tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-100041932024-03-18T17:26:53.441-05:00Educational Equity, Politics & Policy in TexasThis blog on Texas education contains posts on accountability, testing, K-12 education, postsecondary educational attainment, dropouts, bilingual education, immigration, school finance, environmental issues, Ethnic Studies at state and national levels. It also represents my digital footprint, of life and career, as a community-engaged scholar in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin.Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.comBlogger7022125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-68395235621472554102024-03-18T17:25:00.004-05:002024-03-18T17:25:52.007-05:00Florida Eliminates Sociology as a Core Course at Its Universities, New York Times, Jan. 24, 2024<p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Outlawing Sociology in Florida is outlandish. It's hard to take DeSantis and his right-wing activists seriously. On another matter of curriculum—namely, Critical Race Theory (CRT)—which most certainly isn't getting taught in Florida schools—consider one of DeSantis' appointments to <span style="background-color: white;">Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice named Eric Hall. This person used CRT as a framework for his dissertation research study back in 2014, earning him a Ph.D. </span><span style="background-color: white;">at the University of South Florida.</span></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background-color: white;">His was clearly a good and appropriate use of CRT in a study </span><span style="background-color: white;">on two alternative schools and how expulsion rates and other factors create a “school-to-prison pipeline," for minoritized youth. </span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background-color: white;">Research like this is helpful to policymakers who seek alternatives to expulsions when schools work closely with youth to not only lower such rates but to do so by exposing the culprit structures and processes that do this. That is what CRT does. It illuminates disparities and possible remedies that at their best, change systems that are punishing and inequitable, particularly for youth of color, as well as for all youth, as a whole.</span></b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Clearly, DeSantis cared less about this rather important detail when making his appointment. Go figure. As for Eric Hall, what a turncoat. I'm sure his decision is paying off handsomely, albeit at Black and Brown children's and taxpayer's expense.</b></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>As for denying Sociology courses to Florida college youth that college-educated DeSantis, his staff and cabinet have all surely had, how hypocritical. I am confident that most Floridians see through all this smoke and mirrors for what it is: Doing everything they can to preserve both their white privilege and their incumbencies in office in the face of a browning America—a diverse nation that makes our country strong.</b></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>-Angela Valenzuela</b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Reference</b></span></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Dixon, M. & Atterbury, A. (2021, December 20). <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2021/12/20/top-desantis-official-embraced-critical-race-theory-in-dissertation-1400688">Top DeSantis official embraced critical race theory in dissertation</a>, <i>Politico</i>.</b></span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/us/florida-universities-sociology.html#:~:text=In%20December%2C%20Florida's%20education%20commissioner,by%20left%2Dwing%20activists.%E2%80%9D&text=Students%20can%20no%20longer%20take,university%20system%20ruled%20on%20Wednesday" style="background-color: white; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Florida Eliminates Sociology as a Core Course at Its Universities</span></a></p><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.4375rem; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px auto 1.875rem; max-width: 600px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">In December, Florida’s education commissioner wrote that “sociology has been hijacked by left-wing activists.”</div><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifTUkw34NjL9XhptCM-6QEqnclowbc-bimhFtXld9TFhg5WD1svlsayhbj5wKEimNQX00Ytu1rtk4keNn-sG_Z_eQs_MgOJUYW8j4gWKr035R3eh6RpWqzhUUhZ9Y-R2-HLilUbLCgVXIyY7Sj-V_Tcc1SlCQnS0sIHG8mXJg-92LI-0-x8ny1ZQ/s1198/Screenshot%202024-03-18%20at%203.24.08%E2%80%AFPM.png"><img border="0" height="383" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifTUkw34NjL9XhptCM-6QEqnclowbc-bimhFtXld9TFhg5WD1svlsayhbj5wKEimNQX00Ytu1rtk4keNn-sG_Z_eQs_MgOJUYW8j4gWKr035R3eh6RpWqzhUUhZ9Y-R2-HLilUbLCgVXIyY7Sj-V_Tcc1SlCQnS0sIHG8mXJg-92LI-0-x8ny1ZQ/w583-h383/Screenshot%202024-03-18%20at%203.24.08%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="583" /></a><br /><br /></span>The board of governors for Florida’s state university system approved “a factual <br /><br />history course” as a replacement for sociology.Credit...Erich Martin for The New York Times<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br />By <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/anemona-hartocollis">Anemona Hartocollis</a><br />Published Jan. 24, 2024<br /><br />Updated Jan. 26, 2024<br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />Students can no longer take sociology to fulfill their core course requirements, Florida’s state university system ruled on Wednesday. Instead, its board of governors approved “a factual history course” as a replacement.<br /><br />The decision by the 17-member board of governors came after fierce opposition from sociology professors in the university system, which includes the University of Florida and Florida State.<br /><br />And it is the latest move by the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis to challenge the education establishment, and what the governor portrayed as its liberal orthodoxy. Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, had tried to leverage his education record in his failed campaign for president.<br /><br />In a brief announcement on Wednesday, Chancellor Ray Rodrigues said he was proud of the board’s decision and looked forward to the history class and “the positive impact the addition of this course will have on our students and their future success.”<br /><br />The replacement history class includes “America’s founding, the horrors of slavery, the resulting Civil War and the Reconstruction era.”<br /><br />Florida has one of the country’s largest public university systems, with more than 430,000 students.<br /><br />The move alarmed sociology professors, who believed it could lead to fewer students taking classes and majoring in the subject. The American Sociological Association said in a statement Wednesday that it was outraged by the decision, and that it was made without any “evidentiary basis.”<br /><br />“The decision seems to be coming not from an informed perspective, but rather from a gross misunderstanding of sociology as an illegitimate discipline driven by ‘radical’ and ‘woke’ ideology,” the statement said. “To the contrary, sociology is the scientific study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior, which are at the core of civic literacy and are essential to a broad range of careers.”</span></span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9UetzREDzwv-ePWgV64fdODluNl6eiUl8R3qiIy8YLH2VMPAHmjjpGCMTWMQYfBguMo_UlKNO34dE7gdAVOMdG-V-wnLiB81QaNsNyQxTxnAqAjevOdBkkF34iKZ3BIByjB-tybk6OtdumR5_14giXH00XJEcowyJ6p7pEeOOE5kwziFyvieP9w/s1198/Screenshot%202024-03-18%20at%203.22.44%E2%80%AFPM.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9UetzREDzwv-ePWgV64fdODluNl6eiUl8R3qiIy8YLH2VMPAHmjjpGCMTWMQYfBguMo_UlKNO34dE7gdAVOMdG-V-wnLiB81QaNsNyQxTxnAqAjevOdBkkF34iKZ3BIByjB-tybk6OtdumR5_14giXH00XJEcowyJ6p7pEeOOE5kwziFyvieP9w/w537-h353/Screenshot%202024-03-18%20at%203.22.44%E2%80%AFPM.png" /></a></div></span>Manny Diaz, the education commissioner, wrote that sociology has been hijacked </span><div><span style="font-size: medium;">by the left-wing activists.Credit. Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat, via </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">USA Today Network<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">In December, Florida’s education commissioner, Manny Diaz Jr., <a href="https://twitter.com/commmannydiazjr/status/1733192839100568018?s=46&t=3H7ePWHcio9dBe8ikl2Wvg">wrote</a> on social media that, “Sociology has been hijacked by left-wing activists and no longer serves its intended purpose as a general knowledge course for students.”<br /><br />He added that under Governor DeSantis, “Florida’s higher education system will focus on preparing students for high-demand, high-wage jobs, not woke ideology.”<br /><br />Some professors have supported the move.<br /><br />Jukka Savolainen, a sociology professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, said in an <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/floridas-shunning-of-sociology-should-be-a-wake-up-call-curriculum-higher-education-politics-0fdbd542">opinion essay</a> in The Wall Street Journal in December that the discipline was troubled and had become “brazenly political.” He called for including more contrarian points of view in the teaching of sociology.<br /><br />“I have taught undergraduate sociology courses since 1996,” he wrote. “Through the decades, I have watched my discipline morph from a scientific study of social reality into academic advocacy for left-wing causes.”<br /><br />In November, the board of governors <a href="https://www.flbog.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Agenda-Item-for-Board-Approval-9.pdf">approved</a> removing Principles of Sociology from a list of courses that students can take to satisfy their general education requirement. The approval on Wednesday finalized that decision after a period of public comment.</span></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br />The course covers topics like race, gender and sexual orientation, which conservatives in Florida and other states have targeted and tried to restrict.<br /><br />In 2022, Mr. DeSantis signed legislation that restricted how racism and other aspects of history can be taught in schools and workplaces. The law’s sponsors called it the Stop WOKE Act. Among other things, it prohibits instruction that could make students feel responsibility for or guilt about the past actions of other members of their race.<br /><br />“The governor-appointed administrative bodies overseeing Florida’s institutions of higher education have found a new target in the culture wars they are waging on the state’s campuses,” Anne Barrett, a sociology professor at Florida State University, wrote in an <a href="https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/latest-target-floridas-culture-wars-sociology">opinion essay</a> published Wednesday on the website of the National Education Association.<br /><br />She wrote that the removal of the course would be ”devastating for sociology in Florida,” adding, “enrollments will plummet. The opportunity to recruit majors will almost disappear. Weakened sociology departments are ripe for elimination and, ultimately, layoffs.”</span></div></div></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-2017212359072135842024-03-16T14:11:00.007-05:002024-03-16T14:40:25.585-05:00NAACP urges Black athletes to avoid Florida public universities over anti-DEI policies<p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> Great leadership and smart move by the NAACP. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">-Angela</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 45px;"><span class="s1" style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; letter-spacing: -0.4px;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/12/1238108601/naacp-black-athletes-florida-desantis-boycott"><span style="font-size: x-large;">NAACP urges Black athletes to avoid Florida public universities over anti-DEI policies</span></a></span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 45px;"><span class="s1" style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; letter-spacing: -0.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">by Becky Sullivan | March 12, 2024 | NPR</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 36px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 45px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKFHycmPAgGZsBYqaNuOFaox4yAvld8eoIu3hKcwWlURbsx8tMF8BX75usqAvV8wmS8jJu97Q3uOCj4A-jyxtntIREVhxkEHxirGGCNk87T2G2wEckiWCajagEeBB9e3mQL9uytXJFG0mUEK6hmD7cso_fn4ox7d0uSuDgU96YkylydRknk6quA/s1248/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20at%207.29.25%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1248" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKFHycmPAgGZsBYqaNuOFaox4yAvld8eoIu3hKcwWlURbsx8tMF8BX75usqAvV8wmS8jJu97Q3uOCj4A-jyxtntIREVhxkEHxirGGCNk87T2G2wEckiWCajagEeBB9e3mQL9uytXJFG0mUEK6hmD7cso_fn4ox7d0uSuDgU96YkylydRknk6quA/w555-h368/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20at%207.29.25%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="555" /></a></div><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; letter-spacing: -0.4px;"><p class="p1" style="color: #646464; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 15px; text-align: left;">A University of Florida football game last fall. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)</p></span></blockquote><p></p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">Black college athletes should rethink any decision to attend public colleges and universities in Florida, the NAACP advised in an extraordinary letter issued in response to efforts by Gov. Ron DeSantis to weaken diversity, equity and inclusion efforts statewide.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">The letter, authored by the NAACP's top two officials and addressed to Charlie Baker, the head of the NCAA, comes on the heels of last week's announcement by the University of Florida that it would eliminate the school's diversity, equity and inclusion staff in order to come into compliance with <a href="https://apple.news/ALT8P2j9ARA-TqYVuIJuCeg"><span class="s1" style="color: #224d9e;">an anti-DEI law signed last year by DeSantis</span></a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">"From racist voting policies, to unraveling reproductive freedoms and attempting to rewrite Black history, DeSantis has waged war on Black America," wrote NAACP Board of Directors<b> </b>Chairman Leon Russell and President and CEO Derrick Johnson in the letter.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">"To all current and prospective college student-athletes — the NAACP urges you to reconsider any potential decision to attend, and compete at a predominantly white institution in the state of Florida," they continued.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">Diversity, equity and inclusion programs at educational institutions typically aim to help create and maintain a student body and faculty that is diverse in many senses of the word, often with a goal of reflecting the school's home community or state. (For example, before the legislation was passed last year, the DEI division at Florida International University <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220418025607/https://dei.fiu.edu/"><span class="s1" style="color: #224d9e;">said it was committed to</span></a> "building an academic community whose members represent and embrace diverse cultures, background and life experiences that reflect the multicultural nature of South Florida and our global society.")</p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">DeSantis and other supporters of the Republican-led legislation say DEI programs are costly and ineffective, and they accuse the programs of being discriminatory.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">The law signed last year by DeSantis prohibits the state's 12 public universities and 28 four-year and community colleges from spending money on DEI programs.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">"DEI is toxic and has no place in our public universities. I'm glad that Florida was the first state to eliminate DEI and I hope more states follow suit," <a href="https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1763655357581205839"><span class="s1" style="color: #224d9e;">DeSantis wrote on X</span></a>, formerly Twitter, in response to the University of Florida's move to eliminate all DEI positions last week.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">DeSantis has made cultural issues a centerpiece of his time in office, especially in education; he has signed multiple pieces of legislation <a href="https://apple.news/A5bMi8Z8ySoStxHrPasf21A"><span class="s1" style="color: #224d9e;">designed to limit instruction about race and sexuality</span></a>. And he has taken aim at sports, including legislation signed in 2021 that <a href="https://apple.news/A8rTUMdqySui_rP6m5Ugtdw"><span class="s1" style="color: #224d9e;">bans transgender girls from playing on public school girls' teams</span></a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 25px;">"The value of Black talent is undeniable"<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #224d9e; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;"><span class="s1" style="color: #262626;">About 17% of the state of Florida's population is Black, <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/FL/RHI225222#RHI225222"><span class="s2" style="color: #224d9e;">according to the Census Bureau</span></a>. Yet Black students made up <a href="https://ir.fsu.edu/facts.aspx"><span class="s2" style="color: #224d9e;">just 8.5% of students at Florida State University</span></a> and <a href="https://ir.aa.ufl.edu/facts/diversity/"><span class="s2" style="color: #224d9e;">fewer than 5% at the University of Florida</span></a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">But Black students make up an outsize proportion of college athletes, especially in football and basketball, the two sports that traditionally bring in the most revenue for major athletics programs. Black players represent around half of Division 1 basketball and football players nationwide, <a href="https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2018/12/13/ncaa-demographics-database.aspx"><span class="s2" style="color: #224d9e;">according to data compiled by the NCAA</span></a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">Florida is home to two of the largest athletic departments in the nation — the University of Florida and Florida State University, both of which rank in the nation's top 15 programs in total revenue, <a href="https://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances"><span class="s2" style="color: #224d9e;">according to <i>USA Today</i></span></a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">"The value of Black talent is undeniable, especially when it comes to college sports," Russell and Johnson wrote in the NAACP letter. "At UF and similar institutions, if football stadiums emptied, if merchandise stopped selling, if TV deals fell through, the monetary loss would extend beyond athletics to other university programs."</p><p class="p3" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">In total, nine of the state's public universities field NCAA Division I athletic teams, and a tenth plays in Division II. (One of the 10, Florida A&M, is a historically Black university, which the NAACP expressly omitted from its call to boycott.)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">Emmitt Smith, the one-time star running back at the University of Florida who went on to become an NFL Hall of Famer for the Dallas Cowboys, said he was "utterly disgusted" by the school's decision, and he criticized university leadership for bowing to political pressure.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p3" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">"To the MANY minority athletes at UF, please be aware and vocal about this decision by the University who is now closing the doors on other minorities without any oversight," he said <a href="https://twitter.com/EmmittSmith22/status/1764350380941713637"><span class="s2" style="color: #224d9e;">in a statement posted to social media</span></a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">A handful of other states have taken aim at DEI programs at universities. <a href="https://www.tpr.org/education/2024-01-02/dei-programs-are-now-gone-from-texas-universities-how-are-schools-adapting"><span class="s1" style="color: #224d9e;">That includes Texas, where a sweeping ban took effect on Jan. 1</span></a> that eliminates DEI offices, diversity training and most activities based on race, color, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit <a href="https://www.npr.org"><span class="s1" style="color: #224d9e;">NPR</span></a>.A handful of other states have taken aim at DEI programs at universities. <a href="https://www.tpr.org/education/2024-01-02/dei-programs-are-now-gone-from-texas-universities-how-are-schools-adapting"><span class="s1" style="color: #224d9e;">That includes Texas, where a sweeping ban took effect on Jan. 1</span></a> that eliminates DEI offices, diversity training and most activities based on race, color, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 28px;">Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit <a href="https://www.npr.org"><span class="s1" style="color: #224d9e;">NPR</span></a>.</p>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-17186731317691229702024-03-16T14:09:00.003-05:002024-03-16T14:09:27.670-05:00What is DEI and why is [DEI-Phobia] dividing America?<p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Unless you seek a system of apartheid and real inequality stratified by race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability, it is really is hard to argue that DEI is unimportant to the college experience, producing well-rounded graduates that can work across difference. I like Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, who quipped: </span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>“The loss of DEI-Phobic companies is my gain,” Cuban wrote. “Having a workforce that is diverse and representative of your stakeholders is good for business.”</b></span></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>"DEI-Phobia" is most definitely a losing game. </b><b>The best way to think about this so-called "division" is that it is not just contrived, but fundamentally one of either being pro- or anti-diversity. This is an untenable vision <i>of</i> America in that it is not <i>for</i> America where people of color not only matter but are core to its redefining as a multiracial and multiethnic democracy toward which we are poised. And...it's GOOD and WILL BE GOOD for us as a nation. Strength in diversity has always been true.</b></span></p><p><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">-Angela Valenzuela</b></p><p class="p1" style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/09/us/what-is-dei-and-why-its-dividing-america/index.html"><span style="font-size: x-large;">What is DEI and why is it dividing America?</span></a></p><p class="p2" style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 24px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Updated 12:06 PM EDT March 11, 2024</span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 24px; text-align: right;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="cnn_sans_display, helveticaneue, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #6e6e6e; text-align: start;">By </span><a class="byline__link" href="https://www.cnn.com/profiles/nicquel-terry-ellis" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #6e6e6e; font-family: cnn_sans_display, helveticaneue, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: rgb(110, 110, 110); text-decoration-line: var(--theme-paragraph__link-decoration); text-decoration-skip-ink: var(--theme-underline-skip-ink); text-decoration-thickness: var(--theme-paragraph__link-decoration-thickness); text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-underline-offset: var(--theme-paragraph__hover-link-offset);"><span class="byline__name" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Nicquel Terry Ellis</span></a><span face="cnn_sans_display, helveticaneue, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #6e6e6e; text-align: start;">, CNN</span></span></p><p class="p3" style="color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 36px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: large;">Diversity, equity and inclusion programs have come under attack in boardrooms, state legislatures and college campuses across the country.</span></p><div class="image__caption attribution" itemprop="caption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #0c0c0c; display: inline; font-family: cnn_sans_display, helveticaneue, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 4px; order: 2; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="inline-placeholder" data-editable="metaCaption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtxTCvYoNJpJk73msqetgcXrQogbXAq7yqCCdHupPngcpkIz75epdVqyNQCzcv_p51McVKvPxTfTjIQ-quapIj4XH0VqdFnNO1bVUQYxazQZFuoFF8VmZIoXtb3c4ycVuO4hlkzBrxwtKG2rB9vdCknbYL83vX0SBSPrZ85svZt2f_FuxuLlJeSQ/s2038/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20at%207.35.41%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="clear: left; 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background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #0c0c0c; display: inline; font-family: cnn_sans_display, helveticaneue, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 4px; order: 2; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="inline-placeholder" data-editable="metaCaption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div class="image__caption attribution" itemprop="caption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #0c0c0c; display: inline; font-family: cnn_sans_display, helveticaneue, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 4px; order: 2; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="inline-placeholder" data-editable="metaCaption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div class="image__caption attribution" itemprop="caption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #0c0c0c; display: inline; font-family: cnn_sans_display, helveticaneue, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 4px; order: 2; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="inline-placeholder" data-editable="metaCaption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div class="image__caption attribution" itemprop="caption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #0c0c0c; display: inline; font-family: cnn_sans_display, helveticaneue, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 4px; order: 2; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="inline-placeholder" data-editable="metaCaption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div class="image__caption attribution" itemprop="caption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #0c0c0c; display: inline; font-family: cnn_sans_display, helveticaneue, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 4px; order: 2; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="inline-placeholder" data-editable="metaCaption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Demonstrators for and against the U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down race-conscious student admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina confront each other, in Washington, U.S., June 29, 2023.</span> </div><figcaption class="image__credit" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #6e6e6e; display: inline; font-family: cnn_sans_display, helveticaneue, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; order: 1; padding: 4px 0px; text-align: right; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; visibility: visible;">Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters/File</figcaption></div><div><div style="text-align: right;"><span face="cnn_sans_display, helveticaneue, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif" style="color: #6e6e6e;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><p class="p4" style="color: #313131; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 30px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">CNN-Since 2023, 81 anti-DEI bills that target programs at colleges have been introduced in 28<b><i> </i></b>states and in Congress, <a href="https://apple.news/ACvbVtqKIMcawagpjfp1RYQ"><span class="s1" style="color: #be0004;">according to a tally by the Chronicle of Higher </span></a>Education. Eight have been signed into law, in states like Texas and Florida.</span></p><p class="p4" style="color: #313131; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 30px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/05/17/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace/" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.4px; line-height: var(--theme-paragraph__line-height--from-small); text-decoration-color: var(--theme-paragraph__link-decoration-color); text-decoration-line: var(--theme-paragraph__link-decoration); text-decoration-skip-ink: var(--theme-underline-skip-ink); text-decoration-thickness: var(--theme-paragraph__link-decoration-thickness); text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-underline-offset: var(--theme-paragraph__hover-link-offset);" target="_blank">A 2023 survey by the Pew Research Center </a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; letter-spacing: 0.4px;">found that 52% of employed U.S. adults say they have DEI trainings or meetings at work, and 33% say they have a designated staff member who promotes DEI.</span></span></p><p class="p4" style="color: #313131; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 30px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">But recently, some companies have slashed teams dedicated to DEI and wealthy corporate leaders such as Bill Ackman and Elon Musk have made <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1735568882499211557?lang=en">posts on social </a>media that decried diversity programs.</span></p><p class="p4" style="color: #313131; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 30px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Critics say DEI programs are discriminatory and attempt to solve racial discrimination by disadvantaging other groups, particularly White Americans. But supporters and industry experts insist the decades-old practice has been politicized and is widely misunderstood.</span></p><p class="p4" style="color: #313131; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 30px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">What is DEI?</span></p><p class="p4" style="color: #313131; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 30px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">CNN interviewed seven DEI experts and industry leaders and asked each to define diversity, equity and inclusion. Although their responses varied slightly, most had a shared vision for what constitutes DEI:</span></p><p class="p4" style="color: #313131; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 30px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Diversity is embracing the differences everyone brings to the table whether it’s someone’s race, age, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability or other aspects of social identity.</span></p><p class="p4" style="color: #313131; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 30px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Equity is treating everyone fairly and providing equal opportunities.</span></p><p class="p4" style="color: #313131; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 30px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And inclusion is respecting everyone’s voice and creating a culture where people from all backgrounds feel encouraged to express their ideas and perspectives.</span></p><p class="p4" style="color: #313131; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 30px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Daniel Oppong, founder of The Courage Collective, a consultancy that advises companies on DEI, said DEI was created because marginalized communities have not always had equal opportunities for jobs, or felt a sense of belonging in majority-White corporate settings.</span></p><p class="p4" style="color: #313131; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 30px;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.4px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“That is the genesis of why some of these programs exist,” he said. “It was an attempt to try to create workplaces where more or all people can thrive.”</span></span></p></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi48YD_ImTWMI2rfaLLGkC_LGm-0AoZxKrCfa50zEszsuynxkjBftRT_j_qClprxCEdwz97LT4Ysh0tZBothUeuf_NXgqWGzQC4dWg9zqoNEO1_5o9gEVbqULZRMyIDGvSY4PsFRV0nZo8PmZCNP7rKFlELXk0U7emKifeQ70h8DFbYAdGCjPwPuA/s1812/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20at%207.38.18%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1236" data-original-width="1812" height="367" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi48YD_ImTWMI2rfaLLGkC_LGm-0AoZxKrCfa50zEszsuynxkjBftRT_j_qClprxCEdwz97LT4Ysh0tZBothUeuf_NXgqWGzQC4dWg9zqoNEO1_5o9gEVbqULZRMyIDGvSY4PsFRV0nZo8PmZCNP7rKFlELXk0U7emKifeQ70h8DFbYAdGCjPwPuA/w539-h367/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20at%207.38.18%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="539" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="image__caption attribution" itemprop="caption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #0c0c0c; display: inline; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 4px; order: 2; text-align: left; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="inline-placeholder" data-editable="metaCaption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">President Lyndon Baines Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act on July 2, 1964. <br />The law made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, <br />sex, or national origin, and barred unequal application of voter registration requirements.</span> </div><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"></span><figcaption class="image__credit" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; order: 1; padding: 4px 0px; text-align: right; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; visibility: visible;"><span style="color: #6e6e6e;">AP</span><br /><br /></figcaption></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /><br /><br />When did workplaces start embracing DEI?<br /><br />The backlash against DEI may feel like a pendulum swing from 2020, but the DEI practice has been around for decades.<br /><br />Dominique Hollins, founder of the DEI consulting firm WĒ360, said the origins of DEI programs date back to the civil rights movement, which played a pivotal role in accelerating efforts to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces.<br /><br />The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed employment discrimination based on race, religion, sex, color and national origin. It also banned segregation in public places, like public schools and libraries.<br /><br />Title VII of the Civil Rights Act established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which works to eliminate employment discrimination.<br /><br />In the 1960s and ‘70s, employees began filing discrimination lawsuits with the EEOC and many companies began incorporating diversity into their business strategies by providing diversity training, according to a <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/AMLE.2008.34251673">2008 report published</a> in the Academy of Management Learning & Education.<br /><br />These diversity training efforts emerged around the time that affirmative action began by executive order from President John F. Kennedy. Although the two concepts may seem similar, affirmative action is different from DEI because it required federal contractors by executive order from the president to treat all applicants and employees equally based on race, color, religion and sex.<br /><br />Colleges and universities also used affirmative action to boost enrollment of students of color at majority-White schools. But last year, the Supreme Court gutted affirmative action, ruling that race-conscious college admissions were unconstitutional.<br /><br />After President Ronald Reagan backed corporate deregulation policies that said companies should be addressing discrimination internally in the 1980s, Hollins said some of the diversity efforts lost momentum.<br /><br />In the decades to follow, Hollins said many companies continued to push for DEI-focused jobs and training in a “piecemeal” fashion, instead of creating ongoing programs and dedicated teams.<br /><br />Hollins said many companies didn’t have the staffing or resources to sustain DEI efforts.<br /><br />But the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May 2020 sparked a racial reckoning and a renewed push for creating DEI leadership roles and initiatives at major corporations.<br /><br />Between 2019 and 2022, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whos-vaulting-c-suite-trends-changed-fast-2022-george-anders/?trackingId=jOiiEvmfQI6sMbG%2BKwpCIQ%3D%3D">according to </a><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whos-vaulting-c-suite-trends-changed-fast-2022-george-anders/?trackingId=jOiiEvmfQI6sMbG%2BKwpCIQ%3D%3D">a</a><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whos-vaulting-c-suite-trends-changed-fast-2022-george-anders/?trackingId=jOiiEvmfQI6sMbG%2BKwpCIQ%3D%3D"> LinkedIn </a><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whos-vaulting-c-suite-trends-changed-fast-2022-george-anders/?trackingId=jOiiEvmfQI6sMbG%2BKwpCIQ%3D%3D">analysis</a><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whos-vaulting-c-suite-trends-changed-fast-2022-george-anders/?trackingId=jOiiEvmfQI6sMbG%2BKwpCIQ%3D%3D">,</a> chief diversity and inclusion officer roles grew by 168.9%.<br /><br />Today, some of those efforts have been rolled back and people have left DEI roles because they didn’t feel fully supported, Hollins said.<br /><br />Companies “were giving the appearance of commitment without actually doing the right work for that commitment to be sustainable,” Hollins said.<br /><br />Despite the backlash against DEI programs and initiatives, many companies are standing firm in their support for DEI. <br /><br />A survey published in January by the polling firm Ipsos, found 67% of people surveyed said their employers require or offer trainings, lectures, webinars, or resources on DEI. And 71% of people surveyed said they think DEI training is important to “creating a positive workplace culture.”<br />What does DEI look like at work?<br /><br />Today, studies show that many companies are prioritizing some form of DEI. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/05/17/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace/">According to a 2023 study by the Pew Research Center</a>, 61% of U.S. adults say their workplace has policies that focus on fairness in hiring, promotions or pay. And 56% of U.S. adults say, “focusing on increasing diversity, equity and inclusion at work is mainly a good thing.”<br /><br />Kelly Baker, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Thrivent, an organization that provides financial advice, said DEI in the workplace can be a mix of employee training, resource networks and recruiting practices.<br /><br />Her company, for example, has resource groups for women in leadership, young professionals, Black employees, Hispanic employees, and military veterans, among others.<br /><br />Their DEI training teaches employees how to understand and bridge cultural differences in the workplace, she said.<br /><br />Thrivent also seeks job candidates with diversity in their race, geography, gender and industry background, Baker said.<br /><br />Experts say many corporations tie DEI to their business strategies.<br /><br />Diversity “is related to our business growth strategy,” Baker said. “It’s pragmatic and essential and critical for us to ensure that our client base reflects the world that we are in and the world that we are going to be in.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisv8pV9r2Bni6UXvIFzOTbhN_rPKYGqS1VoBmyNHEOYlop28Fx7gD7Q_cUYnn78dQw1Yp_I9dJsodOIA8RxbtKAJT2yK9RUZhCn8awuC9qvUdp32r_eiJBisoqaSrxvPDFLzosblhLaxC-useHoQ8tEQ8GfAaJk2LQdnUkNt4sIRLiPJOShlMNSw/s1812/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20at%207.42.47%E2%80%AFPM.png"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisv8pV9r2Bni6UXvIFzOTbhN_rPKYGqS1VoBmyNHEOYlop28Fx7gD7Q_cUYnn78dQw1Yp_I9dJsodOIA8RxbtKAJT2yK9RUZhCn8awuC9qvUdp32r_eiJBisoqaSrxvPDFLzosblhLaxC-useHoQ8tEQ8GfAaJk2LQdnUkNt4sIRLiPJOShlMNSw/w573-h426/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20at%207.42.47%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="573" /></a><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">What does DEI look like in higher education?<br /><br />College campuses have become ground zero for the DEI debate as state lawmakers across the country launch efforts to halt or limit DEI programs in public schools and universities.<br /><br />Last week, the University of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/01/us/university-florida-shutters-dei-office-reaj/index.html">Florida eliminated the office of its Chief Diversity Officer</a> to comply with regulations from the Florida Board of Governors that prohibit spending state funds on DEI programs.<br /><br />Ella Washington, professor of practice at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, said she is concerned that efforts to ban DEI on college campuses will prevent students from being prepared for the real world.<br /><br />“I think a lot of it is short-sighted and politically motivated,” Washington said. “It’s hard for me to believe that all of these lawmakers want exclusion be taught and to erase all of history.”<br /><br />Washington said while DEI looks different on every college campus, many schools focus efforts on recruitment and admissions, curriculum and special programs for underrepresented students.<br /><br />Georgetown’s Office of Student Equity & Inclusion oversees several DEI-centered programs including the Disability Cultural Center, Women’s Center, LGBTQ Resource Center, and the Center for Multicultural Equity and Access, according to its website.<br /><br />Washington said there is also a program for first-generation college students where they have a chance to build community.<br /><br />Prioritizing and embracing a diverse student body allows students to interact with peers from different walks of life and learn new perspectives even outside of the classroom, Washington said.<br /><br />“Colleges are certainly a microcosm of the world,” Washington said. “So, having an experience where equity is centered, equality is considered, inclusion is at the forefront of people’s minds, those are things we are teaching the next generation about how they should be running the world.”<br />What are critics saying?<br /><br />In recent years, DEI has become a social and political lightning rod for lawmakers, corporate leaders and even conservative activists, who have sought to cast the initiatives as unfair and even racist.<br /><br />Some were emboldened by the Supreme Court’s decision to gut affirmative action last June.<br /><br />Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and an outspoken critic of DEI, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/opinion/christopher-rufo-diversity-desantis-florida-university.html">wrote in a New York Times op-ed last year</a> that “these are not neutral programs to increase demographic diversity; they are political programs that use taxpayer resources to advance a specific partisan orthodoxy.”<br /><br />The Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank, holds a similar position. Ryan P. Williams, president of the institute, previously told CNN he believes the ideology behind DEI is “fundamentally anti-American.”<br /><br />“The words that the acronym ‘DEI’ represent sound nice, but it is nothing more than affirmative action and racial preferences by a different name, a system that features racial headcounts and arbitrarily assigned roles of ‘oppressor’ and ‘oppressed’ groups in America,” Williams said in an emailed statement. “If we continue to do democracy this way, it will only end in acrimony, strife, resentment, and American collapse.”<br /><br />Earlier this year, billionaire investor Bill Ackman posted a <a href="https://twitter.com/BillAckman/status/1742441534627184760">4,000-word opus</a> on X that criticized DEI as “inherently a racist and illegal movement in its implementation even if it purports to work on behalf of the so-called oppressed.” Ackman’s lengthy thesis was later reposted by billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who now owns the social media platform.<br /><br />“DEI is just another word for racism. Shame on anyone who uses it,” Musk wrote in his <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1742653436393406618">post</a>.<br /><br />In a follow-up post, Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1742666641798779089">doubled down</a>, adding, “DEI, because it discriminates on the basis of race, gender and many other factors, is not merely immoral, it is also illegal.”<br /><br />Tesla, which is owned by Musk, has since omitted all language regarding minority workers and outreach to minority communities in its 10-K filing with the SEC made January 29, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/01/business/tesla-dei-elon-musk/index.html">CNN previously reported</a>.<br /><br />But not every business leader agrees. Mark Cuban, billionaire businessman and minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, pushed back on Musk’s posts in a <a href="https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/1742690628465484204">thread</a> defending DEI as good for businesses and their workers.<br /><br />“The loss of DEI-Phobic companies is my gain,” Cuban wrote. “Having a workforce that is diverse and representative of your stakeholders is good for business.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFKO1kPglyzaNJZ8ICa_N_gFV8j7KLXDolbZARA7pFWrDkw6J4-Fp4G6GXXN9SXFuIlRKbaORMiDccAuTsfvK5KYQxA1pesDUcB4_RXuCB-IdreGqoSyhCy7piRiWatxlMtfeh6AefXjlFdtw6ikrjsfZ8AcnVnke7INbS2vp4PRTtS1VzlKSGg/s1812/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20at%207.44.55%E2%80%AFPM.png"><img border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFKO1kPglyzaNJZ8ICa_N_gFV8j7KLXDolbZARA7pFWrDkw6J4-Fp4G6GXXN9SXFuIlRKbaORMiDccAuTsfvK5KYQxA1pesDUcB4_RXuCB-IdreGqoSyhCy7piRiWatxlMtfeh6AefXjlFdtw6ikrjsfZ8AcnVnke7INbS2vp4PRTtS1VzlKSGg/w567-h404/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20at%207.44.55%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="567" /></a><br /><br />What’s next in the fight over DEI?<br /><br />Texas, North Dakota, North Carolina, Tennessee and Utah each have at least one anti-DEI bill that has been signed into law, according to the <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/here-are-the-states-where-lawmakers-are-seeking-to-ban-colleges-dei-efforts">Chronicle of Higher Education.</a><br /><br />In Nebraska, Republican State Sen. Dave Murman <a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=54955">proposed a bill</a> in January that would prohibit state colleges and universities from dedicating public money and staff time to DEI efforts.<br /><br />The bill is currently with the Nebraska legislature’s education committee which will decide whether to move it to the full legislature.<br /><br />Murman’s office did not respond to a request for an interview.<br /><br />Nebraska Democratic state Sen. Danielle Conrad told CNN she opposes the bill in part because the broader effort to ban DEI has become “divisive.” She said it also “distracts from the real issues” colleges are facing, such as families who can’t afford tuition.<br /><br />DEI, she said, is valuable to colleges and universities.<br /><br />“We absolutely know from common sense and research that when we have more diverse perspectives in discussion or as part of our education, it helps us to have more thoughtful results,” Conrad said. “It helps us to be more well-rounded, active and engaged citizens.”<br /><br />CNN’s Athena Jones contributed to this story.<br /><br /></span><br /></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-51076880018782010772024-03-16T13:49:00.005-05:002024-03-16T14:55:00.601-05:00UH education professor suspends course in protest of HISD's rigid lessons<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>This is scandalous, my friends. University of Houston Distinguished Professor Alberto Rodriguez calls foul in the preparation of science educators in HISD and the response by the university is not only disappointing but also over the top by threatening this distinguished professor's tenure who is speaking truth to power. Check out this <a href="https://www.click2houston.com/video/news/2024/02/27/uh-professor-suspends-course-in-protest-of-hisds-teaching-methods/">Click2Houston video</a> where he expressed well the problem and the ethics behind his decision to discontinue sending pre-service teachers into the school district.