Tag: social justice

Tennessee Attorney Sues School District for Targeting, Segregating White Teachers in ‘Antiracist Training’ and Calling Them ‘Racist’ If They Don’t Comply

Corinne Murdock
Braden Boucek

Tennessee attorney Braden Boucek is representing a teacher in a newly-announced lawsuit against a school district for alleged egregious civil rights violations. Boucek is the director of litigation at the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), who filed on behalf of the teacher on Tuesday.

The school district, Evanston-Skokie School District 65 (District 65) in Illinois, reportedly requires teachers to undergo “antiracist training” within 2 years. As evidenced by the lawsuit, the training instructs teachers to accept that white individuals are “loud, authoritative, and controlling;” understand that being “less white” is “less racially oppressive;” acknowledge that “white identity is inherently racist;” denounce “white privilege;” and participate in “privilege walks” where they must stand in line and separate themselves according to statements relating to their race or color. After training, the district mandates teachers to relay this information to students. If teachers show any semblance of disagreement with these teachings or directives, then the district labels them as racist.

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Senator Blackburn Introduces Bill to Defund 1619 Project Curriculum

Corinne Murdock

This week, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) assisted in the introduction of a bill to prohibit federal funding for schools using the 1619 Project as curriculum. The Saving American History Act also notes that federal funds couldn’t be used by school boards and other local educational agencies to support the teaching of the 1619 Project.

The act explained that the respective secretaries of Education, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Defense, and Interior would determine the cost of teaching the 1619 Project – including planning and teaching time. This determination would come from pre-established formulas. No reductions would affect the free and reduced price school lunch program, or any low-income student programs, or students with disabilities. 

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Tennessee Educators Marched Against Critical Race Theory Ban Last Weekend; Event Organized by Black Lives Matter

Corinne Murdock

Last weekend, around 50 Tennessee educators marched through Memphis to oppose the state’s new ban on critical race theory in the “Downtown Memphis Solidarity Walk.” The educators gathered at the site where a historical slave market run by Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest once stood, then walked by the Schools for Freedman historical marker and the Memphis Massacre marker before concluding at the National Civil Rights Museum. 

The march was part of a national pledge called “Day of Action.” The effort was organized by Black Lives Matter (BLM) At School, a national coalition with loose ties to the original BLM, and the Zinn Education Project, which provides supplemental curriculum for “a more accurate, complex, and engaging” version of U.S. history. Some of their materials include information on the 1619 Project, reparations, environmental racism, and antiracism.

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Commentary: Fighting Back in a Woke World of Cancel Culture

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Empty office

By now there are enough “cancel culture” stories to fill volumes. After my own story about standing up to a woke mob – and succeeding – went viral on Twitter, I decided to speak out, because I am convinced that Americans need more encouraging stories about standing up to cancel culture, and information on how they can do it themselves.

In order to withstand attacks, you’ll need to be armed with an understanding of the ideas in play, and the courage to stand up to bullies. I hope my story can help give you both.

My story began in 2010, when my husband and I founded a nonprofit organization that trains people around the world who are providing care for survivors of trauma. We were pleased with the success of our organization for the first several years, but around 2016, we noticed a change.

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Metro City Council Resolutions Propose to Make June ‘Nashville Pride Month,’ One Week in May ‘Black Restaurant Week’

Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville City Council is considering two resolutions, one declaring June to be “Nashville Pride Month” and the other reserving a week in May as “Black Restaurant Week.”

The first resolution declared that LGBTQ+ communities add to the Metro area’s quality of life. The resolution said that it would also recognize the 33rd anniversary of the first Nashville Pride event. If adopted, the Nashville Pride Board of Directors would receive an official copy of the resolution. 

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Tennessee General Assembly Passes Bill Banning Critical Race Theory Tenets in K-12 Schools

Corinne Murdock
Classroom of students.

The Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill effectively banning critical race theory (CRT) from K-12 education. The legislature had to create a conference committee on Wednesday to resolve the legislature’s conflict on amending language effectively banning CRT in schools. That conference committee not only approved the ban – they added onto the ban. In addition to the original language of the bill outlining and banning 14 tenets of CRT, The Tennessee Star was informed by State Senator Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) that the conference committee report added on three tenets. In effect, these tenets further defined the prohibited conclusions typically advanced by CRT.

