Tweet

Judd Legum

15 Nov, 9 tweets, 4 min read

1. In less than a week, North Dakota enacted a sweeping new law banning "Critical Race Theory" in K-12 schools

The measure illustrates the acute danger these laws pose to free expression and historically accurate instruction

Follow along if interested

popular.info/p/new-north-da…

2. The new law prohibits any instruction "related" to the idea that "racism is systemically embedded in American society" or the American "legal system."

That includes written materials. Whether or not any of this is endorsed by the teacher.

popular.info/p/new-north-da…

3. Faced with these constraints, how can a teacher discuss slavery, the civil rights era, or the history of redlining?

All of these topics are inextricably related to systemic racism in American society and its legal system.

popular.info/p/new-north-da…

4. Even more revealing is the "evidence" that CRT is in North Dakota schools submitted by sponsor @RepJimKramer:

- An announcement the day of the George Floyd verdict to respect everyone's opinions

- Someone wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt

popular.info/p/new-north-da…

5. A parent submitted testimony objecting to his son being taught that "white people had apparently stolen the Black Hills from the native tribes" saying it was CRT

White people stole the Black Hills from native tribes, per a 1980 Supreme Court decision

popular.info/p/new-north-da…

@nkpoolman

6. One Republican North Dakota Senator, @nkpoolman, is a high school English teacher.

She acknowledged that CRT is not taught in North Dakota schools and concern among parents about CRT was "manufactured"

She voted for the bill anyway

popular.info/p/new-north-da…

7. Similar measures are being proposed or enacted in DOZENS of states.

This is an aggressive assault of free expression and academic discourse.

For in-depth updates and accountability journalism, subscribe to Popular Information.

It's free to sign up: popular.info/subscribe

8. BTW, the sponsors of the North Dakota bill banning CRT have received financial support from major corporations:

popular.info/p/new-north-da…

9. One thing that I noticed is almost all the coverage of this new law came from North Dakota media and right-wing publications.

It's time for everyone to start paying attention.

popular.info/p/new-north-da…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @JuddLegum

Judd Legum

@JuddLegum

16 Nov

1. The GameStop controversy has largely faded from the headlines but a class action lawsuit has surfaced EXPLOSIVE internal messages involving Robinhood and Citadel, a massive hedge fund

Follow along if interested

popular.info/p/gamestop-rev…

2. The core issue is that Citadel has two roles

- Citadel makes bets on stocks. Citadel bailed out another hedge fund that made a huge bet shorting GameStop.

- Citadel is a market maker. It buys "order flow" from Robinhood and facilitates trades.

popular.info/p/gamestop-rev…

3. When Robinhood limited the ability to trade GameStop, tanking the price, some questioned whether they did it to benefit Citadel.

Citadel and Robinhood vociferously denied they colluded

The internal messages paint a more complex picture

popular.info/p/gamestop-rev…

Read 10 tweets

Judd Legum

@JuddLegum

12 Nov

1. Claims by Walgreens and other corporations that San Francisco is facing an epidemic of "organized retail crime" is not reflected in citywide crime data.

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…

2. In 2020, shoplifting in San Fransisco reached its lowest level since statistics began being collected 45 years ago.

It has increased slightly in 2021 but still remains well below 2019 levels.

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…

3. The false narrative is being relentlessly pushed by a far-right website run by a former Republican consultant (and business partner of Jared Kushner) who received a pardon from Trump

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…

Read 5 tweets

Judd Legum

@JuddLegum

12 Nov

@DefendingEd

1. Very illuminating list from @DefendingEd, a dark money group linked to the Koch political network, of what it claims is evidence of Critical Race Theory being taught in K-12 schools in Virginia

I want to highlight some examples of things they find objectionable

@DefendingEd

@DefendingEd 2. A Fairfax county social studies coordinator who says African-American history “deserves a truer and fuller account.”

This is an example of "Critical Race Theory," according to the group

3. A message from a high school principal that says: "While I did not come from a family with economic means, the color of my skin has given me privileges that others do not have."

This is an example of "Critical Race Theory," according to the group

Read 13 tweets

Judd Legum

@JuddLegum

10 Nov

1. Everyone is talking about rising prices and there are a lot of factors that contribute to inflation but one important factor is almost never discussed: concentrated corporate power

Follow along if interested

popular.info/p/how-concentr…

2. In a competitive economy, profit margins should approach zero (as long as there are reasonable substitutes)

In the US, corporate profits as a share of the American economy have risen dramatically over the last two decades, from 5% of GDP to nearly 12%

popular.info/p/how-concentr…

3. In other words, corporations are not being *forced* to raise prices to stay afloat.

They are choosing to raise prices to maintain large profit margins because they have enough market power to do so without losing customers

popular.info/p/how-concentr…

Read 9 tweets

Judd Legum

@JuddLegum

9 Nov

UPDATE: Republican lobbyists are "frustrated," pushing corporate PACs to resume contributions

This reflects the reality that dozens of major corporations have stuck by their pledges and have not resumed contributing to GOP objectors

popular.info/p/update-repub…

2. Politico wrote a story with the headline: "GOP lobbyists say corporate America is coming back into the tent"

But when you READ the story you'll find that this is GOP lobbyists PREDICTING that corporations will end their donation freeze soon

popular.info/p/update-repub…

@Cigna

3. Lobbyists have been making similar predictions since February.

And while some major companies like @Cigna and @ATT have violated their pledges, dozens of other major corporations have kept their word.

popular.info/p/update-repub…

Read 6 tweets

Judd Legum

@JuddLegum

8 Nov

1. Right-wing operatives have deployed a MASSIVE network of fake local news sites to weaponize Critical Race Theory in political campaigns

Follow along if interested

popular.info/p/right-wing-o…

@lansing

2. The Rosetta Stone of this effort is this tweet by @lansing, the president of @WinRed, the main GOP online fundraising vehicle

Lansing credits an article in "West Nova News" as "starting it all" and helping deliver a win for Glenn Youngkin

popular.info/p/right-wing-o…

3. West Nova News is part of a massive network of 1300 "news" sites linked to conservative businessman Brian Timpone

Timpone has a long history of leveraging "low-cost automated story generation"

He's been accused of faking bylines & quotes & plagiarism

popular.info/p/right-wing-o…

Read 11 tweets

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Thank you for your support!