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>One doesn't have to dig too deeply into the news to learn just how punishing HISD Superintendent Mike Miles' scripted curriculum is on students and teachers. There have been protests about this. Check out the pages of <a href="https://www.houstoncvpe.org/">Houston Community Voices for Public Education</a> to get a solid accounting of what's up in what used to be HISD but which has been taken over by Miles' education management organization called the New Education System (NES)/Third Future Schools. Also check out this earlier blog post on the matter for more information: <a href="https://texasedequity.blogspot.com/2023/12/welcome-to-houstons-no-longer.html">Welcome to the Houston's No longer Independent </a><a href="https://texasedequity.blogspot.com/2023/12/welcome-to-houstons-no-longer.html"> School District</a>. Bilingual Education and Special Education are also on the rocks. See <span style="color: #222222;"><span><a href="https://www.houstoncvpe.org/peoples_report">People's Report of HISD takeover at State Board of Ed</a>, as well as </span></span><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/03/houston-isd-spanish-mike-miles/?utm_source=Texas+Tribune+Newsletters&utm_campaign=71d3b0fb06-trib-newsletters-thebrief&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-71d3b0fb06-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=71d3b0fb06&mc_eid=7561626290"><span>Support for Houston ISD’s Spanish</span><span> </span><span>speakers has dwindled under state-appointed leader, parents say</span></a>. Considering the accumulating evidence, Professor Rodriguez is not at all out of line with respect to his assessment of Miles' science curriculum.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>It's true to form in an authoritarian regime, regardless, that the school district's spokesman, Jose Irizarry, responds to this outing of the science curriculum by Dr. Rodriguez by deciding to gaslight the Houston community. He states that the curriculum amounts to "high-quality instruction and curriculum" when nothing could be further from the truth. Don't drink the Kool-aid, my friends. And let's protect tenure. This is exactly what tenure allows one to do, to talk back to the corporation and call out injustice. Schools should never be used to organize principal, teacher, and student disaffection and failure. </b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Moreover, let's not participate in our own miseducation in our understanding of freedom. By this, I mean that we should not be comfortable with conditions like those called out by Dr. Rodriguez. We need to take back our power, beginning with advocating for a quality public education that honors our communities' and students' right to one. We must not become apathetic about this. </b></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Along with the accreditation agencies that require quality, research-based best practices in the preparation of future educators, the Houston community would do well to stand solidly behind this professor. Too many people's lives and well-being are at stake, as is the future of our democracy.</b></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>-Angela Valenzuela </b></span></span></p><div class="rel" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><h1 class="block ff-fontC fw-fontB fs-fontC lh11 lg:fs46 sm:fs36 fs28" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontC),var(--fallbackFontC); font-style: var(--fontC-style); font-weight: var(--fontB-weight); line-height: 1.1em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/uh-education-professor-suspends-course-hisd-18677990.php"><span style="font-size: x-large;">UH education professor suspends course in protest of HISD's rigid lessons</span></a></h1><div style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4G3UJQb5Fbddsr2k1wOI4E0hvkwrjvvC_J8v7ZxVos7z42qKak9aEkdHl8EZ0PT4n4D-eSJGtZxQ3g5i6s5RgEOlNB90ZcmaZgpxJOBurNJwvnIkG6hu3CsEz84pjNyPaK8lXzQYk2t0LcTc1QxyDHhaKTAxVokiqF_32bDS6m5e5ODcOesybPQ/s1692/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20at%2012.03.34%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="1692" height="447" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4G3UJQb5Fbddsr2k1wOI4E0hvkwrjvvC_J8v7ZxVos7z42qKak9aEkdHl8EZ0PT4n4D-eSJGtZxQ3g5i6s5RgEOlNB90ZcmaZgpxJOBurNJwvnIkG6hu3CsEz84pjNyPaK8lXzQYk2t0LcTc1QxyDHhaKTAxVokiqF_32bDS6m5e5ODcOesybPQ/w586-h447/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20at%2012.03.34%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="586" /></a></div></div><div class="f jcb sm:aic sm:fdr sm:g0 fdc ais g16" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-direction: row; gap: var(--s0); justify-content: space-between; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="f fdc sy4" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-direction: column; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="c-gray700 f aic g2 fw owa" color="var(--gray700)" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: var(--s2); margin: 0px 0px 4px; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;"><span class="lg:fs16" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="lg:largeTimestamp smallTimestamp lg:fs16" face="var(--largeTimestamp-font)" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-style: var(--largeTimestamp-style); font-weight: var(--largeTimestamp-weight); letter-spacing: var(--largeTimestamp-letterspacing); line-height: var(--largeTimestamp-lineheight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">By </span><span class="bylineSm lg:bylineLg pb1" face="var(--byline-font)" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-style: var(--byline-style); font-weight: var(--byline-weight); letter-spacing: var(--byline-letterspacing); line-height: var(--byline-lineheight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1px;"><a class="c-primaryAccessible hover:o70 td300 wbbw" data-link="native" href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/author/sam-gonz%C3%A1lez-kelly/" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.3s; word-break: break-word;">Sam González Kelly</a></span></span></span></span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="smallTimestamp lg:largeTimestamp pb1 c-gray600" color="var(--gray600)" face="var(--largeTimestamp-font)" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-style: var(--largeTimestamp-style); font-weight: var(--largeTimestamp-weight); letter-spacing: var(--largeTimestamp-letterspacing); line-height: var(--largeTimestamp-lineheight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1px;"><time datetime="2024-02-23 06:00:16" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Feb 23, 2024</span></time></span></span></div></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">A University of Houston education professor stopped teaching his course last week in protest of his student teachers' placements <a data-link="native" href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/going-hisd-catch-changes-18350395.php?t=ae63524cca" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--primary); box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">in Houston ISD schools</a>, where he said the "<a data-link="native" href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-teachers-say-curriculum-ordered-miles-18417404.php" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--primary); box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">scripted curriculum" used in HISD classes</a> made it impossible for them to complete their assignments. </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Alberto Rodriguez, a distinguished professor of science education at the University of Houston College of Education, informed students in his "Science in the Elementary School II" course of the decision in a Feb. 14 email.</p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"I regret to inform you that I am suspending my teaching of this course in protest of the impossible school placements to which some of you have been assigned," Rodriguez wrote. "I feel it is unethical and unprofessional for me to continue teaching this course when you have been placed in school settings that make it very challenging for you to complete field-based assignments as expected in the effective preparation of teachers." </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MM_onlineOnly" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="CCI Online Only"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">MORE ON HISD:</span><a data-link="native" href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-overhaul-plan-miles-18677514.php" rel="noopener" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--primary); box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span>Superintendent Miles announces major overhaul to tackle 'inefficiencies,' pay for NES expansion.</a></p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">University of Houston spokeswoman Shawn Lindsey said the college immediately assigned another faculty member, who teaches the other section of the course, to Rodriguez's class, ensuring the course continued uninterrupted. Lindsey declined to say whether Rodriguez, who is tenured at the university, would face any disciplinary action, saying they do not comment on personnel matters. </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"As districts across the state and nation have moved to varying degrees of curriculum autonomy, our teacher education program works to ensure our student-teachers gain valuable, authentic classroom experiences," Lindsey said. "We teach our student-teachers to work within a district’s curriculum guidelines just as they would in the real world, and our student-teachers remain able to practice skills a successful teacher needs — such as keeping students engaged, checking for understanding and adapting as needed."</p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Students in the "Science in the Elementary School II" course, all of whom are seniors, receive student teaching assignments at schools in the Houston, Cypress-Fairbanks and Spring Branch school districts, which they rank in order of preference. </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Rodriguez said the spread of highly structured lessons that may include word-for-word scripts for teachers is a "national issue" that is not isolated to HISD. But this semester, roughly a dozen students placed at HISD schools were complaining to him, sometimes in tears, that <a data-link="native" href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/houston-isd-teachers-quit-twice-rate-pre-mike-18444853.php" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--primary); box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">the rigid expectations imposed under state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles</a> made it difficult for them to complete their assignments for his course.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </p><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Among other directives, Miles expects teachers to use timers during their lessons, engage in "multiple response strategies" roughly every four minutes and, <a data-link="native" href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-new-education-system-expansion-18563996.php?t=4acbd34847" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--primary); box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">at schools in his New Education System</a>, administer daily quizzes, while school administrators and district officials go from room to room to monitor their work.</p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MM_onlineOnly" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="CCI Online Only"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">MORE ON NEW EDUCATION SYSTEM: </span><a data-link="native" href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-new-education-system-expansion-18563996.php?t=4acbd34847" rel="noopener" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--primary); box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">HISD names 19 campuses joining New Education System for 2024-25 school year after opting in</a></p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">One key assignment in Rodriguez's course involved developing a lesson plan for students to teach in March or April, which would go through a series of revisions in Rodriguez's course before being delivered to children. Rodriguez's students at HISD, however, told him they were unable to plan that far ahead because the lead classroom teachers themselves did not know what they would be teaching at that point — the "script" had not yet been posted online. </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Rodriguez said such constraints violated accreditation standards developed by the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) and the Texas State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC), both of which require education students to be able to effectively lesson plan, among other things.</p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"They are being placed in schools that are following a scripted curriculum that totally contradicts everything that we're talking about in class," Rodriguez said. "There's no way you can make science inclusive and relevant to all students — especially students of color or bilingual students — when you have a teacher that is not allowed to carry out their craft." </p></div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="tac sm:mhi mb16 ox-hidden" data-block-type="ad" data-small-id="B300" data-unit="hnp-houstonchronicle.com/article_dtc" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16px; min-height: auto; overflow-x: hidden; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Representatives for the AAQEP and the Texas Education Agency, which oversees the SBEC, did not return a request for comment. The University of Houston noted that its education program is fully accredited by both bodies. </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Houston ISD spokesman Jose Irizarry, in a statement, said district leaders are "pleased that UH has identified an experienced professor to take over the course so that student teachers can continue their work in our schools, where they are seeing how high-quality instruction and curriculum lead to academic growth and gains in student performance." </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Rodriguez said he approached College of Education Dean Catherine Horn, University Chancellor Renu Khator and Provost Diane Chase with his concerns, and that Horn was the only person to respond, arguing that the university could not control the actions of its partners and asking him to continue teaching the course and making arrangements for his students like everybody else. </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The response disappointed Rodriguez, who said he'd hoped the university might try to work with HISD to reach a compromise. </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"That doesn't sound like much of a partnership to me. Partners don't watch teachers being pushed off a cliff and then just kind of look the other way," Rodriguez said. "You try to engage in conversations with school district officials to provide space for our students to practice what they're learning in the classroom."</p></div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="tac sm:mhi mb16 ox-hidden" data-block-type="ad" data-small-id="CONCERT2" data-unit="hnp-houstonchronicle.com/article_dtc" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16px; min-height: auto; overflow-x: hidden; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Horn deferred comment to the University of Houston press office.</p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"We have found that all of our district partners are willing to work with us so our teacher candidates can complete their certification requirements, including teaching lessons for formal observations," Lindsey said. "In cases where a student-teacher is concerned about their school experience, our faculty work with campus leadership to make adjustments or, in rare cases, move placements."</p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The professor's future with the university is uncertain. The science education course was the only one he taught this semester, and though he is still engaged in a variety of research projects at the university, he no longer has access to his class files on Canvas, the learning management software used by the University of Houston. </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"I don't know what the next step is on their side, but I'm going to continue pursuing this because I feel like I cannot just sit by as the new generation of teachers are not well prepared," Rodriguez said. </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="f aic jcb mb8 fw g8" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; font-size: 16px; gap: var(--s8); justify-content: space-between; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px;"><div class="f sx8 aic sy4" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="f fdc sy4" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-direction: column; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="c-gray700 f aic g2 fw owa" color="var(--gray700)" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: var(--s2); margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;"><span class="fs16" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="lg:largeTimestamp smallTimestamp fs16" face="var(--largeTimestamp-font)" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: var(--largeTimestamp-size); font-style: var(--largeTimestamp-style); font-weight: var(--largeTimestamp-weight); letter-spacing: var(--largeTimestamp-letterspacing); line-height: var(--largeTimestamp-lineheight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />By </span><span class="bylineSm lg:bylineLg pb1" face="var(--byline-font)" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: var(--byline-lg-size); font-style: var(--byline-style); font-weight: var(--byline-weight); letter-spacing: var(--byline-letterspacing); line-height: var(--byline-lineheight); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1px;"><a class="c-primaryAccessible hover:o70 td300 wbbw" data-link="native" href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/author/sam-gonz%C3%A1lez-kelly/" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.3s; word-break: break-word;">Sam González Kelly</a></span></span></span></div></div><div class="sx8 f" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a aria-label="find Sam González Kelly on twitter" href="https://twitter.com/sgonzalezkelly" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><svg class="p0 bn bgt on m0 p0 td300 hover:c-primary" fill="none" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path d="M12 24C18.6274 24 24 18.6274 24 12C24 5.37258 18.6274 0 12 0C5.37258 0 0 5.37258 0 12C0 18.6274 5.37258 24 12 24Z" fill="currentColor"></path><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6506 9.18857C17.136 8.88224 17.5085 8.39651 17.6833 7.81788C17.2288 8.10223 16.7266 8.30787 16.1907 8.4192C15.7631 7.93701 15.152 7.63635 14.4756 7.63635C13.178 7.63635 12.1265 8.74609 12.1265 10.1147C12.1265 10.3089 12.1459 10.4983 12.1863 10.6791C10.2338 10.5756 8.50257 9.58992 7.3428 8.08947C7.14043 8.45678 7.02478 8.88224 7.02478 9.33606C7.02478 10.1955 7.43961 10.9542 8.07026 11.3995C7.68502 11.3868 7.32263 11.274 7.00529 11.0897V11.1202C7.00529 12.3214 7.81478 13.3233 8.89118 13.5502C8.69352 13.6084 8.48644 13.6375 8.27129 13.6375C8.12001 13.6375 7.9721 13.6226 7.82957 13.5935C8.12808 14.5777 8.99607 15.2953 10.0247 15.3145C9.21995 15.9796 8.20675 16.3753 7.10614 16.3753C6.91654 16.3753 6.72896 16.3646 6.54541 16.3412C7.58551 17.044 8.82059 17.4545 10.1478 17.4545C14.4709 17.4545 16.8335 13.6779 16.8335 10.4025C16.8335 10.2948 16.8321 10.1877 16.8274 10.082C17.2866 9.73245 17.686 9.29564 18 8.79857C17.5784 8.9957 17.1253 9.12901 16.6506 9.18857Z" fill-rule="evenodd" fill="white"></path></svg></a><a aria-label="find Sam González Kelly on facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/houstonchronicle" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><svg class="p0 bn bgt on m0 p0 td300 hover:c-primary" fill="none" height="24" viewbox="0 0 25 24" width="24"><path d="M12.4561 24C19.0835 24 24.4561 18.6274 24.4561 12C24.4561 5.37258 19.0835 0 12.4561 0C5.82864 0 0.456055 5.37258 0.456055 12C0.456055 18.6274 5.82864 24 12.4561 24Z" fill="currentColor"></path><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M13.1729 19.0909H10.5125V12.8173H9.18311V10.6557H10.5125V9.35792C10.5125 7.59456 11.2628 6.54541 13.3957 6.54541H15.1709V8.70785H14.0614C13.2311 8.70785 13.1762 9.00992 13.1762 9.57369L13.1725 10.6557H15.1831L14.9478 12.8173H13.1725V19.0909H13.1729Z" fill-rule="evenodd" fill="white"></path></svg></a></div></div><div class="r12zgbl0 ff-fontG fw-fontG fs-fontG lh13 fs16 fs16 c-gray700 sy16" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--gray700); font-family: var(--fontG),var(--fallbackFontG); font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Sam González Kelly is an education reporter for the Houston Chronicle covering the Houston Independent School District. He can be reached at <ahref style="box-sizing: inherit;">sam.kelly@houstonchronicle.com.</ahref></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">A Chicago native, Sam joined the Chronicle in 2021 to cover marginalized communities after two years covering breaking news at the Chicago Sun-Times. Sam has a bachelor's degree from Pomona College.</p></div></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></p></div></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-28467563005431155852024-03-12T14:55:00.005-05:002024-03-12T15:07:30.614-05:00"The Politics of Hate: Organizing Against Racism and for Educational Justice in Florida," moderated by Dr. Mildred Boveda at CIES<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Happy to share today's recorded session at CIES titled, "The Politics of Hate: Organizing Against Racism and for Educational Justice in Florida," moderated by Dr. Mildred Boveda. Panelists were United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernández-Mats; Dream Defenders Co-Director Jonel Edwards Mickles, Florida International University Professor Emeritus Dr. Marvin Dunn, and PRISM FL, Inc. Executive Director Maxx Fenning.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Due to insufficient connectivity, the presentation goes out momentarily a couple of times, but most of it came it and it was excellent learning about all the great organizing work happening in Florida right now. To CIES' credit, their conference title is "The Power in Protest."</b></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>We should all be encouraged. Truly.</b></span></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">-Angela Valenzuela</span> </span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQ0thoYeWmMoIVaiCh99pOqU6bl1k92R76cymd2EY5HC6H8lluHt74NaY4AxGz_VKaLFjhIspeC1WHUmpAH-p6HDTCWc-JqeeYFJnUKHxIcrp_2E-jw_wbPAE3_1nMCQe97-dumSoQCqNbat_Sc-hgomoPhyphenhyphenC-htWnMW29ejtQq-ML0uC98O9ag/s1100/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20at%203.43.40%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="1100" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQ0thoYeWmMoIVaiCh99pOqU6bl1k92R76cymd2EY5HC6H8lluHt74NaY4AxGz_VKaLFjhIspeC1WHUmpAH-p6HDTCWc-JqeeYFJnUKHxIcrp_2E-jw_wbPAE3_1nMCQe97-dumSoQCqNbat_Sc-hgomoPhyphenhyphenC-htWnMW29ejtQq-ML0uC98O9ag/w577-h137/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20at%203.43.40%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="577" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="429" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FTeamBlackBrown%2Fvideos%2F1110510700181337%2F&show_text=true&width=560&t=0" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="560"></iframe></span></p><p><br /></p>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-77767949539397560682024-03-10T09:54:00.003-05:002024-03-10T11:46:59.365-05:00March for Justice taking place in Miami Today—Sunday, March 10, 2024 1:30PM Miami Circle<span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Friends:<br /><br />Blogging from Miami, Florida. If you're keeping up with the news on DeSantis' "Stop Woke Act," the wind is most definitely in our sails today. Take a minute and read: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/03/09/desantis-florida-woke-culture-wars-legislature/">DeSantis faces pushback in Florida as voters tire of war on woke</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/03/09/desantis-florida-woke-culture-wars-legislature/">Conservative lawmakers rejected a host of new culture wars proposals in the legislature</a>. Two important takeaways are that DeSantis' Stop Woke Act is unconstitutional because it <span style="color: #2a2a2a;">“exceeds the bounds” of the First Amendment that gives us all a right to freedom of speech and expression."</span></b></span><div><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Thank God for the First Amendment and that this court upheld it.</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Another important, major takeaway is that the Florida legislature is increasingly d</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1928;">isenamoured with culture war bills that DeSantis has pushed. Legislatures actually have much more important greater issues to take on than those that beat up on kids and college students and otherwise Gen Z youth that these bills tend to target.</span></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1928; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1928; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>I hope our legislature in Texas heeds these news as we're also fed up with their relentless attacks on the First Amendment, books, teachers, schools, anti-racist curriculum, and our youth.</b></span><div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>If you're in the Neighborhood, please join us. Here is today's schedule thanks to my colleague, Dr. Mildred Boveda. Thanks to her, as well, I'll be speaking at the march.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>-Angela Valenzuela</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>#EducatorSolidarity</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>REFERENCE</b></span></p><div class="PJLV PJLV-iklXUFA-css" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 1000px; width: 1000px;"><h1 class="PJLV PJLV-iirWFJy-css overrideStyles" data-qa="headline" data-testid="headline" id="main-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray20); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-110); margin-bottom: var(--wpds-space-050); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 1000px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-025);"><span class="PJLV" data-qa="headline-text" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Rozsa, L. (2024, March 9). DeSantis faces pushback in Florida as voters tire of war on woke</span></span></h1></div><h2 class="font--subhead font-light offblack mb-sm pb-xxs-ns subheadline" data-qa="subheadline" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray20); line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 16px; max-width: 1000px; padding-bottom: 4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Conservative lawmakers rejected a host of new culture wars proposals in the legislature, <i>Washington Post</i>: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/03/09/desantis-florida-woke-culture-wars-legislature/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/03/09/desantis-florida-woke-culture-wars-legislature/</a></span></h2><div><br /></div><div class="wpds-c-ffLlrl" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; font-family: Franklin, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="wpds-c-hoWMuZ" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-direction: column; max-width: 600px;"><div class="PJLV PJLV-ihSmMVC-css" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="PJLV PJLV-iPJLV-css mb-xxs overrideStyles" data-qa="author-byline" style="box-sizing: border-box; gap: 0.5rem; margin-bottom: 4px;"><span class="wpds-c-PJLV" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="flex items-center" data-qa="author-byline" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex;"><div class="mr-sm flex lh-0" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; line-height: 0; margin-right: 16px;"><div class="wpds-c-iTcer" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: 56px; position: relative; width: 56px;"><img alt="" class="wpds-c-dgBqAZ" src="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/washpost/f98a7d4e-b96a-48db-a989-51e7141c863a.png&w=196&h=196" style="border-radius: 50%; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" /></div></div><span class="left" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="flex" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex;"><div class="dib font-xxs" data-cy="name-with-optional-link" data-qa="name-with-optional-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-size: 1rem;"><span class="wpds-c-cNdzuP" data-qa="attribution-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40);">By </span><a class="wpds-c-cNdzuP wpds-c-cNdzuP-ejzZdU-isLink-true" data-qa="author-name" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/lori-rozsa/?itid=ai_top_lrozsa" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-underline-offset: 1px;">Lori Rozsa</a></div></div></span></div></span></div></div><div class="wpds-c-kgabfe wpds-c-kgabfe-ieEDlgV-css" data-testid="timestamp" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray80); font-family: var(--wpds-fonts-subhead); font-size: var(--wpds-fontSizes-087); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-125); margin-bottom: var(--wpds-space-200);"><span class="PJLV PJLV-ihqANPJ-css overrideStyles" data-testid="updated-and-published-span" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Updated <span class="wpds-c-iKQyrV wpds-c-iKQyrV-ihqANPJ-css overrideStyles" data-testid="updated-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray80); font-size: var(--wpds-fontSizes-087); margin-top: var(--wpds-space-025);">March 9, 2024 at 1:52 p.m. EST</span><span class="wpds-c-jwSVuw" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray300); margin-left: var(--wpds-space-050); margin-right: var(--wpds-space-050);">|</span>Published </span><span class="PJLV" style="box-sizing: border-box;">March 9, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EST</span></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimC8EZJllmcRWofNEYYwCTyxj-W3J9I7Zn-I5n6fPwMT8W-H62Rj4YoRU_fW_KzLYZue3uRkOusJ6by6QVECiq2f8wamN46s-ktjCoJd8BVMvzRFKaGj_jAYz_GgGxUL7_6t2cMk4ktxR0c-bNpgD4u7U6dBPPYQMDsfVrnMxjGgTSQ2BQzOgIg/s1554/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20at%2010.53.12%E2%80%AFAM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1554" data-original-width="1256" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimC8EZJllmcRWofNEYYwCTyxj-W3J9I7Zn-I5n6fPwMT8W-H62Rj4YoRU_fW_KzLYZue3uRkOusJ6by6QVECiq2f8wamN46s-ktjCoJd8BVMvzRFKaGj_jAYz_GgGxUL7_6t2cMk4ktxR0c-bNpgD4u7U6dBPPYQMDsfVrnMxjGgTSQ2BQzOgIg/w518-h640/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20at%2010.53.12%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="518" /></a></span></b></div><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20SrsuQqpdJIDGor7mXa0n-AJYxkd-drFpItXwzcLPbJy9gWZhNdgFVlXySStvJMHAPhp4XJz9ud3Hs8DP8TFiLWZ_cqdN00zLc9fQ3Jl8E2khQInFty7x6mNyCDId4Eh2nauvOPyrrSwIKDpE7mbq5cqxfaDmtRluLpXyR8240WBqexl-sdJDA/s1554/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20at%2010.53.08%E2%80%AFAM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1554" data-original-width="1256" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20SrsuQqpdJIDGor7mXa0n-AJYxkd-drFpItXwzcLPbJy9gWZhNdgFVlXySStvJMHAPhp4XJz9ud3Hs8DP8TFiLWZ_cqdN00zLc9fQ3Jl8E2khQInFty7x6mNyCDId4Eh2nauvOPyrrSwIKDpE7mbq5cqxfaDmtRluLpXyR8240WBqexl-sdJDA/w518-h640/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20at%2010.53.08%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="518" /></a></div><br /></span></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Friends and family in Miami. Please plan on joining us tomorrow. (Yes, I’ll be home for a couple of days <span class="x3nfvp2 x1j61x8r x1fcty0u xdj266r xhhsvwb xat24cr xgzva0m xxymvpz xlup9mm x1kky2od" style="display: inline-flex; font-family: inherit; height: 16px; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><img alt="😊" class="xz74otr" height="16" referrerpolicy="origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/t1e/2/16/1f60a.png" style="border: 0px; object-fit: fill;" width="16" /></span>). March for Justice! SCHEDULE – Sunday, March 10, 2024</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">NOON: We are organizing an ART BUILD at Noon at Miami Circle (401 Brickell Avenue). Come and make a sign for the march about why you are in solidarity with Florida educators!</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1:30 PM: Gather to March at Miami Circle (401 Brickell Avenue)! We will also have a land recognition ceremony and hear from some local <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>students.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2:00 PM: MARCH to Torch of Friendship</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2:30-3:30pm: RALLY with a lineup of amazing speakers (see the flyer for a list of some names!)</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Wear Red: The United Teachers of Dade is asking us to wear RED for the march to show our support for RedForEd!</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Banned Books: If you are able, please bring a banned book to the rally to be donated to local schools and educators (list of suggested titles: <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x1ejq31n xd10rxx x1sy0etr x17r0tee x972fbf xcfux6l x1qhh985 xm0m39n x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv x1fey0fg" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftinyurl.com%2FRecBB%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3vzTYLDq_I6YcsaxV7DDHczp-w7Pzx0ia7JxjA5sKGICRRkbHa8Z_1Bak&h=AT0nVf0BVnvljuKQbmH_kOy3xlgglO0OqHk_B_On822v0_vJYG0d4sks72s0Ml1DOvGH6kqZvpef_F9qYI_wpTQwV0odHAPSh8QR73iv3kj72SYp1uIr4O_LV4-ZalOeDxQzUbA&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT0bbtDRBqnIRLDDrF6G4IILXhaWZNvWanjfj5A74MULWuMMqyTRcb6oIf7gQamedRa92EdP3jwefxMMuPCfKj1Tv7jFDpa2SL9hUh52Cqz4iZfKbE5eTBj6Cj8wnqV2cvcKbrE0_u4kmOz6KD6KgEFYUEZCZ_FXfBMAuYPKs7lTUGF_SV5RXQ" rel="nofollow noreferrer" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/RecBB</a></span> (<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x1ejq31n xd10rxx x1sy0etr x17r0tee x972fbf xcfux6l x1qhh985 xm0m39n x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv x1fey0fg" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftinyurl.com%2FRecBB%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2cMA9tdJgvLSUFQr6fZIHbMqcqMwPY8Mk3blwHyfZoeOSHRO3FrkbuQe0&h=AT0nVf0BVnvljuKQbmH_kOy3xlgglO0OqHk_B_On822v0_vJYG0d4sks72s0Ml1DOvGH6kqZvpef_F9qYI_wpTQwV0odHAPSh8QR73iv3kj72SYp1uIr4O_LV4-ZalOeDxQzUbA&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT0bbtDRBqnIRLDDrF6G4IILXhaWZNvWanjfj5A74MULWuMMqyTRcb6oIf7gQamedRa92EdP3jwefxMMuPCfKj1Tv7jFDpa2SL9hUh52Cqz4iZfKbE5eTBj6Cj8wnqV2cvcKbrE0_u4kmOz6KD6KgEFYUEZCZ_FXfBMAuYPKs7lTUGF_SV5RXQ" rel="nofollow noreferrer" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/RecBB</a></span>)).</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kids: Attending the march and rally with kids is encouraged! The United Teachers of Dade has put great thought into this being a kid-friendly action with “boom sticks” and crowns for kids participating. </span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Access: Keep in mind that the march will take approximately 30 minutes from the hotel to the park, followed by almost an hour at the rally. There will be a limited number of chairs provided at the rally, but there is not a great deal of shade in the park. Participants are encouraged to wear sunscreen, bring water, and wear comfortable shoes. And to wear red in solidarity with educators! </span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Safety: Both the march and rally will be permitted with support from United Teachers of Dade, which includes police presence along the march route. While any public action can carry risks, the action will take place in a popular tourist area that is generally understood to be safe per organizers in Miami.</span></div></div></div></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-3413752862249832024-03-01T08:30:00.001-06:002024-03-01T08:30:00.135-06:00ANNOUNCEMENT: March 2, 2024– Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Statehouse Assemblies<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>I so admire the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber and his advocacy for the poor. Try and attend this if you can. It promises to be inspirational and motivational.</b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Happening in Austin, Texas, and nationwide.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>-Angela Valenzuela</b></span></p><h4 class="event_location js-event_location" style="background-color: #f7f9fb; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #434343; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1em; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 10px 30px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="graytext mr5" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #909090; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 5px !important; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">Location:</span>Texas Capitol<span class="bullet" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px 10px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">•</span>1100 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78701 US</h4><h4 class="event_contact" style="background-color: #f7f9fb; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #434343; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1em; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 10px 30px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="far fa-comment" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #909090; display: inline-block; font-family: "Font Awesome 5 Pro"; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; left: 0px; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-align: center; text-rendering: auto; top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 20px;"></span><span class="graytext" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #909090; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">Host Contact Info: <span class="ml5" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 5px !important; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span>texas@poorpeoplescampaign.org</h4><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfjIgp5DG6YXQ9649oD5G_Eki8EHbkVCEbBUYzLWwBzfqgqJnVV8fegl7hWkPQgN9bBluNkEg8Pe7G8sFbNAIg9tIsv65P_lEiT9f79_Xt9R81dsVc-4NCUXwtraelh5og-bL9ofsJdgpYMGJLzb_Zpth0Ox4XG7H-yWWTgSB2qHJXv7DzqzDbgw/s1508/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2012.05.07%E2%80%AFAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: right; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; font-weight: bolder; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1348" data-original-width="1508" height="459" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfjIgp5DG6YXQ9649oD5G_Eki8EHbkVCEbBUYzLWwBzfqgqJnVV8fegl7hWkPQgN9bBluNkEg8Pe7G8sFbNAIg9tIsv65P_lEiT9f79_Xt9R81dsVc-4NCUXwtraelh5og-bL9ofsJdgpYMGJLzb_Zpth0Ox4XG7H-yWWTgSB2qHJXv7DzqzDbgw/w514-h459/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2012.05.07%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="514" /></a></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Oswald, Impact, "Arial Narrow", sans-serif; font-size: xx-large;">Take Back the Mic! Raise our Voices! Register </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Oswald, Impact, "Arial Narrow", sans-serif; font-size: xx-large;">Our Votes as Demands!</span></p><p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="background-color: #f7f9fb; color: #434343; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 25.5px; font-weight: 700;">Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Moral March to Statehouse Assembly and to the Polls</span></p><ul class="share-icons" style="-webkit-box-align: center; -webkit-box-pack: start; align-items: center; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; display: flex; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; justify-content: flex-start; list-style-type: none; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><li class="share-label" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 2px 0px 0px; padding: 2px 4px 0px 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">SHARE</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.poorpeoplescampaign.org%2Fmarch2%2F&t=" style="background-color: #ffde02; border-radius: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: inline-block; font-size: 24px; height: 44px; line-height: 44px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 44px;" target="_blank" title="Share on Facebook"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="svg-inline--fa fa-facebook-f fa-w-10" data-fa-i2svg="" data-icon="facebook-f" data-prefix="fab" focusable="false" role="img" viewbox="0 0 320 512" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M279.14 288l14.22-92.66h-88.91v-60.13c0-25.35 12.42-50.06 52.24-50.06h40.42V6.26S260.43 0 225.36 0c-73.22 0-121.08 44.38-121.08 124.72v70.62H22.89V288h81.39v224h100.17V288z" fill="currentColor"></path></svg></a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?source=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.poorpeoplescampaign.org%2Fmarch2%2F&text=:%20Poor+People%26%23039%3Bs+Campaign+%26raquo%3B+Take+Back+the+Mic%21+Raise+our+Voices%21+Register+Our+Votes+as+Demands%21&via=" style="background-color: #ffde02; border-radius: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; display: inline-block; font-size: 24px; height: 44px; line-height: 44px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 44px;" target="_blank" title="Tweet"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="svg-inline--fa fa-twitter fa-w-16" data-fa-i2svg="" data-icon="twitter" data-prefix="fab" focusable="false" role="img" viewbox="0 0 512 512" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M459.37 151.716c.325 4.548.325 9.097.325 13.645 0 138.72-105.583 298.558-298.558 298.558-59.452 0-114.68-17.219-161.137-47.106 8.447.974 16.568 1.299 25.34 1.299 49.055 0 94.213-16.568 130.274-44.832-46.132-.975-84.792-31.188-98.112-72.772 6.498.974 12.995 1.624 19.818 1.624 9.421 0 18.843-1.3 27.614-3.573-48.081-9.747-84.143-51.98-84.143-102.985v-1.299c13.969 7.797 30.214 12.67 47.431 13.319-28.264-18.843-46.781-51.005-46.781-87.391 0-19.492 5.197-37.36 14.294-52.954 51.655 63.675 129.3 105.258 216.365 109.807-1.624-7.797-2.599-15.918-2.599-24.04 0-57.828 46.782-104.934 104.934-104.934 30.213 0 57.502 12.67 76.67 33.137 23.715-4.548 46.456-13.32 66.599-25.34-7.798 24.366-24.366 44.833-46.132 57.827 21.117-2.273 41.584-8.122 60.426-16.243-14.292 20.791-32.161 39.308-52.628 54.253z" fill="currentColor"></path></svg></a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="sr-only" style="background-color: #ffde02; border-radius: 100%; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); color: #262626; display: inline-block; font-size: 24px; height: 1px; line-height: 44px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-align: center; text-wrap: nowrap; width: 1px;"><br /></span></li></ul>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-66029668195336335022024-02-29T12:21:00.001-06:002024-02-29T13:32:56.201-06:00The Human Toll of Greg Abbott’s War at the Border: A dispatch from Eagle Pass, Rolling Stone Magazine<p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Friends and all who care about the humanitarian crisis occurring along the U.S.-Mexico border. Do remember that people coming into our country have multiple and significant challenges in coming into a new culture, learning a language that's foreign to them, and dealing with trauma that emanates from the places they have left and oftentimes, from the journey itself.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Glad to see the <i>Rolling Stone</i> magazine giving this a lot of ink. They care. We should all care about Abbott's lethal, macabre, and necropolitical ambitions. It's a feeling for many of us here in Texas of having gotten taken over by a foreign, cruel, and atrocious political power. One wonders how our state officials sleep well at night. Only a heart of metal can walk away from this.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">-Angela Valenzuela</span></b></p><p><br /></p><header class="a-article-grid__header" style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Graphik Semibold", sans-serif;"><div class="a-article-grid__header_top lrv-a-grid lrv-a-cols2 lrv-u-align-items-center" style="--cols: 2; align-items: center; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: grid; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 1.25rem; grid-template-columns: repeat(var(--cols), minmax(0, 1fr));"><div class="lrv-u-display-inline-block" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; flex-basis: 50%;"><div class="article-kicker larva // lrv-a-font-basic-s lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase lrv-u-display-inline-block lrv-u-padding-b-050 lrv-u-margin-b-075 prototype lrv-u-border-b-1" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-basic ); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: var(--font-family); font-size: var(--basic-s-font-size-desktop-xl); font-style: var(--basic-s-font-style-desktop-xl); font-weight: var(--basic-s-font-weight-desktop-xl); letter-spacing: var(--basic-s-letter-spacing-desktop-xl); line-height: var(--basic-s-line-height-desktop-xl); margin-bottom: var(--spacing-075, 0.75rem); padding-bottom: var(--spacing-050, 0.5rem); text-transform: uppercase; width: auto;">DEADLY AMBITION</div></div><div class="admz" id="adm-article-header-logo" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; flex-basis: 50%; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-left: auto; margin-right: 0px; text-align: center;"><div class="adma boomerang" data-device="Desktop" data-width="140" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="pmc-adm-boomerang-pub-div rslogo140" data-priority="3" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div></div></div><h1 class="article-title larva // lrv-a-font-primary-xxl lrv-u-padding-b-050 u-font-size-30@mobile-max u-line-height-33@mobile-max u-width-76p@tablet" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-primary ); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family); font-style: var(--primary-xxl-font-style-desktop-xl); font-weight: var(--primary-xxl-font-weight-desktop-xl); letter-spacing: var(--primary-xxl-letter-spacing-desktop-xl); line-height: var(--primary-xxl-line-height-desktop-xl); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--spacing-050, 0.5rem); padding-top: 0px; width: 685.797px;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/human-toll-greg-abbott-border-war-eagle-pass-1234975140/">The Human Toll of Greg Abbott’s War at the Border</a></span></h1><div class="article-excerpt larva // lrv-a-font-body-xl lrv-u-padding-b-075 u-letter-spacing-n006@mobile-max u-width-90p@tablet u-width-81p@desktop" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family); font-style: var(--body-xl-font-style-desktop-xl); font-weight: var(--body-xl-font-weight-desktop-xl); letter-spacing: var(--body-xl-letter-spacing-desktop-xl); line-height: var(--body-xl-line-height-desktop-xl); padding-bottom: var(--spacing-075, 0.75rem); width: 617.219px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A dispatch from Eagle Pass, where the Texas governor has amped up the cruelty toward migrants to boost his profile</span></div></header><div class="a-article-grid__author lrv-u-margin-b-150" style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Graphik Semibold", sans-serif; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-150, 1.5rem);"><div class="author // lrv-u-font-size-16 lrv-u-font-family-body lrv-u-font-size-13@mobile-max" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-body, Arial, sans-serif); font-size: 1rem;"><div class="author-single-inner // lrv-u-flex lrv-u-align-items-center" style="align-items: center; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex;"><div class="author-content // lrv-u-flex@tablet lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-justify-content-space-between" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; width: 762px;"><div class="author-content-inner // lrv-u-flex lrv-u-align-items-center lrv-a-glue-parent lrv-u-margin-b-025@mobile-max u-line-height-20 u-line-height-16@mobile-max" style="align-items: center; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; line-height: 1.25rem; position: relative;"><button class="author-button // lrv-u-display-contents lrv-u-flex lrv-u-align-items-center lrv-a-unstyle-button js-PopOver" style="align-items: center; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; display: flex; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: inherit;"><p class="author-name // lrv-a-font-body-xxs lrv-u-margin-tb-00 lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-color-black:hover u-letter-spacing-012" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--color-black, rgb(0, 0, 0)); font-family: var(--font-family); font-size: var(--body-xxs-font-size-desktop-xl); font-style: var(--body-xxs-font-style-desktop-xl); font-weight: var(--body-xxs-font-weight-desktop-xl); letter-spacing: 0.125rem; line-height: var(--body-xxs-line-height-desktop-xl); margin-bottom: var(--spacing-00, 0); margin-top: var(--spacing-00, 0); text-transform: uppercase;">BY <a class="c-link lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-color-brand-primary:hover lrv-u-text-decoration-underline:hover" href="https://www.rollingstone.com/author/christopher-hooks/" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">CHRISTOPHER HOOKS</a> |The Rolling stone | <span face=""Graphik Semibold", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #767676; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: 0.22px; text-align: inherit;">FEBRUARY 25, 2024</span></p></button></div></div></div></div></div><p><span class="lrv-u-font-size-16 lrv-u-font-size-14@mobile-max lrv-u-font-family-body u-font-style-italic lrv-u-color-grey-dark u-line-height-20 u-letter-spacing-0 u-line-height-18@mobile-max lrv-u-margin-r-025" color="var(--color-grey-dark, rgb(106, 106, 106))" face="var(--font-family-body, Arial, sans-serif)" style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.25rem; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: var(--spacing-025, 0.25rem);"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMkx0d_SvV8oOkjE8Sc6v0mPq30S4XztN0Scl4hx_tU35KcumDAc6yXMb4-fsXRveZFRQHs47evUNAV4ngNMDX2cMrG90a_GON8rr4yZ1BG3STPdD8VIU3LbhEZOjxa1DuxrAIIy9XWHuUPce1HOYZ6zpcUfiROk5kq7jODj1G41-sz94bwLaqg/s1520/Screenshot%202024-02-27%20at%2010.20.06%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="1520" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMkx0d_SvV8oOkjE8Sc6v0mPq30S4XztN0Scl4hx_tU35KcumDAc6yXMb4-fsXRveZFRQHs47evUNAV4ngNMDX2cMrG90a_GON8rr4yZ1BG3STPdD8VIU3LbhEZOjxa1DuxrAIIy9XWHuUPce1HOYZ6zpcUfiROk5kq7jODj1G41-sz94bwLaqg/w525-h347/Screenshot%202024-02-27%20at%2010.20.06%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="525" /></a></div><br />National Guard stands behind Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Feb. 4, 2024 in Eagle Pass.