“(12) The rule of law does not exist, but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups; (13) All Americans are not created equal and are not endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; or (14) Governments should deny to any person with the government’s jurisdiction the equal protection of the law[,]” read the added provisions.

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Tennessee Senate Passed Bill to Bar Discrimination Based on Certain Hairstyles; House Deferred to 2022

Corinne Murdock

The Tennessee Senate passed a bill determining that discrimination shouldn’t occur based on certain hairstyles. The “CROWN Act: Creating Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair” would place “protective hairstyle,” a reference to styling of Afro-textured hair, within the Human Rights chapter of the Tennessee Code. Ultimately, the bill would prevent discrimination based on hairstyles such as braids, dreadlocks, cornrows, or Afros. Enactment of this legislation likely won’t come soon, however: the Tennessee House deferred action on this bill until 2022.

State Senator Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) first introduced the CROWN Act, but the idea didn’t originate with her. A coalition dedicated to ending “hair discrimination” is advancing this type of legislation throughout the country. The coalition consists of Dove, the personal care brand, and several social justice organizations: National Urban League, Color of Change, and the Western Center on Law and Poverty. However, the Tennessee Senate version differs slightly from the model legislation. Tennessee senators struck a provision including race as a factor for determining discrimination.

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Tennessee Legislature Moves to Ban Critical Race Theory from K-12 Schools

Corinne Murdock
State Representative John Ragan

Critical race theory (CRT) should be banned from Tennessee’s schools, according to an amended bill pending a final hearing in the Senate. Although the words “critical race theory” don’t appear in the amendment, it does address CRT tenets at length.

The bill now prohibits schools from using curriculum or any supplemental materials that promote conclusions of hierarchies or prejudices based on race or sex, or depict the United States as “fundamentally or irredeemably racist or sexist” and therefore worthy of overthrow. If any school violates these provisions, the Education Commissioner may withhold any amount of state funding from that school. These provisions appear at the tail end of the 14-page bill.

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Knoxville Mayor Allots $100k for African American Equity Restoration Task Force

Corinne Murdock

Knoxville’s newly-established African American Equity Restoration Task Force was allotted $100,000 in the latest city budget. Mayor Indya Kincannon highlighted this task force as one of their biggest diversity initiatives. 

That is one tenth of a percent of what Kincannon projected the task force may receive. At the end of January,  The Tennessee Star reported projections that the task force may receive $100 million in government grants over the next seven years.

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Florida House Passes Bipartisan Police Reform Bill

Grant Holcomb

The Florida House passed HB 7051 unanimously, a police reform bill, designed to be a bipartisan, compromise piece of legislation satisfying the requests of conservatives as well as social justice advocates.

One of the main staples of the bill is amending current use-of-force protocol for law enforcement officers. Each police force and law enforcement agency in the state will now be required to have a use-of-force standard. This would, in essence, create a statewide minimum standard, including methods to de-escalate situations. Chokeholds are banned unless the officer “perceives an immediate threat of serious bodily injury or death.” If another officer is witnessing excessive use of force, they will now be required to intervene.

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Tennessee Tech Professors Defend Their Flyers Threatening Turning Point USA Advisor, Students as Free Speech in Exclusive Radio Interview

Corinne Murdock
Rude Pundit

The two Tennessee Tech (TTU) professors who posted flyers threatening a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) advisor and students defended their actions in a radio interview on Monday. They claimed it constituted free speech.

The professors in question are TTU Department of Foreign Languages Associate Professor Dr. Julia Gruber and English instructor in English and religious studies Andrew Smith. The Rude Pundit host Lee Papa conducted an hour-long interview with Smith and Gruber. Papa facilitated discuss over the possibility that Tennessee Tech would punish the professors for posting the flyers. 

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Local Businessman Tim Kelly Elected Mayor of Chattanooga

Corinne Murdock

Chattanooga’s new mayor-elect, Tim Kelly, was determined the winner of the runoff election on Tuesday evening. Kelly secured 60 percent of the votes over former River City Company President and CEO Kim White.

In his victory speech, Kelly stated that this election marked the beginning of achieving social justice. He said that his first actions would be to establish a COVID-19 response team and address racial disparities. 

