Tag: social justice

Commentary: Contaminating Children’s Minds and Ruining Their Future

American Greatness
Students Learning

In parts one and two of this series, we’ve examined how Democrats and their poisoned ideology have declared war on America’s children. If anyone has any doubt as to the intention of the Progressive left to poison the minds of children and ruin their future, look no further than America’s teachers’ unions, especially Randi Weingarten’s American Federation of Teachers.

Historically working in tandem with the Democrat Party, teachers’ unions are intense advocates for curriculum that does not include basic knowledge to get ahead in life. Rather than actual education, its agenda includes social justice propaganda, racial division, climate change dogma, and promotion of sexual deviancy.

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Most Law School Students Say Social Justice More Important Than Winning in Court: Poll

The College Fix
Yale Law School

About two out of every three law school students believe social justice is more important than obtaining a winning result for a client, according to the results of a recent survey of current law school students conducted by the Buckley Institute.

The national survey of 232 law school students asked: “Thinking about when you start practicing law, which of the following do you believe is more important: Ensuring that the client you represent gets a winning or favorable result or ensuring that the work you do advances a more socially just and equitable legal system?”

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Minnesota Public School System in Hot Water over DEI, Social Justice Trainings Kept Secret from Parents

Peter D'Abrosca
Teacher in Class

One Minnesota school system has found itself at the center of controversy over staff trainings regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), along with social justice. 

“Rochester Public Schools provides training that has staff participate in a “Social Justice Stretch” [and] staff are taught to embrace LGBTQ ideology with the ‘Genderbread Person,’ [and] staff are told not to tell parents about their children’s gender identity,” according to a watchdog group called Parents Defending Education (PDE). 

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BlackRock Touting Tennessee Investments in X Advertisement

Peter D'Abrosca
Blackrock Ad

In an advertisement on X, formerly Twitter, the hedge fund BlackRock is touting its investments in the state of Tennessee.

“BlackRock invested in the future of Tennessee,” the ad says. “On behalf of our clients, BlackRock has invested over $36.5 billion in public companies across Tennessee and nearly 1 in 12 Tennesseans benefit from the public pensions we manage.” 

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Commentary: America’s ‘Social Justice’ Nightmares Have Only Intensified

Admin
Pills

Seattle is in King County, Washington, where Joe Biden got 75 percent of the vote in the 2020 election. King County had more than 1,000 drug overdoses involving fentanyl in 2023. These two facts are almost certainly related, but which is the cause and which the effect? Or could it be that both (a) the tendency to vote for Democrats and (b) the addiction to dangerous drugs are caused by some unknown factor? Without a careful analysis of the available data to identify that unknown background factor, is it wrong to hazard a guess that the overdosing dopeheads and Democratic voters in King County are just plain stupid?

Beyond sarcastic put-downs, it behooves those interested in public policy to take a look at what’s going on in places like Seattle, where Democrats dominate and “progressive” ideas therefore advance unhindered by any effective opposition. In the case of King County’s skyrocketing drug overdoses — which increased nearly 50 percent in just the past year — local officials have declared the problem “a public health crisis.” However, fentanyl is illegal, which means that the overdoses are also indicative of a crime problem, and progressives are against putting criminals in prison.

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MTSU Teaches ‘Social Justice Journalism’ Track

Matthew Giffin
MTSU

Middle Tennessee State University offers a “Social Justice Journalism” track of study for undergraduate students.

The track is called the Social Justice Journalism concentration, which students can declare if they are pursuing a major in journalism. A concentration is a specialized track of study an undergraduate student can pursue within their declared major, according to Academic Info.

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Commentary: Teacher Union Power Is Still in Full Bloom

Admin
CTA Event

As a result of the Janus decision in 2018, no teacher or any public employee has to pay a penny to a union as a condition of employment. The good news is that since then, 20% of workers in non-right-to-work states have dropped out of their unions, according to a report from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The not-so-good news is that 70% of teachers nationwide are still willingly paying union dues, a great deal of which goes to politics, specifically to progressive candidates and causes.