<span face=""Graphik Semibold", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;"> </span><cite class="lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase lrv-u-color-grey lrv-u-font-size-10 u-line-height-13 lrv-u-font-family-basic lrv-u-font-weight-bold u-letter-spacing-003" style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--color-grey, rgb(140, 140, 140)); font-family: "Graphik Semibold", sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0.03125rem; line-height: 0.8125rem; text-transform: uppercase;">RAQUEL NATALICCHIO/HOUSTON CHRONICLE/GETTY IMAGES</cite><p></p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;"><a data-tag="eagle-pass" href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/eagle-pass/" id="auto-tag_eagle-pass" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-underline-offset: 0.1875rem;">EAGLE PASS</a>, <a data-tag="texas" href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/texas/" id="auto-tag_texas" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-underline-offset: 0.1875rem;">Texas</a> — The video is 13 seconds long. In the foreground is an orderly green lawn, lit and safe. In the background, there are the lights of Mexico, Coahuila state. In the middle is the river. It’s a void, darker than the night sky. </p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Amid crickets, a woman’s voice echoes from the void, or maybe a child’s. Then a man’s. They’re crying out for help.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">The lawn belongs to former state Rep. Poncho Nevárez (D), who represented Eagle Pass in the Texas Legislature for eight years. Some time back, the state of Texas installed rows of concertina wire, the razor-bladed coiled fencing first invented to control cattle and then to mangle soldiers in the First World War. The wire hadn’t stopped anyone from crossing. Sometimes <a data-tag="migrants" href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/migrants/" id="auto-tag_migrants" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-underline-offset: 0.1875rem;">migrants</a> injured themselves trying to cross. Sometimes it trapped them in the river. It is more dangerous than it looks, especially if you’re hungry and tired, and even more so at night.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Nevárez does that night what anyone with a conscience would do: He tries to help. The wire means he can’t easily reach the river. With difficulty, he makes his way into the void, but he can’t locate the source echoing cries with his flashlight. He calls the <a data-tag="border" href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/border/" id="auto-tag_border" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-underline-offset: 0.1875rem;">Border</a> Patrol, but he knows they don’t do water rescues. The cries die out. In the morning, there is no trace of them.</p><h3 class="heading larva // lrv-u-text-align-center" style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Publico Headline Bold", serif; font-size: 1.375rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">****</h3><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l lrv-u-text-align-left" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;"><a data-tag="greg-abbott" href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/greg-abbott/" id="auto-tag_greg-abbott" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-underline-offset: 0.1875rem;">Greg Abbott</a> has one of the most impressive collections of toy soldiers in the country. It has always been good to be the governor of Texas, but the rights and privileges of the rank have grown since the turn of the century. Since 9/11, and especially in the last 15 years, the distinguishing feature of the governor’s office is the number of armed men and women it controls. The governor poses them, takes pictures with them, has them march back and forth. That’s the way one looks presidential. </p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">But Abbott’s fondness for armed men goes beyond that: It seems to fill something in him that he lacks. Last year, after he suffered one humiliating setback in front of the legislature, he summoned the press to an airfield north of Austin, the state capital. He held a press conference at which he took no questions, and announced that he was sending more soldiers to the border. When it came time for him to do a Fox News spot, he spoke to a camera that was positioned to capture scenes of his soldiers marching onto their transport planes. The vibes were off: It seemed possible Abbott was about to announce the invasion of Poland.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">The increasing militarization of the border, and the steadily increasing lethality of that militarization, predates Abbott. It began with his predecessor Rick Perry, and was tied up with the changes in American society brought about by the War on Terror, as well as a particularly awful period in Mexico’s drug war. In 2009, the Texas State Police started putting snipers on helicopters along the border. They were trained by vets back from Fallujah and Kandahar, among them Chris Kyle, the “American Sniper.” The chopper gunners were meant to be deployed against drug runners, hypothetically, but in 2012 one of them airholed a truck with nine Guatemalan migrants in the bed, driven by a 14-year-old boy. The survivors were deported, but they told a Guatemalan diplomat that before the shooting started, they had already removed the tarp covering them to show that the truck was transporting people, not drugs.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">The state quietly shut down the sniper program, but otherwise continued arming. Gunboats, drones, helicopters. Perry was not a border hardliner in the way Abbott was: He had a connection to the older Republican Party whose leaders would still sometimes say things like “family values don’t stop at the Rio Grande,” as did George W. Bush, Perry’s predecessor.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Abbott took office in 2015, amid one migrant wave, with seemingly no beliefs at all besides a dull kind of ambition that would occasionally lead his aides and advisors to suggest that he would make a fine president or vice president. For a long time, that seemed laughable. It got less funny. He has seized on the border crisis to make himself, for the first time, a future contender. In doing so, he may be changing the country with him.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Abbott plays with his toy soldiers so much that it has become one of the primary ways of interpreting his mood. On Feb. 4, in Eagle Pass, he presents a formidable but still restrained collection of military hardware. He is holding a press conference along the river in Shelby Park, a 47-acre green space and golf course under one of the international bridges. Shelby Park is the home of the only boat ramp in the area: As such, it used to be a crucial part of operations conducted by the federal Border Patrol. As one of a long series of escalating provocations against the federal government, Abbott seized control of Shelby Park, stuffing it full of state police and the Texas National Guard.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">As a backdrop to his press conference, there is a tasteful, symmetrical display: An Oshkosh military heavy-lift truck faces the cameras, flanked by two Humvees with armored cupolas. Beside them are two airboats on trailers — not the kind with machine guns that Texas runs down the river. The guns in this diorama are held by soldiers he has arranged in front, maybe a hundred, arranged in rows of two or three to color in the gaps between the machines. They’re in battle dress, body armor and carry rifles.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">They look bored. These are weekend soldiers, National Guard. When Abbott first called them down here, in 2021, there was a <a href="https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2021/12/23/wave-of-suicides-hits-texas-national-guards-border-mission/" rel="nofollow" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-underline-offset: 0.1875rem;" target="_blank">wave of suicides in the Guard</a>, as men and women discovered they would be postponing jobs and weddings to come to the river and do nothing much at all. Abbott said very little about that, but he has tried to make a better show of caring about them. For Thanksgiving last year, he came to the border to hand out meals to his troops — before endorsing former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, in front of another display of his military hardware, this time boats and helicopters.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">We’re all here today because Abbott is adding a new set to his collection: Fourteen Republican governors — mostly from the south, and three from the northern border states of Montana, Idaho, and New Hampshire — are here to praise Abbott for his security operations on the border, and for sticking it in the eye of the Biden administration. Trump’s best hope of being elected in November is to keep the border in the news all year, which means Abbott’s toy cabinet has become an essential part of the Republican Party’s national strategy.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Abbott speaks: He promises that the occupation of Shelby Park is only the start. Texas would seize control of more of the border, preventing the feds from accessing the river. The conflict over Shelby Park was beginning to look like a fledgling constitutional crisis, as his forces kept denying federal law enforcement access to the river — even when migrants were feared to be drowning. Abbott promised he would escalate. He only ever escalates.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">He had to, he says, because the threat was so dire, the safety of the nation at risk. America was in “extraordinary danger, imminent danger,” he says. He is the Thin Greg Line. The other day, he says, a man who had “served in the Iranian military” had tried to cross. Who was he — what was his mission? (Nearly all Iranian men, even the most bitter critics of the regime in Tehran, have served in the Iranian military — they’re drafted.) The fact that many trying to cross the river are women and children fleeing sexual and physical violence never comes up. It never does. </p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">It was a very effective show, and it played on Fox News for days. The whispering about Abbott as a potential Trump ticketmate — or at least a cabinet secretary — picked up.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">A week later, with the headlines fading a bit, Abbott upped the ante again. The state of Texas would be building a military base near Eagle Pass, to host up to 2,300 soldiers on a permanent base, allowing Abbott and future governors to “amass a large army in a strategic area.” The state calls this a “forward operating base.” That’s War on Terror lingo: FOBs were the satellite bases constructed in-country during the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It spawned the derogatory term “fobbit,” to describe soldiers who never left the creature comforts of the little Americas the military had built in hostile lands.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">To describe a base in Eagle Pass, though, it’s a little strange. It’s American soil. What is it forward of? It will have plenty of creature comforts, though. The base, <a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/abbott-border-military-base-millions/" rel="nofollow" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-underline-offset: 0.1875rem;" target="_blank"><em style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">The Texas Observer</em> reported,</a> could cost up to $500 million — on top of $10 billion already allocated to Abbott’s border security schemes in the last three years. The base will have “51 dorms, 15 ‘executive suites,’ three command centers, two motor pools, boat maintenance facilities, and a helipad,” along with “a host of amenities including a 15,000-square-foot dining facility with 24-hour service of ‘chef-driven meals’ and ‘buffet style meals,’ a fully equipped fitness center, a recreation center with a library and arcade, an outdoor basketball court, and a sand volleyball court.”</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Even in a rich state like Texas, $500 million is real money. The state’s schools rank among the lowest states in per-student spending, and the state has one of highest uninsured rates in the country. The federal government recently offered the state money for free school lunches this summer; it declined, saying that the relevant agency <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/22/texas-federal-summer-lunch-program/" rel="nofollow" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-underline-offset: 0.1875rem;" target="_blank">was too busy</a> throwing two million people off of the state’s Medicaid program to do anything else. Abbott has been governor for a decade, and it is difficult to say what he has succeeded in doing to improve the lives of his constituents. His legacy consists entirely of keeping a few people out, at fabulous expense.</p><h3 class="heading larva // lrv-u-text-align-center" style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Publico Headline Bold", serif; font-size: 1.375rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">****</h3><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Nevárez, the former state lawmaker, flew back to Eagle Pass the day of the governor’s press conference. “All the big dick planes were at the airport, which I’d never seen,” he says. “And, of course, our governor’s is the biggest one, he’s in a G5” — that is, a Gulfstream V, a top-of-the-line business jet. Abbott, of course, had the shortest distance to travel. “This is his big fucking show, right?” says Nevárez. “He can’t show up in some piece of shit.”</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Nevárez is a one-of-a-kind Texas character who harbors the sneaking suspicion that many Texans don’t think he’s one of them, in the same way they may not think of Eagle Pass as Texas. He grew up here and in Piedras Negras, across the Mexican border, and travels between the two constantly, like many who live here. The towns have two names but function as one city. His law practice is in Eagle Pass. He records music in a studio across the river.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">He served in the Texas House for ten years, as a rambunctious and often outspoken Democrat who was often more conservative than other members of his party. In 2017, when a Republican colleague bragged that he had called Immigration and Customs Enforcement on immigration protesters in the House gallery, he and Nevárez nearly brawled on the floor. (The Republican, Matt Rinaldi, threatened to shoot him. He now leads the Republican Party of Texas.) </p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Nevárez enjoyed Austin more and more, and then too much. In 2019, when passing through a special security entrance at the capital airport for lawmakers, he dropped an envelope from his office with cocaine in it. He didn’t run for election.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">He’s sober these days, and unlike most sitting Texas lawmakers, now seems happy and well-adjusted. But that’s tempered by the frustration of being out of power while the governor turns his hometown into a military camp. There are the minor frustrations — when we drive around town, he points out state troopers sent by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), recognizable by their Dodge Chargers. There are the more existential ones — the slow, dawning realization that the camp may prove integral to Trump’s return to power, and that Abbott might have found a way to join him there. That’s to say nothing of the more grave problems, like the floundering migrants calling out to him in the middle of the night.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">What drives Abbott, I ask? I’ve been writing about him for ten years, and I still can’t detect much in him other than an insensitivity to other people’s suffering and an unfocused ambition that comes out mostly as a desire to see other powerful men bend the knee. Maybe that’s all there is, says Nevárez. He notes that Abbott has always been “very well protected” politically. “He basically was protected into the governorship,” Nevárez says. “They ran off other would-be challengers. He had a lot of people around to run a lot of interference for him.” Abbott rose almost purely by momentum to become the governor of what might be the most important state in the country, and wins reelection effortlessly. “What does that do to somebody, their ego, their ambition?” asks Nevárez.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Abbott’s political instincts are both “terrible and amazing,” he says. “These are all fucking awful things he does and says and promotes. They only seem to work for a small segment of the state. And they defy, you know, humanity and goodness on a lot of levels. They defy good government and fiscal responsibility.” He gives as an example the state’s foster care system, which regularly sees little kids — citizens, as if that matters — drowned and beaten to death because Texas can’t figure out how to hire enough caseworkers. “In the case of these foster kids, they defy morality at its core.”</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">“He’s suffered from none of it and probably will never suffer,” Nevárez continues. “These decisions he’s made are all fucking awful, but they’re incredibly effective — they work.” So far, the standoff in Eagle Pass has been effective too. Abbott’s approval rating in Texas is close to the highest it’s ever been, no small feat given how long he has been in office. Most importantly, the border standoff has helped him consolidate support among the right wing of his party, which has often been shaky in the last decade.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Ask Americans what they think about the border, and it’s a mess. There’s agreement that the border should be secure. But even Texans — much less folks in Michigan — don’t necessarily know what that means or how to get there. They may not know what asylum is. This issue isn’t in most people’s vocabulary. They may not know that many folks who try to cross the river are trying to turn themselves in to authorities. They may not know that the border was essentially open a few generations ago, and that it is more locked down today than it has ever been. The confusion makes this fertile ground for politicians like Abbott and Trump.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">There’s confusion in Eagle Pass, too. There have been times in the past few years where migrants and asylum-seekers seemed to overrun the city, and the situation was clearly untenable. But in general, crossings aren’t as numerous here as they are in far south Texas or the California and Arizona borders. The periodic crises and the often oppressive presence of security forces here has created a kind of “psychosis,” Nevárez says. Residents get frustrated. When there’s a surge of crossings, the international bridge may close, which means people can’t work or see relatives. The town’s economy depends on the bridge. Then, he says, you start to hear “fuck those people.” Maybe “you go to the emergency room to get stitches and you walk in there and there’s 20 migrants in there,” he says. </p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">That’s a sentiment you hear all over the state, complaints about migrants accessing already-strained services, sometimes with darker overtones: A man at a rally once told me he often checked the maternity ward at his failing, local rural hospital to see how many brown women were giving birth. Instead of asking why his rural hospital was failing, in such a rich state, he blamed those he thought were newcomers.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">What’s different in Eagle Pass is that folks also regularly come into contact with migrants when they’re at their lowest, and most in need of help. “People can be shitty,” Nevárez says, “but individually there’s a lot of compassion for the migrants. People help them in whatever way they can.” One Christmas Eve, a group of Hondurans, including a family of four, crossed the river onto Nevárez’s ranch. “We were just about to eat,” he recounts. “So we invited them to dinner.”</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">“It was one of the best Christmases we’ve had since my mother-in law died, since my sister died,” he says. They had been on a harrowing and terrifying journey and stumbled across the border onto exactly the right spot at exactly the right time. “The daughter was four or five,” he says. “We gave her gifts.” Another was a teenage girl. Some of the men were so emaciated they could fit in the donated clothes of Nevárez’s son. Some of the traumas they had encountered on the journey they could speak about; others they couldn’t. Fed, clothed, and finally safe, he says they were eventually pointed in the way of the border patrol.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">There were many others. Months before, a 12-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy came across. They had the phone number of relatives in Florida written on their arms. Nevárez says he got them happy meals and put them on the phone with family members, with whom they had been out of touch for days. He gets quiet, and has to collect himself. “The sound of their voices on the other line,” he says, he’ll never forget. “I didn’t want to cry in front of them.”</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">He helped when he could, in part to keep crossers from cutting his fence. But he, too, got annoyed. When the state came to ask him if it could put concertina wire on his land, he let them. “Biggest mistake I’ve ever made,” he says. The wire didn’t stop anybody from coming. The wire was laid down on a Thursday, he says. On Sunday, he was at the ranch. Up walks a “17-year-old girl with a 2-year-old child. And she’s pregnant. She was all cut up, but she had beat the concertina wire. And that’s when I realized it was worthless,” he says.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">He would pull down the wire, if he could. But the state will not remove it. “I must have had fucking rocks in my head, letting them do that.” Belatedly, he realized that there was something worse than migrants cutting the fences on his ranch — that he had become implicated in moral injury. So, ultimately, are we.</p><h3 class="heading larva // lrv-u-text-align-center" style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Publico Headline Bold", serif; font-size: 1.375rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">****</h3><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Members of the Border Patrol often call migrants “tonks.” The word has been in use for decades, and it’s not completely clear where it comes from. Some say that it’s an acronym, for something like “traveler outside native country.” But the “broadest consensus among those familiar with it,” HuffPost <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/border-patrol-agents-tonk-usage-emails-messages-released_n_65cbcfffe4b065628a611059" rel="nofollow" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-underline-offset: 0.1875rem;" target="_blank">explained recently</a>, “is that the slur comes from the sound made by slamming a heavy-duty flashlight or baton over a migrant’s head.” The agency has repeatedly tried to crack down on that kind of talk within the agency, but it doesn’t hold. </p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">The slurs are, in a sense, adaptive, protective. To do the job the nation has asked them to do, they can’t allow themselves to see the migrants as fully human. Ten years of sharing jokes about using mag-lite flashlights on “an influx of rats,” as one agent put it in records obtained by HuffPost, can prepare a person to do their job when new bosses instruct agents to remove young children from their parents without a guarantee that they would ever be returned, as the Trump administration did.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">When Abbott sent state police to the border, he sent personnel who had not been trained to do their jobs in the same way. And he asked them to do more grisly and demoralizing work, by taking steps to make the river more lethal. There was the initial wave of suicides. Last summer, during one of the state’s worst-ever heat waves, a state trooper blew the whistle, writing to a superior that, with the introduction of razor-wire traps along the riverbank, “we have stepped over a line into the inhumane.”</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">The trooper wrote, in an email <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/border-trooper-migrants-wire-18205076.php" rel="nofollow" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-underline-offset: 0.1875rem;" target="_blank">obtained by the <em style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Houston Chronicle</em></a>, that “a pregnant woman having a miscarriage was found late last month caught in the wire, doubled over in pain. A four-year-old girl passed out from heat exhaustion after she tried to go through it and was pushed back by Texas National Guard soldiers. A teenager broke his leg trying to navigate the water around the wire and had to be carried by his father.” The Department of Public Safety, which is run and staffed by allies of the governor, offered a series of obfuscatory responses to the report — and then, in the following year, doubled down.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Every few months for the last few years, a horrible new report echoes from the river and creates the possibility that things have bottomed out — that the folks in charge might finally back off. But the crescendo keeps building.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">On a right-wing radio show recently, the governor was asked what else the state could do at the border. “The only thing that we’re not doing is we’re not shooting people who come across the border,” Abbott said, “because of course, the Biden administration would charge us with murder.” His readiness with the answer gave the impression he had given it some serious thought.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who has been under indictment for felony securities fraud for ten years without going to trial and was recently impeached by the Republican House, launched a bid to shut down a Catholic charity in El Paso. The charity, Annunciation House, helps give aid to migrants once they’ve reached the United States, in accordance with the law.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">The whole political apparatus of Texas is out to get migrants — and anyone who may feel empathy for them. And it may all be prologue. The Trump campaign’s plan for immigration in his second term is to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-potential-impact-of-trumps-extreme-deportation-and-immigration-agenda" rel="nofollow" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; text-underline-offset: 0.1875rem;" target="_blank">mobilize the National Guard in red states</a> and use them to round-up migrants for deportation. Abbott may have given him a model.</p><h3 class="heading larva // lrv-u-text-align-center" style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Publico Headline Bold", serif; font-size: 1.375rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">****</h3><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">One afternoon, I cross to Piedras Negras. There’s a shelter for migrants here run by a Catholic order that tries to patch up the weary before they make the final jump. Nevárez tells me it was swarmed with people during the migrant surges a few months back, but I haven’t been able to reach the shelter by phone or email. The building is shut up, and there’s no one on the street at all.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Migrant crossings have plummeted near Eagle Pass recently. The changes responsible have come from the Mexican side. Mexican soldiers man the riverbank, facing the Americans. There are checkpoints into town, and the Mexican security services are cracking the skulls of anybody who looks like they might be heading to Shelby Park. Only the Mexican government knows why. Perhaps the Biden administration has pressured them to direct migrants away from Abbott’s hot spot. Maybe they just want to keep commerce running. The world’s largest brewery is in Coahuila nearby, pumping out Corona for Americans. The beer must flow.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">Abbott has taken credit, but the credit is a consolation prize. He needs migrants to keep coming — he needs the footage to horrify Americans and raise his own stock in the minds of fearful people. Their suffering greases the gears of his political machine. By steering migrants away from Shelby Park, they’ve quietly sabotaged him. But that also means he will have to look for bigger and crazier stunts — particularly as the presidential election ramps up.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">There are two ironies about Shelby Park, cast by the governor as the hot frontier between civilization and anarchy. The first is that the park is named after an illegal immigrant — one of ours. General Joseph Shelby fled south after the Confederacy was beaten and, instead of surrendering to Yankees, buried his battle flag in the Rio Grande and plunged into Mexico with some of his surviving soldiers, serving an illegitimate government there before his services were no longer required.</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">The second is that facing Shelby Park across the river is an American football stadium, the kind you might find at a small Texas high school, except more cheerful and vibrantly colored, blue and yellow. Nevárez’s son plays here. He helps coach the team in the evenings. (Because of Taylor Swift, he says, all the kids now want to be tight ends.) </p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">We walk to the waterfront. There’s many rows of concertina wire. The state of Texas has spent millions of dollars securing Shelby Park. But even still, everywhere there’s wire, there’s still land that a migrant could reach — just enough. “Imagine all the fucking shitty things that had to have had to have happened to you for you to make it here,” Nevárez says. “Of course you’re going to try to cross. They’ll always try to cross.”</p><p class="paragraph larva // lrv-u-line-height-copy lrv-a-font-body-l" style="--font-family: var( --font-family-body ); background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.75rem; margin-bottom: 1.75rem; margin-top: 1.75rem;">The square in Piedras Negras near the International Bridge is clean and safe. It’s decorated for Valentine’s Day. In a beautiful old Catholic church nearby, a priest is applying the marks of Ash Wednesday on parishioners young and old. The bells play Ave Maria. Before crossing back to the Land of the Free, I walk to the side of the bridge. Up the river, to the left, Nevárez’s team was starting to practice under warm lights. Across the river, beyond the rows of concertina wire, Shelby Park was blacked out, cold and dark. <span aria-label="End of the article" class="a-icon-endmark" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"></span></p><div class="admz" id="adm-inline-article-ad-x-49-8" style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><div class="adma boomerang" data-device="Desktop" data-width="301" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="pmc-adm-boomerang-pub-div ad-text" data-priority="9" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 3rem 0px; min-height: 75px; min-width: 50px; position: relative;"><div class="adw-301 adh-250" data-google-query-id="CNSo14KVzYQDFaDqlAkdvs0NCw" data-is-adhesion-ad="" id="gpt-dsk-tab-inbodyX-uid10" style="align-items: center; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-direction: column; justify-content: center; min-height: 250px; min-width: 300px;"></div></div></div></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-48886634641983442012024-02-26T08:35:00.001-06:002024-02-27T22:24:37.054-06:00First responders in a Texas town are struggling to cope with the trauma of recovering bodies from the Rio Grande<p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Trigger warning. This bone-chilling, macabre news account is like nothing I've read or listened to before. It only matches stories about the thousands of deaths of folks dying in the desert which is not a new phenomenon, but nevertheless a consistent horrific one.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Do go to the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/eagle-pass-texas-mexico-border-rio-grande-trauma-rcna138412">NBCNews.com</a> website to listen, in these </span></b><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">first responders'</span></b><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> own words, what they are witnessing along the U.S.-Mexico border. We don't get much news like these in Texas about the very large numbers of bodies that are getting recovered along the Rio Grande River where people seeking a better life for themselves and families are experiencing.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>How can we pride ourselves as a great country and allow for this to happen? We should not get numb to this. No, this is first and foremost a humanitarian crisis. These are people's loved ones, including tiny babies, who are drowning alongside their desperate mothers and fathers in their attempts to cross the river—even despite the inescapable visage of hideous barbed wire that screams the ugliness that our state and nation have become. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Those doing the traumatizing work of recovering these bodies will similarly be suffering for years to come. Thank God for their humanitarian work, yet no one should ever have a job like this. We need to bring a stop to Gov. Abbott's necropolitics, his politics of death. </b></span></p><p><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">These are crimes against humanity.</b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">-Angela Valenzuela</span></b></p><p><br /></p><h1 class="article-hero-headline__htag lh-none-print black-print article-hero-headline__htag--live-breaking" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--article-hero-headline--htag--color); font-family: var(--article-hero-headline--htag--font-family); font-weight: var(--article-hero-headline--htag--font-weight); line-height: var(--article-hero-headline--live--htag--line-height); margin: var(--article-hero-headline--htag--margin);"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/eagle-pass-texas-mexico-border-rio-grande-trauma-rcna138412">First responders in a Texas town are struggling to cope with the trauma of recovering bodies from the Rio Grande</a></span></h1><div class="styles_articleDek__Icz5H styles_withImage__SSIip styles_isLiveBreakingNews___YFYJ" data-testid="article-dek" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--article-dek--color); font-family: var(--article-dek--font-family); font-size: var(--article-dek--font-size--compact); font-weight: var(--article-dek--font-weight); line-height: var(--article-dek--line-height--compact); margin-bottom: var(--article-dek--margin-bottom--compact);">After a record-breaking year of migrant crossings, Eagle Pass is applying for a grant to help pay for therapy and other mental health services.</div><div class="styles_articleDek__Icz5H styles_withImage__SSIip styles_isLiveBreakingNews___YFYJ" data-testid="article-dek" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--article-dek--color); font-family: var(--article-dek--font-family); font-size: var(--article-dek--font-size--compact); font-weight: var(--article-dek--font-weight); line-height: var(--article-dek--line-height--compact); margin-bottom: var(--article-dek--margin-bottom--compact);"><br /></div><div class="styles_articleDek__Icz5H styles_withImage__SSIip styles_isLiveBreakingNews___YFYJ" data-testid="article-dek" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--article-dek--color); font-family: var(--article-dek--font-family); font-size: var(--article-dek--font-size--compact); font-weight: var(--article-dek--font-weight); line-height: var(--article-dek--line-height--compact); margin-bottom: var(--article-dek--margin-bottom--compact);"><section class="mb6" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: PublicoText, Georgia, "Publico Text", "Times New Roman", Times, Baskerville; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-6);"><div class="article-body__date-source" data-testid="article-body-timestamp" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--article-body--date-source--color); font-family: var(--article-body--date-source--font-family); font-size: var(--article-body--date-source--font-size); font-weight: var(--article-body--date-source--font-weight); letter-spacing: var(--article-body--date-source--letter-spacing); line-height: var(--article-body--date-source--line-height); margin: var(--article-body--date-source--margin);"><time class="relative z-1" content="2024-02-25T14:00:00.000Z" data-testid="timestamp__datePublished" datetime="2024-02-25T14:00:00.000Z" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; z-index: 1;">Feb. 25, 2024, 8:00 AM CST</time></div><div class="article-inline-byline" data-activity-map="inline-byline-article-top" style="--article-body--byline--color: inherit; --article-body--byline--font-family: var(--founders-cond); --article-body--byline--font-size: var(--text-20); --article-body--byline--font-weight: 400; --article-body--byline--line-height: 1; --article-body--byline--margin: 0; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--article-body--byline--color); font-family: var(--article-body--byline--font-family); font-size: var(--article-body--byline--font-size); font-weight: var(--article-body--byline--font-weight); line-height: var(--article-body--byline--line-height); margin: var(--article-body--byline--margin);">By <span class="byline-name" data-testid="byline-name" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Morgan Chesky</span> and <span class="byline-name" data-testid="byline-name" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/author/alicia-victoria-lozano-ncpn1112366" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Alicia Victoria Lozano</a></span></div><div class="article-inline-byline" data-activity-map="inline-byline-article-top" style="--article-body--byline--color: inherit; --article-body--byline--font-family: var(--founders-cond); --article-body--byline--font-size: var(--text-20); --article-body--byline--font-weight: 400; --article-body--byline--line-height: 1; --article-body--byline--margin: 0; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--article-body--byline--color); font-family: var(--article-body--byline--font-family); font-size: var(--article-body--byline--font-size); font-weight: var(--article-body--byline--font-weight); line-height: var(--article-body--byline--line-height); margin: var(--article-body--byline--margin);"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTW6zl8flcQ4wp4WO6iclIs-ake-XEhG5p6dYJksAPjA2ncHj5XiBR7K115uLnQJUy1SMpX6jVXXqsT_F_wH01o-K43QF_tiXTHV-y6Sry1eeEDgkph7t9m5QzPCaTdvjISAxBI872RWpGMIEkcFkDkvWMf1SCGlG7GmIVM4-KB69zX3CpjtSkow/s1916/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20at%209.36.44%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; 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--article-body--byline--font-family: var(--founders-cond); --article-body--byline--font-size: var(--text-20); --article-body--byline--font-weight: 400; --article-body--byline--line-height: 1; --article-body--byline--margin: 0; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--article-body--byline--color); font-family: var(--article-body--byline--font-family); font-size: var(--article-body--byline--font-size); font-weight: var(--article-body--byline--font-weight); line-height: var(--article-body--byline--line-height); margin: var(--article-body--byline--margin);"><br /></div></section><div class="article-body__content" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: PublicoText, Georgia, "Publico Text", "Times New Roman", Times, Baskerville; font-size: 18px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem;">EAGLE PASS, Texas — The crisis unfolding at the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/biden-weighs-making-harder-migrants-get-asylum-easier-deport-rcna139626" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">U.S.-Mexico border</a> since last year has spilled over into the fire engines and ambulances of a small Texas town.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">First responders in Eagle Pass say they are overwhelmed and increasingly traumatized by what they see: parents drowned or dying, their children barely holding onto life after attempting to cross the Rio Grande.</p><div id="taboolaReadMoreBelow" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">The emotional strain on firefighters and EMTs has grown so great that city officials have applied for a state grant that would bring in additional mental health resources for front-line workers.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">“It’s an unprecedented crisis,” said Eagle Pass Fire Chief Manuel Mello. “It’s nothing close to what I experienced while I was on the line. It’s a whole different monster.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">Firefighters say the first calls for help usually blare through the three stations in Eagle Pass while crews are still sipping their morning coffee, bracing themselves for what the day will bring.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">Parents with young children might be near drowning or trapped on islands somewhere between the United States and Mexico, surrounded by the fierce currents of the Rio Grande.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">On some shifts, firefighters with the Eagle Pass Fire Department can spend three to five hours in the water, helping rescue migrants crossing the river or recovering their drowned bodies.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">“It’s something we’ve never gone through,” said Eagle Pass native Marcos Kypuros, who has been a firefighter and EMT for two decades. “It’s been hard having to keep up with that on top of everything else we take care of.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">Eagle Pass has become ground zero in recent months for an unrelenting border crisis that is equal parts political and humanitarian.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">With hundreds of thousands of people attempting to cross the border illegally each year near Eagle Pass, city emergency personnel have increasingly been called upon to perform difficult and often dangerous rescues or to retrieve dead bodies, they said. They do this while juggling other emergencies in the city of 28,000 and throughout sparsely populated Maverick County.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">“They see decomposing bodies, they see children that have drowned. Babies 2-months-old, with their eyes half-open, their mouths full of mud,” Mello said. “I know that when I signed up, they told me that I would see all of that, but not in the number that these guys are seeing now.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">Call volumes to the fire department surged last summer after Title 42, which set limits on asylum-seekers hoping to enter the United States,<span color="var(--article-body-content-strong)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"> </span>was lifted. On a typical day, the department might receive 30 calls, but the number has doubled in recent months, Mello said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">The added strain prompted one of his firefighters, who was still working through the required probationary period, to turn in his gear and switch careers entirely, he added.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">After a record-breaking number of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-border-security-migrants-homeland-security-1c6e9f612dff721191c0254f980947a5" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">illegal crossings in December,</a> federal authorities say the figure dropped by half in January. The most significant decrease was in the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/border-patrol-second-highest-official-sexual-misconduct-allegations-rcna139621" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">U.S. Border Patrol</a>’s Del Rio sector, which includes Eagle Pass.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">But the steady rise in crossings last year has taken a toll on first responders who did not sign up for this kind of work, Kypuros said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">“Those times where we recover four or five, six, up to seven bodies a day — it was just rough,” he said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">As the number of calls for emergencies on the border grew last fall, so did the number of sick days firefighters requested, according to the fire chief.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">“I try and leave all this at work, not take it home with me, but it’s so hard,” Kypuros said. “Sometimes it’s hard to cope.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. It was not immediately clear when the funds the city applied for would be awarded.</p><div class="recommended-intersection-ref" data-activity-map="recommended-article-body-recommended" data-testid="recommended-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">After the record-breaking number of attempted border crossings last year, Abbott ramped up the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/biden-administration-lawsuit-texas-abbott-border-patrol-rcna137565" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">state’s immigration enforcement</a> efforts. Last week, he announced the deployment of 1,800 members of the Texas National Guard to Eagle Pass in an effort to curb illegal crossings.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">Abbott, a Republican, installed razor wire near the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass as part of the enforcement operation, and previously placed buoys in the river to prevent crossings.