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Jeffrey Sachs Profile picture
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31 Mar, 5 tweets, 2 min read
What is anti-Semitism? The only true answer is the Augustinian one: If no one asks me, I know. If you do ask, etc. and so forth.

BUT! Two new definitions of the term have recently been released, each meant to serve as alternatives to or elaborations on the IHRA.
The first is called the Nexus Document. It's meant to flesh out the possible relationship between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, clearing up some of the well-known censorious ambiguities in the IHRA.

israelandantisemitism.com/the-nexus-docu…
And here's the Jerusalem Declaration, which positions itself as an outright alternative to the IHRA.

jerusalemdeclaration.org
Two of the Jerusalem Declaration's signatories wrote a defense of their work in IHE, highlighting its value to academic freedom.

insidehighered.com/views/2021/03/…
Be sure to also read this careful analysis of all three definitions by @schraubd, one of the authors of the Nexus Document.

dsadevil.blogspot.com/2021/03/a-new-…

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More from @JeffreyASachs

Jeffrey Sachs Profile picture
1 Apr
I’m going to actually agree with @mattyglesias here. Not necessarily about the HoC debate, which I don’t know much about, but his point about how an unwillingness to discuss certain issues in progressive places will often hurt the Left. That’s obviously right.
That’s one reason why while I talk a lot a about rightwing threats to free speech, I reject the idea that it is therefore the “real” threat. Regardless of the merits, that framing just serves as an excuse for the Left to ignore its own problems. It’s an alibi, not an analysis.
It’s also why I was somewhat uncomfortable with @OsitaNwanevu’s response to Yglesias yesterday about how only the GOP is trying to pass laws banning campus speech, not Dems. That is a) not true, eg many state-level Dems have supported anti-BDS bills; and b) risks excusing how...
Read 4 tweets
Jeffrey Sachs Profile picture
26 Mar
A Tennessee rep has introduced a bill that would prohibit public schools from using any textbooks or instructional materials that "promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgender issues or lifestyle."

kens5.com/article/news/p…
The bill is necessary, its sponsor says, because such material offends "a significant portion of students, parents, and Tennessee residents with Christian values."
Meanwhile, an old fashioned book purge is taking place right now in @LeanderISD, a school district north of Austin.

Read 5 tweets
Jeffrey Sachs Profile picture
18 Mar
This WSJ editorial on California's Ethnic Studies curriculum is incredibly misleading. I'll explain why in a moment, but first I want to really drive home the torrent of bullshit that critics are directing against the ESMC.

This one is going to be long.

wsj.com/articles/calif…
First, a bit of context. What's being debated right now is the 3rd and final draft of the ESMC. Most of it is boilerplate edu-bureaucrat-ese: This is what ethnic studies is, this is why it's important, this is how we might implement it, etc.

cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/esmct…
The firestorm is all over the contents of Appendix A. That's where you'll find 43 sample lesson plans that schools can adopt to satisfy the ethnic studies requirement. I want to stress that they're just samples. Individual schools are permitted to ignore them if they wish.
Read 30 tweets
Jeffrey Sachs Profile picture
16 Mar
This is an amazing article and today's must-read piece on higher ed. @EmmaJanePettit is killing it over at CHE. But she can't do it alone. I am once again imploring journalists working the campus free speech beat to start taking this stuff seriously.

chronicle.com/article/a-coun…
Northern Idaho College has about 4,300 students, roughly twice the size of Oberlin. And their board of trustees is currently run by a collection of madmen.
I'm kind of at my wits' end. There are journalists working this beat who have flat-out claimed that nobody believes the profs-are-indoctrinating-students theory. But this stuff is canon on the Right. Look what happens when it goes unchecked.

@conor64
Read 6 tweets
Jeffrey Sachs Profile picture
14 Mar
This entire piece from @BerkowitzPeter is deeply confused, but this section in particular begs the question.

realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/…
@michelleinbklyn cites two Arkansas bills, as Berkowitz notes. But then why refer to them as "the proposal", as if they were a single legislative act? Only the 1619 Ban was abandoned. The CRT ban, which is much broader and more ambitious, is (last I checked) still live.
I've read a dozen different defenses of these bills in the last two weeks. They all make the same cluster of bad arguments and I'm not going to rehash why all over again. You can read my take here.

arcdigital.media/supporters-of-…
Read 5 tweets
Jeffrey Sachs Profile picture
14 Mar
An important piece from @samk_harris. The “CRT” bans being proposed in state legislatures are unconstitutional and a threat to free speech. Harris is no fan of the Left, but she knows far better than most what’s at stake here.
Though I continue to be skeptical about the Nevada lawsuit. Much turns on whether classmate ridicule constitutes compelled speech. That seems like a dangerous step.
One last thing. A plea, really. Don’t call it “indoctrination” when what you mean is “education about a controversial topic”. K-12 is filled with bald assertions by teachers: “The cause of WWII was this”, “The impact of slavery was that.” It is also filled with lessons...
Read 5 tweets

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