The California Teachers Association has the honor of being the biggest political-spending teachers’ union in the country. A recent report reveals that between 1999 and 2020, the 300,000+ member union spent an astonishing $222,940,629 on politics – about $6 million was spent on the federal level, while almost $217 million stayed in the state – with 98.2% of all spending going to Democrats. The top advocacy issues for CTA include regulating charter schools, immigration reform, social justice, and a slew of almost exclusively left-wing causes.

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Arizona State University Psychology Professor Teaches That ‘White Guilt’ Can Be Used to Transform Students into Social Justice Activists

Rachel Alexander

Dr. Lisa B. Spanierman, a faculty member in the psychology department of Arizona State University, teaches that “white guilt” can be used to coerce students into social justice activism. The counseling and counseling psychology professor, and associate dean for academic personnel and faculty success in ASU’s College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, is developing a reputation for pushing this in higher education.

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Watchdog Group Reports on Ohio State University College of Medicine ‘Anti-Racism’ DEI Practices Post-Supreme Court Decision

Susan Berry, PhD

A comprehensive report by an organization that seeks to protect health care from discriminatory ideology has published a report that finds Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine is steeped in teaching medicine through the lens of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda, and notes the school will need to examine its admissions processes to align with the Supreme Court’s recent affirmative action ruling.

The report, by Do No Harm, is released in the wake of the Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, which struck down affirmative action policies in school admissions.

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Physicians Criticize CDC ‘Guidance’ on Biological Men ‘Chestfeeding’ Babies

Susan Berry, PhD

Doctors are reacting with shock and horror at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) “guidance” on how biological men who identify as women can “chestfeed” their babies.

Internationally-known physician Peter McCullough, M.D., wrote at his Substack column Courageous Discourse Tuesday that CDC has become a “laughing stock” over its “chestfeeding” guidance, “plunging to new lows” with its “ridiculous” statement.

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Iowa Republicans Advance Bill to Block Spending on ‘Woke Agenda’ in State Universities

Susan Berry, PhD

A bill passed by an Iowa House committee and currently making its way through the state House aims to put a stop to the woke agenda in state colleges and universities by prohibiting the schools from spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices and personnel working in roles associated with such ideology.

“For too long, the DEI bureaucracies at our institutions of higher education have been used to push a woke agenda on the faculty, staff and students,” Iowa state Rep. Taylor Collins told Fox News. “Under the guise of diversity and inclusion, these programs work to indoctrinate students into their preferred political ideology.”

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East Tennessee State University Medical School Dean Doubles Down on Equity Ideology in Response to Do No Harm Report

Susan Berry, PhD

In an internal email obtained by The Tennessee Star from two individuals asking for anonymity, the dean of medicine at East Tennessee State University’s Quillen College of Medicine ridiculed an article published last week highlighting how woke equity policies have infiltrated Tennessee medical schools, claiming it is a “fact” that such diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideology has been “repeatedly proven to improve outcomes for our patients and make[s] us better doctors.”

William Block, M.D., dean of medicine at East Tennessee State University’s Quillen College of Medicine, sent out an email, in which he defined the words “equity” as “the quality of being fair and impartial,” and “woke” as “aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).”

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Commentary: Stephen Curry’s Housing Hypocrisy

Admin

Stephen Curry is quite the guy. Professional athlete, philanthropist, and social justice advocate—is there anything he can’t do? Apparently there is, seeing as how the NBA player has difficulty practicing what he preaches.

Curry came under fire this week after it was revealed that he and his wife oppose the construction of multifamily housing near their $31 million Atherton mansion. Yet this shouldn’t surprise us. Hypocrisy is a defining trait for many wealthy liberals.

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Planned Parenthood Sex Educator Teaching Minors on TikTok to Use ‘Spicy Toys’ or Vegetables for Sexual Pleasure Under Fire

Susan Berry, PhD

The work of a Planned Parenthood sex educator whose viral TikTok videos instruct children and young teens to use “spicy toys” and fruits and vegetables for sexual pleasure has been condemned by a former sex educator also trained by the abortion industry giant.