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Vanderbilt Investigates Student Government Election After White, Jewish Candidate Maligned

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Student Jordan Gould

Vanderbilt University’s Equal Opportunity and Access office is investigating formal complaints related to its recent student government election, in which a white, Jewish candidate says he faced cyberbullying and defamation.

Student Jordan Gould published a column in Medium last week headlined “When the Social Justice Mob Came for Me” that described how he was called a “white supremacist and a racist confederate” by peers as he ran for student government president.

“We have received several formal complaints related to the student government election and our Equal Opportunity and Access office is investigating these,” Vanderbilt’s spokesperson Damon Maida told The College Fix via email on Friday.

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Ohio State to Hire 50 Professors Focused on Social and Racial Justice

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Ohio State President Kristina Johnson

Ohio State University recently announced it plans to hire 50 faculty members focused on addressing social equity and racial disparities.

The news comes as an economics professor and higher education watchdog calculated that the public university currently employs 150 diversity officials at a cost of $12 million annually.

In a 2021 state of the university address, President Kristina Johnson stated last month that she was encouraged by the Task Force on Racism and Racial Inequities to hire 150 new faculty within a new initiative called RAISE, which stands for race, inclusion and social equity.

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University Abruptly Suspends Diversity Classes: ‘Students Have Been Humiliated and Degraded’

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Amid rumors of a video that shows a student being targeted during a diversity lesson at Boise State University, administrators have abruptly suspended all of the school’s general education classes called “University Foundations 200: Foundations of Ethics and Diversity.”

“We have been made aware of a series of concerns, culminating in allegations that a student or students have been humiliated and degraded in class on our campus for their beliefs and values,” states a March 16 memo from President Marlene Tromp to the campus community.

“This is never acceptable; it is not what Boise State stands for; and we will not tolerate this behavior,” Tromp stated. “…Given the weight of cumulative concerns, we have determined that, effective immediately, we must suspend UF 200.”

She goes on to note that academic leadership will determine next steps “to ensure that everyone is still able to complete the course.”

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Social Justice Cliques: Inside Tennessee’s Community Oversight Boards and Their Relationships with Local Police Departments

Corinne Murdock

Any time an officer-involved shooting or alleged police misconduct occurs, community oversight boards are thrust center stage. In response to activists’ social justice demands over the years, some of Tennessee’s major cities – like Memphis, Knoxville, and Nashville – have established versions of community oversight boards to review police misconduct and accountability. It comes as no surprise, then, that the majority within these community oversight boards share similar social justice inclinations. 

A large portion of members’ concerns has to do with race, such as racial profiling in arrests or traffic stops, or concerning officer-involved shootings. In its latest meeting, Knoxville’s community oversight board expressed surprise that no racial discrimination claims were filed per their quarterly report. Other popular topics include equity, restorative justice, immigration, and mental health.

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Commentary: Critical Race Theory as a Leftist Hammer

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You have to hand it to the Left: they are relentless and always at war on a thousand fronts. As my father once told me when he was in Congress, “The shame is our people come and go, while evil never sleeps.” As I have pointed out, leftists are on the level of religious zealots; politics and government are their religion, the vehicle by which perfection and utopia will be achieved in this world. 

The worst that can be said about many on the Right, however, is that they are just careerists. Most are nine to five types on weekdays and politics is not a religion for them. They consider politics a necessary evil. So if it seems like the Left is always on the move, it’s because politics is a lifestyle for them and they fully intend to reshape this country into their vision for it, everything else be damned.

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Metro Nashville City Council Votes Exclusively for Social Justice Proponents to Serve on Community Oversight Board

Corinne Murdock

The Community Oversight Board (COB) received four new members – all bringing similar perspectives and agendas concerning police. Metro Nashville City Council voted on the nominees during a meeting on Tuesday.

None of the nominees from the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) – former mayoral candidate Dr. Carol Swain, former FOP President Mark Wynn, community members Mary Byrd and Brandy Holloway – were selected. Of all the votes cast, Holloway received no votes, Byrd only received one, Swain only received two, and Wynn received ten.

