So. You don't think Critical Race Theory "should be taught in our schools" and want to ban it. Please answer the following questions or I will assume you're a clueless lemming who's angry because Tucker Goddamn Carlson told you CRT means you go to jail if you're white. /1
First question: describe Critical Legal Theory's arguments about systems vs. individuals when it comes to juridical harm and how those influenced the development of Critical Race Theory. /2
2nd question for all you CRT experts: which one of Derrick Bell's arguments do you disagree with, and why? /3
3rd Q: CRT asserts that race is a social construct, not a set of consistent biological differences corresponding to "black", "white", "Asian", etc. If you think this is incorrect, explain your opposition to the overwhelming consensus of the entire field of Genetic Science. /4
4th Q: If CRT is wrong about systemic racism and inequities, explain why you believe the plaintiffs' argument in the case of Gary B. v. Whitmer was incorrect and refute their statistical evidence of inequitable outcomes in statistical detail. Show your work. /5
5th Q: Define Kimberlé Crenshaw's concept of intersectionality as it relates to legal outcomes, as her original article did. Discuss why you think those legal biases exist if structural racism isn't a factor. /6
6th Q: since Critical Race Theory is apparently being taught in schools, to the ruination of your children, those poor delicate flowers, identify every curricular instance of CRT, as well as any assessments or course materials that reference the work of CRT scholars. /7
7th Q: Probably the most sweeping argument of CRT is that racism is structural, not individual. In other words, racist outcomes issue from systems and not simply "a few bad apples." If you think this is incorrect, explain *waves hands at all of American history* /8
Final question for you anti-CRT warriors: if white privilege doesn't exist, explain how you can hijack school board meetings, act the fool, dictate pedagogy and curriculum to experts in those areas--yet literally, fundamentally, not know what you're talking about. /9
I know this is a rhetorical exercise, and that these people aren't acting in good faith at all, but JFC would it be too much to ask for a school board chair or a journalist or someone to actually ask a follow-up question instead of ceding the entire debate to these clowns? /X
PS: so folks have been asking where they can go to learn more. Awesome! I love it when ppl want to do the reading. A good, short I review of CRT as it comes out of legal theory and education is this: americanbar.org/groups/crsj/pu…
And this LibGuide, from the good folks at the UNC-Chapel Hill Law Library, is an excellent aggregation of key works, further reading, and a good general map of the field. Librarians rule. guides.lib.unc.edu/c.php?g=106699…
And finally, the best collection of CRT writings I've come across, in terms of getting the sense of the field's breadth as well as the key works, is this volume. A steal at 20 bucks! bookshop.org/books/critical…
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Watching fascism in real time via my Instagram feed. What a time to be alive.
What's awesome about having this tweet do numbers is all the apologists for authoritarianism jumping in to show me screenshots of what they insist are gay sex manuals being distributed to elementary kids age and saying "see? This is why we need to crack down." Just awesome.
Let me be clear: this is literally the Nazi playbook. Find an outlier example, strip it of context in order to provide shock value, and use it justify an "anti-obscenity" crusade that just happens to end up emptying libraries completely and burning most of the books.
Baseball night! The Kannapolis Cannonballers have temporarily rebranded as the "Qs" this weekend, to celebrate North Carolina BBQ. I was fated to be here.
PIG MASCOT
The Green Jackets' baserunner does not agree with the umpire calling him out on a steal attempt. To be fair, the umps have angered both teams equally tonight.
Let's stop awarding the presidency of major professional orgs to senior big-name scholars at "elite" universities like it's the lifetime achievement award for the local Rotary Club. /1
In every historical org I belong to, the election slate is determined by a nominations committee, and I can't remember an occasion where more than one name has been on the ballot for either president or president-elect. Thus these positions are not really chosen by the members./2
And no offense to the many good scholars and capable folks who have served in these offices, but there is no guarantee that we get the most qualified/best choice to lead our organizations. One might argue we get good officers in spite of, not because of, the processes in place /3
I am sure the author of this piece intended to emphasize the eagerness and acuity with which their inmate students approach learning. But holy hell this piece is a mess, and in our current climate, maybe saying college should emulate aspects of prison is not the best strategy
Most prison educators: college education is at least one way we can make these barbaric carceral institutions slightly more human
This op-ed: lol whatever college students should be like prisoners, under a stifling discipline that makes them desperate for any humanity whatsoever
How do we make the neoliberal university less suffocatingly inhumane? Probably not by emulating the carceral conditions that make learners desperately clutch at any crumb of knowledge like it's oxygen and they're drowning
Good morning to everyone seeing MLK Day as an opportunity for reflection and critique. If you're tired of just hearing that one line from that one speech thrown at you by people who would absolutely have liked James Earl Ray more than MLK in 1968, check these things out: 🧵🧵
My favorite collection of King's works, with a great introduction/meditation by Cornel West: bookshop.org/p/books/the-ra…