Monica Cline, who, prior to her conversion, educated children as young as middle schoolers to engage in sex acts “safely,” said in comments sent to The Star News Network that Planned Parenthood sex educator and digital creator Mariah Caudillo is engaged in a “crime against children” paid for by American taxpayers.

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The American Historical Association’s Fight over the Present

Admin

The American Historical Association (AHA) is fixated on the present. 

At its recent annual meeting in Philadelphia, former AHA President James Sweet referenced his criticism of “presentism,” according to a report in The New York Times. Presentism, Sweet suggested in the August 2022 edition of AHA’s news magazine, leverages history to serve present-day social justice initiatives.

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California College Trustee Wants to ‘Cull’ Conservative Faculty, ‘Take ‘Em to the Slaughterhouse’

Just the News

A faculty-run think tank that challenges social justice orthodoxy at a California community college is so loathed by activists on and off campus that an elected official apparently suggested treating its leaders like his doomed livestock.

John Corkins, vice president of the Kern Community College District Board of Trustees, made the agricultural quip at a Dec. 13 meeting following public comments dominated by accusations of racism and harassment by the Renegade Institute for Liberty at Bakersfield College.

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Washington State School District Appoints Board Director Who Called Police ‘Pigs’ and Advocated Riots

Susan Berry, PhD

The Olympia school district in Washington State appointed a woman to the city school board who, in July 2021, was recorded in a video speaking to a crowd at the state capitol, shouting “f**k the police,” calling the police “pigs,” and urging the crowd to “tear everything up in this “f**king city.”

The school board unanimously agreed to appoint Talauna Reed to fill the director vacancy in District 2 following the resignation of Justin McKaughan at the end of August, a press statement said.

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Southern Poverty Law Center’s Action Fund Launches Two Organizations to Push for Diversity in Local Government

Just the News

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Action Fund announced on Monday the formation of two PACs to promote diversity in local government candidates across the South.

The New Southern Leaders federal Political Action Committee (PAC) and the New Southern Majority federal Independent Expenditure Committee (Super PAC) will “help recruit, support and drive greater diversity among political candidates running for local offices throughout the South,” according to an emailed press release.

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Commentary: The Stigmatization of the Ordinary

Admin

Over 60 years ago, we were introduced to the idea of “the two cultures” in higher education—that is, the growing rift in the academy between the humanities and the sciences, a rift wherein neither side understood the other, spoke to the other, or cared for the other. But this divide in the academy, real as it may be, is nothing compared to another great divide—the rift today between our common American culture and the culture of the academy itself.

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‘Obstructing Justice’: Report Reveals How Many Millions Soros Has Spent Getting Left-Wing Prosecutors into Office

Admin

Billionaire George Soros spent a staggering $40 million through “shell organizations, affiliates, and pass through committees” in the last decade to aid in electing 75 “social justice” prosecutors in half of the 50 most-populous cities in the U.S., according to a new report.

The 17-page report, compiled by the nonprofit Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (LELDF), says the billionaire steers money to candidates and his “robust support network” to get left-wing prosecutors elected. The 75 prosecutors, which include those in Dallas, San Antonio, New York City, Austin, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and more, represent over one-in-five people, or more than 72 million Americans, according to the report.

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Maine Democrat Governor’s ‘Climate Council’ Recommends Paying ‘Disadvantaged’ People to Attend Its Meetings

Susan Berry, PhD

The Equity Subcommittee of Maine Governor Janet Mills’ (D) Climate Council is recommending a plan to pay “disadvantaged” and “overburdened” state residents to attend its meetings because, according to its ideology, victims of systemic discrimination suffer greater impact from climate change than average Maine residents.

The Equity Subcommittee’s report, released in February, claims that some individuals in Maine, particularly those who are victims of “historical and systemic discrimination, underrepresentation, and isolation” are “more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than others.”