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Memphis City Council Entertains Black Lives Matter, Other Activist Demands for Wealth Equity, Minimum Wage, Representation

Corinne Murdock

Memphis City Council devoted the first portion of its Tuesday meeting to hearing the demands of activists. The proposals were a part of a plan called “From Protest to Progress,” organized and sponsored by the Greater Memphis Chamber (GMC). GMC President and CEO Beverly Robertson presented the proposals to the council during Tuesday’s meeting. 

A total of five activist groups, eleven faith-based organizations, around two dozen companies, and one school system are involved. The activist groups are the Peace & Justice Center, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Coalition of Concerned Citizens (C3), Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH), and Up the Vote. Shelby County Schools is represented in the initiative through their Minority and Women Business Enterprises (MWBE) Manager, Joyce Douglas.

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New Bill Would Allow Tennessee’s Government Employees to Opt Out from Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Trainings

Corinne Murdock

Tennessee’s government employees may be entitled to opt out of certain trainings, seminars, or educational courses if it violates their morals, ethics, values, or religious beliefs. According to a set of companion bills introduced last month, the exemption would be enforced across all levels of government throughout the state.

Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma) issued the first version of the bill, followed less than a week later by Representative Glen Casada (R-Franklin) issuing a companion bill.

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Knoxville’s African American Equity Restoration Task Force: $100 Million to Solve Racial Inequity

Corinne Murdock

This year, Knoxville will deploy an African American Equity Restoration Task Force to solve “disparity and disenfranchisement in Black communities.” The city created the task force in mid-December at the request of Vice Mayor Gwen McKenzie, as part of a larger resolution issuing an apology for the city’s past impacts on Black people.

According to the City Council website, the task force will include business, community, financial, education, faith, healthcare, youth, and city leaders capable to create policy and programs for the city. The Community Empowerment Department will assist the task force in their assigned task. Additionally, the city stated that the task force’s recommendations may be afforded up to $100 million in government grants over the next seven years.

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University of Tennessee Chattanooga Hosts ‘White Allies and Accountability’ Lecture

Corinne Murdock

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) is kicking off their spring semester focus on social justice with a discussion of white allyship and accountability. The virtual session, titled, “Moving Forward Together: White Allies and Accountability,” is part of Moving Our Campus (MOC) Forward, a series of events and talks focused on equity and inclusion. Facilitators mentioned that this first session falls within the overarching theme for their 2020-2021 schedule: dismantling racism.

The event host, Dr. Beth Douthirt-Cohen, is a facilitator at the Social Justice Training Institute (SJTI) and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Executive Director at Frederick Community College.

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Georgia State Representative Kendrick Introduces Bills to ‘Promote Black Wealth’

Corinne Murdock

State Representative Dar’shun Kendrick (D-Lithonia) introduced five bills that are aimed at increasing “Black wealth.” The bills propose racial compositions on Georgia corporations receiving state tax credits; reinstatement of the “Angel Investor” tax credit and qualifying historically Black colleges and universities (HCBU) as eligible; tax credits for HBCU entrepreneurship programs; racially diversify all boards, commissions, councils, or committees to reflect the state’s demographics; and annual reports on wealth within certain demographics.

In a press release, Kendrick claimed that Black communities are systemically marginalized within the economy. She added that the pandemic has only compounded the matter.

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Social Justice Favorites Including LGBT+, Climate Change Take a Prominent Role in the New Draft of Social Studies Standards in Minnesota

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Minnesota’s newly proposed social studies standards for public schools place significant emphasis on race, gender, climate change and LGBT issues.

Under the first draft of the proposed standards, students will be asked to “develop a respectful awareness about how ideas and norms about gender have changed over time,” accept that “some forms of slavery continued even after emancipation” and learn how the “fight for social justice” continues today.

Students will also be asked to “analyze how resistance movements in the U.S. have organized and responded to oppression,” and “imagine and work toward an equitable and caring future” in keeping with the social justice model.

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‘Intentional Erasure’: Black Lives Matter Fractures Over Power as Chapters Split from Network

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Black Lives Matter has fractured in recent weeks as local chapters allege national leaders have withheld funding while shifting the direction of the movement.

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement was founded on the premise of empowering local chapters and activists on the ground, but in recent months those leaders have complained national leadership is centralizing power, according to Politico. Ten local chapters of the BLM Global Network Foundation announced Nov. 30 that they would sever ties with national leadership in a statement entitled “It is Time for Accountability.”

