Standing up and fighting back

 

STANDING UP AND FIGHTING BACK

A report on the front page of the Nov. 17 Metro Section in the Washington Post reminds us that when parents and students stand up to the “book burners,” Board of Education members discover their backbones – or are given important positive reinforcement to continue to engage in thoughtful educational practices.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../dcf77f24-46e4-11ec...

This story came just days after a Nov. 14 national news article in the Post carried a disturbing headline (“Conservative school board wins may dampen racial equity efforts”). But the news in that article also reminds us that when parents and students refuse to be beaten down by the screaming, progress can continue.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../conservative-school.../

The Nov. 14 article recognized that while in most recent school board elections “conservatives” lost, “many observers argue that the victories these conservative candidates did notch, and the intense heat the races generated, will have ramifications nationwide.”

But only if we do not stand up to them. The Nov. 14 article closes with this description of what occurred in a town in Connecticut:

“In 2020, the seaside community of Guilford, Conn., reckoned with the murder of Floyd by a White police officer in Minneapolis by implementing more diverse perspectives into the school curriculum and changing the school’s nickname, the Indians.

“As this was unfolding, some students expressed confusion and frustration talking to their parents about the complex issues around race, gender and history that were being addressed in the classroom, said Guilford resident Arnold Skretta, an attorney who was not on the school board at the time.

“Educators and the school board emphasized to families that critical race theory was not being taught in the classroom, but some parents and officials didn’t believe them, accusing the district in a Zoom forum of trying to make people of color feel more welcome ‘at the expense of White Judeo-Christians,’ Skretta said.

“’At that point, it was blatant, overt racism,’” said Skretta, 42.

“Five conservatives were already running for the school board, having ousted three more traditional Republican school board members in the GOP primary in September. Skretta had tracked their rise and joined a group of Democratic and independents to run against them.

“The conservatives drew national interest and money to their race, appearing on Fox News several times, but last week, they lost by 2-to-1 margins.

“Skretta credited high turnout and said he could not have won without significant voter engagement. He hoped that could be a blueprint for races elsewhere.

“’What happened here in Guilford is the consequence of a town getting engaged,’ he said. ‘Democrats can’t let the right wing weaponize school boards.”’

When we stand up, we win. If we cower or give up, we will lose – as will our children and grandchildren

Beware of any "conventional wisdom" that Glenn Youngkin is a harbinger of a kinder and gentler Republican Party than the Party of Trump

 

        Before the "conventional wisdom" solidifies into a trope that Glenn Youngkin is the future of the Republican Party because he is "conservative" without being Trumpy, let's remember the core of each man's campaign for their first political office.

        Trump launched his campaign by asserting the lie -- with all its racist overtones -- that Barack Obama was born in Kenya.  In so doing, he brought into the Republican mainstream the proposition that "real" Americans -- i.e., White Americans --  were under threat from a Black person in the Oval Office who was not a true American.  Trump kicked over the rocks which previously had covered up so much racism, based not just on hate, but also on fear of displacement.

        Youngkin based so much of his campaign on another lie, a lie which went directly to a racist appeal based on hatred and fear:  That "Critical Race Theory" was being taught in the public schools and that it endangered White children because it would make them feel bad and, inferentially, would embolden non-White children to hate White children. https://davidfishback.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-critical-race-theory-controversy.html It was a lie on both counts, and someone as educated and worldly as multi-millionaire former Carlyle Group CEO Youngkin had to know this.  But he was perfectly willing to demagogue the issue to achieve power.  

         So let us not forget that Glenn Youngkin as a politician is essentially a Donald Trump with better manners.  Playing on racial fears of White Americans has been a tactic -- often a successful tactic -- with a long and sordid history in the American story.  And it has always been a destructive tactic, which brought us to Civil War in the mid-1800s and, until the mid-1960s, wiped out most of what Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass hoped to achieve at the end of that war.  The Republican Party strategy now is to win and maintain power by destroying the Second Reconstruction begun with the mid-20th Century Civil Rights Movement.  

        Glenn Youngkin is not only part and parcel of that strategy, but is a dangerous practitioner of it.  And perhaps more dangerous than Trump, because he is not so transparent. 

        Do not be fooled by what may become a media trope of "moderation" in the coming weeks and months.  