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">Firefighters have treated lacerations and open wounds from people trying to crawl through the concertina wire, Kypuros said. At times, local hospitals get so overwhelmed with patients from the border that wait times for a bed can stretch to two hours, Garcia added.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">As thousands of people without pathways to U.S. citizenship wait in squalid, makeshift camps on the Mexico side of the border, others attempt dangerous river crossings across the Rio Grande, endangering their own lives and those of their loved ones.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">Harish Garcia, who has worked as a firefighter EMT in Eagle Pass for three years, still cannot shake the memory of a drowning mother and her young daughter. Garcia’s crew, including a firefighter with a daughter around the same age as the little girl, loaded the two into an ambulance, he said, but it was too late.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">When crews returned to the station, some called their families. Others went quiet, Garcia said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">“Unfortunately, calls are going to keep coming in after that, so we can’t hang on to that for too long,” he said months later. “We have to just let it go and move on to the next call.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">Garcia and Kypuros say they’ve lost count of how many bodies they’ve recovered in recent months. The majority are found after failed attempts to cross the river, but other calls have led fire crews into the rough brush of South Texas, where dehydration and exposure can prove just as deadly.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">David Black, a psychologist who has worked with the California law enforcement community for more than 20 years, said witnessing the death of a child is often the most traumatizing event a first responder can experience. Without a strong support system both in and out of the workplace, that stress can eat away at them.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">“We outsource our worst-case scenarios to first responders,” he said. “If you have your own children, that can really impact how you look at your own family.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">As Eagle Pass waits for the state grant to be approved, agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other federal workers already have access to mental health resources internally.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">The services, which include on-site clinicians and field psychologists, are part of a larger effort to “improve resiliency and encourage our colleagues to seek help when they need it,” said Troy Miller, acting CBP commissioner.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">Mello said that despite the uncertain nature of the border crisis and the political tensions between the White House and the governor’s office, he is optimistic that help will come.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5rem 0px;">Until then, he knows the calls for help will keep coming.</p><p class="endmark" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: var(--article-body-last-paragraph-margin-btm); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5rem;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Morgan Chesky reported from Eagle Pass, Texas, and Alicia Victoria Lozano from Los Angeles</em>.</p></div></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-21185512598961352282024-02-25T15:02:00.004-06:002024-02-25T15:02:50.422-06:00Texas passes on $450 million summer lunch program for low-income families<p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">This awful news came out this past week. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Terrible optic. Terrible reality. Texas just always want to be Texas, including when it comes to providing for children and families in need. This is so sad. Why not do everything possible to help Texas school children? There were earlier efforts to address this by the organization, <a href="https://everytexan.org/">Every Texan</a>, as follows:</span></b></p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><blockquote><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Every Texan petitioned alongside statewide and regional organizations for the program last November, <a href="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/86/f2/9dce568e4a4e8a03a674f1f0dd5d/summer-ebt-sign-on-letter.pdf" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(161, 210, 223); box-shadow: rgb(161, 210, 223) 0px -1px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-in-out 0s, box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s;">signing a letter</a> to Cecile Young, executive commissioner of HHSC.</b></span></p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>“Summer EBT [</b></span><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Electronic Benefit Transfer] </span></b><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">is something that we have been advocating for for years, because we know how hard it is in a state as spread out as Texas to access enough food, to be able to afford enough food for their kids when school is closed,” Rachel Cooper told The Texas Tribune.</b></p></blockquote><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Geez, there is so much food insecurity and <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/sebt/estimated-children-eligible" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(161, 210, 223); box-shadow: rgb(161, 210, 223) 0px -1px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-in-out 0s, box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s;">3.8 million kids are eligible for the program</a><span style="color: #222222;">! </span>Why this lack of will? We "throw money" at the border. Why not do so here? </span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>-Angela Valenzuela</b></span></p><p><br /></p><h1 class="t-headline t-serif t-lh-s has-b-btm-marg" itemprop="headline" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 2.1rem; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 1.1rem; padding: 0px;">Texas passes on $450 million summer lunch program for low-income families</h1><p class="has-s-btm-marg has-vert-bar has-vert-bar--from-bp-s t-size-b has-text-yellow" style="border-left: 5px solid; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ffc200; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.92rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.1rem;"><span class="has-text-gray-dark" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a;">The USDA estimates the families of 3.8 million children could have received $120 per child to cover summer lunches if the state participated in the new $2.5 billion program launching this summer. Texas is one of 15 states opting out.</span></p><div class="c-details l-flex t-size-xs t-uppercase t-lsp-m t-lh-b has-text-black-off has-text-vert-padding has-s-btm-marg" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; font-size: 0.85rem; gap: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.05em; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.92rem; padding: 0.2em 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">BY <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/nina-banks/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #348094; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;">NINA BANKS</a></div><div class="c-details__wrapper l-flex" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex: 1 0 auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><time class="byline--item t-byline__item l-display-ib" datetime="Thu, 22 Feb 2024 10:49:40 -0600" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.68px; margin-right: 1.1rem;" title="2024-02-22 10:49 CST">FEB. 22, 2024</time><time class="byline--item t-byline__item l-display-ib" datetime="Thu, 22 Feb 2024 10:49:40 -0600" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.68px; margin-right: 1.1rem;" title="2024-02-22 10:49 CST">10 AM CENTRAL</time><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYbTkGcEduAxEk5ls4qh6cNS9PhesaVL9MiPIb9m8JEsrPhuu12TaSV7Lf_5rXW3zXtPdkJaR_ANPpbVMUwTMg337fN427pShqBG42snZPNos7W6llSpH3-AcPDZ63LzEe_eh0TbtnbfJVRP3MsqzbDIpbEp7dXvsehh9tKOJm1ghgjY9JNghhw/s1686/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20at%202.46.59%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1686" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYbTkGcEduAxEk5ls4qh6cNS9PhesaVL9MiPIb9m8JEsrPhuu12TaSV7Lf_5rXW3zXtPdkJaR_ANPpbVMUwTMg337fN427pShqBG42snZPNos7W6llSpH3-AcPDZ63LzEe_eh0TbtnbfJVRP3MsqzbDIpbEp7dXvsehh9tKOJm1ghgjY9JNghhw/w525-h351/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20at%202.46.59%20PM.png" width="525" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.6px; text-align: start;">Siblings Stacy Hurd, 11, Angelica Hurd, 5, and Sheniya Hurd, 8, eat a free meal together at Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, one of more than 70 sites the East Texas Food Bank sponsors in the summer. </span><span style="color: #4a4a4a; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.6px; text-align: start;"></span><cite style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.6px; font-style: normal; text-align: start;"><span class="is-sr-only" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit:</span><br />Laura Skelding, Texas Tribune</cite></td></tr></tbody></table><br />This year 35 states will participate in a <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-item/usda-0002.24" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(161, 210, 223); box-shadow: rgb(161, 210, 223) 0px -1px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-in-out 0s, box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s;">$2.5 billion federal nutrition program</a> that will help low-income parents buy groceries for their children when free school meals are unavailable during the summer months.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">But Texas, which <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/sebt/estimated-children-eligible" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(161, 210, 223); box-shadow: rgb(161, 210, 223) 0px -1px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-in-out 0s, box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s;">has 3.8 million children eligible for the program</a>, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has opted not to join this national effort. If it had, qualifying families would have received $120 per child through a pre-loaded card for the three summer months. The USDA calculated that Texas is passing on a total of $450 million in federal tax dollars that would have gone to eligible families here.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">The reason for the pass is simple, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. When the USDA notified HHSC officials of their new Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer, or EBT program on Dec. 29, that gave the nation’s second largest state only six months to get it up and running and that’s not enough time, said Tiffany Young, a spokesperson for the state agency.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">Although the summer program would involve two other agencies as well – the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Department of Agriculture – HHSC would have to bear the brunt of the work because they would have to coordinate and direct the distribution of the preloaded cards to qualifying families.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">Already on their plate is the cumbersome <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/14/texas-medicaid-unwinding/" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(161, 210, 223); box-shadow: rgb(161, 210, 223) 0px -1px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-in-out 0s, box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s;">unwinding</a> of Medicaid coverage. Since last April, the agency has removed more than 2 million Texans from the program since the federal government lifted continuous coverage rules during the pandemic, forcing those who still qualify for coverage to reapply. From HHSC’s perspective, launching an entirely new program wouldn’t be possible at this time.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">Additionally, the USDA would only cover 50% of the administrative expenses for Summer EBT. It would be up to the state to cover the residual cost.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">Young wrote that the HHSC, TDA and TEA have been in “active discussions” about each agencies’ responsibilities in accordance with Summer EBT.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">The U.S. Department of Agriculture first piloted the summer program with Pandemic EBT, or P-EBT, during the 2019-2020 school year in all 50 states. P-EBT was created in response to children from low-income families who qualified for free and reduced-price school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal officials estimate 21 million children in 35 states, five U.S. territories and four tribes participating in the program would receive the extra money during the summer months.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">Texas is one of 15 states that will not participate. Among the 15 is Alabama — opting out with similar rationale to Texas — attributing their reasoning to an insufficient amount of time to appropriate the funds necessary for the program.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://everytexan.org/2023/08/11/public-comment-on-expanding-community-eligibility-provision/#:~:text=1.8%20million%20Texas%20children%20live,the%20National%20School%20Lunch%20Program." style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(161, 210, 223); box-shadow: rgb(161, 210, 223) 0px -1px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-in-out 0s, box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s;">For more than 3 million Texas children</a>, school lunch may be the only full meal they get each day. According to Feeding Texas, a nonprofit organization that supplies food banks across the state, one in five children are affected by food insecurity — defined as an insufficient amount or unreliable sources of food to sustain oneself.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">The Texas Department of Agriculture administers the free and reduced meal program for students during the school year. Agriculture Commissioner <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/sid-miller/" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(161, 210, 223); box-shadow: rgb(161, 210, 223) 0px -1px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-in-out 0s, box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s;">Sid Miller</a> said he understands the disappointment some families have about Texas’ decision not to participate this year. . He said his agency would have assisted if the decision was made to participate.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">“The problem we’re facing — and we face this at the TDA in our school meals program and our summer feeding programs — everything is so much more expensive,” Miller said. “An extra 40 dollars could have gone a long way to offset that.”</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">Every Texan petitioned alongside statewide and regional organizations for the program last November, <a href="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/86/f2/9dce568e4a4e8a03a674f1f0dd5d/summer-ebt-sign-on-letter.pdf" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(161, 210, 223); box-shadow: rgb(161, 210, 223) 0px -1px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-in-out 0s, box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s;">signing a letter</a> to Cecile Young, executive commissioner of HHSC.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">“Summer EBT is something that we have been advocating for for years, because we know how hard it is in a state as spread out as Texas to access enough food, to be able to afford enough food for their kids when school is closed,” Rachel Cooper told The Texas Tribune.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">Though not as comprehensive as Summer EBT, food insecure children still have options for food assistance during the summer. Miller told the Tribune that “kids aren’t going to get fed any less” on account of the TDA’s expansion of their <a href="https://squaremeals.org/Programs/Summer-Meal-Programs" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(161, 210, 223); box-shadow: rgb(161, 210, 223) 0px -1px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-in-out 0s, box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s;">Summer Meals Program</a>. Children 18 and under are eligible to receive a free meal at their meal sites across the state.</p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;">Parents can also find out if their child’s school district is one of many that provide free meals during the summer. National organizations, such as the YMCA and Boys & Girls Club, provide summer meal assistance at select locations. <span style="background-color: #fbfbfb;">Though it remains possible to secure a balanced meal without Summer EBT, Cooper believes it is still possible and necessary for Texas to join the program in 2025. </span><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb;">“Our kids need it,” Cooper said. “They deserve it, and we just need to do our part.”</span></p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;"><i style="background-color: #fbfbfb; box-sizing: border-box;">Disclosure: Every Texan and Feeding Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/support-us/corporate-sponsors/" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(161, 210, 223); box-shadow: rgb(161, 210, 223) 0px -1px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-in-out 0s, box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s;">list of them here</a>.</i></p><p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 1.1rem auto; max-width: 41.5rem; padding: 0px;"><em style="background-color: #fbfbfb; box-sizing: border-box;">We can’t wait to welcome you to downtown Austin Sept. 5-7 for the 2024 <a href="https://trib.it/HIe" rel="noopener" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(161, 210, 223); box-shadow: rgb(161, 210, 223) 0px -1px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-in-out 0s, box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Texas Tribune Festival!</a> Join us at Texas’ breakout politics and policy event as we dig into the 2024 elections, state and national politics, the state of democracy, and so much more. When tickets go on sale this spring, Tribune members will save big. <a href="https://trib.it/HIt" rel="noopener" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(161, 210, 223); box-shadow: rgb(161, 210, 223) 0px -1px inset; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-in-out 0s, box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Donate to join or renew today.</a></em></p>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-39343909036322019252024-02-25T13:04:00.006-06:002024-02-25T13:11:36.714-06:00Dr. Gerald Horne commentary on Chris Hedges article: "The Collapse of US Media is Accelerating Our Political Crisis"<p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> Friends,</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Listen to this warning by renowned University of Houston historian, Dr. Gerald Horne, speaks on the demise of public media. He responds to Chris Hedges who wrote the following:</span></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKtXmnzLgiUDCSVKrD-gP8haDB7JnrCQBaMQ5cwgXGNN8IFFCQjUlSsu67tzYsrG630Jwgh0BvnyB_Riy96N5cCjYVR0U_uP94wUY3onbx3EXJ11etqJeMhtc4S49KTTnmeqiOc5LmFPxgnEEZT4pP9AOXhJ-_odXcubOCK6gmIFnqo4fUVmlYPQ/s1346/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20at%2012.41.42%20PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="972" data-original-width="1346" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKtXmnzLgiUDCSVKrD-gP8haDB7JnrCQBaMQ5cwgXGNN8IFFCQjUlSsu67tzYsrG630Jwgh0BvnyB_Riy96N5cCjYVR0U_uP94wUY3onbx3EXJ11etqJeMhtc4S49KTTnmeqiOc5LmFPxgnEEZT4pP9AOXhJ-_odXcubOCK6gmIFnqo4fUVmlYPQ/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20at%2012.41.42%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">"<a href="https://scheerpost.com/2024/02/17/chris-hedges-the-collapse-of-us-media-is-accelerating-our-political-crisis/#:~:text=Chris%20Hedges%3A%20The%20Collapse%20of%20US%20Media%20is%20Accelerating%20Our%20Political%20Crisis,-February%2017%2C%202024&text=A%20third%20of%20all%20US,Big%20Tech%20are%20to%20blame.">The collapse of U.S. media is accelerating our political crisis a third of all U.S. newspapers</a> have permanently closed. The industry is hemorrhaging reporters and private equity and big tech are to blame."</span></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The news media has found it difficult to compete with big tech, soaking up advertising dollars previously available to them. I can only imagine how this is impacting Journalism Departments in our colleges and universities nationwide.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Artificial Intelligence (AI) is another threat that Dr. Horne maintains threatens jobs for reporters, lawyers, and computer code writers. In short, traditional media, including CNN and NPR, are at enormous risk. Traditional media also often align with neocons and neoliberals, for example, their its lack of support, if not actual collusion, against labor. Dr. Horne expresses that the mainstream press is clearly often about the "massaging of our consciousness" rather than reporting the actual news, citing news on Ukraine and Gaza. A lot to unpack here.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">My connection to this in the current moment is a lack of attention in the press to the harmfulness of school and district takeovers by Education Management Organizations (EMOs) like Superintendent Mike Moses' The New Education System (NES)" in Houston, Texas. Takeovers are happening in and to various other Texas school districts amounting to a de-democratization of public education. There are some reports, but not enough in my view. Not quite hearing sufficient outcry other than a few select voices. Our communities are therefore at risk without local news, boots on the ground, and ethical reporting.</span></b></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>The lack of a free and honest press is abundantly consequential.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>-Angela Valenzuela</b></span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VCM_jXq-PFE?si=hNPXgm68nKU7jRtq&start=14" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-52092225721882692952024-02-23T08:53:00.004-06:002024-02-23T08:55:54.164-06:00Project 2025 and Trump's Well-Planned Revenge in a Second Term [should he win the presidency]<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Friends:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>We would all do well to inform ourselves on <a href="https://www.project2025.org/">Project 2025</a>. It is authoritarian libertarianism on steroids. It represents the culmination of efforts orchestrated by the Heritage Foundation together with at least 75 other groups to take the entire country toward an anti-democratic path that would, as Dr. Nancy MacLean has been saying, "put democracy in chains."</b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">This agenda is clearly an urgent matter for Jeffrey Clark who is spearheading <a href="https://www.project2025.org/">Project 2025</a> as he is one of "six unnamed co-conspirators whose actions are described in Trump’s indictment in the federal election interference case." </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">We should further heed Liz Cheney's words that "<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/03/politics/cheney-says-a-republican-house-majority-in-2025-would-present-a-threat/index.html">a</a><span color="var(--theme-headline__text-color)" style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/03/politics/cheney-says-a-republican-house-majority-in-2025-would-present-a-threat/index.html"> Republican House majority in 2025 would present a ‘threat’ to the country.</a>" Why? Because the Republican part of today "has not chosen the Constitution."</span></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>If anything, <a href="http://project2025.org">Project 2025</a> is precisely about undermining the U.S. Constitution. Read it for yourselves. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>This dystopian vision is no less fully workshopped, strategically planned, and well-funded. We, the people, must not allow this to come to fruition under any name.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>-Angela Valenzuela</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Reference</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></p><h4 class="a-size-large a-spacing-none" id="title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; hyphens: auto; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span id="productTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">MacLean, N. (2017). <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-in-Chains-Nancy-MacLean-audiobook/dp/B072J2MTWT/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8YCEHGAMIYNO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.VFLtzJ8H3Dbghp9HMCzhbbv3pvLwLi4JaGnFCHElMTPvgb6gLkH-9iFDxsd2hXK5X38saK21SD7okHwFxjeiCmhdO-S8qaz3cqyKJjGOwfC9Wrd8HGXkIOTQUokM3K37MIl87CwEVtwgLwP7yCAVtmqZuAVcS52XNfJYYXsm2l46UqAVFd1evbH2_WRnPSlmpR_dHPF-rxfhWvXfodp8KoNSoHRCSuh4fEeXDrMXkyc.mHncANF3UHlkNKvcEqT4c1vDwdj_WT4uYOKIrV3EYTE&dib_tag=se&keywords=MacLean%2C+Nancy&qid=1708526572&s=books&sprefix=maclean%2C+nancy%2Cstripbooks%2C96&sr=1-1">Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America</a>. Penguin.</span></span></h4><div><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="PJLV PJLV-iklXUFA-css" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Franklin, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; max-width: 1000px; width: 1000px;"><h1 class="PJLV PJLV-iirWFJy-css overrideStyles" data-qa="headline" data-testid="headline" id="main-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray20); font-family: var(--wpds-fonts-headline); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-110); margin-bottom: var(--wpds-space-050); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 1000px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-025);"><span class="PJLV" data-qa="headline-text" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/05/trump-revenge-second-term/"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Trump and allies plot revenge, Justice </span></a></span></h1><h1 class="PJLV PJLV-iirWFJy-css overrideStyles" data-qa="headline" data-testid="headline" id="main-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray20); font-family: var(--wpds-fonts-headline); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-110); margin-bottom: var(--wpds-space-050); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 1000px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-025);"><span class="PJLV" data-qa="headline-text" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/05/trump-revenge-second-term/"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Department control in a second term</span></a></span></h1></div><h2 class="font--subhead font-light offblack mb-sm pb-xxs-ns subheadline" data-qa="subheadline" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray20); font-family: Franklin, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.25rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 16px; max-width: 1000px; padding-bottom: 4px;">Advisers have also discussed deploying the military to quell potential unrest on Inauguration Day. Critics have called the ideas under consideration dangerous and unconstitutional.</h2><div class="wpds-c-ffLlrl" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; font-family: Franklin, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="wpds-c-hoWMuZ" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-direction: column; max-width: 600px;"><div class="PJLV PJLV-ihSmMVC-css" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="PJLV PJLV-iPJLV-css mb-xxs flex overrideStyles" data-qa="author-byline" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; gap: 0.5rem; margin-bottom: 4px;"><span class="wpds-c-PJLV" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="dib items-center" data-qa="author-byline" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block;"><span class="left" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="dib font-xxs" data-cy="name-with-optional-link" data-qa="name-with-optional-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-size: 1rem;"><span class="wpds-c-cNdzuP" color="var(--wpds-colors-gray40)" data-qa="attribution-text" style="box-sizing: border-box;">By </span><a class="wpds-c-cNdzuP wpds-c-cNdzuP-ejzZdU-isLink-true" data-qa="author-name" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/isaac-arnsdorf/?itid=ai_top_arnsdorfi" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-underline-offset: 1px;">Isaac Arnsdorf</a></div><span class="wpds-c-kpjDGe wpds-c-kpjDGe-fSGdIc-isSmall-false wpds-c-kpjDGe-icNdzuP-css" color="var(--wpds-colors-gray40)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: var(--wpds-fontSizes-100);">, </span></span></div><div class="dib items-center" data-qa="author-byline" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block;"><span class="left" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="dib font-xxs" data-cy="name-with-optional-link" data-qa="name-with-optional-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-size: 1rem;"><a class="wpds-c-cNdzuP wpds-c-cNdzuP-ejzZdU-isLink-true" data-qa="author-name" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/josh-dawsey/?itid=ai_top_dawseyj2" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-underline-offset: 1px;">Josh Dawsey</a></div><span class="wpds-c-kpjDGe wpds-c-kpjDGe-fSGdIc-isSmall-false wpds-c-kpjDGe-icNdzuP-css" color="var(--wpds-colors-gray40)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: var(--wpds-fontSizes-100);"> and </span></span></div><div class="dib items-center" data-qa="author-byline" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block;"><span class="left" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="dib font-xxs" data-cy="name-with-optional-link" data-qa="name-with-optional-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-size: 1rem;"><a class="wpds-c-cNdzuP wpds-c-cNdzuP-ejzZdU-isLink-true" data-qa="author-name" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/devlin-barrett/?itid=ai_top_barrettd" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-underline-offset: 1px;">Devlin Barrett</a></div><span class="wpds-c-kpjDGe wpds-c-kpjDGe-fSGdIc-isSmall-false wpds-c-kpjDGe-icNdzuP-css" color="var(--wpds-colors-gray40)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: var(--wpds-fontSizes-100);"></span></span></div></span></div></div><div class="wpds-c-kgabfe wpds-c-kgabfe-ieEDlgV-css" data-testid="timestamp" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray80); font-family: var(--wpds-fonts-subhead); font-size: var(--wpds-fontSizes-087); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-125); margin-bottom: var(--wpds-space-200);"><span class="PJLV PJLV-ihqANPJ-css overrideStyles" data-testid="updated-and-published-span" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Updated <span class="wpds-c-iKQyrV wpds-c-iKQyrV-ihqANPJ-css overrideStyles" color="var(--wpds-colors-gray80)" data-testid="updated-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: var(--wpds-fontSizes-087); margin-top: var(--wpds-space-025);">November 6, 2023 at 1:27 p.m. EST</span><span class="wpds-c-jwSVuw" color="var(--wpds-colors-gray300)" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: var(--wpds-space-050); margin-right: var(--wpds-space-050);">|</span>Published </span><span class="wpds-c-iKQyrV" color="var(--wpds-colors-gray80)" data-testid="display-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: var(--wpds-fontSizes-087); margin-top: var(--wpds-space-025);">November 5, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EST</span></div><div class="wpds-c-kgabfe wpds-c-kgabfe-ieEDlgV-css" data-testid="timestamp" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray80); font-family: var(--wpds-fonts-subhead); font-size: var(--wpds-fontSizes-087); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-125); margin-bottom: var(--wpds-space-200);"><span class="wpds-c-iKQyrV" color="var(--wpds-colors-gray80)" data-testid="display-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: var(--wpds-fontSizes-087); margin-top: var(--wpds-space-025);"><br /></span></div><div class="wpds-c-kgabfe wpds-c-kgabfe-ieEDlgV-css" data-testid="timestamp" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray80); font-family: var(--wpds-fonts-subhead); font-size: var(--wpds-fontSizes-087); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-125); margin-bottom: var(--wpds-space-200);"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEKcB-dkXJ5alV-cCWBe2XcEtcd7nQ113lgewIuzRA6aezAPHFskAIKW3VqTOibl2EsdaK24ObWyN4NCUIlJLUpfDLCpbrtdJXZKCoZ_Z5idO4XM5-3-T6pz5qKk0-4D0MDtX_g7lyfngsQR5SDUR9T4ssmnkT3KItxIppjrkNmI_9ciOh2ELHUQ/s1682/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%209.21.49%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1122" data-original-width="1682" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEKcB-dkXJ5alV-cCWBe2XcEtcd7nQ113lgewIuzRA6aezAPHFskAIKW3VqTOibl2EsdaK24ObWyN4NCUIlJLUpfDLCpbrtdJXZKCoZ_Z5idO4XM5-3-T6pz5qKk0-4D0MDtX_g7lyfngsQR5SDUR9T4ssmnkT3KItxIppjrkNmI_9ciOh2ELHUQ/w572-h381/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%209.21.49%20AM.png" width="572" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Franklin, arial, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Former president Donald Trump at the courthouse in Manhattan on Oct. 17. (John Taggart for The Washington Post)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span class="wpds-c-iKQyrV" color="var(--wpds-colors-gray80)" data-testid="display-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: var(--wpds-fontSizes-087); margin-top: var(--wpds-space-025);"><br /></span></div></div></div><div class="teaser-content" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a class="contextual_link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/donald-trump/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2" style="border-bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2a2a; text-decoration-color: rgb(42, 42, 42); text-decoration-thickness: 0.0625em; text-underline-offset: 0.125em;" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> and his allies have begun mapping out specific plans for using the federal government to punish critics and opponents should he win a second term, with the former president naming individuals he wants to investigate or prosecute and his associates drafting plans to potentially invoke the Insurrection Act on his first day in office to allow him to deploy the military against civil demonstrations.<br /></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">In private, Trump has told advisers and friends in recent months that he wants the Justice Department to investigate onetime officials and allies who have become critical of his time in office, including his former chief of staff, John F. Kelly, and former attorney general William P. Barr, as well as his ex-attorney Ty Cobb and former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley, according to people who have talked to him, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"> </span>to describe private conversations.<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"> </span>Trump has also talked of prosecuting officials at the FBI and Justice Department, a person familiar with the matter said.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">In public, Trump has vowed to appoint a special prosecutor to “go after” <a class="contextual_link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/candidates/joe-biden-2024/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5" style="border-bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2a2a; text-decoration-color: rgb(42, 42, 42); text-decoration-thickness: 0.0625em; text-underline-offset: 0.125em;" target="_blank">President Biden</a> and his family. The former president has frequently made corruption accusations against them that are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2023/09/07/trump-biden-false-attacks-2024-presidential-race/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5" style="border-bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2a2a; text-decoration-color: rgb(42, 42, 42); text-decoration-thickness: 0.0625em; text-underline-offset: 0.125em;" target="_blank">not supported by available evidence</a>.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">To facilitate Trump’s ability to direct Justice Department actions, his associates have been drafting plans to dispense with 50 years of policy and practice intended to shield criminal prosecutions from political considerations. Critics have called such ideas dangerous and unconstitutional.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“It would resemble a banana republic if people came into office and started going after their opponents willy-nilly,” said Saikrishna Prakash, a constitutional law professor at the University of Virginia who studies executive power. “It’s hardly something we should aspire to.”</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><br /></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Much of the planning for a second term has been unofficially outsourced to a partnership of right-wing think tanks in Washington. Dubbed “<a href="https://www.project2025.org/">Project 2025</a>,” the group is developing a plan, to include draft executive orders, that would deploy the military domestically under the Insurrection Act, according to a person involved in those conversations and internal communications reviewed by The Washington Post. The law, last updated in 1871, authorizes the president to deploy the military for domestic law enforcement.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The proposal was identified in internal discussions as an immediate priority, the communications showed. In the final year of his presidency, some of Trump’s supporters urged him to invoke the Insurrection Act to put down unrest after the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, but he never did it. Trump has publicly expressed regret about not deploying more federal force and said he would not hesitate to do so in the future.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Franklin, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGBO2vMOnz84rEOtSBy-_3kvnItZO1UkuR1gsT7BlFW6I2xHjWN7PEHa1s6yY-L5kv4F0apQ2QOM_2z2vft0-5s5LJLWWCGDdXs52AlN4xdmX61_2RHRZCmlib-HuxfJmAVU3srCEb1lRUnk0hMq9UHgqmfcO-VJoWnEaZJIm_n-K77dMKBzHLg/s1276/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%209.12.20%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1276" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGBO2vMOnz84rEOtSBy-_3kvnItZO1UkuR1gsT7BlFW6I2xHjWN7PEHa1s6yY-L5kv4F0apQ2QOM_2z2vft0-5s5LJLWWCGDdXs52AlN4xdmX61_2RHRZCmlib-HuxfJmAVU3srCEb1lRUnk0hMq9UHgqmfcO-VJoWnEaZJIm_n-K77dMKBzHLg/w562-h371/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%209.12.20%20AM.png" width="562" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Franklin, arial, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Supporters listen during the national anthem before Trump arrives to speak at a campaign event at the Kingswood Arts Center on Oct. 9 in Wolfeboro, NH. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span color="var(--wpds-colors-gray40)" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span color="var(--wpds-colors-gray40)" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung did not answer questions about specific actions under discussion. “President Trump is focused on crushing his opponents in the primary election and then going on to beat Crooked Joe Biden,” Cheung said. “President Trump has always stood for law and order, and protecting the Constitution.”</span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The discussions<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"> </span>underway<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"> </span>reflect Trump’s determination to harness the power of the presidency to exact revenge on those who have challenged or criticized him if he returns to the White House. The former president has frequently threatened to take punitive steps against his perceived enemies, arguing that doing so would be justified by the current prosecutions against him. Trump has claimed without evidence that the criminal charges he is facing — a total of 91 across four state and federal indictments — were made up to damage him politically.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“This is third-world-country stuff, ‘arrest your opponent,’” Trump said at a campaign stop in New Hampshire in October. “And that means I can do that, too.”</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Special counsel Jack Smith, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Biden have all said that Smith’s prosecution decisions were made independently of the White House, in accordance with department rules on special counsels.</span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Trump, the clear polling leader in the GOP race, has made “retribution” a central theme of his campaign, seeking to intertwine his own legal defense with a call for payback against perceived slights and offenses to right-wing Americans. He repeatedly tells his supporters that he is being persecuted on their behalf and holds out a 2024 victory as a shared redemption at their enemies’ expense.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 class="pb-sm pt-lgmod" data-qa="article-header" id="HLJLKFRLNRGPBCJLV6QVNPNY2M" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-top: var(--lg-mod);"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">‘He is going to go after people that have turned on him’</span></div></h3></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">It is unclear what alleged crimes or evidence Trump would claim to justify investigating his named targets.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Kelly said he would expect Trump to investigate him because since his term as chief of staff ended, he has publicly criticized Trump, including by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/02/politics/john-kelly-donald-trump-us-service-members-veterans/index.html" style="border-bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2a2a; text-decoration-color: rgb(42, 42, 42); text-decoration-thickness: 0.0625em; text-underline-offset: 0.125em;" target="_blank">alleging</a> that he called dead service members “suckers.” Kelly added, “There is no question in my mind he is going to go after people that have turned on him.”</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Barr, another Trump appointee turned critic, has contradicted the former president’s false claims about the 2020 election and called him “a very petty individual who will always put his interests ahead of the country’s.” Asked about Trump’s interest in prosecuting him, Barr deadpanned, “I’m quivering in my boots.”</span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“Trump himself is more likely to rot in jail than anyone on his alleged list,” said Cobb, who accused Trump of “stifling truth, making threats and bullying weaklings into doing his bidding.”</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Milley did not comment.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEighyphenhyphen5CaK9j_w11wrBs11xIoS2Lvaak5wj4WJZX6rOoCFs5f9BM4ZT4uux7SXX5o1RI2oN4-QKQ2r5X8B3h6trogxeIoe-BpIzPuhJkAVtKQGiW0Das3CmGQahfRQxJYNrvWFjcBgknIGkO1XwkCAnXMCEGfQlaLVEc_dlBK7cJAHd7kLZrbLhT2A/s1276/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%209.23.36%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1276" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEighyphenhyphen5CaK9j_w11wrBs11xIoS2Lvaak5wj4WJZX6rOoCFs5f9BM4ZT4uux7SXX5o1RI2oN4-QKQ2r5X8B3h6trogxeIoe-BpIzPuhJkAVtKQGiW0Das3CmGQahfRQxJYNrvWFjcBgknIGkO1XwkCAnXMCEGfQlaLVEc_dlBK7cJAHd7kLZrbLhT2A/w442-h293/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%209.23.36%20AM.png" width="442" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Franklin, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="PJLV PJLV-iPJLV-css hide-for-print" data-qa="article-image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><figure class="overflow-hidden relative hide-for-print center center mb-sm mb-md-ns ml-auto-ns mr-auto-ns grid-mobile-full-bleed" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-block: 0px; margin-inline: 0px; margin: 0px auto 24px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; text-align: center;"><figcaption class="mr-auto-ns ml-auto-ns font--subhead font-xxxs mt-xs ml-gutter mr-gutter left gray-dark" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray80); font-family: Franklin, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 8px; text-align: left;">Then-White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly listens as then-President Donald Trump leads a working lunch with governors in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in 2018. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)</figcaption></figure></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Franklin, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><br /></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Other modern presidents since the Watergate scandal — when Richard M. Nixon tried to suppress the FBI’s investigation into his campaign’s spying and sabotage against Democrats — have sought to separate politics from law enforcement. Presidents of both parties have imposed a White House policy restricting communications with prosecutors. An effort under the George W. Bush administration to remove U.S. attorneys </span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200302142947/https://oig.justice.gov/special/s0809a/final.pdf" style="border-bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2a2a; text-decoration-color: rgb(42, 42, 42); text-decoration-thickness: 0.0625em; text-underline-offset: 0.125em;" target="_blank">for political reasons</a><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"> led to high-level resignations and a criminal investigation.</span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Rod J. Rosenstein, the Trump-appointed deputy attorney general who oversaw the investigation by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 election, said a politically ordered prosecution would violate the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under law and could cause judges to dismiss the charges. That constitutional defense has rarely been raised in U.S. history, Rosenstein said.</span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“Making prosecutorial decisions in a nonpartisan manner is essential to democracy,” Rosenstein said. “The White House should not be meddling in individual cases for political reasons.”</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">But Trump allies such as Russ Vought, his former budget director who now leads the Center for Renewing America, are actively repudiating the modern tradition of a measure of independence for the Department of Justice, arguing that such independence is not based in law or the Constitution. Vought is in regular contact with Trump and would be expected to hold a major position in a second term.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“You don’t need a statutory change at all, you need a mind-set change,” Vought said in an interview. “You need an attorney general and a White House Counsel’s Office that don’t view themselves as trying to protect the department from the president.”</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 class="pb-sm pt-lgmod" data-qa="article-header" id="UUIHW4IS4JC2HB6SFGFWYUYUAY" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-top: var(--lg-mod);"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">A fixation on prosecuting enemies</span></div></h3></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">As president, Kelly said, Trump would often suggest prosecuting his political enemies, or at least having the FBI investigate them. Kelly said he would not pass along the requests to the Justice Department but would alert the White House Counsel’s Office. Usually, they would ignore the orders, he said, and wait for Trump to move on. In a second term, Trump’s aides could respond to such requests differently, he said.</span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV wpds-c-PJLV-bHCGeL-isStandardLayoutAd-true article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“The lesson the former president learned from his first term is don’t put guys like me … in those jobs,” Kelly said. “The lesson he learned was to find sycophants.”