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Virginia Department of Education Leader Accused of Appropriating Government Resources to Speak on Equity at Loudoun County Public Schools

Corinne Murdock

Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) Director of Equity and Community Engagement Leah Dozier Walker will moderate a Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) event on equity. Walker also advocates other issues including Black Lives Matter, anti-racism, critical race theory, and social justice. 

Earlier this year, Virginia Inspector General Michael Westfall accused Walker of appropriating government resources to set up her private consulting business. Westfall noted in his report that Walker had accumulated nearly 100 hours of unexplained absences the previous year, as well as offered consulting services that were almost the same as her state duties.

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Kamala Harris Goes ‘Full Blown Marxist’ in Campaign Ad

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by Debra Heine   The Biden campaign is taking some heat after vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris unabashedly promoted the communist principle of equality of outcome in a campaign ad, rather than the American ideal of equality of opportunity. The animated video, shared by Sen. Harris (D-Calif.) on Twitter Sunday, begins with two men — one white and one black —  staring up at a mountain they both want to climb. Both men are given the same length rope, but the white man is easily able to reach his rope while the black man is stuck at the bottom of a cliff, unable to reach his rope. Harris begins by saying, “So there’s a big difference between equality and equity. Equality suggests, ‘oh, everyone should get the same amount.’” “The problem with that [is] not everybody’s starting out from the same place. So if we’re all getting the same amount but you started out back there and I started out over here, we could get the same amount, but you’re still going to be that far back behind me,” she said, as the white man scrambles up the mountain while the black man watches sadly from below. As Harris continues,…

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‘Violence Interrupter’ Organization Gideon’s Army Glorifies Walter Wallace’s Death

Corinne Murdock

Following Walter Wallace Jr.’s death, Gideon’s Army posted a picture that read “WALTER WALLACE: REST IN POWER.” Wallace reportedly was shot while charging at police with a knife, due to a psychotic episode. Following Wallace’s death, riots broke out in Philadelphia and across the nation.
Gideon’s Army is an organization that seeks to eliminate modern police systems entirely and replace them with “violence interrupters” and “trauma officers.” According to their site, these officials would provide conflict resolution and counseling to reduce crime.

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Staunton City Schools Latest to Follow Growing Trend of Creating ‘Equity Committees’

Corinne Murdock

Staunton City Schools (SCS) are developing an equity committee to solve achievement and opportunity disparities between students. The twenty members of the committee will focus on “ensuring equitable practices” within curriculum, teaching, student and parent experiences, school policies, and hiring.
Half of the committee will be comprised of individuals involved in the school, with the other half from the surrounding community.

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Big 12 Athletic Conference Makes Push for Social Justice During Fall Season

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As college football season is well underway, the Big 12 conference announced that it will be going all-out on social justice messaging with public announcements, scoreboard messages, and more. This comes amid a nationwide push for BLM messaging in sports.

According to ESPN, the conference made the decision in early September, which includes the college allowing athletes wearing social justice patches on uniforms. Conference commissioner Bob Bowlsby said that the conference wants to use “our platforms” to make a difference.

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Fairfax County Public Schools Paid ‘Critical Race’ and ‘Antiracism’ Theorist Ibram Kendi $20,000 for One-Hour Virtual Presentation

Corinne Murdock

Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) paid critical race theorist Ibram X. Kendi $20,000 to give an hour-long virtual presentation. Kendi is the bestselling author of “How to Be Antiracist,” a book of circular definitions used to explain critical race theory.

The average teaching assistant earns $23,000 a year; the staff spent nearly that much for a 45-minute lecture and 15-minute Q&A. 

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Dolphins Announce They Will Stay Inside Locker Room During Both National Anthems

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Miami Dolphins announced that they will remain in the team’s locker room for both national anthems this Sunday ahead of their regular-season opener against the New England Patriots, Fox News reports.

There will be no kneeling for the Dolphins on the sidelines this season. The players shared their thoughts in a video Thursday and read a message demanding the NFL use its money and influence to make social changes.

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Minnesotan Public University Grants $92K to ‘Decolonize Educators’

Corinne Murdock

Bemidji State University will grant $92,000 for a “Decolonizing Educators” program. The university announced its decision to fund these scholarships in a press release last week.