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Emory University, Claiming Racism, Drops Honorific Names of Two Alumni

Peter D'Abrosca

Emery University, Georgia’s largest private college, has decided to drop the honorofic names of two of its alumni, citing racism. 

“Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves will rename campus spaces and professorships honoring Robert Yerkes, a psychologist who vigorously supported eugenics, and L.Q.C. Lamar, who was a staunch defender of slavery,” a statement from the school said. “The Yerkes National Primate Research Center will be known as the Emory National Primate Research Center, effective June 1. Professorships in the Emory School of Law named after Lamar will become the Emory School of Law Distinguished Professors.”

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Professor, ‘Free Black Thought’ Co-Founder Discusses Why He Teaches English, Not ‘Social Justice’

Admin
Dr. Erec Smith of York College of Pennsylvania

Erec Smith is an associate professor of Rhetoric and Composition at York College of Pennsylvania. After experiencing cancel culture 2019, he has since become an advocate for viewpoint diversity, especially in the Black community.

In a June 2021 “On the Media” podcast, Smith discussed the incident that led him to be “canceled” in higher education.

He spoke to WNYC Studios’ Shamed and Confused podcast about “Feeling ‘canceled’ in Academia,” and was featured in a December 2021 segment on Reputation.Erec Smith is an associate professor of Rhetoric and Composition at York College of Pennsylvania. After experiencing cancel culture 2019, he has since become an advocate for viewpoint diversity, especially in the Black community.

In a June 2021 “On the Media” podcast, Smith discussed the incident that led him to be “canceled” in higher education.

He spoke to WNYC Studios’ Shamed and Confused podcast about “Feeling ‘canceled’ in Academia,” and was featured in a December 2021 segment on Reputation.

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University of Memphis Cancels Social Justice Initiative Following Backlash

Cooper Moran

The University of Memphis will cancel an initiative that encouraged faculty members to alter their current courses to incorporate “diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice” curriculum, according to a new report from the Washington Free Beacon and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.

The program, entitled “Eradicating Systemic Racism and Promoting Social Justice Initiative,” received widespread backlash from lawmakers that represent the state.

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Senator Marsha Blackburn Criticizes University of Memphis Course Changes

Cooper Moran

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Tuesday criticized the University of Memphis for awarding additional funds to educators as a part of their “Eradicating Systemic Racism and Promoting Social Justice Initiative.”

The new initiative will provide a $3,000 stipend to professors who alter their courses to incorporate “diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice” curriculum.

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Indianapolis Administrator Fired After Leaking School District’s Social Justice Initiatives

Admin

An Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) administrator was fired Monday for “sharing public files” with news outlets as well as recordings of a “Racial Justice Speaker Series” that was presented to students, according to a statement.

Tony Kinnett was fired from his job as District Science Coordinator & Instructional Coach for IPS for “Sharing that IPS recorded children in required racial justice sessions, not sending IPS the personal info of” two reporters, “quoting Dr. Payne’s racist comments to students” and for “sharing public files,” according to his Twitter.

Kinnett told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the HR team pulled him into several meetings that they repeatedly said were non-disciplinary, but he said at the meetings he was not allowed to speak freely, initially bring an attorney or record anything.

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Ohio State University Dodges Questions on Multi-Million Dollar Diversity Bureaucracy

Peter D'Abrosca
Ben Johnson

Ohio State University (OSU) was not very forthcoming Tuesday after the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) Mark J. Perry posted a report detailing the school’s spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucrats. 

According to the report, Perry claims that OSU has 132 staffers in administration roles focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), costing the Ohio taxpayer more than $13 million per year. 

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‘Woke’ Professor Fired After Mixing up Names of Black Students

Peter D'Abrosca

A professor at Fordham University in the Bronx has been terminated after showing off his “woke” credentials to students in order to excuse himself from mixing up the names of two black students. 

