In the hopes of encouraging a more civil, and illuminating, discourse, here is another episode of William F. Buckley, Jr.’s “Firing Line”.
Back in the 1970s, when conservatism was scarce and left-liberalism was spreading everywhere, William F. Buckly, Jr. asked what the practical limits of liberalism were with Gov. Jerry Brown, Manuel Valencia, Bruce Keppel, and Glen Sparrow.
Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.
The focus this time: Only an “antiracist” teacher could believe in “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”
First, a little mood music:
Carrying on…
Centennial Elementary public school in Denver is promoting a “families of color playground night” where non-White parents can meet and chat free from any icky White people. Oh, and the school fully supports this and said they’d do it again. Moreover:
“Denver Public Schools […said] that black families at one of the district’s elementary schools requested that the school provide a ‘families of color playground night’ for black families to meet other black families.
“A spokesperson for Denver Public Schools said that Centennial Elementary school leaders met with “some of the Black families whose children attend” Denver Public Schools (DPS) and they requested a separate, segregated space to meet one another.
“‘Some of these families shared with us that, since the only time many of them see one another is at drop-off and pick-up times, we host some events where Black families can meet one another, connect with one another and share their experiences about the school with one another,’ […].
“Pribble said that the school was ‘honoring their request,’ though the school maintains that ‘all families are welcome to attend all of [the school’s] events.’”
Others noted the irony of what was once the bane of the Civil Rights Movement has become a paragon of wokeness.
How it started. How it's going. pic.twitter.com/0AoMrxB80p
— James Lindsay, account with nearly 300k followers (@ConceptualJames) December 14, 2021
Those who try to excuse Critical Race Theory as merely an “obscure legal theory” seem to ignore that fact that in more and more law schools, Critical Race Theory is quickly becoming the central tenet of the legal profession if not the whole of the law. Aaron Sibarium, of the Free Beacon, examines the materials and requirements of Georgetown Law School, which is intended to be a “model” for other law schools.
“At most law schools, the first few weeks of property law are spent on foundational cases of British common law. At Georgetown University, they are spent on structural racism and cultural appropriation.
“Students in professor Madhavi Sunder’s mandatory first-year course learn on day one that the history of American property law is ‘the history of dispossession and appropriation,’ according to videos of the course reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. Lecture slides from the first month of coursework trace the ‘birth’ of modern property law not to English courts, but to ‘Native dispossession and the enslavement of African Americans.’ ‘Possession,’ one slide asserts, ‘is a legal term of art for a settler capitalist society.’
“These legacies of oppression ‘continue in contemporary doctrines’ of property, Sunder said on the first day of class this semester. For example, her slides explain, ‘Intellectual Property has a cultural appropriation problem,’ especially when it comes to black choreographers: Their dance moves were allegedly appropriated by the popular video game Fortnite, and by white influencers on TikTok.
“To help her students conceptualize the problem, Sunder quotes the ‘antiracist’ author Ijeoma Oluo, who defines cultural appropriation as the ‘adoption or exploitation of another culture by a more dominant culture.’ Students are then asked to apply this definition to intellectual property law, according to the slides.
“Sunder wasn’t just putting her own spin on a stereotypically dry class; she was also laying the groundwork for a sweeping transformation of the law school curriculum.
“In September 2021, Georgetown Law’s faculty voted to adopt a new ‘institutional learning outcome’: All students will be expected to graduate with the ‘ability to think critically about the law’s claim to neutrality and its differential effects on subordinated groups, including those identified by race, gender, indigeneity, and class,’ according to a faculty motion reviewed by the Free Beacon.
“These themes, the motion states, are ‘foundational knowledge’ that ‘should be advanced throughout the entire first-year curriculum.’ To that end, the motion directs a number of administrators—including the “Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusion”—to ‘identify first-year professors’ who already ‘advance the new institutional learning outcome’ in their courses. Sunder is one of those professors: She told her students that her course would ‘satisfy’ the new requirement, as would “many other property classes” at Georgetown.”
There is, of course, much more of this madness in the article.
Slavery has existed throughout history and everywhere, not just undertaken by European powers against sub-Saharan Africans. While the European explorers who first sailed down to western Africa mainly tapped into an existing market, others, like the Ottomans were still buying slaves from those of near pitch black skin to the pasty wide Icelanders, as recounted by the enslaved Icelander Ólafur Egilsson.
For all the claims that its all about “tolerance”, the “tolerant” seem hell bent on pushing increasingly fringe ideas and ideology on people. Christopher Rufo has, yet again, obtain direct evidence of this coming from the very top of the mega-conglomerate Disney.
SCOOP: I’ve obtained video from inside Disney’s all-hands meeting about the Florida parental rights bill, in which executive producer Latoya Raveneau says her team has implemented a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” and is regularly “adding queerness” to children’s programming. pic.twitter.com/eJnZMpKIXT
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022
News of the Week for April 3rd, 2022
Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.
The focus this time: Up is down and war is peace.
First, a little mood philosopy:
Carrying on…
The University of Edinburgh declared:
“The work of the University’s Equality & Diversity Committee and its Race Equality and Anti-Racist Sub-committee has continued over the summer. It has been further energised following the killing in May of George Floyd and the ongoing campaigning by the Black Lives Matter movement. Our Race Equality and Anti-Racist Action Plan is accelerating and amplifying our efforts.
“It is important that campuses, curricula and communities reflect both the University’s contemporary and historical diversity and engage with its institutional legacy across the world. For this reason the University has taken the decision to re-name – initially temporarily until a full review is completed – one of the buildings in the Central Area campus.
“From the start of the new academic year the David Hume Tower will be known as 40 George Square.”
Might this new “George” have relevance to that “George”?
Some believe so.
Another state has signed into law a bill that band the indoctrination of children into the ideology of Critical Race Theory: South Dakota. The primary section reads:
Section 1. That chapter 13-1 be amended with a NEW SECTION:
For the purposes of this Act, the term, divisive concepts, means:
(1) That any race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin is inherently superior or inferior;
(2) That individuals should be discriminated against or adversely treated because of their race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin;
(3) That an individual’s moral character is inherently determined by their race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin;
(4) That an individual, by virtue of their race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously;
(5) That individuals, by virtue of race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin, are inherently responsible for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin;
(6) An individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual’s race, color, religion, ethnicity, or national origin; or
(7) Meritocracy or traits such as hard work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by members of a particular race or sex to oppress members of another race or sex.
News of the Week for March 27th, 2022
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