The funds come from a Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) initiative called “Minnesota Indian Teaching Training Program” (MITTP). The state program administers scholarships to enrolled members of federally-recognized tribes, or first- or second-degree descendants. MITTP is currently available through six universities and colleges.

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NBA Promises $300 Million Towards New Foundation to Help Black Community

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The National Basketball League Board of Governors announced plans Thursday to give $300 million over the next decade towards a new foundation supporting economic opportunities for black communities.

The NBA will donate $30 million each year for the next ten years towards the NBA Foundation, according to an NBA press release. The 30 NBA teams will each donate $1 million every year to the fund, NBC News reported.

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Commentary: Time to Adopt a ‘Second Tower’ Mentality

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Few who were alive at the time can forget the moment the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Over the intervening 18 minutes, people remarked that there were 10,000 people in those buildings on any given workday. And some talked about a B-25 that crashed into the Empire State Building in dense fog in 1945. Nearly all were wondering how those kinds of accidents can still happen in the 21st century. In those tense minutes, everyone knew something was terribly wrong, but they were in a First Tower Mentality.

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Commentary: Social Justice Cancels Social Distancing

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And just like that, social distancing is canceled. At least for some.

After submitting to house arrest orders for the past three months in order to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, Americans may have noticed a slight change in the rules this past week. There are no duct-taped outlines on city streets telling unruly mobs protesting the death of George Floyd where to stand. Rioters are not instructed to loot stores in opposite directions on downtown streets in order to avoid contact. Face coverings are optional but certainly useful when attempting to avoid identification by local law enforcement.

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Commentary: This Is What Social Justice Looks Like

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If you did not grasp what the amorphous words “social justice” look like in a concrete sense, then after seeing so many examples of it this weekend defining the phrase no longer requires explanation. Live on television, I saw people social justicing at Ross Dress for Less, Aldi, Alexander McQueen, Target, the Apple Store, Hot Topic, Adidas Originals, Target, and Best Buy.

Protesters, strangely enough, also enthusiastically social justiced at Family Dollar. Clearly not all social justicers, despite their outlook’s stated egalitarianism, are created equal.

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Commentary: Social Justice Is at Odds with American Ideas of Justice

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by Christopher Roach   What is justice? This complicated question is the subject of much study by philosophers, lawyers, clergy, and laymen. It is often easier to determine the metes and bounds of justice from what it is not than to define what it is in the abstract. Unfair procedures, treating the rich differently from the poor, racial discrimination, or the infusion of bribery and perjury into criminal procedures strike almost everyone as forms of injustice. Likewise, light punishments for serious crimes or excessive punishments for minor ones all have the stench of injustice. In criminal matters, justice chiefly requires that the guilty are punished and the innocent go free. Individualized Justice This understanding stems from the traditions of western justice, particularly the Anglo-American variety, which places a premium on the rights of the individual and the importance of fair procedures. This is why our Constitution allows one the right to remain silent and prohibits the use of illegally-obtained evidence, while permitting the accused a defense counsel and a trial by jury. These procedures were the products of centuries of experimentation. They reflect the concern not only with justice but also the fear of the “run-amuck” majority, i.e., the mob.…

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North Carolina Middle School Promotes ‘Black Lives Matter In School Week of Action’ to Staff

A.P. Dillon

A text message sent out to staffers of a middle school in Wake County, North Carolina is promoting the upcoming “Black Lives Matter In Schools” week of action. Staffers at the West Cary Middle School were sent a text message by Assistant Principal Charlesa Peoples with information about the week of February 4th being “Black Lives Matter In Schools” week of action. “Yes, I know all lives matter,” wrote Peoples in the text message. “But the week of February 4th is focused specifically on our black students ok? “And if we don’t see why this is important, we are part of the problem,” Peoples wrote. The text message sent to West Cary Middle staffers also informed teachers that they could obtain materials such as the “13 guiding principles of Black Lives Matter” from the “Teaching Tolerance” website, which is a project of the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The “13 guiding principles” have been assigned to activities throughout the week of action: Monday: Restorative justice, empathy and loving engagement Tuesday: Diversity and globalism Wednesday: Trans-affirming, queer-affirming and collective value Thursday: Intergenerational, black families and black villages Friday: Black women and unapologetically black The website BlackLivesMatterAtSchool.com provides a ‘starter kit’ for teachers and…