“A former lecturer in the English Department, Christopher Trogan, was terminated by Fordham on Oct. 25 after a series of communications with students that stemmed from an incident where he confused the names of two Black students,” The Fordham Observer, the school’s newspaper, said. 

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Minnesota Catholic School Offers ‘Social Justice Algebra’

Admin
Benilde-St. Margaret’s students gathered in a common area

Some students at Benilde-St. Margaret’s (BSM), a Catholic preparatory school for grades 7-12 in St. Louis Park, are actively working to weave “social justice” themes into the curriculum.

The school’s student newspaper, Knight Errant, published an article last Thursday which stated that social justice is “a key part of Catholic education,” though it did not make a necessary distinction between the historic meaning of the term and its contemporary 21st century meaning.

“BSM has committed to upholding the seven Catholic Social teachings in its strategic plan, and incorporating social justice into the BSM community is an important part of meeting that goal,” the article claims.

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Jordan Peterson Spots Another Woke College Math Course

Admin

Jordan Peterson, the famed psychology professor, recently pointed out that his institution, the University of Toronto, is offering a “Liberating Mathematics” class.

The course description argues that “progress” in the discipline has been “led in large part by women mathematicians, in particular Black women, Indigenous women, and women from visible minorities” who offer “a daring critique of traditional mathematics, re-imagining of mathematics culture, and more.”

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‘Everything’s About Race’ in the American Justice System, Warns Dershowitz

Admin

Alan Dershowitz, the famed law scholar and appellate lawyer, has a stark warning for judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers: America’s justice system is being corrupted by identity politics and critical race theory.

In an interview with Just the News, Dershowitz deplored the growing trend in recent criminal cases toward political agendas supplanting the neutral consideration of evidence and law that has been the lifeblood of U.S. jurisprudence for more than two centuries.

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Colleges Offer ‘Social Justice’ Math Classes for Students, Future Teachers

Admin

This school year, colleges around the country will teach students to use math to drive a “social justice” agenda. Campus Reform has found several courses, aimed both at math students and future teachers, that will teach math through social justice and social justice through math.

Central Washington University’s “Mathematics for Social Justice,” identified by Twitter user @OrwellNGoode, purports to teach students how, and why, to use math for social justice activism. The course description says, “The overarching goal of this course is for students to develop the ability and inclination to use mathematics to understand, and improve, the world around us, exploring social, political, and economic justice.” Students will use math and analysis to “draw conclusions concerning social justice issues,” “make and evaluate assumptions in a social justice context,” and “analyze and critique social justice claims and arguments.”

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Ohio Native Vivek Ramaswamy Blasts BlackRock CEO Larry Fink

Peter D'Abrosca

The founder and Executive Chairman of the biopharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences blasted BlackRock Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Larry Fink.

“Larry Fink claims to embrace ‘ESG.’ In practice, he does political favors for the CCP in return for market access to China and earns hefty fees from American workers who have no idea how he uses their assets to advance his own agenda. The face of the woke-industrial complex,” Vivek Ramaswamy said on Twitter.

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Commentary: The Great Parent Revolt

RealClearWire

As overreach in classrooms by progressive school administrators, nonprofits and the federal government has reached new heights, parents are stepping up to fight back.

Moms for Liberty, Informed Parents of California, EdFirstNC, NJ Parental Rights, No Left Turn in Education and Parents Against Critical Theory are just a few of the hundreds of new parent groups that have emerged across the country in recent months. Many parents have become education activists because of schools’ failure to bring children back into the classroom or their continued imposition of mask mandates.

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Minnesota Realtors Dropping ‘Master’ Bedroom Terminology to Be More Inclusive

Peter D'Abrosca

Real estate terminology is not immune to America’s social justice craze, and certain “discriminatory” terms like “master suite,” “man-cave,” and others are on their way out.