</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Although aides have worked on plans for some other agencies, Trump has taken a particular interest in the Justice Department. In conversations about a potential second term, Trump has made picking an attorney general his number one priority, according a Trump adviser.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“Given his recent trials and tribulations, one would think he’s going to pick up the plan for the Department of Justice before doing some light reading of a 500-page white paper on reforming the EPA,” said Matt Mowers, a former Trump White House adviser.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Jeffrey Clark, a fellow at Vought’s think tank, is leading the work on the Insurrection Act under Project 2025. The Post has reported that Clark is one of six unnamed co-conspirators whose actions are described in Trump’s indictment in the federal election interference case.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4uWLmz69kX1PC1tWESo_NScvZ9Ne9IxUuAvZq7Wi5u7zoIcTe1v203SrC_6mVeV4KaUfZY3rnxMOIwoApL8XeTfP2genHY4k9AB2bQkEQPl3pg13LgA4DmsS9LkmQqDZHjQdwADZoahNaeTLcxOLhyphenhyphenPQy_N2QQAksTYuaLvl0d8jamGzGjzNvA/s1276/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%209.24.52%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1276" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4uWLmz69kX1PC1tWESo_NScvZ9Ne9IxUuAvZq7Wi5u7zoIcTe1v203SrC_6mVeV4KaUfZY3rnxMOIwoApL8XeTfP2genHY4k9AB2bQkEQPl3pg13LgA4DmsS9LkmQqDZHjQdwADZoahNaeTLcxOLhyphenhyphenPQy_N2QQAksTYuaLvl0d8jamGzGjzNvA/w459-h304/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%209.24.52%20AM.png" width="459" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Franklin, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="PJLV PJLV-iPJLV-css hide-for-print" data-qa="article-image" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><figure class="overflow-hidden relative hide-for-print center center mb-sm mb-md-ns ml-auto-ns mr-auto-ns grid-mobile-full-bleed" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-block: 0px; margin-inline: 0px; margin: 0px auto 24px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; text-align: center;"><figcaption class="mr-auto-ns ml-auto-ns font--subhead font-xxxs mt-xs ml-gutter mr-gutter left gray-dark" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray80); font-family: Franklin, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.25; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 8px; text-align: left;">Jeffrey Clark attends a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing concerning judicial nominations in 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Franklin, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><br /></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Clark was also charged in Fulton County, Georgia, with violating the state anti-racketeering law and attempting to create a false statement, as part of the district attorney’s case accusing Trump and co-conspirators of interfering in the 2020 election. Clark has pleaded not guilty. As a Justice Department official after the 2020 election, Clark pressured superiors to investigate nonexistent election crimes and to encourage state officials to submit phony certificates to the electoral college, according to the indictment.</span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">In one conversation described in the federal indictment, a deputy White House counsel warned Clark that Trump’s refusing to leave office would lead to “riots in every major city.” Clark responded, according to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump_23_cr_257.pdf" style="border-bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2a2a; text-decoration-color: rgb(42, 42, 42); text-decoration-thickness: 0.0625em; text-underline-offset: 0.125em;" target="_blank">indictment</a>, “That’s why there’s an Insurrection Act.”</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Clark had dinner with Trump during a visit to his Bedminster, N.J., golf club this summer. He also went to Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday for a screening of a new Dinesh D’Souza movie that uses falsehoods, misleading interviews and dramatizations to allege federal persecution of <a class="contextual_link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/january-6-capitol-riot/?itid=lk_inline_manual_55" style="border-bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2a2a; text-decoration-color: rgb(42, 42, 42); text-decoration-thickness: 0.0625em; text-underline-offset: 0.125em;" target="_blank">Jan. 6</a> rioters and Christians. Also attending were fringe allies such as Stephen K. Bannon, Roger Stone, Laura Loomer and Michael Flynn.</span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“I think that the supposedly independent DOJ is an illusion,” Clark said in an interview. Through a spokeswoman he did not respond to follow-up questions about his work on the Insurrection Act.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Clark’s involvement with Project 2025 has alarmed some other conservative lawyers who view him as an unqualified choice to take a senior leadership role at the department, according to a conservative lawyer who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private talks. Project 2025 comprises 75 groups in a collaboration organized by the Heritage Foundation.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Project 2025 director Paul Dans stood by Clark in a statement. “We are grateful for Jeff Clark’s willingness to share his insights from having worked at high levels in government during trying times,” he said.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">After online publication of this story, Rob Bluey, a Heritage spokesman, said: “There are no plans within Project 2025 related to the Insurrection Act or targeting political enemies.”</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 class="pb-sm pt-lgmod" data-qa="article-header" id="PXZC5GBDCFFAXPTKQQY3DXK4H4" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-top: var(--lg-mod);"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">How a second Trump term would differ from the first</span></div></h3></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">There is a heated debate in conservative legal circles about how to interact with Trump as the likely nominee. Many in Trump’s circle have disparaged what they view as institutionalist Republican lawyers, particularly those associated with the Federalist Society. Some Trump advisers consider these individuals too soft and accommodating to make the kind of changes within agencies that they want to see happen in a second Trump administration.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Trump has told advisers that he is looking for lawyers who are loyal to him to serve in a second term — complaining about his White House Counsel’s Office unwillingness to go along with some of his ideas in his first term or help him in his bid to overturn his 2020 election defeat.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">In repeated comments to advisers and lawyers around him, Trump has said his biggest regrets were naming Jeff Sessions and Barr as his attorneys general and listening to others — he often cites the “Federalist Society” — who wanted him to name lawyers with impressive pedigrees and Ivy League credentials to senior Justice Department<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"> </span>positions. He has mentioned to several lawyers who have defended him on TV or attacked Biden that they would be a good candidate for attorney general, according to people familiar with his comments.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The overall vision that Trump, his campaign and outside allies are now discussing for a second term would differ from his first in terms of how quickly and forcefully officials would move to execute his orders. Alumni involved in the current planning generally fault a slow start, bureaucratic resistance and litigation for hindering the president’s agenda<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"> </span>in his first term, and they are determined to avoid those hurdles, if given a second chance, by concentrating more power in the West Wing and selecting appointees who will carry out Trump’s demands.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-1aWdgZS160c1_2ym2oJwdKIpmLV8apheb4fBfBmsdnpm9tZUYec_5WDO6R3eyHA_y_dRz-btE7Z7f5ERkPOkJOlrb22rxwI2KqgKSP3gQg6LNAgduVsNu9D4XN3LbflLjsqZ4bFoESDj93XyCce6TN5h6qZZCJ3ToILXotnaKkvYnMK7tjJsA/s1276/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%209.26.07%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1276" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-1aWdgZS160c1_2ym2oJwdKIpmLV8apheb4fBfBmsdnpm9tZUYec_5WDO6R3eyHA_y_dRz-btE7Z7f5ERkPOkJOlrb22rxwI2KqgKSP3gQg6LNAgduVsNu9D4XN3LbflLjsqZ4bFoESDj93XyCce6TN5h6qZZCJ3ToILXotnaKkvYnMK7tjJsA/w509-h338/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%209.26.07%20AM.png" width="509" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Franklin, arial, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Trump speaks with staff members backstage following a campaign event at the Kingswood Arts Center on Oct. 9 in Wolfeboro, NH. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Those groups are in discussions with Trump’s campaign advisers and occasionally the candidate himself, sometimes circulating policy papers or draft executive orders, according to people familiar with the situation.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“No one is opposed to them putting together ideas, but it’s not us,” a campaign adviser said. “These groups say they’ll have the whole transition planned. Some of those people I’m sure are good and Trump will appoint, but it’s not what is on his mind right now. I’m sure he’d be fine with some of their orders.”</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Trump’s core group of West Wing advisers for a second term is widely expected to include Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s hard-line immigration policies including family separation, who has gone on to challenge Biden administration policies in court through a conservative<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/12/stephen-miller-america-first-legal-biden-race-policies/?itid=lk_inline_manual_68" style="border-bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a2a2a; text-decoration-color: rgb(42, 42, 42); text-decoration-thickness: 0.0625em; text-underline-offset: 0.125em;" target="_blank"> organization</a> called America First Legal. Miller did not respond to requests for comment.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Alumni have also saved lists of previous appointees who would not be welcome in a second Trump administration, as well as career officers they viewed as uncooperative and would seek to fire based on an executive order to weaken civil service protections.</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">For other appointments, Trump would be able to draw on lineups of personnel prepared by Project 2025. Dans, a former Office of Personnel Management chief of staff, likened the database to a “conservative LinkedIn,” allowing applicants to present their resumes on public profiles, while also providing a shared workspace for Heritage and partner organizations to vet the candidates and make recommendations.</span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“We don’t want careerists, we don’t want people here who are opportunists,” he said. “We want conservative warriors.”</span></p><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body" data-qa="article-body" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Marianne LeVine and Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.</span></i></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-63496235395972768652024-02-21T08:58:00.008-06:002024-02-21T09:41:44.116-06:00The Libertarian CATO Institute Ranks Texas Last in Personal Freedoms. This IS an Anti-Democratic, Extremist National Agenda <p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>If you don't feel a little bit less free in Texas, you haven't been paying attention. This piece will refresh you and all Texans on the matter. Relatedly, it's important to know the levers, the Wizards of Oz, behind the curtain. This post, these two articles, and a must-see documentary offer a good primer.</b></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><b><li><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/billionaire-tim-dunn-runs-texas/" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;">The Billionaire Bully Who Wants to Turn Texas Into a Christian Theocracy</a></span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/video/tim-dunn-profile-behind-scenes-russell-gold/" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;">The Story: The Billionaire Behind a Right-wing Political Machine</a> </span></li><li><a href="https://texasedequity.blogspot.com/2023/01/important-must-see-cnn-documentary.html"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Important, must-see CNN documentary titled, "Deep in the Pockets of Texas"</span></a></li></b></ul></span><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>This comes straight out of the CATO Institute that's happy for us and the rest of the nation to lose every other freedom except to be a capitalist. Notably, reproductive and transgender rights aren't factored into the ratings. And these are huge for young people, in particular in our state.</b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>I do encourage you to learn about this well-organized, work-shopped, strategically planned, well-funded agenda to take away our rights for the benefit of the one percent. Treat yourself to an in-depth exploration with these two well-researched texts by Jane Mayer (2017) and Nancy MacLean's (2017) award winning text, </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">Democracy in Chains.</i><b> You can also read both of these in Audiobooks. </b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Trust me, this is the history that the CATO Institute, the Koch Foundation, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Farris Wilks, Tim Dunn, Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick, and others who don't want you to know. </b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>A little bit of education and an organized response, after all, might disrupt their stealth plan to not just deprive us and all of America of our rights, but to make it near impossible to break out of their devious, well-conceived shackles that are instrumental to their design. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>-Angela Valenzuela</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>References</b></span></p><h4 class="a-size-large a-spacing-none" id="title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; hyphens: auto; line-height: 32px !important; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span id="productTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">MacLean, N. (2017). <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-in-Chains-Nancy-MacLean-audiobook/dp/B072J2MTWT/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8YCEHGAMIYNO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.VFLtzJ8H3Dbghp9HMCzhbbv3pvLwLi4JaGnFCHElMTPvgb6gLkH-9iFDxsd2hXK5X38saK21SD7okHwFxjeiCmhdO-S8qaz3cqyKJjGOwfC9Wrd8HGXkIOTQUokM3K37MIl87CwEVtwgLwP7yCAVtmqZuAVcS52XNfJYYXsm2l46UqAVFd1evbH2_WRnPSlmpR_dHPF-rxfhWvXfodp8KoNSoHRCSuh4fEeXDrMXkyc.mHncANF3UHlkNKvcEqT4c1vDwdj_WT4uYOKIrV3EYTE&dib_tag=se&keywords=MacLean%2C+Nancy&qid=1708526572&s=books&sprefix=maclean%2C+nancy%2Cstripbooks%2C96&sr=1-1">Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America</a>. Penguin.</span></span></h4><div><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Mayer, J. (2017). </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-Jane-Mayer-audiobook/dp/B01A7BVFZK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=354E96CBAQ8IG&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ZeyDfjfkFs1cBGdafBz3vewQTMM18iBRjq9t2od5B4MyAyuLGFn9TjXnAZWrIp4SJvv07Q88ZrQtFnhYDpL_GA44TmPilFh-1DGDgAhRVUpTSkUgwCwipa8WFyhfVLPQxtFBzXpO0VX1PX8h2y68Hlqtv9yXkh-O1neGcsiw2oxU_Scib9Xs2gJgLsb7IrB4Q7PbrvDliHqa3DoFqx6HtiDZ3CyEj5dlFpCr-1rKkTI.NOg_T5WMTlu9X2WWI3AUFx0v5zfujkwWINgu3qN6cbw&dib_tag=se&keywords=Mayer%2C+Jane&qid=1708526904&s=audible&sprefix=mayer%2C+jane%2Caudible%2C117&sr=1-1"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;">Dark Money: </span><span style="background-color: white;">The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;">. Anchor.</span></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><p></p><h1 class="article-title hero-default__title balance-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Grifinito-M, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: 500; line-height: 0.875; margin: 0px auto 24px; max-width: 540.836px; text-align: center; width: 540.836px;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-personal-freedom-cato/">Texas Ranks Last in Personal Freedoms, According to the Libertarian CATO Institute</a></span></h1><p class="article-dek hero-default__dek balance-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Ringside-Regular, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.35294; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: 486.344px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The think tank, founded by a conservative billionaire who supports Greg Abbott, ranks Texas 39 places behind California. </span></p><p class="article-dek hero-default__dek balance-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Ringside-Regular, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.35294; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: 486.344px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article-dek hero-default__dek balance-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Ringside-Regular, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.35294; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: 486.344px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">by Dan Solomon | December 1, 2023 | Texas Monthly</span></p><p class="article-dek hero-default__dek balance-text" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Ringside-Regular, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.35294; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: 486.344px; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHfByC-MKDffOcvtk7wEaA1QMHELyOOrdnI-ViW_FG_N10wkuqO14QQEBGmu5mFcIP-8usILVwKUJ0_IBKdgMWubWPZULA3Bh3rFUCFBiHzc7PxKjPAjXEoR3FaGvNL3lHwvAGj3WSIR3O-30ANjnOaKj0eQ8MhjNOmQ0LD9GcQlzd8ZDIR9jmQ/s1760/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20at%208.17.53%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1096" data-original-width="1760" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHfByC-MKDffOcvtk7wEaA1QMHELyOOrdnI-ViW_FG_N10wkuqO14QQEBGmu5mFcIP-8usILVwKUJ0_IBKdgMWubWPZULA3Bh3rFUCFBiHzc7PxKjPAjXEoR3FaGvNL3lHwvAGj3WSIR3O-30ANjnOaKj0eQ8MhjNOmQ0LD9GcQlzd8ZDIR9jmQ/w568-h353/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20at%208.17.53%20AM.png" width="568" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Getty/</span><span style="font-size: small;">Texas Monthly</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Speaking at a meeting of Bell County Republicans in 2017 in Belton, about sixty miles north of Texas’s capital, Greg Abbott opined about the freedoms enjoyed in the state he governs. “As you leave Austin and start heading north, you start feeling different,” <a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/abbotts-war-local-government/" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;">Abbott told the crowd</a>. “Once you cross the Travis County line, it starts smelling different. And you know what that fragrance is? Freedom.” </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Leaving aside Abbott’s swipe at Austin, there’s a question now about what he smells when he passes into Williamson County these days. According to <a href="https://www.freedominthe50states.org/personal" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">a recent study by the Cato Institute</a>, a libertarian think tank cofounded by <a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/who-is-greg-abbott/" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;">prominent Abbott donor Charles Koch</a>, Texas ranks dead last among the states when it comes to personal freedom. (Probably of some relief to Abbott, Cato rates Texans highly on a few particular freedoms: chiefly economic ones. Based on our lack of a personal income tax and our <a href="https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-rights/employer-union-rights-and-obligations" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">right-to-work</a> laws that ensure a worker cannot be required to join a union, Texas ranks number six on the think tank’s index of economic freedom.)</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Cato relies on twelve metrics, each weighted differently, to create its personal freedom index. Almost across the board on those categories, Texas fares poorly. We rank thirty-fifth on educational freedom, thirty-ninth on gambling, forty-second on asset forfeiture, forty-third on incarceration, forty-fourth on marriage freedom, and dead last on both cannabis and travel freedom (see below for fuller definitions). Alcohol, gun, and tobacco rights; the right to give large sums to political campaigns; and the right to engage in activities that harm no one, such as safely setting off fireworks, are the only categories in which Cato finds Texas doesn’t rank in the bottom half of the states. Notably, the institute doesn’t factor key issues such as reproductive or transgender rights into its ratings. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Cato finds that the fragrance of Texas freedom right now stinks. Let’s take a closer look at how and why the institute thinks Texans might need to hold their noses, whether they’re driving through Austin or elsewhere. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Grifo-S, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b>Arrests and Incarceration</b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Cato’s ranking assigns a heavy weight to incarceration rates, which are adjusted for violent and property crimes, to look at whether each state incarcerates more individuals than the crime rates suggest it should. Cato also considers such factors as how often a state makes arrests for victimless crimes—which the study lists as including drug, sex work–related, and “gun” offenses (presumably possession-related only); driver’s license suspensions for such offenses; and whether a state has passed reforms regarding qualified immunity, which protects police officers from most civil lawsuits. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Texas’s low ranking here isn’t surprising; our incarceration rate <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/profiles/TX.html#:~:text=Texas%20has%20an%20incarceration%20rate,incarcerated%20in%20Texas%20and%20why." rel="noreferrer noopener" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">dramatically outpaces that of the U.S. as a whole</a> and puts us <a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/research/us-criminal-justice-data/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">firmly in the top ten</a> states in locking up residents per capita. A drug offense triggers an automatic six-month <a href="https://www.dps.texas.gov/section/driver-license/drug-or-controlled-substance-offenses" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">suspension of a driver’s license</a>, which requires classes and fees to restore. An attempt in the Legislature in 2021 to end qualified immunity <a href="https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/criminal-justice/2021/05/17/398133/george-floyd-act-dead-for-the-session/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">went nowhere</a> in the face of opposition by police unions; a similar attempt in 2023 was <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2023/01/24/texas-legislature-uvalde-law-enforcement-qualified-immunity/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">another flop</a>. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Criminal justice reform in Texas was once <a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/who-killed-criminal-justice-reform-texas/" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;">a popular, bipartisan issue</a> championed by Republicans such as former governor Rick Perry—but in recent years, it’s grown much more difficult to advance reform-minded legislation in the state. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Grifo-S, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b>Cannabis</b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Texas, which bans THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, in virtually all cases and has harsh sentencing laws, ranks dead last on the Cato Institute’s list. The metric also considers other factors, such as whether laws that stop short of legalization drive up consumer costs for cannabis and economic impacts on producers. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Grifo-S, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b>Civil Asset Forfeiture</b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you have an asset that officials deem suspicious, and they decide it may have been acquired in relation to criminal behavior, they can seize that asset and are under no obligation to give it back—even if you’re never charged with, let alone convicted of, anything illegal. Most often, this type of asset forfeiture plays out when police officers, during traffic stops or other encounters with the public, find large sums of cash. (<a href="https://atlantablackstar.com/2023/06/03/deputies-in-texas-took-a-truck-drivers-life-savings-that-he-wanted-to-use-to-expand-his-trucking-business-a-jury-ruled-he-wont-get-it-back/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">Here’s a story about a man</a> who drove with $42,000 to Houston to buy a tractor trailer and lost it after being accused of following the vehicle in front of him too closely in his rental car.) Federal law enforcement is also able to engage in the practice. In Texas, state law not only protects asset forfeiture but allows law enforcement to share the proceeds of assets claimed by federal agencies. For these reasons, Cato ranks the state forty-second. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Civil asset forfeiture is <a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/civil-asset-forfeiture-reform-texas-lege/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">a rare issue that can unite</a> both libertarian- and progressive-minded Americans in opposition. This practice is unpopular among Americans nationally, who believe that, say, a person may have a legitimate reason to carry a large amount of cash while driving. But civil asset forfeiture is popular among police, whose departments often enjoy receiving the additional funds, as well as among politicians who wish to demonstrate their support for police. In 2017, Donald Trump offered to “<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-sheriff-asset-forfeiture-texas-234740" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">destroy</a>” a Texas lawmaker who opposed the practice. </span></p><h3 class="wp-block-heading" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-family: Grifo-S, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 3.75rem 0px 1.875rem; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Educational Freedom</span></h3><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Now we’re getting into something that has sharply <a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/school-vouchers-texas-greg-abbott/" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;">divided the state</a>: “educational freedom”—which the study considers mainly in terms of laws establishing education savings accounts (voucherlike programs in which public tax dollars help parents, primarily upper-income ones, pay for private schools), tax credits for private schools, and direct vouchers. Education savings accounts have been a key issue in the civil war between factions of the Texas GOP. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Despite Abbott’s efforts, Texas has not passed a law creating education savings accounts or vouchers. The governor has demanded that lawmakers do so several times this year, but many rural Republicans and Democrats have blocked each effort in the Texas House, in large part because many rural areas lack affordable private school options, and because the public schools serve as centers of community life in such areas. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Grifo-S, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b>Gambling</b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Texas ranks low here because most forms of gambling are illegal. The state makes limited exceptions for horse and greyhound racing, certain charity events, “social gambling” (say, an office March Madness bracket contest), and the state lottery. That <a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-house-sports-gambling-resolution-passes/" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;">didn’t change</a> in the 2023 legislative session, despite the House approving a bill that would have put the issue directly to voters, as the bill died in the Senate. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Grifo-S, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b>Marriage Freedom</b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Previous editions of Cato’s personal freedom index focused primarily on same-sex marriage; for as long as the 2015 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Obergefell </em>v.<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> Hodges </em>U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized those unions nationally remains in effect, that’s a nonissue for these purposes. Now Cato focuses mostly on cousin marriages, which are outlawed in Texas, at least among first cousins, half first cousins, and adopted cousins. Texas here ranks forty-fourth, which is actually last place—it shares that ranking with six other states that also discriminate against cousin lovers.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Grifo-S, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b>Reproductive Freedom</b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Actually, this doesn’t factor into Cato’s analysis at all. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: Grifo-S, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b>Travel Freedom</b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While this issue doesn’t weigh heavily in any state’s ranking in the index, Cato does partially consider the freedoms of drivers. Texas, which restricts texting while driving, requires the wearing of seat belts, uses cameras to read license plates on toll roads, and mandates that motorcyclists wear helmets, is at the bottom of the list on this category as well. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 1.55556; margin: 0px 0px 20px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Notably, “travel freedom” does not, in Cato’s estimation, include the freedom to travel for the purpose of taking an action that’s legal in one jurisdiction but illegal in another. Some cities in the Lone Star State have begun testing that proposition by restricting travel for Texans <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/23/abortion-travel-ban-lubbock-county/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, border-color 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">who pass through to seek abortions</a>. While most legal scholars consider such restrictions a violation of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, theoretically, similar laws could be created that would ban Texans who wanted to, say, drive to Las Vegas to gamble. (What happens in Vegas stays in Lubbock!) At that point, perhaps, the Cato Institute will take notice. </span></p><div class="promo-in-body" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); border-top: 1px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Chronicle, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 3.75rem calc(50% - 50vw); max-width: 1550px; padding: 1rem 0px; position: relative; width: calc(100vw - var(--scrollbar-width));"><div class="promo-in-body__ad" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-basis: 100%; justify-content: center; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 970px; min-height: 250px; width: 970px;"><div class="ad-tag-Inline-2 acm-ad-tag-unit" data-acm-dfp-id="/78559425/TexasMonthly.com/news_politics" data-acm-height="90" data-acm-tag-id="div-gpt-inline-2" data-acm-width="728" data-google-query-id="COuanKnPvIQDFYcYigMd3nkHRQ" id="acm-ad-tag-div-gpt-inline-2" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; justify-content: center; width: 970px;"></div></div></div></div><p></p></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-90131576721061810122024-02-18T10:13:00.003-06:002024-02-18T19:07:57.877-06:00A Bilingual Educator’s Critique of the Science of Reading (SoR) Movement, by Jill Kerper Mora, Ph.D.<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Dr. Jill Kerper Mora is the author of <i>Spanish Language Pedagogy for Biliteracy Programs</i> (2016) and thusly abundantly qualified to critique was is regarded today as the "Science of Reading (SoR)." Currently, an associate professor emeritus at San Diego State University, Dr. Kerper Mora is a credible voice in this contentious debate on literacy considering that she has over 40 years of experience in the field as a teacher, researcher, and scholar in these very areas of literacy, including biliteracy, instruction (also see Bowers, 2020; Johnston & Scanlon, 2021; </b></span><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Reinking, Hruby, & Risko, 2023; </b><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Thomas, 2022).</b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Of great concern to Dr. Kerper Mora is that what is not science at all is actually a movement that politicizes, as opposed to professionalizes, the teaching of reading and writing in schools. She encourages teachers to debunk the false claims of this movement which is particularly led by journalist Emily Hanford.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>With respect to multilingual literacy, it is clear that the SoR approach compounds an already flawed model for monolingual speakers of English. Dr. Kerper Mora not only debunks various claims that Hanford and others make, but also draws on research from Spanish-speaking countries to make her case. She further shares this pertinent review of <a href="https://moramodules.com/spanish-literacy-research/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; margin: 0px; orphans: 3; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;">Spanish literacy research</a> as part of her evidentiary base for her detailed response to this arguably harmful, and ill-informed movement.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>-Angela Valenzuela</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">References</span></b></p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><br />Bowers, J. S. (2020). Reconsidering the evidence that systematic phonics is more effective than alternative methods of reading instruction. Educational Psychology Review, 32(3), 681-705. <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10648-019-09515-y.pdf">https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10648-019-09515-y.pdf</a></b></span><br /><div><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Johnston, P., & Scanlon, D. (2021). An Examination of Dyslexia Research and Instruction With Policy Implications. Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 70(1), 107-128. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/23813377211024625">https://doi.org/10.1177/23813377211024625</a></b><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Mora, J. K. (2016). <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Language-Pedagogy-Biliteracy-Programs/dp/0744244587/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2C4CA8R8NDSMZ&keywords=Mora%2C+J.+K.+%282016%29.+Spanish+language+pedagogy+for+biliteracy+programs.+Montezuma+Publishing.&qid=1708271340&sprefix=mora%2C+j.+k.+2016+.+spanish+language+pedagogy+for+biliteracy+programs.+montezuma+publishing.%2Caps%2C133&sr=8-1">Spanish language pedagogy for biliteracy programs</a>. Montezuma Publishing. </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Reinking, D., Hruby, G. G., & Risko, V. J. (2023). <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/01614681231155688">Legislating Phonics: Settled Science or Political Polemics?.</a> </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Teachers College Record</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">125</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">(1), 104-131.</span></b><b><br /><br />Thomas, P. (2022). The Science of Reading Movement: The Never-Ending Debate and the Need for a Different Approach to Reading Instruction. National Education Policy Center. <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED625611.pdf">https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED625611.pdf</a></b></span><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbcNhRTZmJsqqmmAxaJCOZri3ks0By-0W4vpFnF5JaM__TA3bFuTfPuynD09-Ad3rj4j1u6VJFb8sMbkq-iXZN69s7oyAM_krvfLmlBtAOmDU5OdwoW-qk064jr_63sWX_yh8Yig_jrM_x7kMO2yZ4eQ8HQHYAe74F8efb6-nN8D65sQitWuOGWg/s906/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20at%208.15.27%20AM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="696" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbcNhRTZmJsqqmmAxaJCOZri3ks0By-0W4vpFnF5JaM__TA3bFuTfPuynD09-Ad3rj4j1u6VJFb8sMbkq-iXZN69s7oyAM_krvfLmlBtAOmDU5OdwoW-qk064jr_63sWX_yh8Yig_jrM_x7kMO2yZ4eQ8HQHYAe74F8efb6-nN8D65sQitWuOGWg/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20at%208.15.27%20AM.png" width="246" /></b></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Mora, J. K. (2016). </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Language-Pedagogy-Biliteracy-Programs/dp/0744244587/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2C4CA8R8NDSMZ&keywords=Mora%2C+J.+K.+%282016%29.+Spanish+language+pedagogy+for+biliteracy+programs.+Montezuma+Publishing.&qid=1708271340&sprefix=mora%2C+j.+k.+2016+.+spanish+language+pedagogy+for+biliteracy+programs.+montezuma+publishing.%2Caps%2C133&sr=8-1">Spanish language pedagogy <br />for biliteracy programs</a></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">. Montezuma Publishing<span style="font-size: medium;">.</span></span></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #2b96b4; font-family: Lustria, serif; font-size: 30px;">Science of Reading: A Critique</span></p><section class="entry fix" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #6c6360; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"><h2 style="border: 0px; color: #dc7929; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.387em; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; color: #993300; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A Bilingual Educator’s Critique of the Science of Reading Movement</span></h2><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jill Kerper Mora</h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Science of Reading is a hot topic on the internet and in the media these days. A plethora of Facebook groups and other social media venues advertising themselves as Science of Reading for XYZ group of educators have sprung up recently. These groups are drawing considerable interest and lots of members with hundreds of comments daily. One example is a Facebook group that calls itself Science of Reading for Bilingual Education. Many of the posts in this group are by dual language teachers who are seeking information about whether the instructional programs they are using in their classrooms are “Science of Reading-aligned.” These queries reflect a genuine concern among teachers who seek confirmation and validation that their instructional approaches are maximally effective for the students they teach.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The issue with these social media that tout their bilingual credentials is that there is often no way for teachers to verify the bona fide expertise of group administrators or participants who comment in the group on the Science of Reading (SoR) research. This is especially problematic for teachers in dual language programs who implement instruction for bilingual and biliteracy learners. This concern is what prompts me to post this analysis and critique of the SoR. My purpose is to challenge the claims made in these groups by self-proclaimed “experts” regarding the research on literacy instruction in Spanish/English dual language programs. I present this critique of the SoR as it applies to bilingual learners based on my 40 years of experience as a bilingual teacher, teacher educator and researcher.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This analysis makes an important distinction between the Science of Reading and the Science of Reading Movement (SoRM). Bilingual educators who visit my website do so with trust in my advocacy for biliteracy learners and their teachers, families, and communities. The term Science of Reading is a global descriptor of research from multiple academic disciplines that informs literacy program design and instruction (reading and writing). In and of itself, the term is not problematic. However, determining the extent to which research meets the criteria for claiming that it is “science” or “scientific” very quickly becomes problematic. Much of what is touted as the Science of Reading does not meet the criteria that the research community sets for itself to ensure the credibility and legitimacy of research and the interpretation and application of research findings. A concern is that the term “science” is being used as a cudgel to marginalize and discredit certain theoretical perspectives and bodies of data that have a track record confirming their legitimacy and credibility, while some other research frameworks claim to be “more scientific than thou.” When we go below the surface, we discover misuse and abuse of the notion of scientific research in service of ideological and political agendas. </span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; color: #993300; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Purpose of the Critique of SoR</span></span></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The purpose of this critique of the Science of Reading is to accomplish the following:</span></p><ul style="border: 0px; list-style-position: inside; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 12px 2px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Review criteria for judging the legitimacy and credibility of claims made in the name of science.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 12px 2px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Identify misrepresentations, misinterpretations, and misapplications of scientific research that lead away from, rather than toward, effective literacy instruction.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 12px 2px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Examine what neuroscience research tells us about the bilingual brain and literacy learning to articulate the implications of bilingual brain research for effective instruction for multilingual learners. </span></li><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 12px 2px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Present the research that documents the “common thread” of metalinguistic skills between decoding and language comprehension that challenges the SoR proponents’ arguments against “cueing” from the applied linguistics and psycholinguistic perspectives on the relationship between the two components of the Simple View of Reading. </span></li><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 12px 2px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Debunk false claims that are unscientific and without a credible evidence base in the research literature made by proponents of the Science of Reading to avoid perpetuating inequities in language and literary education for multilingual learners. </span></li></ul><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The format for this analysis is a presentation of a summary of an argument that I make with a link to further elaboration of the argument on a separate webpage. I begin with an analysis of the media’s portrayal of the Science of Reading perspective of the Reading Wars. I elaborate on how journalists are framing an argument around particular teaching strategies for the purpose of promoting fear and distrust of teachers and publishers of instructional programs to promote policies and regulation to mandate more teaching of phonics in the public schools. I present the reasons why this media campaign is detrimental to public education, and specifically to language minority students. I point out that despite claims of “science” as the basis for the policies that the Science of Reading Movement promotes, the media’s portrayal of reading research and the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of certain instructional practices do not qualify as scientific. The SoR Movement seeks to politicize rather than professionalize the teaching of reading and writing in the public schools. The purpose of this analysis is to empower teachers to combat the abuse of the term “science” and to respond with knowledge and expertise to false claims and misrepresented research from the SoR Movement. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Here I list the related webpages that together present a thorough analysis and critique of the applications of the Science of Reading to language and literacy instruction for multilingual learners. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://moramodules.com/neuroscience-research-on-literacy/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Neuroscience Research: Literacy Learning in the Bilingual Brain</span></a></strong></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://moramodules.com/whole-language-research-base/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Miscue Analysis Research: The Ghost of Whole Language</span></a></strong></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://moramodules.com/structured-literacy/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Structured Literacy Approach: Implications for Multilingual Learners</span></a></strong></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://moramodules.com/lexical-inferencing/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lexical Inferencing: The Truth About Cueing</span></a></strong></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://moramodules.com/science-as-metaphor/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Science as Metaphor: Debunking the More-Scientific-Than-Thou Argument</span></a></strong></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><a href="https://moramodules.com/simple-view-of-reading/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Simple View of Reading</span></a></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><a href="https://moramodules.com/is-reading-natural-a-metalinguistic-perspective/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Is Reading Natural? A Metalinguistic Perspective</span></a></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://moramodules.com/californias-reading-wars/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">California’s Reading Wars: A Brief History</span></a></strong></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><a href="https://moramodules.com/science-of-reading-legislation/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Science of Reading Legislation: Unconstitutional Laws and Indecipherable Policy</span></a></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, without further ado, let us examine together the claims and counterclaims that arise from the new battlefront in the Reading Wars.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Media Portrayal of the Science of Reading</span></strong></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">An article in a supplemental edition of the Reading Research Quarterly (MacPhee, Handsfield & Paugh, 2020) titled “Conflict or Conversation? Media portrayals of the Science of Reading” provides an analysis of the media uses strategic metaphorical framing to politicize the teaching of reading. Emily Hanford of APR Reports is one of the journalists’ writing that these reading researchers reviewed to illustrate how the media use discourse intended to perpetuate conflict over conversation. Hanford has authored eight articles between 2017 and 2020 portraying the Reading Wars as a public policy crisis in education. Hanford’s reports carry titles like <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Hard to Read”</em> and <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Sold a Story”</em> and <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Hard Words: Why aren’t kids being taught to read?”