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Don Barnett Commentary: Things That Are Taken Down After Dark

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by Don Barnett   There is little argument that the Memphis City Council pulled a fast one in its decision to circumvent state law by selling two of its city parks to a nonprofit, which then immediately removed statues of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, President Jefferson Davis and the uncontroversial Capt. J. Harvey Mathes on December 20, 2017. The removal had been a point of contention for years and much of the political class applauded the novel approach to the problem. It is worth remembering, however, that removal booster Memphis Rep. Steve Cohen voted against the removal of the Forrest statue in 1984 when he was on the Memphis city council. Direct descendants of Nathan Bedford Forrest filed a lawsuit on Dec 17, 2018 against the city of Memphis over the removal of the statue from the gravesite of the Confederate general, his wife and, likely, others who were interred on the grounds earlier. It may be the first time that living descendants of a national historical figure have filed such a suit to protect their ancestor’s grave site. The chances of open discussion of the matter are looking pretty dim based on media handling of the issue so…

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‘Justice’ is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year

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Racial justice. Obstruction of justice. Social justice. The Justice Department. Merriam-Webster has chosen “justice” as its 2018 word of the year, driven by the churning news cycle over months and months. The word follows “toxic,” picked by Oxford Dictionaries, and “misinformation,” plucked by Dictonary.com. Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, told The Associated Press ahead of Monday’s announcement that “justice” consistently bubbled into the top 20 or 30 lookups on the company’s website, spiking at times due to specific events but also skating close to the surface for much of the year. While it’s one of those common words people likely know how to spell and use correctly in a sentence, Sokolowski pointed to other reasons that drive search traffic. Among them is an attempt to focus a train of thought around a philosophical problem, or to seek aspirational motivation. Such well-known words are often among the most looked up every year, including those that are slightly abstract, including “love,” he said. The designation for “justice” came soon after President Trump’s one-time fixer, Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in prison for crimes that included arranging the payment of hush money to conceal his boss’ alleged sexual affairs. He…

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Ocasio-Cortez Sees Global Warming as Way to Push Social and Racial Agenda

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by Michael Bastasch   Democratic Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said the “Green New Deal” plan she supports would be used to achieve liberal “economic, social and racial justice” goals along with fighting global warming. “We can use the transition to 100 percent energy as the vehicle to truly deliver and establish economic, social and racial justice in the United States of America,” Ocasio-Cortez said at a Tuesday panel discussion alongside Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and environmental activist Bill McKibben. The soon-to-be New York representative has spent her time in Washington, D.C. promoting a “Green New Deal” to transition the U.S. to 100 percent green energy. Ocasio-Cortez even joined protesters occupying House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office in support of the plan. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest person elected to Congress, is calling for a climate change revolution alongside potential 2020 presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders pic.twitter.com/0oxh0g0etl — The Guardian (@guardian) December 5, 2018 Pelosi wants to bring global warming to the forefront when Democrats take control of the House in 2018, but Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders and a handful of other Democrats want to go even further. While light on details, proponents said the “Green New Deal” could create millions of jobs in…

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Commentary: Social Justice Teaching Has Invaded Business Schools

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by George Leef   Many professors cannot resist the temptation to smuggle their personal beliefs into the courses they teach. As long as those beliefs are “progressive,” there is little chance that higher-ups in their departments or top administrators will try to rein them in. For example, engineering has been infiltrated by activists who are concerned about social justice concerns, not just how to best design objects for performance and safety, as Michigan State professor Indrek Wichman pointed out. A recent article published on Inside Higher Ed, “B-Schools That Don’t Boast About Billionaire Alumni,” similarly informs us that some business school professors have decided that they should teach students about their own social justice concerns, not just how to best manage an enterprise. Writer Marjorie Valbrun explains that increasing academic concern about income inequality is justified because, in the words of the leftist Institute for Policy Studies, income inequality “has been growing markedly by every major statistical measure for some 30 years.” In fact, there is good reason to doubt that income in the United States is distributed much differently that in other major industrial nations. Former Senator Phil Gramm and John Early (former commissioner in the Bureau of Labor Statistics) explained in this…

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