An individual, by virtue of the individual's nationality, color, ethnicity, race, or sex, is inherently racist, sexist," etc
I am super curious about the specific policies/etc that led to this speech.
@ech @kumarvibe @e_urq @mhoye they did actually state CRT in the one I mentioned, a school district in Orange County, CA. The speech in the OP was about Orange County, VA.
From the CA one, “Critical Race Theory or other similar frameworks will not be used as a source to guide how topics related to race will be taught;”
https://4.files.edl.io/6bf9/03/30/22/193209-3b2df49c-8afe-4f14-81c4-defb08b214f2.pdf
@tweetsjen That document borders on incoherent. I wonder how it plays out in practice.
@ech I assume it’d be difficult to teach parts of US history, such as Jim Crow laws, and discuss current events considering it “… defines Critical Race Theory as a practice of interrogating race and racism in society. CRT recognizes that race is not biologically real but is socially constructed and socially significant. It acknowledges that racism is embedded within systems and institutions that replicate racial inequality—codified in law, embedded in structures, and woven into public policy.”
@tweetsjen Well, I think you could: "racism is ... codified in law" is present tense, so you could teach about past tense racist laws.
When we talk about "racism is embedded within systems and institutions" we usually don't mean the normal-english meaning of the word "racism", so that doesn't seem like much of a problem, you could still teach about how legal, financial, etc institutions work together in unintended ways to make life hard for poor or marginalized people.
Or can you? I don't know how this policy is applied.
@ech it’s not about what you can get away with, but whether you want to risk losing your job. No, I don’t think you can teach about un/intentional present day consequences without risk. “I don’t know how this policy is applied” is part of the point, it’s like McCarthyism. Racism that’s embedded within systems and institutions is indeed a normal English meaning of racism and still happens. The KKK and other white supremacy groups still exist. A current event example: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-30/sheriff-clique-compton-station-executioners
@tweetsjen has anyone lost their job in that district? Have they stopped teaching about Jim Crow?
"Racism that’s embedded within systems and institutions is indeed a normal English meaning of racism" <-- depends what you mean by "racism", of course...
@ech teachers have been fired. You seem to be an apologist for these policies, but do you have any evidence that anyone was actually teaching that “An individual, by virtue of the individual's nationality, color, ethnicity, race, or sex, is inherently racist, sexist”? Yet, all this effort spent to combat imaginary insults and undermine teachers.
What do people mean by racism? Please see Merriam-Webster’s definition #2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism. I think it’s clear why you are picking this fight
@tweetsjen "do you have any evidence that anyone was actually teaching ..." – Just a tangential note about this: like I said, I don't, and I suspect it is vanishingly rare. But I think I can see where the fear that it is happening is coming from.
Authors like DiAngelo write things like "I know that because I was socialized as white in a racism-based society, I have a racist worldview, deep racial bias, racist patterns, and investments in the racist system that has elevated me." Now, I don't think she means this in terms of normal-english "racism", but instead she means her and Kendi's definition: as a white person she by default perpetuates "whiteness": being white as the default/norm, supporting systems that (unintentionally, even) benefit white people, (usually because they benefit rich people, but that's another topic).
However, taken out of context, it sure looks like she's trying to promote that idea, doesn't it. (I think this redefinition of the term is a rhetorical strategy. I doubt it works, but even if it does, as we can see here it causes confusion.)