</em> MacPhee et al., (2021) express their concerns about media portrayals of the science of reading with this statement: “<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The media have asserted a direct connection between basic research and instructional practice that, without sufficient translational research that attends to a variety of instructional contexts and student populations, may perpetuate inequities.” </em>(p. S145). </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Remember that the title of American Public Media’s reporter Emily Hanford’s podcast series about the Science of Reading is “Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong.” When I listened to Hanford’s podcast, the question I asked myself is this: How does a journalist get the teaching of reading so wrong, all the while claiming that highly-respected literacy pioneers are wrong? How can a journalist who obviously knows so little about academic research consider herself qualified to critique literacy researchers?</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Journalistic reporting on the Science of Reading is responsible for much of the controversy surrounding this issue of “cueing” and “three-cueing” because journalists like Emily Hanford have mischaracterized the origins of whole language and the meaning of the term “cueing” in the scientific research. To begin with, in the many podcasts, and articles “cueing” is referred to as an idea (a bad idea), a theory, a model, a method, an approach, a strategy, a practice and a system. Emily Hanford attributes this “bad idea” to New Zealand literacy educator Marie Clay. In the EdWeek article of October 2019, the EdWeek reporters Schwartz and Sparks attribute “three-cueing” to Professors Ken and Yetta Goodman. Schwartz and Sparks (2023) say this:</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“<i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Many early reading classrooms teach students strategies to identify a word by guessing with the help of context cues. Ken and Yetta Goodman of the University of Arizona(22) developed a “three-cueing system,” based on analysis of common errors (or “miscues”) when students read aloud.”</i><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </em></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The problem is that each one of these terms has a very distinct meaning when used in a research study. One aspect of the standards required for judging the construct validity and reliability of published research studies is that the terms for research variables be clearly defined for the purposes of empirical data analysis. There is a difference in research between a theory and a theoretical model. There is a difference in research between a method of instruction and an approach to instruction. There is a difference between an instructional approach and an instructional strategy. This is not a trivial matter since it is causing huge problems when it comes to legislation intended to ban “cueing” without even defining what it is and is not.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In fact, neither Marie Clay nor Ken and Yetta Goodman “developed” a cueing system or any related methods, approaches, strategies, etc. The term “cueing systems” comes from linguistics and psycholinguist research from the 1950’s and 1960’s. The term refers to the subsystems of language: phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics. In his vast body of empirical research on children’s oral reading performance, Ken Goodman identified both cues and “miscues” as hypothetically originating from three of these subsystems. The categories of miscues that he identified did not include morphology. This is because a reader’s use of morphological cues cannot be identified apart from semantics and syntax. as they work to convey meaning within words, not apart from words, what we researchers term the lexical (word) level versus the sublexical (within word) levels. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In fact, the hundreds of cases of miscue analysis that Ken and Yetta Goodman produced for research purposes is entirely instructionally neutral. This is because when a reader is reading orally and is constructing meaning from the written text by applying his/her knowledge of language, no researcher or anyone else can tell how s/he learned either the language or the process of decoding that the reader employs. What Ken Goodman developed from his research is a complex and nuanced step-by-step theoretical model that describes and explains the process of making meaning from text. Goodman’s theoretical model is NOT a three-cueing system model! Goodman named his model the Transactional Sociopsycholinguistic Model of Reading. For journalists to call Professor Goodman’s theoretical model by another name does not do it justice from a researcher’s perspective. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As for the “guessing” aspect of Goodman’s theoretical model, this is what is known in the literacy research literature as “linguistic prediction” and “lexical inferencing” and “word solving strategies” and various other technical terms. Have you ever quoted <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ken Goodman himself on what he meant</strong> by a “psycholinguistic guessing game”, which is a metaphor he used to describe linguistic prediction and lexical inferencing, etc. There are thousands of studies published in peer-reviewed articles about these research constructs, clearly defined and framed within a linguistic, psycholinguistic, and neurolinguistic framework and research history. </span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A Straw Man Argument</span></strong></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In this critique, I demonstrate how Hanford and other journalists use straw man arguments to attack literacy research that is the knowledge base for biliteracy instruction and effective teaching practices for enhancing literacy learning of multilingual learners. In this critique, I analyze Hanford’s “Sold a Story” podcast episodes using the three criteria for evaluating the legitimacy of the theoretical framework of claims made in the name of science and scientific research using Professor Jim Cummins’ three criteria. I also point out Hanford’s logical fallacies and fallacious argumentation, which include straw man arguments, ad hominem arguments, post hoc fallacies and others. Critical analysis based on the structure of logical argumentation reveals the many fallacies in Hanford’s portrayal of literacy research and instructional practices. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">First, I offer a definition of a straw man argument: “The straw man fallacy avoids the opponent’s actual argument and instead argues against an inaccurate caricature of it. A straw man argument is constructed by presenting an opposing position as a warped, extreme version of itself. By doing this, the arguer attempts to make their opponent look ridiculous and/or make their own position seem like the only rational option. A straw man argument is constructed by presenting an opposing position as a warped, extreme version of itself.”</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Emily Hanford of American Public Media has declared that teachers are teaching reading the wrong way because they are following “a disproven theory” of how students learn to read. Here are quotations from <a href="https://features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/?fbclid=IwAR2NWgzZSOemLf7Ctg4fW3bBiGuvKF9DdljD14swHpFbPQkjNBTz7-QXRlk" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Emily Hanford’s <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong</em></a> podcast that frame her argument against “three-cueing.”</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Teaching kids to read this way has become known as “three cueing.” <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s not a term Marie Clay used,</strong> as far as I know. But three cueing is based on her theory of how people read. An influential academic in the United States came up with the same basic theory at about the same time. The cueing theory provided justification for not teaching children how to sound out words…because the theory was that good readers don’t have to know how to do that. They have other ways to figure out what the words say. This made sense to Sandra Iversen. She says she was kind of lost trying to teach kids to read. And then Marie Clay showed her a way.”<br /></span></em></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It is very important to note that Hanford admits that “three cueing” is not a term Marie Clay used. Consequently, how does Hanford claim to know that “three cueing” as Hanford herself defines it, is based on a theory attributable to Marie Clay and an unnamed “influential academic” in the US? This question points us in the direction of several very problematic aspects of Hanford’s arguments against “three cueing” as an instructional strategy. In addition, it is important in debunking Hanford’s straw man argument to note the tricky wording of her framing of Marie Clay’s alleged theory. In her podcast series, Hanford calls “cueing” and “three-cueing” using different terms: An idea, a theory, a model, an approach, a method or methodology, a strategy and a practice. This is a problem because each of these words have different meanings, and with the sole exception of “idea” these terms have different meanings in common parlance than they do in reading research studies.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In a Viewpoint article that appeared in The Reading Teacher, Goldberg and Goldenberg (2022) characterize Hanford’s argument against Marie Clay this way: <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Meaning, syntax, and context can, and should be used to confirm whether a word has been read correctly. But teaching students to “orchestrate” “”cues” from meaning and structure <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">rather than </strong>to decode words is ineffective and even risky.” </em>(p. 622) I challenge my colleagues Goldberg and Goldenberg to produce a direct quotation from any of Marie Clay’s prolific writings and research where she recommends that the semantic and syntactic cueing systems be used<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> rather than</strong> the grapho-phonic cueing system for making meaning from text. After all, isn’t this exactly the opposite of what it means to “orchestrate” the multiple cueing systems of language to construct meaning from written text, which is language? It is unscientific and unethical for journalists and our fellow researchers to mischaracterize a colleague’s theoretical framework that is foundational to his/her complete corpus of research and programmatic implementation to further a dubious ideological agenda. </span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Who is Marie Clay? Guru or Villain?</span></b></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The first question that is raised here is this: Who is Marie Clay and why is she the target of Emily Hanford’s attack? To begin with, Hanford misrepresents the body of theory that is the framework for Dr. Clay’s research and curriculum design. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">With the greatest respect and admiration for Marie Clay (1926-2007) from the University of Auckland, I want to let her speak with her own words. Marie Clay was President of the International Reading Association when she wrote the Foreword to the fourth edition of <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Theoretical models and processes of reading </em>(Ruddell, Rapp Ruddell & Singer 1994). In this Foreword she stated this:</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I dislike the unfortunate tendency to make <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">gurus or villains</strong> out of those who question today’s received wisdom. History shows that what is known is continually overtaken by what is newly discovered. “… reading involves integrating a complex network of interactive processes, which can be studied using the lenses of different disciplines and explored through a range of theoretical models within each discipline. Different stories told by researchers from different disciplines can confuse practitioners and make them form opposing allegiances. This prejudices the integrity of the education of children, and it fragments the audience who will seriously consider the theory. The question often becomes “Whose side am I on?” instead of “What particular discourse connects with my current understanding and expands it so that I can understand more?</em>”</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">New Zealand literacy educator Marie Clay’s theoretical model and research base is applied through the intervention program known as Reading Recovery (Clay, 1979). Marie Clay was concerned with the development and maintenance of professional connections between literacy research “pioneers and contemporaries.” I speculate that these journalists have chosen Marie Clay and Reading Recovery as the target of their attack on reading instruction because as a researcher, Clay is associated with a perspective called <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">constructivism</strong>. Constructivism is the theoretical and empirical base for the <a href="https://moramodules.com/whole-language-research-base/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Whole Language</a> approach. Consequently, Marie Clay’s work is based on a theory of how people read using the entirety of the language of text, which is successful in the reader’s efforts to comprehend continuous text when all of the cues that language provides are “orchestrated” in the reader’s meaning-making process.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is how Marie Clay (1991: 6) defines reading: “<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A message-getting, problem-solving activity, which increases in power and flexibility the more it is practiced. My definition states that within the directional constraints of the printer’s code, language and visual perception responses are purposefully directed by the reader in <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">some integrated way</strong> to the problem of extracting <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">meaning for cues in a text,</strong> in sequence, so that the reader brings a maximum of understanding to the author’s message.”</em> So, according to Clay, readers use an orchestrated mixture of linguistic and non-linguistic <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">sources of information about text</strong> in decoding and comprehending text, which is language represented symbolically through print. Clearly, Marie Clay uses the term “cues” to describe what how language conveys meaning, not to describe what teachers do in literacy instruction. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Clay (1989: 275) also explains reading instruction this way:</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thus the <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">route to awareness lies within the learner</strong> and the actions taken by the learner. <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It does not depend upon the teacher’s words or the terminology of instruction</strong>. Because children act, they come to know they are acting and what they are acting on. They need support and opportunity to become increasingly independent. As they read, <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">they create occasions for noticing more things about print.</strong> This discrimination of new features may be facilitated or retarded by the teacher.</span></em></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What’s Wrong with Guessing?</span></strong></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In another episode of her podcast, Emily Hanford identifies what she believes to be the real culprit behind the three-cueing systems: Guessing. According to Hanford’s interpretation of theories on how students learn to read and write, guessing is the enemy of decoding because it distracts the emergent reader from paying attention to letter-sound associations. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“So when a child comes to a word she doesn’t know, her teacher should tell her to look at all the letters in the word and decode it, based on what that child has been taught about how letters and combinations of letters represent speech sounds. There should be no guessing, no “getting the gist of it.” (Hanford, 2019, p. 4)<br /></span></em></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We must wonder, what is Emily Hanford’s problem with emergent readers’ guessing as they are learning to read? The verb “to guess” means to make a judgment or belief without sufficient evidence or certainty. Guessing goes by many different names: Hypothesize, approximate, predict, infer, postulate, estimate, calculate, speculate, gauge, determine, resolve ambiguity, etc. In fact, neuroscience researchers, as well as psycholinguists and researchers from other academic disciplines use a number of terms to describe <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“guessing” as a cognitive and linguistic phenomenon involved in comprehension. </strong>The most notable term for the theoretical construct among current neuroscience researchers for several decades is “<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">linguistic prediction”</strong> (Heilbron, et al., 2022; Kuperberg & Jaeger, 2016; Kroczek & Gunter, 2017; Mazoyer, et al., 1993; Ryskin et al., 2020). <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Linguistic prediction</strong> is something that both novice and skilled mature readers use when extracting meaning from text.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Click here for a link to a <a href="https://moramodules.com/linguistic-prediction-in-neuroscience-research/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">bibliography of research on linguistic prediction</a> and processability theory in language and literacy comprehension. This neuroscience research affirms the foundational theory of the extensive body of research on signal systems of language and miscue analysis. See also Goodman, Fries & Strauss (2016). </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Teachers of multilingual learners use students’ guesses or approximations in their oral and written language production as a valuable source of information about their levels of competence and language proficiency for purposes of designing lessons that address their second-language learners’ zone of proximal development. Mistaken guesses are called miscues when in oral reading a reader’s oral output shows a mismatch between what the text actually says and what the reader says. Miscues are analyzed to inform teachers about a students’ utilization and comprehension of texts in the psycholinguistic and cognitive research in literacy development. Consequently, we must ask, why does Emily Hanford report a strong objection to guessing among certain unidentified proponents of the Science of Reading when among linguists, psycholinguists and neuroscientists who study reading in the brain have no problem with this linguistic and cognitive phenomenon? </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We also have the anti-cueing campaign being waged by Sarah Schwartz of Education Week writes an article titled <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/is-this-the-end-of-three-cueing/2020/12" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Is This the End of “Three Cueing</a>“?</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Cueing has, for decades now, been a staple of early reading instruction. The strategy—which is also known as three-cueing, or MSV—involves prompting students to draw on context and sentence structure, along with letters, to identify words. But it isn’t the most effective way for beginning readers to learn how to decode printed text. </span></em></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According to Schwartz,, …<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Research has shown that encouraging kids to check the picture when they come to a tricky word, or to hypothesize what word would work in the sentence, can take their focus away from the word itself—lowering the chances that they’ll use their understanding of letter sounds to read through the word part-by-part, and be able to recognize it more quickly the next time they see it.”<br /></em></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, Schwartz does not cite the research of any particular researchers who make this claim. Consequently, we scientific literacy researchers have no way to check out the empirical data and research methodologies that our colleagues might have used to arrive at this dubious conclusion, which is actually a statement of the pedagogical implications of someone’s data. </span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anti-cueing Legislation</span></strong></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On May 10, 2023 Sarah Schwartz of Education Week published an update on the fate of “three-cueing” in Science of Reading mandates. Schwartz reports state legislatures in Arkansas, Louisiana and Indiana “cueing” is now officially banned in public schools. See <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/4-more-states-pass-science-of-reading-mandates/2023/05" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘Science of Reading’ Mandates (edweek.org)</a></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Most of these laws promote the adoption of evidence-based practices. But some legislation also bans methods that researchers have called into question. The new Indiana law takes aim at one particular instructional practice—a technique often referred to as “three cueing.” … The term refers to one method for reading instruction and assessment that’s included in popular curriculum materials and often taught to teachers in preparation programs. It teaches that students can rely on multiple sources of information, or cues, to figure out words. They might look at the letters to sound the word out, but they could also rely on context or pictures to make a guess. … Many reading researchers have <span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">warned against the practice</span>, saying that it can discourage children from putting their phonics knowledge into practice and teach them to rely on ineffective strategies.”</em></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The lack of identification of the “many reading researchers” who have warned against “cueing” and “three-cueing” that is allegedly a theoretical model of reading is itself problematic. This is because other researchers cannot challenge their claims since we are unable to access the empirical studies on which they allegedly base this “warning.” Nor can their fellow researchers dialogue with these “many reading researchers” to offer their own perspective on logical coherence of these warnings, which they allegedly base on scientific research themselves. So perhaps these “many reading researchers” are simply using the term <a href="https://moramodules.com/science-as-metaphor/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“science” as a metaphor</a> to lend credibility to their ideological assertions. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Click here for <a href="https://moramodules.com/science-of-reading-legislation/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">an analysis of Indiana Senate Bill No. 1558</a> that is intended to<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> outlaw “cueing”</strong> and “three-cueing” in literacy instruction in public schools.</span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Debunking the Three-cueing Straw Man Argument</span></strong></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According to Emily Hanford of APM Reports and Sarah Schwartz of Education Week, “three-cueing” is an idea, theory, method, approach, strategy, and system that 75% of elementary special education teachers and 65% of college professors teach. But according to Hanford, they shouldn’t. Consequently, Hanford declares that we are wrong. Hanford’s interpretation of the Science of Reading is that this practice is based on a “disproven theory” of how students learn to read. Emily Hanford of American Public Media has a theory of her own about a theory attributed to Marie Clay. However, Hanford never quotes Marie Clay in her own words articulating an “idea” or a theory anything like what Hanford claims to have been her idea–an idea that Hanford claims has caused the teaching of reading to have gone horribly wrong. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Emily Hanford Sold a Story Episode 2 attributes this idea to respected educator and literacy pioneer Marie Clay: </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Beginning readers don’t have to sound out words. They can. But they don’t have to because there are other ways to figure out what the words say.” That’s it. That’s the idea. It’s the idea that those word-reading strategies you heard about in the last episode are based on. Remember those? Look at the first letter. Look at the picture. Think of a word that makes sense. Those are ways for beginning readers to figure out what a word is without sounding it out. Marie Clay was being compared to famous scientists because she had not just come up with a program to help struggling first graders. She had come up with a theory to explain one of the mysteries of the human mind: how people read. But Marie Clay’s theory about how people read was just that – a theory. </em></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Consider the premise of Emily Hanford’s series of articles: Gullible teachers have been misled into basing their approach to teaching reading on a “theory” that has been “disproven.” Never does Hanford state clearly exactly what the theory is, but whatever it is, it is proclaimed to be harmful to children, “wrong”, “debunked” and “disproven.” In fact, Hanford implies that Marie Clay’s theory is prejudiced against the grapho-phonic cueing system, the cueing system of printed language based on the relationships between letters as graphic representations of the sounds of oral language. In other words, Hanford accuses Marie Clay of being biased against the alphabetical principle on which written text in alphabetical script is based. This negative judgment against <span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Marie Clay</span> and her work as a literacy educator and researcher is elaborated throughout the six sessions and two “bonus” sessions of Hanford’s unscientific critique of reading instruction, a critique that she claims is based on the Science of Reading.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Does Emily Hanford believe that other cueing systems, specifically semantics and syntax are not cues available to readers to use to make meaning from printed text? Do these cueing systems not exist? Or are they just not useful to readers, according to Hanford? Or are there forbidden cueing systems because the only “legitimate” cueing system, as Hanford and Schwartz argue, is the graphic representation of phonology, what is known as phonics? These journalists appear to believe that readers should use no subsystems of language other than phonology to make meaning from written text because of the alleged dangers of “guessing” at the meaning of words from context or the alleged distraction of deriving meaning from features of a word other than its pronunciation (phonology). What Hanford does not know or simply chooses to ignore, it that from 16% to 20% (one word in five) in English cannot be decoded accurately based on phonology alone. Therefore, the reader must refer to the word’s context. Examples are the word “bow” and the word “read.”</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If Emily Hanford and Sarah Schwartz were students in a university course where they turned in term papers with a statement with claims about the effects of a “disproven theory” without citing any authoritative sources with a thorough description of the “disproven theory” and who had allegedly disproven it, the professor would give them a failing grade on their term papers. However, this is exactly what these journalists have done in their arguments. Academic research requires citation of specific research studies to support conclusions drawn from research findings. These journalists claim that there is a group of researchers and policy makers who have the “science” needed to protect children from the alleged harm done by teachers who have bought into the Marie Clay’s “story” about how to teach struggling readers. <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The lack of citations may not be problematic in opinion pieces in the media, but it is very problematic when journalists claim to be speaking in the name of “science.”<br /></strong></span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cueing: The Scapegoat </strong><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Du Jour</b></span></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We must note that reading researchers who have created a large database of the oral reading performance of hundreds of students do not use the term “cueing” as a verb. Nor do they use the term “cueing” or “three-cueing” to describe the instructional strategies that teachers use. This is because the “cueing systems” in research studies are <a href="https://moramodules.com/whole-language-research-base/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">subsystems of language.</a> Each language subsystem provides “cues” to the meaning of the language that an author uses to communicate his/her ideas through written text. What Emily Hanford and Sarah Schwartz describe as “cueing” is, in actuality, direct, explicit and systematic instruction through transactional feedback that a teacher provides an individual student as the learner reads a passage orally with the teacher, one-on-one. The reader’s process of making meaning from language is inherent in producing and comprehending language, whether it is oral or written language. Therefore, the process of “cueing” in reading continuous text must be based on the linguistic cues or signals available from the printed language of the text.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If we were to eradicate the terms “cue” and “cueing” from all literacy education research, programs and instructional materials, or even totally from the English language, the reality of the signally subsystems of language is unaffected. This is because “cueing” is the way language works to convey meaning and teachers must teach students how to discern and utilize these cueing systems of language in order to read and write. Therefore, misguided policymakers may ban teachers from using “cueing” as an instructional practice, but they cannot ban language from cueing meaning through its multiple cueing subsystems. “Cueing” is merely a scapegoat used by the Science of Reading advocates in an attempt to discredit the research base and pedagogy of psycholinguistics and cognitive science (Mora, 2023). </span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Pedagogical Implications of the Attack on “Three-cueing”</span></b></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According to advocates of the Structured Literacy approach to reading instruction (Odegard, 2020; Spear-Swirling, 2019), direct, explicit and systematic are the characteristics that instruction exemplify Structured Literacy. How much more direct, explicit and systematic can reading instruction get than when a teacher guides an emergent literacy learner as the student reads orally and is given immediate supportive and corrective feedback one-on-one as s/he encounters points of difficulty with a text? There is research evidence that students’ learning of orthographic knowledge (phonics) is both implicit and explicit (Apel, et al., 2019). There is little disagreement among literacy researchers that context of a text is important for resolving ambiguity (MacDonald et al., 1994; Parault Dowds et al., 2016). This occurs at different levels of text (word, phrase, sentence, discourse) as the reader extracts meaning from forms and features of the language of the text. Yet, Structured Literacy advocates appear to be opposed to teachers guiding and instructing emergent readers on strategies for meaning making from text when reading orally with them one-on-one. This posture is incomprehensible to the majority of literacy researchers, but most particularly, those of us who conduct research on literacy and biliteracy instruction with multilingual learners. Click here for further discussion of <a href="https://moramodules.com/structured-literacy/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Structured Literacy</a> from the perspective of literacy instruction for and with multilingual learners. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dual language researchers and educators have no problem with having approaches such as Structured Literacy compete on equal footing in the marketplace of pedagogical knowledge with other approaches for adoption as the theoretical orientation of teachers. However, justifiably, we object when Structured Literacy is <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">falsely claimed</strong> to be the<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> only “scientifically-based” or “evidence-based” approach to literacy instruction</strong> for all students equally, without regard to their linguistic and cultural characteristics. It is disingenuous and counter-productive for proponents of Structured Literacy to claim that other approaches and the strategies that they do not support are not “research-aligned” or are not based on a credible theoretical framework, as do the critics of Whole Language. For example, as discussed above, Hanford and Schwartz fail to cite, or even mention, the current and growing body of neuroscience research on linguistic prediction (Abutalebi & Green, 2007; Bonhage, et al., 2015). Simply because certain literacy researchers are not familiar with the wide range of methodologically-sound studies on certain concepts or constructs and instructional approaches or strategies from other academic disciplines does not mean that there is no such “evidence” of their use and effectiveness. The fact that these journalists are babes in the woods in the world of interdisciplinary academic research does not exempt them from accountability for making false claims and distorted arguments in the name of a “science of reading.” </span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Void for Vagueness</span></strong></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am the daughter of two lawyers. Conversations about the Rule of Law were a daily event at our family dinner table. One thing I learned from Mom and Dad was about how laws are often found to be unconstitutional because they ruled to be “void for vagueness.” This is because, according to my dear parents, a law must clearly define what conduct is prohibited in order for an average person to modify his/her behavior so as not to run afoul of the law. So, teachers must ask whoever is claiming that the “3-cueing strategy” should be banned from their classroom, exactly what behavior (as a teacher) s/he must not engage in to avoid getting busted by the Strategy Police in their school. One of the points I am making in my LM article is that if you ban semantics as a “cueing system,” you ban vocabulary teaching. If you ban syntax as a “cueing system”, you ban grammar teaching. The only “cueing system” left out of the three is grapho-phonics. Is this censorship really going to improve reading comprehension since semantics and syntax are both necessary for listening comprehension (understanding speech)?</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Arkansas,<a href="https://moramodules.com/science-of-reading-legislation/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Indiana</a> and Louisiana are among a number of states that havepassed legislation with provisions that ostensibly ban 3-cueing. In some cases, the language of the states’ legislation explicitly stating that the reason for this is that “3-cueing” is a Whole Language theory (which it is not). Teachers must point out that if the State bans certain instructional strategies without being clear on exactly what is banned, teachers will simply stop giving students any “corrective feedback” whatsoever when they are listening to them read orally. These bans should be declared <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">void for vagueness</strong>. It’s like banning books, which has actually happened as a consequence of <a href="https://moramodules.com/science-of-reading-legislation/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">bans against theories, models and approaches to literacy instruction.</a> Many teachers have removed their entire classroom libraries to protect themselves from inadvertently allowing their students to read a book that has been banned. And then there is this consideration: What business does the State, specifically state legislatures have telling teachers how to interact one-on-one with their students? Isn’t this external interference with their duties and obligations in their employment as teachers, who are, after all, credentialed by the State to perform these duties? And what about use of “three-cueing” for assessment purposes, to determine what explicit, direct instruction will be most helpful in supporting reading comprehension for the students in the teacher’s own classroom?</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Click here to read more about the research on readers’ miscues in oral reading referred to as <a href="https://moramodules.com/whole-language-research-base/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">miscue analysis.</a> Keep in mind that this is actually the body of research that Hanford and Swartz claim has been “disproven” and “debunked.”</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Click here for further debunking of the media’s claims against “three cueing” as a strategy for reading instruction based on the <a href="https://moramodules.com/lexical-inferencing/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">multidisciplinary research in second/foreign language acquisition on lexical inferencing.</a></span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When the Science of Reading is Not Science</span></strong></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yet another example of the SoR Movement’s attack on “three cueing appeared in the February 2023 <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Language Magazine</em> in an article by Kari Kurto titled “Clarifying the Science of Reading.” Kari Kurto is the National Science of Reading project director at The Reading League. Ms. Kurto’s argument against certain pedagogical practices without citing any scholarly scientific theoretical framework or empirical research illustrates the very core of the problem with the “Science of Reading.” First, Ms. Kurto makes this claim: <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“The scientifically based research on reading instruction is a critical understanding that has not been historically provided to educators.”</em> No citation is provided here, so we must conclude that this is Ms. Kurto’s opinion. On what basis does she make this claim? Is this claim true? Based on what evidence? If so, who is it that has allegedly withheld this “critical understanding” from educators? And why would the culprit have done this? What could the motive possibly be for withholding “scientifically based research on reading instruction” from educators?</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Next, Ms. Kurto makes this sweeping claim, again without citing any scientific research studies: “<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Currently, practices that run counter to how the brain processes print and language, such as three-cueing and leveled literacy, are still widely used in classrooms.”</em> Ms. Kurto provides no citation from any “reading scientists” as an authoritative source of scientific research to support her claim that a certain “practice” called “three-cueing” and a certain commercial program called “leveled literacy” run counter to neuroscience research on how the brain <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“…processes print.”</em> Since Ms. Kurto provides no citations, as a researcher myself, I have no way to look up the studies that may have empirical data to support this claim, if such data exists. It is unclear what it is that teachers are being told to stop doing by the reading scientists, but it sure seems like that’s what the Director of the SOR project for the Reading League expects to happen.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Are we in the academic research community expected to simply take Ms. Kurto’s word for it? Ms. Kurto is speaking in code here to followers of the media campaign against scientific research that does not fit the SoR Movement’s definition of “scientific.” The claim that certain reading instruction practices or strategies run counter to brain research is patently false. There are overtones of this argument in this article by Kari Kurto of The Reading League. Yet, Ms. Kurto of the Reading League does not cite Emily Hanford as the authority for the rejection of “three-cueing and leveled literacy” in her article in <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Language Magazine. </em>Click here for an explanation of the findings of the<a href="https://moramodules.com/neuroscience-research-on-literacy/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> neuroscience research on literacy.</a></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Are journalists really qualified to declare a theory about reading to have been disproven? Are they qualified to pick winners and losers in the Reading War? Let us compare the media theories of reading that are claimed to be based on science with what neuroscientists themselves say about reading in the brain through their peer-reviewed published research. A frequently referenced theory about reading is called the <a href="https://moramodules.com/simple-view-of-reading/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Simple View of Reading</a> (Hoover & Gough, 1990). Kurto (2023) cites this study in the Reading League article, calling the SVR theory <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“…the research that the framework used to describe the reading process is built upon…”</em> (p. 34). The theoretical framing and research on this theory can inform our understanding of the two sides of the Reading Wars debate. Click here for a description and analysis of the theory of the <a href="https://moramodules.com/simple-view-of-reading/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Simple View of Reading.</a> </span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Theory in Education Policy and Practice</span></strong></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The nature of the problem posed by dubious claims made in the name of the Science of Reading is that the education community and the academic education research community expect SoR proponents and advocates to themselves adhere the standards for scientific research to support their claims. Professor Jim Cummins in his book titled “<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rethinking the Education of Multilingual Learners”</em> (2021: 136), describes the process in the mainstream of scientific inquiry for ensuring the legitimacy and credibility of claims. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“In complex educational contexts, research findings become relevant for policy purposes only in the context of coherent theoretical models or frameworks. It is the <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">theory </strong>rather than the individual research findings that permits the generation of predictions about program outcomes under different conditions. Research findings themselves cannot be directly applied across contexts. However, when certain<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> patterns are replicated</strong> across a wide range of sociolinguistic and sociopolitical contexts, the accumulation of consistent findings suggests that some stable underlying principle is at work. This principle can then be states as a theoretical proposition or hypothesis from which predictions can be derived and tested through the accumulation of additional data…. <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This process is in the mainstream of scientific inquiry</strong>… observing phenomena, forming hypotheses to account for the observed phenomena, testing these hypotheses against additional data, and gradually refining the hypotheses into more comprehensive theories or models that have broader explanatory and predictive power.”</em> (p. 136)</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Professor Cummins (2021) offers three criteria for evaluating constructs and claims that are advanced under the rubric of the analytical processes common to all scientific inquiry:</span></p><ul style="border: 0px; list-style-position: inside; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 12px 2px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Empirical adequacy—to what extent is the claim consistent with all the relevant empirical evidence?</span></em></li><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 12px 2px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Logical coherence—to what extent is the claim internally consistent and non-contradictory?</span></em></li><li style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 12px 2px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Consequential validity—to what extent is the claim useful in promoting effective pedagogy and policies?</span></em></li></ul><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Cummins suggests that these criteria “<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">… enable us to<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> distinguish between evidence-free ideological claims and evidence-based, logically coherent and pedagogically useful claims.</strong>” The criteria of empirical adequacy and logical coherence apply to all theoretical propositions, while the criterion of consequential validity is context specific”</em> This is because <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“… isolated research findings become relevant for social policy and educational practice only when they are integrated into coherent theoretical frameworks.”</em> (p. 191-192).</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Click here for an analysis of the legitimacy and credibility of the <a href="https://moramodules.com/science-as-metaphor/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">arguments against “three-cueing”</a> based on Professor Cummins’ criteria. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Also, please see this article in the June edition of Language Magazine that presents an analysis of the arguments against “three-cueing” based on Professor Cummins’ criteria for judging the legitimacy of claims about research. Mora, J.K. (June, 2023). T<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">o cue or not to cue: Is that the question? Language Magazine</em>, 18-20. </span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">California’s Reading Wars: A Short History Lesson</span></strong></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A short history lesson is in order here. Remember the <a href="https://moramodules.com/californias-reading-wars/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reading Wars in California</a> back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s? We bilingual educators need a quick stroll down memory lane to remember the history of the attacks on bilingual education and Whole Language in California during the 1990’s. We need to be reminded of how the anti-bilingual education initiative Proposition 227 and the Reading Wars were intertwined. this history that we share as bilingual educators, we need to talk about the attack on Whole Language and its research base because a renewed attack on Whole Language is at the core of the “disproven theory” straw man argument. The SoR Movement needs a scapegoat, a boogie man. Since it appeared to work before, the theoretical/research base of Whole Language has taken on that role as a straw man for their propaganda campaign.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Click here for an overview of why we bilingual educators understand and utilize the research base of the approach that became known as <a href="https://moramodules.com/whole-language-research-base/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Whole Language.