Thread by @JeffreyASachs

New legislative session, new assault on academic freedom and campus free speech.

In Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Mississippi, GOP reps have introduced bills that punish public schools and universities for teaching anything from the 1619 Project.

edweek.org/teaching-learn…

These laws are vaguely written, but that's by design. For example, the Iowa bill would withhold funding from any school that utilizes "in whole or in part" the 1619 Project "or any similarly developed curriculum". Gee, I wonder what that means.

legis.iowa.gov/legislation/Bi…

It's clear the issue isn't over the Project's factual accuracy, but rather its interpretation of the past. Hence, the MS and AR bills accuse it of promoting “a racially divisive and revisionist account" and the IA bill cites the state's interest in creating "patriotic citizens".

All of these are based on Cotton's bill from last year. No doubt there will be more to come. A South Dakota rep actually introduced one the other week, but withdrew it so he could focus on this instead.

thedailybeast.com/south-dakota-r…

Also in Arkansas, a rep has introduced a bill barring public schools and universities from offering any course, activity, or event that "promotes division between, resentment of, or social justice for(!)" a race, gender, political affiliation, or class.

arkansasonline.com/news/2021/jan/…

It would also prohibit schools from allowing any event or club that "negatively targets specific nationalities or countries", so say goodbye to Students for Justice in Palestine. And don't even think about organizing an event on the Uighurs!

arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/FTPDocum…

Meanwhile in Georgia, it looks like a GOP rep is gearing up for something similar. He's ordered universities and public schools to identify whether teachers are talking about "privilege" or "oppression". Faculty say it's already having a chilling effect.

ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/edu…

OK, so far I'm guessing most of you are shaking your heads in disgust and/or frustration. Good. But here's where I'm going to take this thread in a slightly different direction. It will *seem* at first like I'm engaging in whatabout-ism, but hold on for a sec. I promise I'm not.

I think San Francisco's decision to change all those school names was idiotic. It deserves the opprobrium everyone here is merrily heaping upon it. Don't stop.

But here's my question: Why do you know so much about that case, but (I'm guessing) so little about all the ones above?

Or if not the San Francisco thing, pick whichever other Culture War flashpoint we're all obsessing over these days. Isn't it slightly unnerving to learn that bills like these are popping up in states across the country with nary a murmur on Twitter or in the national press?

There is a massive double standard here, or at the very least an unforgivable blindspot. I've been banging this drum for years now, but it's getting worse. It's worse right now than at any time I can imagine and I don't know what to do about it.

arcdigital.media/campus-free-sp…

I want to be clear about something. I'm *glad* the San Francisco story got so much attention. I don't care it's symbolic or that it's just one city. It matters. That's why this isn't whataboutism. You SHOULD be angry about it.

But how come nobody is talking about Gov. Kristi Noem's plan to use state money for a curriculum that would teach students “why the U.S. is the most special nation in the history of the world"?

rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/edu…

I have a couple of theories about what's going on, and anti-liberal bias is only one of them. Probably not even the most important. More likely, it's due to an ignorance of and lack of interest among many journalists in what's happening outside the coastal states.

I mean, you better believe that if a group of NY Dems proposed a bill prohibiting schools and universities from discussing, say, the biological basis of sex, a lot of people On Here would lose their minds! You know the crew I'm talking about. It would consume this site for days.

So again, why the comparative silence over what's happening in Georgia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Mississippi, Iowa, and Arkansas? Why do so few of these DC/NYC/California-based journalists seem to care? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Journalists who work this beat, you're doing it wrong. I don't know how you find your stories, but it isn't working. And that should bother you much more than it does. I mean, what else am I to conclude?

The blindspot has always been bad, but never this bad. And it's getting worse.

OK, that's it. I'm done venting now.