“There’s a hidden discriminatory piece that falls when you say ‘master’ bedroom,’” Jackie Berry, a realtor, who is also described as an “educator in racism and real estate continuing education” told The Minnesota Star-Tribune. “I’m a person of color and every time the term ‘master bedroom’ was used, I kept saying to myself, ‘I don’t like how it sounds.’ Now as I’m walking through a property, I’ll just say it’s the owners’ or primary suite.”

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Michigan University Among Universities Training Future Teachers to Push Critical Race Theory and Social Justice

Admin
School bus with "use your voice" on the windshield

As the controversy over Critical Race Theory rages across the country, several prominent teacher preparation programs are training future teachers to use Critical Race Theory in the classroom.  Several of the nation’s largest teacher preparation programs are training future teachers to use Critical Race Theory in the classroom.

Campus Reform reviewed course descriptions for upcoming classes in college teacher training programs at several major universities. Many intentionally prepare students to use progressive ideology in their own classrooms. Several use Critical Race Theory and social justice as a starting point for learning how to teach.

Among those courses are the University of North Carolina education department’s class, “”Critical Race Theory: History, Research, and Practice.” The course will cover how Critical Race Theory connects to “LatCrit Theory, AsianCrit, QueerCrit, TribalCrit, and Critical Race Feminism,” those terms being more recent areas of study that draw heavily from Critical Race Theory.

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Knox County Schools Approved East Tennessee State University Dual Enrollment Course That Taught Critical Race Theory

Corinne Murdock
ETSU Library

Knox County Schools (KCS) approved a dual enrollment course from East Tennessee State University (ETSU) that has historically taught critical race theory. The KCS board of education approved the course offering, “SOWK 1030: Cultural Diversity,” as part of a larger list of ETSU dual enrollment courses during their meeting last week.

The course is characterized as pre-professional social work curriculum focused on social justice topics such as “diversity within diversity,” referring to intersectionality – a concept coined by preeminent critical race theory scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw.

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Knoxville City Council Considering Zero-Tolerance Policy on Racism and Sexism by Any City Employee

Corinne Murdock

Knoxville City Council will be considering a zero-tolerance policy on racism and sexism displayed by any city employee.

Council member Amelia Parker announced that she is drafting the policy. This latest initiative follows a similar policy proposed in the wake of George Floyd’s death last year by community activists, and agreed upon by Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon. That initiative never came to fruition. Concerning last year’s similar proposal, Parker said in an email that the lack of follow-through from Kincannon was disappointing.

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Vanderbilt University Joined Consortium to Study Legacy of Slavery, Racial Injustice

Corinne Murdock

Vanderbilt University announced last month that it joined the Universities Studying Slavery (USS) consortium to further fight racial injustice and foster inclusivity on campus. According to the USS website, consortium membership means Vanderbilt University will probe its history for slavery or racism.

Chancellor Daniel Diermeier praised Vanderbilt University’s decision to further engage in introspection on its systemic inequity and racism.

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Memphis City Council Withdraws Ordinance for ‘Environmental Justice’

Corinne Murdock

Memphis City Council reversed course on an ordinance to promote environmental justice, in addition to protecting public health and the environment. The ordinance had been on hold from previous council meetings dating back to April, though it was on its third and final reading when it was withdrawn during Tuesday’s meeting. No discussion or explanation accompanied the announcement of the ordinance’s withdrawal. 

Ordinance No. 5782 concerned the groundwater in the Memphis Sand Aquifer that supplies drinking water for Memphis. Council members Edmund Ford,and Jeff Warren sponsored the ordinance.

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Arizona State University Debuts New Degree in Social Justice Activism

Corinne Murdock

Arizona State University (ASU) debuted a new undergraduate degree geared toward social justice activism, called community development. The course description describes education on the basics of activism, citing concepts like diversity, inclusivity, sustainability, equity, and social and environmental justice. If students enjoy studying community development, they may also earn a graduate degree in it.

“The BA program in community development equips students with tools to collaborate with, empower and educate diverse community constituents by drawing on grassroots and inclusive frameworks such as sustainable development, social and environmental justice, participatory democracy, social and economic equity and social accounting,” reads the course description.

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