</a> </span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; color: #b05520; margin: 0px 0px 0.618em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Why Literacy Research Matters</span></strong></h3><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The latest battle in the Reading War pits three identified approaches to literacy instruction against each other: Whole Language, Balanced Literacy and Structured Literacy. The Science of Reading Movement has taken the stance that the Structured Literacy approach is the only approach that is supported through “scientific” research. Consequently, this anonymous group of self-proclaimed experts is claiming to have the authority to determine what commercial programs and instructional practices meet their criteria for being “scientifically based” and effective. They are attempting to take on regulatory power and authority that is beyond the scope of identifiable government agencies and academic entities. We in the community of advocates for educational equity for multilingual learners must challenge this encroachment on our knowledge base and policy initiatives. Our knowledge base for multilingual literacy includes the legitimate and credible research from Spanish-speaking countries on literacy learning and teaching of monolingual Spanish-speaking student populations. Click here for Dr. Mora’s review of <a href="https://moramodules.com/spanish-literacy-research/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Spanish literacy research. </a></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In conclusion, the claims and arguments of the Science of Reading Movement against multidisciplinary research on second/foreign language acquisition do not themselves meet the criteria for scientific research. For instance, the neuroscience of reading research <span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">p<span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">rovides evidence to affirm the applicability of the reciprocity of the components of the <a href="https://moramodules.com/simple-view-of-reading/" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Simple View of Reading: decoding and comprehension</a>.</span> <span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The </span></span>neuroscience research does </span><span color="initial" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">n</span>ot delegitimize any particular approach to reading and writing instruction or nullify other research data bases. Instead, this extensive body of research l</span><span color="initial" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">eads to understandings of the universals of learning to read and write in different languages’ orthographies while highlighting language-specific features of their linguistic subsystems. Bilingual educators must be critical consumers of research who are vigilant in recognizing when research is being used for ideological and political purposes rather than to enhance teacher agency for supporting literacy learning for all students. </span></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Please click on this link to view Dr. Mora’s CABE 2023 Conference presentation on the bilingual brain research titled <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R3AJ94Z8pC_lC7X98Z_khwBDYd4AHRFI/view?usp=share_link" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">El Cerebro Lector: Avoiding Anglocentricities in Appling Neuroscience Research.</a></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Click here for my article in the Multilingual Educator 2024 CABE Conference Edition titled “<a href="https://www.gocabe.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2024ME-Final-web.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reaffirming Multilingual Educators’ Pedagogical Knowledge Base.”</a></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thank you for your attention. I invite your comments and feedback.<br />Jill Kerper Mora</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">References</span></strong></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Abutalebi, J., & Green, D. (2007). Bilingual language production: The neurocognition of language representation and control. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Journal of Neurolinguistics</em>, 20, 242-275.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Bonhage, C. E., Mueller, J. L., Friederici, A. D., & Fiebach, C. J. (2015). Combined eye tracking and fMRI reveals neural basis of linguistic predictions during sentence comprehension. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cortex ScienceDirect</em>, 68, 33-47.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Clay, M. (1989). Concepts about print in English and other languages. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Reading Teacher,</em> 42(4), 268-272.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Clay, M. M. (1991). Syntactic awareness and Reading Recovery: A response to Tunmer. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 26(1), 87-91.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Cummins, J. (2021). <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rethinking the education of multilingual learners: A critical analysis of theoretical concepts.</em> Multilingual Matters.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Goldberg, M., & Goldenberg, C. (2022). Lessons learned: Reading Wars, Reading First, and a way forward. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Reading Teacher</em>, 75(5), 621-630. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2079</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Goodman, K., Fries, P. H., & Strauss, S. L. (2016).<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Reading‒The grand illusion: How and why people make sense of print.</em> Routledge</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hanford, E. (2019) <a href="https://features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/?fbclid=IwAR2NWgzZSOemLf7Ctg4fW3bBiGuvKF9DdljD14swHpFbPQkjNBTz7-QXRlk" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong</em></a></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Heilbron, M. A., Kristijan, Schoffelen, J.-M., Hagoot, P., & de Lange, F. P. (2022). A heirarchy of linguistic predictions during natural language comprehension. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">PNAS Neuroscience Psychological and Cognitive Sciences</em>,<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> 119</em>(32), e2201968119. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201968119" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201968119</a></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hoover, W. A., & Gough, P. B. (1990). The Simple View of Reading. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Reading and Writing</em>, 2(2), 127-160.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kroczek, L. O. H., & Gunter, T. C. (2017). Communicative predictions can overrule linguistic priors. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Scientific Reports</em>,<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> 7</em>, 17581. DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-17907-9</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kuperberg, G. R., & Jaeger, T. F. (2016). What do we mean by prediction in language comprehension. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Language, Cognition and Neuroscience</em>,<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> 11</em>(1), 32-59. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2015.1102299" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2015.1102299</a></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kurto, K. (2023). Clarifying the Science of Reading. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Language Magazine</em>, February 2023, 32-35.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">MacDonald, M. C., Pearlmetter, N. J., & Seidenberg, M. S. (1994). Lexical nature of syntactic ambiguity resolution. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Psychological Review,</em> 101(4), 676-703.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">MacPhee, D., Handsfield, L. J., & Paugh, P. (2021). Conflict or conversation? Media portrayals of the science of reading. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Reading Research Quarterly</em>, 56(S1), S145-S155.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Mazoyer, B. M., Tzourio, N., Frak, V., Sytota A, Murayama, N., Levrier, O., Salamon, G., Dehaene, S., Cohen, L., & Mehler, J. (1993). The cortical representation of speech. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience</em>,<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> 5</em>(4), 467-479.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Mora, J. K. (2023). To cue or not to cue: Is that the question? <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Language Magazine,</em> June, 18-20.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Mora, J.K. (2024). Reaffirming Multilingual Educators’ Pedagogical Knowledge Base. <a href="https://www.gocabe.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2024ME-Final-web.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Multilingual Educator 2024</a>. California Association for Bilingual Education Conference Edition, 12-14. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Odegard, T. N. (2020). Structured Literacy is exemplified by an explicit approach to teaching.<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Perspectives on Language and Literacy</em>, 46(1), 21-23.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Parault Dowds, S. J., Haverback, H. R., & Parkinson, M. M. (2016). Classifying the context clues in children’s text. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Journal of Experimental Education</em>, 84(1), 1-22.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ruddell, R. B., Rapp Ruddell, M., & Singer, H. (Eds.). (1994). <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Theoretical models and processes of reading</em> (Fourth ed.). International Reading Association.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ryskin, R., Levy, R. P., & Fedorenko, E. (2020). Do domain-general executive resources play a role in linguistic prediction? Re-evaluation of the evidence and a path forward. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Neuropsychologia</em>, 136, 107258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107258</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Schwartz, S. (2023) <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/4-more-states-pass-science-of-reading-mandates/2023/05" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘Science of Reading’ Mandates</a></span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Schwartz, S. (2020) <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/is-this-the-end-of-three-cueing/2020/12" style="border: 0px; color: #2b96b4; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Is This the End of “Three Cueing</a>“</span></p><p style="border: 0px; hyphenate-character: "‐"; margin: 0px 0px 1em; orphans: 3; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 3;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Spear-Swerling, L. (2018). Structured literacy and typical literacy practices: Understanding differences to create instructional opportunities.<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Teaching Exceptional Children,</em> 51(3), 201-211.</span></p></section></div></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-66286683814445885642024-02-13T10:37:00.005-06:002024-02-17T09:17:00.292-06:00"Anti-DEI Law Implementation Has Been a Disaster," by Emilio Zamora & Angela Valenzuela, Texas Observer, Feb. 13, 2024<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Many thanks to the <i>Texas Observer</i> for publishing this piece appearing today that captures the sad state of affairs with respect to the carrying out of anti-DEI policy at UT Austin. Please share widely.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>-Angela Valenzuela</b></span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMET5-sZqyPKAJeX0LlS1_PDnCuMo5sWuNUCTPoUjgyp0QsoWLtEfDFwIhY4Ox-gbrSGHvfcHEwfH31xfsNRrGZh7uKwz8pxEGEhGqi5yXFHSDGenhRVRaLJp-RWriGaa2BKsJMyfCkC-WXFzIXkPauXhf9l-F9Bcqdkwu5eSjzO2GoLmt2gjXYg/s2850/Screenshot%202024-02-13%20at%2010.27.17%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="2850" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMET5-sZqyPKAJeX0LlS1_PDnCuMo5sWuNUCTPoUjgyp0QsoWLtEfDFwIhY4Ox-gbrSGHvfcHEwfH31xfsNRrGZh7uKwz8pxEGEhGqi5yXFHSDGenhRVRaLJp-RWriGaa2BKsJMyfCkC-WXFzIXkPauXhf9l-F9Bcqdkwu5eSjzO2GoLmt2gjXYg/w544-h229/Screenshot%202024-02-13%20at%2010.27.17%20AM.png" width="544" /></a></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/anti-dei-law-implementation-has-been-a-disaster/"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Anti-DEI Law Implementation Has Been a Disaster</b><br /></span></a><div id="pico" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="has-drop-cap" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: #b3c5cc; font-size: 16px; text-align: right;">Kowtowing to the legislature, UT Austin disbanded all its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs wholesale—with little input from students or faculty.</span></p><p class="has-drop-cap" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: inherit;">February 13, 2024 | </span><i>Texas Observer</i></span></p><p class="has-drop-cap" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In Texas, we know that incoming hurricanes require preparations to reduce damage. But the state’s colleges and universities were ill-prepared for the superstorm of Senate Bill 17 (SB 17). Passed during the recent, regular session of the 88<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span> Texas State Legislature, SB 17 ostensibly prohibits the privileging of individuals based on race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation, thereby defunding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in higher education.</span></p></div><div id="pico" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div id="pico" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Officials from the University of Texas at Austin, a leading university with Texas-size influence, have been recklessly inconsistent in implementing SB 17 in anticipation of a legislative audit. Administrators have also been indifferent to the vigorous response by students and their supporters to the highly consequential decision to defund initiatives designed to meet their needs.</span></p></div><div id="pico" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div id="pico" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Beginning on January 1, 2024, the University of Texas directed the Multicultural Engagement Center to shut its doors and discontinue the critical support that it provides for <a href="https://thedailytexan.com/2024/01/18/multicultural-engagement-center-closes-because-of-senate-bill-17/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">student-centered programs</a>. Instead of a transparent and deliberative approach to redesigning and redefining student service programs to retain much of what has been built over the years, university officials’ interpretation of SB 17 has been an astonishing one of demolition. </span></p></div><div id="pico" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div id="pico" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To wit, the university bulldozed the many programs that the Multicultural Engagement Center housed, including: the New Black Student Weekend, <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Adelante</em>, CultivAsian, Bloq Party, Four Directions, the Leadership Institutes, Afrikan American Affairs, the Asian Desi Pacific Islander American Collective, Latino Leadership Council, Native American and Indigenous Collective, Queer Trans Black Indigenous People of Color and Allies, Students for Equity and Diversity, and signature graduation ceremonies like <a href="https://www.dailydot.com/news/texas-cancels-black-graduation/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Black Graduation, Latinx Graduation, GraduAsian</a>, Lavender Graduation, the <a href="https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/ut-austin-monarch-program-diversity-equity-inclusion-sb17-dei/269-d270c28f-fdf7-46c0-ad81-47c02db59cd7" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Monarch Center</a>.</span></p></div><div id="pico" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div id="pico" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Almost everyone who followed the legislative process understood that the passage of SB 17 would lead to the elimination of DEI offices and initiatives in all higher education institutions statewide. We further assumed that this would result in a plan to safeguard units like the <a href="https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2024/01/25/texas-bans-dei-ut-ends-support-program-for-undocumented-students/72284370007/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Monarch Center,</a> which serves undocumented youth of all races, ethnicities, and genders—SB 17 criteria that might have reasonably, if not lawfully, disqualified it from this sweep.</span></p></div><div id="pico" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div id="pico" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This blunt instrument of policy reflects fears of antidiversity legislators who are not only protecting their incumbencies but also doing so as part of a well-funded national assault on DEI programs throughout the country—a hostile, gale force <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/20/us/dei-woke-claremont-institute.html" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">campaign</a> rooted in the fear of a browning America.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">The core premise of DEI detractors is that DEI programs violate the principles of fairness and meritocracy when they accord “differential treatment of or providing special benefits to individuals on the basis of race, color, or ethnicity.” This despite an utter lack of evidence surrounding their claims. They also failed to offer credible, first-hand information on the long-standing operations of the numerous DEI programs in Texas that have been beneficial to students. Though conservatives have lacked good reason, sound evidence, and the sensibility of just change, they nevertheless wield excessive decision-making power in the Texas Legislature.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Higher education institutions inherited the responsibility of informing the Legislature, the governor’s office, and the public about how they would implement SB 17. Based on the wholesale dismantling of the Multicultural Engagement Center, it is highly likely that UT officials indeed had a preapproved plan. This raises important policy and procedural questions.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">First, University of Texas executives began dismantling DEI programs without either a transparent or democratic process that would have ideally included consulting with important stakeholders, including students, faculty, and staff. They also failed to respond to requests from Texas senators and members of the university community for copies of the implementation plan that they were preparing. Further, they conspicuously failed to offer exceptions to programs like the Monarch Student Scholarship Program that serve students of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. The executives also self-servingly overlooked the fact that the spirit of SB 17 does not exempt whites from preferential and privileged status in senior management and faculty positions. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Finally, this flagrant disregard for sound judgment and a culture of fairness and equity that we all strive to maintain at the university may be violating federal law and guidelines that guarantee equal rights under the law. We may differ on how to define, measure, or enforce equity principles or antidiversity ideas, but we must, in all instances, proceed in an open, deliberative, and democratic manner. To not do so is to incite unnecessary political acrimony and strife.</span></p><footer class="content-margins single-footer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 660px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: calc(100% - 64px);"><div class="single-footer__lower" style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(147, 147, 154); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 3rem 0px; padding: 2rem 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="single-footer__author" id="coauthor-name" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #93939a; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/author/emilio-zamora/" rel="author" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: sutro, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.129rem; line-height: 1.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Posts by Emilio Zamora">EMILIO ZAMORA</a></span> is a professor in the History Department at the University of Texas at Austin.</span></p><p class="single-footer__author" id="coauthor-name" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #93939a; font-family: pt-serif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/author/emilio-zamora/" rel="author" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: sutro, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0.129rem; line-height: 1.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Posts by Emilio Zamora">Angela Valenzuela</a> is a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas at Austin.</span></p></div></footer></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-15405580794083210482024-02-12T12:58:00.003-06:002024-02-12T13:12:14.518-06:00Far-Right online radicalization: A review of the literature," by Marwick, Clancy, and Furl (2022)<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Friends,</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>As we ponder yesterday's shooting at Joel Osteen's Houston Lakewood church that resulted in the death of the assailant, injury to the child she entered the church with, and a church member, the terms, "extremism" and "radicalization" come to mind. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>With so much going on these days of an extremist nature, it's good to see what the research says as are assumptions are not always correct. Just the Executive Summary is eye-opening. For example,...</b></span></p><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><blockquote>"No specific type of person is vulnerable to radicalization, and most people who commit political violence are not mentally ill or alienated from society."</blockquote></b><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><br />Knowledge in this fight against extremism is power. As </b></span><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">"extremism" and "radicalization" are complex issues with "definitional ambiguity," this study</b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b> by Marwick, Clancy, and Furl merits a close read.<span color="var(--theme-headline__text-color)" style="background-color: white;"> </span></b></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><span color="var(--theme-headline__text-color)" style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><span color="var(--theme-headline__text-color)" style="background-color: white;">My thoughts and prayers go out to all those impacted by this at Lakewood. And the poor little child who is injured didn't deserve this.</span></b></span><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>-Angela Valenzuela</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>References</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Marwick, A., Clancy, B., & Furl, K. (2022). <a href="https://citap.pubpub.org/pub/jq7l6jny/release/1">Far-Right online radicalization: A review of the literature.</a> </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The Bulletin of Technology & Public Life</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">.</span></b></span></p><h1 class="headline__text inline-placeholder" data-editable="headlineText" id="maincontent" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--theme-headline__text-color); line-height: var(--theme-headline__line-height); margin: 0px 0px 24px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Maxouris, C. & Mascarenhas, L. (2024, Feb. 12). A woman entered a Houston megachurch with a child and began shooting. Here’s what we know, CNN.com. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/12/us/joel-osteen-lakewood-church-shooting-monday/index.htm">https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/12/us/joel-osteen-lakewood-church-shooting-monday/index.htm</a>l</span></h1><p><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 5 []" id="n9jluudztoj"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://citap.pubpub.org/pub/jq7l6jny/release/1">Far-Right online radicalization: A review of the literature</a></span></b></p><p class="description pub-header-themed-secondary" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: multi-display, -apple-system, blinkmacsystemfont, "segoe ui", roboto, oxygen, ubuntu, cantarell, "open sans", "helvetica neue", sans-serif, source-han-sans-cjk-tc, source-han-sans-cjk-ko, source-han-sans-cjk-ja, source-han-sans-cjk-sc; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 15px;"><span class="text-wrapper" style="box-sizing: inherit;">This literature review examines cross-disciplinary work on radicalization to better understand the present concerns around online radicalization and far-right extremist and fringe movements.</span></p><div class="byline-component" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: multi-display, -apple-system, blinkmacsystemfont, "segoe ui", roboto, oxygen, ubuntu, cantarell, "open sans", "helvetica neue", sans-serif, source-han-sans-cjk-tc, source-han-sans-cjk-ko, source-han-sans-cjk-ja, source-han-sans-cjk-sc; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 0.5px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 15px;"><span class="text-wrapper" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">by </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a class="hoverline" href="https://citap.pubpub.org/user/alice-marwick" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Alice Marwick</a></span>, <span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Benjamin Clancy</span>, and <span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a class="hoverline" href="https://citap.pubpub.org/user/katherine-furl" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Katherine Furl</a></span></span></div><p data-pm-slice="1 5 []" id="n9jluudztoj"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">ABSTRACT</span></b></p><p data-pm-slice="1 5 []" id="n9jluudztoj">This literature review examines cross-disciplinary work on radicalization to situate, historicize, frame, and better understand the present concerns around online radicalization and far-right extremist and fringe movements. We find that research on radicalization is inextricably linked to the post-9/11 context in which it emerged, and as a result is overly focused on studying the <em>other</em>. Applying this research to the spread of far-right ideas online does not account for the ways in which the far-right’s endorsement of white supremacy and racism holds historical, normative precedent in the United States. Further, radicalization research is rife with uncertainties, ranging from definitional ambiguity to an inability to identify any simplistic, causal models capable of fully explaining the conditions under which radicalization occurs. Instead, there are multiple possible pathways to radicalization, and while the internet does not cause individuals to adopt far-right extremist or fringe beliefs, some technological affordances may aid adoption of these beliefs through gradual processes of socialization. We conclude that the term “radicalization” does not serve as a useful analytical frame for studying the spread of far-right and fringe ideas online. Instead, potential analytical frameworks better suited to studying these phenomena include theories prominent in the study of online communities, conversion, mainstreaming, and sociotechnical theories of media effects.</p><h1 id="executive-summary">Executive Summary</h1><ul id="nrfgm8ejjeh" style="text-align: left;"><li><p id="nrqjlhnxx3p">The adoption of extremist, far-right, and fringe beliefs is often referred to as “radicalization,” a term formulated post-9/11 to understand jihadi terrorism, a very different context from the far-right.</p></li><li><p id="nflhphxrysl">Radicalization research is full of uncertainty.</p><ul id="ncdytt1xl67"><li><p id="nght7w0zh35">No specific type of person is vulnerable to radicalization, and most people who commit political violence are not mentally ill or alienated from society.</p></li><li><p id="na8tcuf18j9">Radicalization is not caused by poverty, oppression, or marginalization.</p></li><li><p id="ngknos5k0ou">There is no one way in which people are “radicalized.”</p></li><li><p id="nj4x3srqk9b">Viewing extremist media does not necessarily lead to adopting extremist beliefs or committing political violence.</p></li></ul></li><li><p id="n5xzzajntx0">In contrast to the “red pill” model, radicalization is gradual. Recruits slowly adopt the identities, emotions, and interpretations shared by a community. They conceptualize their problems as injustices caused by others, and justify using political violence against them.</p></li><li><p id="n3hj48f4d1i">The internet does not cause radicalization, but it helps spread extremist ideas, enables people interested in these ideas to form communities, and mainstreams conspiracy theories and distrust in institutions.</p></li><li><p id="n8bj7uwonj1">We conclude that “radicalization” is not a useful frame for understanding the spread of far-right and fringe ideas online.</p><ul id="nfsfa61o4u8"><li><p id="ndbzq15z1ul">It is analytically imprecise and morally judgmental</p></li><li><p id="n2gz7ry6q8u">It doesn’t help us understand the role of media and digital technologies.</p></li><li><p id="n7eve0fc1av">It is inextricably tied to a global security infrastructure targeting Islam.</p></li><li><p id="npjdmac3y3a">It doesn’t account for the fact that fringe or far-right beliefs may change what people think is “true” and “false,” making it hard to find common ground.</p></li><li><p id="n282iunax1o">The focus on violence ignores other worrying effects of mainstreaming far-right and fringe ideas.</p></li></ul></li></ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-cTztg_NlGn6DpfQ2th9-AQnrVVH5BtQRTScg78Lfo__f-hi4cBlKjB0X88291_V6syUS4PIEa-FQZlfJhqCw4N163hbx81wu9DqOL1sQm4NJGm7kfs4CW3t9l8FwlzdGdFHd1Ud45Hc0YaWBrogRhRzWe9DQ0M0jf3piBwHZhQvX8x632AwxA/s1304/Screenshot%202024-02-12%20at%2012.35.15%20PM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="972" data-original-width="1304" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-cTztg_NlGn6DpfQ2th9-AQnrVVH5BtQRTScg78Lfo__f-hi4cBlKjB0X88291_V6syUS4PIEa-FQZlfJhqCw4N163hbx81wu9DqOL1sQm4NJGm7kfs4CW3t9l8FwlzdGdFHd1Ud45Hc0YaWBrogRhRzWe9DQ0M0jf3piBwHZhQvX8x632AwxA/w400-h299/Screenshot%202024-02-12%20at%2012.35.15%20PM.png" width="400" /></a><br /><h1 data-pm-slice="1 1 []" id="table-of-contents">Table of Contents [<a href="https://citap.pubpub.org/pub/jq7l6jny/release/1"><span style="font-size: small;">Go to this link for access to the entire piece</span></a>]</h1><p id="ni68ca4a3lq"><a href="#introduction" title="">Introduction</a></p><p id="n01yj8atpmk"><a href="#what-is-radicalization" title="">1. What is radicalization?</a></p><p id="nl035jv0puf"> <a href="#radicalization-as-acts-of-violence-terrorism" title="">Radicalization as Acts of Violence (Terrorism</a>)</p><p id="n0r41pjg0il"> <a href="#radicalization-as-adoption-of-extremist-ideologies" title="">Radicalization as Adoption of Extremist Ideologies</a></p><p id="nsvpd54hejx"> <a href="#definitions-in-this-document" title="">Definitions in this Document</a></p><p id="nx12qov9scq"> <a href="#implications-of-definitional-ambiguity" title="">Implications of Definitional Ambiguity</a></p><p id="n2n9oz7d7u1"><a href="#what-makes-people-vulnerable-to-radicalization" title="">2. What makes people vulnerable to radicalization?</a></p><p id="nj8dim2760h"> <a href="#individual-psychological-characteristics" title="">Individual, Psychological Characteristics</a></p><p id="nuxf0jjaspf"> <a href="#structural-systemic-causes" title="">Structural, Systemic Causes</a></p><p id="niwkpaddb8s"> <a href="#movement-level-causes" title="">Movement-Level Causes</a></p><p id="nuwgvs1zp6y"><a href="#how-are-people-radicalized" title="">3. How are people radicalized?</a></p><p id="nkqr4ud5gau"> <a href="#pathways-and-pyramids" title="">Pathways and Pyramids</a></p><p id="npe400ntjit"> <a href="#social-networks-and-relational-approaches" title="">Social Networks and Relational Approaches</a></p><p id="np7nhd7fy7i"> <a href="#problems-with-pathways-approaches" title="">Problems with Pathways Approaches</a></p><p id="nrou8b7gjrh"> <a href="#radicalization-as-agented-meaning-making" title="">Radicalization as Agented Meaning-Making</a></p><p id="njzg22o0pel"><a href="#what-is-the-role-of-the-internet-in-radicalization" title="">4. What is the role of the internet in radicalization?</a></p><p id="ncn8ou6sls2"> <a href="#platform-affordances" title="">Platform Affordances</a></p><p id="nkokouqzffw"> <a href="#online-discourse" title="">Online Discourse</a></p><p id="n5u4koxeu5y"><a href="#are-there-differences-between-radicalization-into-far-right-and-jihadi-extremism" title="">5. Are there differences between radicalization into far-right and jihadi extremism?</a></p><p id="n7kafuwf6tn"> <a href="#jihadi-extremism" title="">Jihadi Extremism</a></p><p id="nds5fnzdaep"> <a href="#_Toc90817250" title="">White Supremacist and Far-Right Radicalization</a></p><p id="nmgj6xdg28w"><a href="#is-online-radicalization-a-useful-concept" title="">6. Is online radicalization a useful concept?</a></p><p id="ngq8ke3ond7"> <a href="#a.-should-we-use-online-radicalization" title="">Should we use “online radicalization”?</a></p><p id="n3ha1fi3cx5"> <a href="#b.-what-concepts-can-we-use-instead" title="">What concepts can we use instead?</a></p><p id="nusn1ig0gvq"><a href="#_Toc90817254" title="">Conclusion</a></p><p id="nfav8uqdzzk"><a href="#acknowledgments" title="">Acknowledgments</a></p><p id="n2psqq9h0t0"><a href="https://citap.pubpub.org/pub/jq7l6jny/draft#references">References</a></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><ul><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p id="n282iunax1o"><br /></p></li></ul></li></ul></div></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-38076033712617233562024-02-08T11:06:00.003-06:002024-02-08T11:06:30.395-06:00Texas SB 17 bans DEI in colleges. So why did UT end a program for undocumented students?<p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The Monarch program serving undocumented students was mercilessly shut down. The concern is that closing down this program may constitute an instance of over-implemented of Senate Bill 17 (Texas' anti-diversity bill at UT). </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030;">After all, as expressed by LDF attorney Antonio Ingram, "Undocumented status is not a racial category; it's not a category that's gender identity, orientation."</span></span></b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">-Angela Valenzuela</span></b></span></p><p><br /></p><h1 class="gnt_ar_hl" elementtiming="ar-headline" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Unify Sans", "Helvetica Neue", "Arial Nova", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: 38px; margin: 4px 0px 0px;"><a href="https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2024/01/25/texas-bans-dei-ut-ends-support-program-for-undocumented-students/72284370007/"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Texas SB 17 bans DEI in colleges. So why did UT end a program for undocumented students?</span></a></h1><div class="gnt_ar_by" style="background-color: white; display: inline-flex; flex-flow: wrap; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial Nova", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; margin: 12px 6px 0px 0px;"><a class="gnt_ar_by_a gnt_ar_by_a__fi" data-t-l=":byline|o|c|text" href="https://www.statesman.com/staff/71516731007/lily-kepner/" style="color: #303030; font-family: "Unify Sans", "Helvetica Neue", "Arial Nova", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: 700; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 6px 0px 0px; text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 152, 254); text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-underline-offset: 2px;">Lily Kepner</a><div class="gnt_ar_pb" style="color: #303030; display: inline; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 1px 0px 0px; order: 4;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">January 25, 2024 | Austin American Statesman</span></div><div class="gnt_ar_pb" style="color: #303030; display: inline; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 1px 0px 0px; order: 4;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></div></div><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL0lyipj8dy2J-MyrffNoF5ox_tRqXk8LWxAHJlTCOPqDWApvzuiec5vc0Crt-yjqZeaTR1299CFQEE_Vws6kCtOnx6lr30blBhGR3xHi7cCho2hbwQo0YlHvyCZ5axYku8Y4GEJP3Q2pSmwg7xyFCvU-0IQNL7xORHX63W65vhVtEygtSgMV66A/s1328/Screenshot%202024-02-08%20at%2010.58.45%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1328" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL0lyipj8dy2J-MyrffNoF5ox_tRqXk8LWxAHJlTCOPqDWApvzuiec5vc0Crt-yjqZeaTR1299CFQEE_Vws6kCtOnx6lr30blBhGR3xHi7cCho2hbwQo0YlHvyCZ5axYku8Y4GEJP3Q2pSmwg7xyFCvU-0IQNL7xORHX63W65vhVtEygtSgMV66A/w581-h418/Screenshot%202024-02-08%20at%2010.58.45%20AM.png" width="581" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The University of Texas has ended a program that provided resources to undocumented students and to those who have mixed or temporary residency status to help support their academic success and graduation.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Though the university did not respond to American-Statesman requests for comment, a school employee confirmed the program's closure at a Jan. 18 UT Staff Council meeting and a student who participated in the Monarch Student Program also confirmed it ended.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The Monarch Program's closing has not been publicly addressed by the university, but at a Staff Council meeting, LaToya Smith, vice president of the UT Campus and Community Engagement Division, told staff that "we were informed that we would have to cease operating that particular program."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Smith went on to detail numerous other changes during the meeting that the university is taking to comply with Senate Bill 17, a new state law that prohibits diversity, equity and inclusion offices or initiatives at Texas public universities and colleges. As part of its compliance, the school has renamed or eliminated several of its campus programs that have long encouraged and welcomed students from diverse backgrounds.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"It's important for you all to know is that the dust has not settled," Smith told staff at the meeting.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">SB 17, which went into effect Jan. 1, bans public institutions of higher education from having DEI offices, considering diversity statements in hiring or "conducting trainings, programs and activities designed or implemented in reference to race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation." It prohibits these institutions from offering a "special benefit" or promoting differential treatment to individuals on the basis of race, color or ethnicity.</p><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_h2" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Unify Sans", "Helvetica Neue", "Arial Nova", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: 26px; margin: 28px 0px 18px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;">The law, however, does not address a student's legal status.</span></h2><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_h2" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Unify Sans", "Helvetica Neue", "Arial Nova", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: 26px; margin: 28px 0px 18px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Impact of SB 17?</h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Emily Sydnor, a political science associate professor specializing in political communication at Southwestern University, a private school in Georgetown, said the program likely was shuttered because of the way an undocumented status might intersect with race and ethnicity.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"Undocumented students also might benefit from programs focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging around those specific demographic characteristics, and there is also likely a set that don't fall into that category," Sydnor said. "And I guess the question that I would have is how much of those two circles overlap in this case? And what's the threshold for the Legislature to decide when a program is sort of encompassed entirely by that race, gender ethnicity circle and when is it sort of a marginal overlap that means the program should get to move forward anyway?"</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Though in her personal opinion being undocumented does not have an inherent connection to race and ethnicity, Sydnor said she can imagine that a stringent legislative analysis of SB 17 could suggest the program could be affected.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Antonio Ingram, assistant council at the Legal Defense Fund, a national racial justice organization that advocated against SB 17, said the program's closing is "highly surprising."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">SB 17 bans any unit that performs the functions of a DEI office, Ingram said, but the law also states that none of the restrictions should be construed to affect "a policy, practice, procedure, program, or activity to enhance student academic achievement or postgraduate outcomes that is designed and implemented without regard to race, sex, color, or ethnicity."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"You can be a white undocumented student, you can be an Asian American undocumented student, you can be a Latino undocumented student," Ingram said. "Undocumented status is not a racial category; it's not a category that's gender identity, orientation."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Texas had the second-highest number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States at 1.6 million people in 2021, <a class="gnt_ar_b_a" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/11/16/what-we-know-about-unauthorized-immigrants-living-in-the-us/" rel="noopener" style="color: #303030; text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 152, 254); text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-underline-offset: 2px;" target="_blank">according to the Pew Research</a>, a nonprofit public policy think tank.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">There <a class="gnt_ar_b_a" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" href="https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/undocumented-college-students-2023" rel="noopener" style="color: #303030; text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 152, 254); text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-underline-offset: 2px;" target="_blank">were</a> more than 408,000 undocumented U.S. higher education students in 2021 — comprising about 1.9% of all postsecondary students in the U.S., according to an American Community Survey. The "vast majority" of the undocumented students came to the U.S. at a young age, the survey found. About 46% of these students were Hispanic, 27% were Asian American Pacific Islander, 10% were white and about 14% were Black, the American Immigration Council found.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"It feels like there's a concerted effort to say to students without documentation, who we know oftentimes are Black and brown, that you don't belong here," Ingram said.</p><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_h2" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Unify Sans", "Helvetica Neue", "Arial Nova", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: 26px; margin: 28px 0px 18px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">How UT's Monarch Program helped students</h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">A UT student, who is undocumented and asked to remain anonymous due to their status and the politically charged climate around immigration policies in Texas, said they chose to come to UT because of its support for undocumented students. The high school the student attended had no program like Monarch, and it felt impossible to navigate how to enter and succeed in the higher education world.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"It was just wonderful to know that at least UT recognized that this student population existed," the student said. "I could always fall back on that."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Monarch was the place the student could learn about and get help with higher education applications, financial aid, internships and entrance tests for future certifications.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Finding a home with the program, the student became an ambassador for Monarch and helped guide other students through their questions. When SB 17 was passed, the student thought nothing would change.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">But on Jan. 10 ― less than a week before spring semester classes began ― the student found out the program had closed, leaving them "blindsided."</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"Monarch is not necessarily geared to anybody from a specific ethnicity or culture or nationality, it is literally open for anybody and everyone because under the Monarch umbrella, it's yes, undocumented students, yes, (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) DACA holders, Temporary Protected Status, but also people who come from mixed status. That includes U.S. citizens," the student said.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"Why weren't we given enough time to do something?" they said.</p><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_h2" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Unify Sans", "Helvetica Neue", "Arial Nova", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: 26px; margin: 28px 0px 18px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">'You're not alone'</h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Rooted, the Immigrant Student Liberation Collective, led by UT students, alumni and allies, plans to continue offering support and resources in place of Monarch, the undocumented student said. The collective has taken over Monarch's Instagram account under the new handle @ut_rooted.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Ana Hernández, who graduated with a degree in Latin American studies and history in 2015 and a master's in social work and in Latin American studies in 2018, is a member of Rooted. In 2013, she joined the University Leadership Initiative, a student group that advocates for immigrants without documentation, and was part of the initial <a class="gnt_ar_b_a" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" href="https://rootedtexas.wordpress.com/rooted-proposal/#jp-carousel-606" style="color: #303030; text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 152, 254); text-decoration-thickness: 2px; text-underline-offset: 2px;">research</a> and student advocacy that demonstrated the need for a university-backed program like Monarch.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"We felt that we had finally made some incremental progress in getting just that much more, a small amount of funding and staff, so that students finally felt like they had a place on campus they could go and be themselves and feel safe and feel protected," Hernández said. "And feel cared about."<span style="background-color: unset;">Hernández said she was not surprised by the program's closure, but she said it "feels very unwarranted based on the law."</span></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">She would want students to know that ULI and Rooted are available to support students, working with community partners to help make up the resources lost with Monarch's shuttering.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p" style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia Pro", Georgia, "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 14px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">"There is support," Hernández said. "No one has the power to take away your right to exist. And you're not alone."