2007 Bethesda Magazine: "Minority Retort- How did so few people create such a ruckus over the county's new sex-ed curriculum?"

 

For comparison with the article on LGBTQ+ matters in the Nov.-Dec. 2021 edition of Bethesda Magazine at pp. 156-162 (See here), take a look at its  instructive article by Eugene Meyer in its Sept./Oct. 2007 edition, discussing Attorney John Garza (who is suing MCPS in the litigation referenced in the new article) and his organization, Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum.  As far as I can determine, it was never posted on-line, but below are the pages from the print edition, followed by links to a transcript of the News Talk program referenced several times in Mr. Meyer's article (and my comments on the article, sent to some of my Teachthefacts.org friends:

"Minority Retort" from Bethesda Magazine (Sept./Oct. 2007) on the Montgomery County Health Education Controversy

Here are links to the transcript of the New Talk discussion I had with John Garza in May 2007, courtesy of Teachthefacts.org, Jim Kennedy, and Chris Grewell.
http://vigilance.teachthefacts.org/2007/05/newstalk-transcript-first-part.html

http://vigilance.teachthefacts.org/2007/05/newstalk-transcript-second-part.html

Sent: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 12:21 pm
Subject: Bethesda Magazine

All:

            On Sunday, the Sept/Oct. issue of Bethesda Magazine hit the newstands in Montgomery County.  In it, there is an article by Eugene Meyer entitled "Minority Retort:  How did so few people create such a ruckus over the county's new sex-ed curriculum?"   The article will not likely be on line until November, so I think there would be a serious copyright problems if it were to be posted on public web sites.  (The magazine is only 3 years old, and I suspect they would be very sensitive to such issues.  I know I would be were I its publisher.)

            The article has a pretty accurate description, as far as it goes, of what has been going on the last few years.  I see a few errors, but none are significant to our litigation concerns.  If you are interested in the atmospherics, however, read on.

             1.  While Meyer says I am 60, that is not yet true. I will not be 60 until mid-autumn. Sixty, hmmm. Well, as Satchel Paige said, "Age is mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter."

             2.  John Garza is quoted as saying that I told him I am proud of my son who went to Princeton. A calumny. One of my sons went to Yale (and then Harvard Graduate School of Education), the other went to Penn -- Princeton's arch-rival. Should I demand a correction? :)

               3.  The Scopes Trial was in 1925, not 1924.  1924 is only an interesting date for Washingtonians because it is the only year a Washington baseball team won the World Series.  Perhaps that is what Meyer was thinking about.

              4.  Meyer also reports that Garza told him that he changed his mind about his suggestion that we have lunch and discuss our theological differences, saying that "I dont want to waste his time if he [Fishback] thinks he's going to save me." I found that curious, because I wrote to Garza saying I would be happy to continue our chat, as long as he did not think he was going to save ME. I have no illusions about changing John Garza's mind and heart, but it is always useful to learn other more about other people's perspectives.

              5.  The article quotes Garza as e-mailing the following to Meyer:  “I want to correct something David F. said a while ago.  God has never talked to me.”   Here, in fact, is the direct quote from the e-mail I sent to Meyer describing our post-NewTalk chat on May 1 (which I cc’ed to Garza): “John told me after the program that he personally does not care what individuals do with their lives, but for him, ‘If God tells me to walk on the left side of the road, I walk on the left side of the road.’  (John, if I have that quote wrong, please correct me.)”

 If Garza felt the need to clarify, fine.  But  he did not deny the quote and he did not have the courtesy to copy me with the e-mail.  Of course, this is typical of CRC tactics.  On March 29, 2007, I sent a letter to the State BOE in support of the MCPS decision and providing information on the AMA/AAP/APA positions on matters of sexual orientation – a letter I cc’ed to Garza.  Garza responded to Meyer,  but did not cc me.  I only found out about the letter several weeks later when it showed up on the CRC website.  I mentioned this to Garza after the NewsTalk show, and he blamed it on his secretary.  (This is lawyer talk for “the dog ate my homework.”)

              Of course, the theological exchanges I had with Garza are irrelevant to the litigation issues. 

               6.  As interesting as the main article is, I would principally recommend reading the side-bar interview with a health education teacher at B-CC High School. I am glad we have such teachers.

David