</p>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-27249334409225093702024-02-03T22:00:00.006-06:002024-02-03T22:00:48.469-06:00FREE FILM SCREENING —"VECINOS," Wednesday, Feb 21 • 4-6 PM • UT's Moody College Auditorium<p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">So proud of our dear friends, Rupert and Joann Reyes, for all their hard work in making this movie, "<i>Vecinos</i>," meaning "neighbors." Just knowing they're behind it already tells me that this is going to be good.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">No, you're never too old to fall in love.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Just in time for Valentine's Day, too!</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">-Angela Valenzuela 💖💕💜</span></b></p><div class="pt-m mb-l bs-ov-section" id="overviewSection" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 3rem !important; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 2rem;"><div class="bs-ov-cont" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px;"><div class="content overview-expandable-section" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="text--medium overview-content p-lg-4 p-sm-0 bookseller-cont" style="border: 1px solid rgb(161, 162, 161); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8; margin-top: 6px !important; outline: 0px; padding: 24px; position: relative;"><div class="bs-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; column-count: 2; column-gap: 24px; outline: 0px;"><div class="overview-cntnt" itemprop="description" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; outline: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Don Roberto is a feisty 70-year-old widower and colorful barrio icon that spends his days watching TV and threatening to scare off young graffiti taggers, but his routine changes with the arrival of a new resident across the hall. When 70-year-old Doña Maria catches his eye, the two quickly become more than just vecinos (neighbors).</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; outline: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Can it be love senior citizen-style? You can bet the sparks will fly, especially when their children find out that there is romance in the air. You won't want to miss this heartwarming and romantic bilingual comedy that begs the question, is it ever too late to fall in love?</span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1">FREE FILM SCREENING</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><br class="ContentPasted1" /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b><i class="ContentPasted1">VECINOS</i></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b><i class="ContentPasted1"><br /></i></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;">Feb 21 • 4-6 PM •<a href="https://moody.utexas.edu/about/facilities/room/dmc-2106-auditorium"> DMC 2.106</a></span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><br /></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyxCdCbbdjNk996uE4VAhKfYc4SX7kZp2KPHOXcYLIFnEKbBqKZVUuv-9Uh2hJynXtnBzA5qJ9JBDoRH_q3gORCtwdPUTEB3RIzD0fcpXvDa3J-g5FNaZLBd_hIWax-Mh9d37w7smjyltV1ET6r9l-uoD2IBcTyZfQ7TWg8pHjaJNnlwQbIYZLgg/s1530/Screenshot%202024-02-03%20at%209.49.41%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1530" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyxCdCbbdjNk996uE4VAhKfYc4SX7kZp2KPHOXcYLIFnEKbBqKZVUuv-9Uh2hJynXtnBzA5qJ9JBDoRH_q3gORCtwdPUTEB3RIzD0fcpXvDa3J-g5FNaZLBd_hIWax-Mh9d37w7smjyltV1ET6r9l-uoD2IBcTyZfQ7TWg8pHjaJNnlwQbIYZLgg/w588-h329/Screenshot%202024-02-03%20at%209.49.41%20PM.png" width="588" /></a></div></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b><br class="ContentPasted1" /></b></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b class="ContentPasted1" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", serif, EmojiFont;"><span style="font-size: large;">A Bilingual Rom-Com, Written and Set in Austin</span></b></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 1px 5.78px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino, serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><i class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: large;">Vecinos tells the story of neighbors, brought together by proximity, but held together by something much more personal. Roberto hasn’t done much changing lately, but even from his couch he’s seen his neighborhood become a place he barely recognizes. When Maria moves in down the hall from him, though, Roberto has no choice but to consider the good side of change. Vecinos reminds us that no matter how easy it is to lose your identity in a city that won’t sit still, it’s even easier to lose it when you’re the one sitting still.</span></i></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 1px 5.78px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino, serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><i class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5.78px; text-align: right;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino, serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b><i class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sponsored by the University Writing Center </span></i></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5.78px; text-align: right;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino, serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b><i class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: medium;">Co-sponsored by the Department of Radio-Television-Film</span></i></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5.78px; text-align: right;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino, serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b><i class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: medium;">and the Department of Rhetoric and Writing</span></i></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5.78px; text-align: right;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino, serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b><i class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: medium;">With help from the Division of Campus and Community Engagement </span></i></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5.78px; text-align: right;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino, serif, EmojiFont; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b><i class="ContentPasted1"><span style="font-size: medium;">and the Department of Latino/a Studies</span></i></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5.78px; text-align: right;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px;"><b><i><br class="ContentPasted1" /></i></b></span></p>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-55227285195193404292024-02-02T13:05:00.006-06:002024-02-02T14:04:42.713-06:00Christopher Rufo Exposé: "Activist who led ouster of Harvard president linked to ‘scientific racism’ journal"<p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Interesting. Not at all surprised that Christopher Rufo is ideologically allied with a long, discredited history of "scientific racism." It gives me pause to think that my university—specifically, the business school—heartily welcomed him to make a presentation last fall despite his not being a scholar (see <a href="https://hr.utexas.edu/events/laying-siege-institutions" style="background-color: white;">Laying Siege to the Institutions</a>), but rather for his political views. You can learn about his position against Critical Race Theory (CRT) in K-12 <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/how-a-conservative-activist-invented-the-conflict-over-critical-race-theory?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Daily_061821&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&bxid=5bd67cd63f92a41245df88b8&cndid=48131816&hasha=99ed45b126ca1a9cf60ed6d0e86007ea&hashb=fa33915547da7ef3b825e1f293b9b58f54b45746&hashc=3ba2f145a256aaca1424c41f3b3d974fd816e303227d530460c7c6fd7b760c83&esrc=bounceX&utm_content=A&utm_term=TNY_Daily">here</a> which morphed into an attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices and initiatives in higher education.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">I did attend his lecture, by the way. My short row of seats combined with another was the only color in the room. I also noticed the overwhelming presence of a whole bunch of elder white males—hopefully, mostly not UT faculty—even if a number were certainly present.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Regardless, I'm glad that Rufo's ties to eugenics and his clear belief in the superiority of the white race finally came out. Old beliefs nevertheless die hard, especially those that give folks a sense of entitlement, however false and misguided, at best. At worst, they take their false, discredited white supremacist notions to purposely propel hateful, divisive, and anti-democratic policy agendas and campaigns.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">-Angela Valenzuela </span></b></p><div class="dcr-1djovmt" data-gu-name="headline" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; grid-area: headline; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-14emo0l" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 620px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-1msbrj1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 36px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 class="dcr-1fasd0d" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 4px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--headline-colour); font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/31/rightwing-activist-christopher-rufo-ties-scientific-racism-journal"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Activist who led ouster of Harvard president linked to ‘scientific racism’ journal</span></a></h1><h1 class="dcr-1fasd0d" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 4px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--headline-colour); font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">Christopher Rufo recommends a newsletter to his readers that has published several supporters of discredited genetics theory</span></h1><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">by Jason Wilson | January 31, 2024 | The Guardian</span></div><div><a aria-label="@jason_a_w on Twitter" href="https://www.twitter.com/jason_a_w" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">@jason_a_w</span></a></div></div></div></div><div class="dcr-1yi1cnj" data-gu-name="standfirst" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; grid-area: standfirst; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-1kkpghj" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--standfirst-text); font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px 0px 12px; max-width: 540px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQFythmjuDV9UBSfUKn42pvZaSjSHliaUGSve81VVhqIoAKF7Aek6Io7a8X9sDaVzTU3h69VR77SuWEFUH6-pKTepsedh04GMdUKUmgr3Gf82ku1WhFLyAL8ywCeHArj7Rq1Y8rQZwNyAT-QniTXfUEM1fXzTepVvnsAwX9jObfeU4XzsRbXUAGg/s1230/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2010.18.08%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="1230" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQFythmjuDV9UBSfUKn42pvZaSjSHliaUGSve81VVhqIoAKF7Aek6Io7a8X9sDaVzTU3h69VR77SuWEFUH6-pKTepsedh04GMdUKUmgr3Gf82ku1WhFLyAL8ywCeHArj7Rq1Y8rQZwNyAT-QniTXfUEM1fXzTepVvnsAwX9jObfeU4XzsRbXUAGg/w566-h376/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2010.18.08%20AM.png" width="566" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="dcr-1qvd3m6" face="GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #707070; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Christopher Rufo in Sarasota, Florida, on 25 January 2023.</span><span face="GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif" style="color: #707070; font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; text-align: start;"> Photograph: Dirk/ZUMA Press via Alamy<br /><br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">The rightwing activist Christopher Rufo has links to a self-styled “sociobiology magazine” that is focused on the supposed relationships between race, intelligence and criminality, and which experts have characterized as an outlet for scientific racism.</p><figure class="dcr-1your1i" data-spacefinder-role="richLink" data-spacefinder-type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement" id="0de268f4-d5c3-43f0-a7fb-d17206d0996c" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: medium; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 20px 4px -240px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; 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--syndication-button-border: #DCDCDC; --syndication-button-text: #707070; --table-of-contents-border: #DCDCDC; --table-of-contents: #121212; --tabs--background: #F6F6F6; --tabs--border: #999999; --tabs--inactivebackground: #DCDCDC; --tabs--text: #121212; --tabs-input: #FFFFFF; --timeline-atom-bullet: #121212; --timeline-atom-highlight-text-background: #FFE500; --timeline-atom-highlight-text: #000000; --top-pick-background: #EDEDED; --top-pick-link: #0077B6; --twitter-handle: #707070; --witness-title-author: #C70000; --witness-title-icon: #C70000; --witness-title-text: #C70000; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: contents; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="dcr-1m887w9" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/14/christopher-rufo-jonatan-pallesen-eugenics-racism-claudine-gay-harvard" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-1lhuo3r" style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: var(--rich-link-border); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="A man talks with people" class="dcr-1e3yjba" height="1912" src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/db7e75b840d259e6fe628b4399e039b11a83c999/0_0_3187_1912/master/3187.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=70b6a5dd9a564ce4e1b3bcc5c27afdb1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 220px;" width="3187" /></div><div class="dcr-ut4tvs" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 2px 5px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-1h5b6rb" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--rich-link-header); font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-1fcd5by" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 3px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Scientist cited in push to oust Harvard’s Claudine Gay has links to eugenicists</div></div><div class="dcr-eurq8n" style="-webkit-box-align: center; -webkit-box-pack: start; align-items: center; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; fill: var(--rich-link-fill); flex-direction: row; font: inherit; justify-content: flex-start; margin: 0px; padding: 2px 0px 6px; vertical-align: baseline;"><svg height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><g fill-rule="evenodd"><path class="rich-link__arrow-icon" d="m12 0c-6.627 0-12 5.373-12 12 0 6.627 5.373 12 12 12 6.627 0 12-5.373 12-12 0-6.627-5.373-12-12-12m.21 19l-.637-.668 4.888-6.326h-11.465v-1.01h11.465l-4.888-6.333.637-.668 6.79 7.158v.685l-6.79 7.157"></path></g></svg><div class="dcr-cy8rfj" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--rich-link-text); font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;">Read more</div></div></div></a></div></div></gu-island></figure><div id="sign-in-gate" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: medium; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><gu-island config="{"renderingTarget":"Web","darkModeAvailable":false}" data-island-status="hydrated" deferuntil="visible" name="SignInGateSelector" priority="feature" props="{"contentType":"Article","sectionId":"world","tags":[{"id":"world/far-right","type":"Keyword","title":"The far right"},{"id":"world/race","type":"Keyword","title":"Race"},{"id":"education/higher-education","type":"Keyword","title":"Higher education"},{"id":"science/genetics","type":"Keyword","title":"Genetics"},{"id":"us-news/us-news","type":"Keyword","title":"US news"},{"id":"type/article","type":"Type","title":"Article"},{"id":"tone/news","type":"Tone","title":"News"},{"id":"profile/wilson-jason","type":"Contributor","title":"Jason Wilson","twitterHandle":"jason_a_w","bylineImageUrl":"https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/contributor/2014/11/24/1416835880685/Jason-Wilson.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=da58621617d50f2870eab345055bf24a","bylineLargeImageUrl":"https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/06/Jason-Wilson,-L.png?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=242bf414e03dd3e072236d3da0da34f1"},{"id":"tracking/commissioningdesk/us-news","type":"Tracking","title":"US News"}],"isPaidContent":false,"isPreview":false,"host":"https://www.theguardian.com","pageId":"world/2024/jan/31/rightwing-activist-christopher-rufo-ties-scientific-racism-journal","idUrl":"https://profile.theguardian.com","switches":{"lightbox":true,"prebidAppnexusUkRow":true,"abSignInGateMainVariant":true,"commercialMetrics":true,"prebidTrustx":true,"scAdFreeBanner":false,"adaptiveSite":true,"prebidPermutiveAudience":true,"compareVariantDecision":false,"enableSentryReporting":true,"lazyLoadContainers":true,"ampArticleSwitch":true,"remarketing":true,"articleEndSlot":true,"keyEventsCarousel":true,"registerWithPhone":false,"targeting":true,"remoteHeader":true,"slotBodyEnd":true,"prebidImproveDigitalSkins":true,"ampPrebidOzone":true,"extendedMostPopularFronts":true,"emailInlineInFooter":true,"showNewPrivacyWordingOnEmailSignupEmbeds":true,"deeplyRead":true,"prebidAnalytics":true,"extendedMostPopular":true,"ampContentAbTesting":false,"prebidCriteo":true,"okta":false,"imrWorldwide":true,"acast":true,"automaticFilters":true,"twitterUwt":true,"prebidAppnexusInvcode":true,"ampPrebidPubmatic":true,"a9HeaderBidding":true,"prebidAppnexus":true,"enableDiscussionSwitch":true,"prebidXaxis":true,"stickyVideos":true,"interactiveFullHeaderSwitch":true,"discussionAllPageSize":true,"prebidUserSync":true,"audioOnwardJourneySwitch":true,"brazeTaylorReport":false,"abConsentlessAds":true,"externalVideoEmbeds":true,"abIntegrateIma":true,"callouts":true,"sentinelLogger":true,"geoMostPopular":true,"weAreHiring":false,"relatedContent":true,"thirdPartyEmbedTracking":true,"prebidOzone":true,"ampLiveblogSwitch":true,"ampAmazon":true,"prebidAdYouLike":true,"mostViewedFronts":true,"discussionInApps":false,"optOutAdvertising":true,"abSignInGateMainControl":true,"headerTopNav":true,"googleSearch":true,"brazeSwitch":true,"darkModeInApps":true,"prebidKargo":true,"consentManagement":true,"crosswordMobileBanner":false,"personaliseSignInGateAfterCheckout":true,"redplanetForAus":true,"prebidSonobi":true,"idProfileNavigation":true,"confiantAdVerification":true,"discussionAllowAnonymousRecommendsSwitch":false,"permutive":true,"comscore":true,"ampPrebidCriteo":true,"abMpuWhenNoEpic":false,"newsletterOnwards":false,"youtubeIma":true,"webFonts":true,"prebidImproveDigital":true,"ophan":true,"crosswordSvgThumbnails":true,"prebidTriplelift":true,"weather":true,"disableAmpTest":true,"prebidPubmatic":true,"serverShareCounts":false,"autoRefresh":true,"enhanceTweets":true,"prebidIndexExchange":true,"prebidOpenx":true,"prebidHeaderBidding":true,"idCookieRefresh":true,"discussionPageSize":true,"smartAppBanner":false,"abPrebidKargo":true,"boostGaUserTimingFidelity":false,"historyTags":true,"brazeContentCards":true,"surveys":true,"remoteBanner":true,"emailSignupRecaptcha":true,"prebidSmart":true,"shouldLoadGoogletag":true,"inizio":true}}" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></gu-island></div><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">At the time of reporting, Aporia was one of 19 Substack newsletters Rufo links to in the “<a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://archive.ph/cNODi" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">recommended</a>” section on his own newsletter, which according to Substack has more than 50,000 subscribers. Rufo also appeared on Aporia’s podcast, which has published flattering interviews with proponents of scientific racism and eugenics.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Rufo, a close ally of Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, and one of America’s most prominent activists fighting so-called “wokeism”, has repeatedly described his goal as “colorblind equality”, but his links to Aporia raises questions about Rufo’s proximity to extremists.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Most recently Rufo has been credited in conservative media and beyond with playing a central role in the ouster of former Harvard University president Claudine Gay, who is Black.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">The Guardian emailed Rufo with questions on his apparent endorsement of Aporia, and how he reconciled that with his professed “colorblindness”. He did not respond directly to any questions put to him but instead made a crude sexual insult to a Guardian reporter.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said: “Rufo is hanging around with some seriously nasty people,” adding: “He can’t claim that this is a casual relationship.”</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">According to the newsletter’s own archives, Aporia was a <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://archive.ph/duuzY" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">March 2023 rebrand</a> of Ideas Sleep Furiously, hitherto the personal newsletter of Briton Matthew Archer, now styled “editor in chief” of Aporia.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">At that time, Aporia’s newly appointed “executive editor”, Bo Winegard, commenced his tenure with an <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://archive.ph/CL4jv" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">article</a>, titled Human Biodiversity: A Moderate’s Manifesto, in which he discussed purported “evidence that human populations vary in intelligence, as measured by IQ tests, partially because of genes”.</p><aside class="dcr-1v594y3" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 3px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.15; margin: 14px 0px; max-width: 80%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><svg class="dcr-scql1j" style="fill: var(--pullquote-icon);" viewbox="0 0 22 14"><path d="M5.255 0h4.75c-.572 4.53-1.077 8.972-1.297 13.941H0C.792 9.104 2.44 4.53 5.255 0Zm11.061 0H21c-.506 4.53-1.077 8.972-1.297 13.941h-8.686c.902-4.837 2.485-9.411 5.3-13.941Z"></path></svg><blockquote class="dcr-zzndwp" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‘Human biodiversity’ is their euphemism for race science</blockquote><footer style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><cite style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kevin Bird of UC Davis</cite></footer></aside><div class="ad-slot-container ad-slot-container-2 offset-right ad-slot--offset-right ad-slot-container--offset-right" style="-webkit-box-pack: center; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; float: right; font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: medium; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; justify-content: center; line-height: inherit; margin: 12px -380px 12px auto; max-width: 300px; min-height: 553px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><div ad-label-text="Advertisement" aria-hidden="true" class="js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline2 ad-slot--rendered" data-google-query-id="COOazdCHjYQDFcCwOgUdl38Czg" data-label-show="true" data-link-name="ad slot inline2" data-name="inline2" id="dfp-ad--inline2" style="align-self: flex-start; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; flex: 1 1 0%; font: inherit; margin: 0px; min-height: 250px; padding: 0px; position: sticky; top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="ad-slot__content" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/world/article/ng_7__container__" style="border: 0pt none; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe allow="attribution-reporting" aria-label="Advertisement" data-google-container-id="6" data-integralas-id-2001c5ff-2da5-b14d-6336-fdea63f355c2="" data-load-complete="true" frameborder="0" height="250" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/world/article/ng_7" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/world/article/ng_7" scrolling="no" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" tabindex="0" title="3rd party ad content" width="300"></iframe></div></div></div><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">“Human biodiversity” gives its name to both a movement and a research paradigm that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/henry-harpending" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">describes as</a> the “latest iteration of a long tradition of scientific racism”.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Kevin Bird, a geneticist and a postdoctoral research fellow at UC Davis, said “‘human biodiversity’ is their euphemism for race science”, and added that “scientifically, Winegard has never done anything of note in this area”.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Winegard, a psychologist, was <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://archive.is/FQdSs" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">by his own account</a> fired by Ohio’s Marietta College in March 2020 after a seminar he gave to a research group at the University of Alabama attracted protests and coverage in student media.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">In that speech an audience member <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://archive.is/NEWa9" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">reportedly</a> said that Winegard told his listeners that “people in colder climates, because of differences in brain size, have more propensity for cooperation”.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Winegard has continued to write in this vein on Aporia up to the present. In a <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://archive.ph/QGfhF" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3 January article</a> on the site titled “Yes, we should talk about race differences”, he wrote: “Thus, we must be honest about race. And that means we begin by noting that in the United States (and elsewhere in the world), different races have different average levels of intelligence as measured by IQ tests (and other measures of cognitive ability).”</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">As proof of this claim, Winegard cites researchers including the late Richard Lynn – a <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/richard-lynn" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">white nationalist</a>, according to the SPLC – and the late Arthur Jensen, whom the SPLC <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/arthur-jensen" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">calls</a> “arguably the father of modern academic racism”.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">The Guardian emailed Winegard questions about Aporia, his role there and aspects of his previous controversies. He replied with one line: “Is Charles Darwin’s ‘The Descent of Man’ scientific racism?”</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Another Aporia editor, Noah Carl, has also been the subject of previous academic controversy.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Carl is a sociologist who in 2018 was <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/may/01/cambridge-university-college-dismisses-researcher-far-right-links-noah-carl" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">stripped of a postdoctoral fellowship</a> at Cambridge University after the college that appointed him discovered that alongside his more legitimate work in sociology, he had simultaneously been publishing scientific-racist articles in outlets notorious for peddling<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </strong>scientific racism.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">One of the outlets Carl published in, Mankind Quarterly, was founded “to make scientific racism respectable again”, according to the writer <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/18/race-science-on-the-rise-angela-saini" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Angela Saini</a>. It was for decades funded by the <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/pioneer-fund" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">white nationalist Pioneer Fund</a>, and the journal has been described as a “<a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Measured_Lies.html?id=ml59QgAACAAJ" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">cornerstone</a> of the scientific racism establishment”.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Another venue, OpenPsych, is a platform established by Emil OW Kirkegaard, a <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://archive.is/URqek" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">self-described eugenicist</a> who explicitly <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://archive.ph/U6qkt" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">advocates “race science”</a>, and who serves as a senior fellow at the Ulster Institute for Social Research (UISR), an organization once headed by Richard Lynn – the same researcher whose data led to Winegard’s retraction.</p><div class="ad-slot-container ad-slot-container-3 offset-right ad-slot--offset-right ad-slot-container--offset-right" style="-webkit-box-pack: center; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; float: right; font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: medium; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; justify-content: center; line-height: inherit; margin: 12px -380px 12px auto; max-width: 300px; min-height: 558px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><div ad-label-text="Advertisement" aria-hidden="true" class="js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline3 ad-slot--rendered" data-google-query-id="CLOD29OHjYQDFV-_OgUdVloLeA" data-label-show="true" data-link-name="ad slot inline3" data-name="inline3" id="dfp-ad--inline3" style="align-self: flex-start; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; flex: 1 1 0%; font: inherit; margin: 0px; min-height: 250px; padding: 0px; position: sticky; top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="ad-slot__content" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/world/article/ng_8__container__" style="border: 0pt none; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe allow="attribution-reporting" aria-label="Advertisement" data-google-container-id="7" data-integralas-id-c7225275-86e1-f7fb-bd45-f32dbbace035="" data-load-complete="true" frameborder="0" height="250" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/world/article/ng_8" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/world/article/ng_8" scrolling="no" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" tabindex="0" title="3rd party ad content" width="300"></iframe></div></div></div><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">For OpenPsych, where Carl has been a prolific contributor, he wrote in a 2016 paper that racial stereotypes are “reasonably accurate”.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Carl attended the eugenicist London Conference on Intelligence (LCI) at least twice, according to leaked programs from 2015 and 2016. The 2016 program quotes the 20th-century American psychologist Edward Thorndike on its cover: “Selective breeding can alter man’s capacity to learn, to keep sane, to cherish justice or to be happy.”</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Carl has continued to write on the same themes at Aporia. In <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://archive.ph/55Z1g" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">a November 2023</a> article titled “Surely liberals should support white nationalism?”, he concluded: “Is it odious to advocate ‘voluntary separation’ of the races? It’s odd, certainly, and doesn’t reflect my own view. But I wouldn’t call it odious.”</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">As well as publishing their own work, Aporia editors provide a platform for others’ articulations of scientific racism.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">This month, for example, Aporia published <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://archive.ph/jFovo" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">an article</a> by Peter Frost, “The Goldilocks zone between inbreeding and outbreeding”, which argues that “outbreeding” between humans who are too genetically distant from one another creates an increased risk of abnormal embryos.</p><aside class="dcr-1v594y3" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 3px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.15; margin: 14px 0px; max-width: 80%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><svg class="dcr-scql1j" style="fill: var(--pullquote-icon);" viewbox="0 0 22 14"><path d="M5.255 0h4.75c-.572 4.53-1.077 8.972-1.297 13.941H0C.792 9.104 2.44 4.53 5.255 0Zm11.061 0H21c-.506 4.53-1.077 8.972-1.297 13.941h-8.686c.902-4.837 2.485-9.411 5.3-13.941Z"></path></svg><blockquote class="dcr-zzndwp" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;">All of these ideas have been debunked over and over again.</blockquote><footer style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><cite style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Heidi Beirich of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism</cite></footer></aside><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">The argument rests in part on data collected in a 1929 study, “Race crossing in Jamaica”, published by Charles Davenport, which it introduces blandly as “a Jamaican study”, and treats as neutral and reliable.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Davenport, however, was a prominent American eugenicist at the time when eugenics was informing public policy in the United States and beyond, leading to the passage of the restrictive Immigration Act of 1924, and contributing to programs of forced sterilization in 30 states, some of which persisted into the 1960s.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Davenport wrote that “race intermingling” – including the “mixing of European races” – was a danger to American society, and also that “a hybridized people are a badly put together people and a dissatisfied, restless, ineffective people”.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Of Frost’s article, Bird, the geneticist, said it was “old school race science”.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">For Andrew Winston, a professor emeritus of psychology at Canada’s University of Guelph and a longtime critic of the encroachment of scientific racism in the field, such nods to eugenics reflect a historical pattern.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">“This kind of race science keeps coming back into the mainstream, gets criticized heavily, and then diminishes it for a bit, perhaps, and then returns in some new form, depending on the general social context,” he said.</p><div class="ad-slot-container ad-slot-container-4 offset-right ad-slot--offset-right ad-slot-container--offset-right" style="-webkit-box-pack: center; 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top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="ad-slot__content" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/world/article/ng_9__container__" style="border: 0pt none; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe allow="attribution-reporting" aria-label="Advertisement" data-google-container-id="8" data-integralas-id-ed1c46bf-c708-59a1-fabb-79586af1d3ba="" data-load-complete="true" frameborder="0" height="250" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/world/article/ng_9" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/world/article/ng_9" scrolling="no" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" tabindex="0" title="3rd party ad content" width="300"></iframe></div></div></div><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Beirich, the extremism expert, said: “All of these ideas have been debunked over and over again. The danger here is that eugenics and scientific racism have been historically used to justify terrible acts including genocide.”</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Other recent articles on Aporia include Winegard’s “The case for race realism”, which <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://archive.ph/xBARg" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">reasserts</a> that “underlying race differences in measured cognitive ability and violent crime … make large outcome disparities inevitable”; an article by Gregory Conner, a retired professor of finance, which argues for innate racial differences in intelligence; and two articles arguing high IQ among Jews has a basis in their genetics.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Aporia also publishes a podcast, which featured Rufo as a guest on 4 August, during which he took the opportunity to discuss his newly published book.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Like the journal, the podcast has otherwise featured proponents of eugenics and scientific racism.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Its 1 January episode, for example, featured a debate between Charles Murray and Helmuth Nyborg on the topic “are multicultural societies doomed?”</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Charles Murray – a white nationalist according to the the SPLC – has been the center of repeated controversy since 1994, when his book The Bell Curve argued that class differences in the United States are determined by IQ. Critics at the time <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1994/12/01/the-tainted-sources-of-the-bell-curve/" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">pointed out</a> that Murray and his co-author, Richard J Herrnstein, had drawn extensively on Richard Lynn and other authors at Mankind Quarterly.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Helmuth Nyborg is a Danish psychologist who was suspended and reinstated in 2006 as a professor at the University of Aarhus over his research linking gender and intelligence, and in 2017 he spoke to the white nationalist American Renaissance conference.</p><aside class="dcr-1v594y3" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 3px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.5rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.15; margin: 14px 0px; max-width: 80%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><svg class="dcr-scql1j" style="fill: var(--pullquote-icon);" viewbox="0 0 22 14"><path d="M5.255 0h4.75c-.572 4.53-1.077 8.972-1.297 13.941H0C.792 9.104 2.44 4.53 5.255 0Zm11.061 0H21c-.506 4.53-1.077 8.972-1.297 13.941h-8.686c.902-4.837 2.485-9.411 5.3-13.941Z"></path></svg><blockquote class="dcr-zzndwp" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s not surprising to find that a person who is playing footsie with eugenicists is also happy to attack diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education</blockquote><footer style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><cite style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Heidi Beirich of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism</cite></footer></aside><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">In the Aporia podcast, Nyborg claimed to adduce scientific arguments against immigration and multiculturalism, saying at one point that “the more genetically inhomogeneous a population is, the more critical it becomes in terms of social unrule, or what you’ll call that social disturbance, criminality and so on”.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">In the episode published immediately after Rufo’s interview, Winegard interviewed Steve Sailer, a blogger and founder of the Human Biodiversity Institute who has been <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/how-to-cover-hate.php" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">described</a> as a white supremacist.</p><div class="ad-slot-container ad-slot-container-5 offset-right ad-slot--offset-right ad-slot-container--offset-right" style="-webkit-box-pack: center; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; float: right; font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: medium; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; justify-content: center; line-height: inherit; margin: 12px -380px 12px auto; max-width: 300px; min-height: 289.156px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><div ad-label-text="Advertisement" aria-hidden="true" class="js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline5 ad-slot--rendered" data-google-query-id="CI6jgtaHjYQDFYxdCAQddQAJKQ" data-label-show="true" data-link-name="ad slot inline5" data-name="inline5" id="dfp-ad--inline5" style="align-self: flex-start; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; flex: 1 1 0%; font: inherit; margin: 0px; min-height: 250px; padding: 0px; position: sticky; top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="ad-slot__content" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/world/article/ng_10__container__" style="border: 0pt none; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe allow="attribution-reporting" aria-label="Advertisement" data-google-container-id="9" data-integralas-id-d0fc1a7a-b8b0-759c-b8a4-a781551e6ac7="" data-load-complete="true" frameborder="0" height="250" id="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/world/article/ng_10" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/world/article/ng_10" scrolling="no" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; height: 250px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 300px;" tabindex="0" title="3rd party ad content" width="300"></iframe></div></div></div><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">On Rufo’s recommending the site to his readers, Bird said: “There’s nothing legitimate on biology or evolution or genetics that’s really been published by anyone at Aporia,” adding: “Pointing people towards that is pointing them toward unambiguous white supremacist propaganda and nonsense.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">“There’s nothing of value there. There’s nothing that resembles real mainstream science. There’s nothing that resembles real discussions happening in the field. It can’t be anything other than racist propaganda.”</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Beirich said of Rufo’s links that “it’s not surprising to find that a person who is playing footsie with eugenicists is also happy to attack diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education or a Black president of Harvard”.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">By linking to Aporia and appearing on its podcast, she said: “Rufo is helping to bring back this despicable material and mainstreaming it.”</p><footer class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span data-dcr-style="bullet" style="background-color: #c70000; border-radius: 50%; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; content: ""; display: inline-block; font: inherit; height: 13px; margin: 0px 0.2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 13px;"></span> This article was amended on 31 January 2024. Marietta College is in Ohio, not Georgia.</p></footer><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p></div></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-85984523828437092062024-02-02T11:38:00.007-06:002024-02-02T13:24:53.068-06:00When Professors’ Speech Is Disqualifying, The New Republic<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>In AAUP, there is a tension between the collective rights of faculty to discipline one another such as through the tenure process and the individual rights of a faculty member to free expression. </b></span><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">It's therefore important for us to make a distinction between academic freedom and free speech. </b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>A wrinkle addressed by </b></span><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Michael </b><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Berube and Jennifer Ruth is a lack of distinction between speech that is of "high-value," and conversely, speech that is of "low value" because it is not based on expertise. I do like this distinction, by the way, when evaluating statements that faculty make because the hammer doesn't need to come down on faculty when they, like others in the public domain, myself included, express an opinion. As a blogger, I am conscientious about high-value speech by focusing on topics that do align to my area of expertise, even as I give myself permission to grow and expand to various other—typically adjacent—areas that I choose to explore.</b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>This very topic of professors' speech has interested me, for example, over the past several years for reasons that should be obvious. I've read—and have had my students read—books on academic freedom and free speech and entertain your thoughts and opinions on the matter.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Authors Berube and Ruth take issue with the idea that there are both sides to any issue and that this reflects a stance of impartiality with respect to either side with the idea that what you have to do is teach both sides of an issue. So much of the conversation around critical race theory is happening exactly with this framing. Academic freedom is speech that is based on one's expertise, the kind of speech that is specific to universities. Not all opinions are equal, nor are there necessarily moral equivalencies across two sides of an issue. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Since faculties' academic freedom needs protection, the authors recommend the establishment of "Academic Freedom Committees" that would consist of "field-appropriate" review panels, for example, in the social sciences, humanities, and the like. Moreover, faculties' studied positions should be autonomous from legislators, donors, and the courts. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>I'm still processing this. We need a healthy dialogue around such matters.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>-Angela Valenzuela</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 11.2px;"><span class="s1" style="letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/165649/professors-speech-disqualifying"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">When Professors’ Speech Is Disqualifying</span></a></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 11.2px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span class="s2" style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><a href="https://newrepublic.com/authors/michael-berube%22%20%5Co%20%22Michael%20B%C3%A9rub%C3%A9">Michael Bérubé</a></span>, <a href="https://newrepublic.com/authors/jennifer-ruth%22%20%5Co%20%22Jennifer%20Ruth"><span class="s2">Jennifer Ruth </span></a>/March 21, 2022</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbMVp5TYokWvfjYADLmmWANmX3VbPGUHXTTsTVvUn_sHwwUythNRsMUTPujRsNW-OsmO1GTmlDFe2cXF2anNlQ_5DpIjj0cmM6SBTHuvg_-6s286v116572wtx6iXewgdaIJCnkHOKIfAwa7t30UAq72aMdJoZVB8-5gdEg_qcpITNJmfzdJA/s2712/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-14%20at%207.44.05%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1320" data-original-width="2712" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbMVp5TYokWvfjYADLmmWANmX3VbPGUHXTTsTVvUn_sHwwUythNRsMUTPujRsNW-OsmO1GTmlDFe2cXF2anNlQ_5DpIjj0cmM6SBTHuvg_-6s286v116572wtx6iXewgdaIJCnkHOKIfAwa7t30UAq72aMdJoZVB8-5gdEg_qcpITNJmfzdJA/w497-h242/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-14%20at%207.44.05%20PM.png" width="497" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s3" style="letter-spacing: -0.3px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Should academic freedom really protect those who make false and morally repellent claims? It’s time for a rethink.</span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="letter-spacing: -0.2px;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">Does academic freedom protect professors espousing white supremacist ideas?</span><span class="s3" style="letter-spacing: -0.3px;"> </span><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">The answer, for the past hundred-and-more years since the founding of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in 1915, has been yes. This is a disturbing realization for anyone who thinks of academic freedom as one of the cornerstones of a free and open society—and who understands how profoundly it is threatened by Republican state legislatures trying to criminalize the teaching of critical race theory (CRT). Also disturbing is the fact that, over the past decade, the concept of academic freedom has been confused—sometimes innocently, sometimes not—with free speech. The result is that even while pusillanimous university administrators <a href="https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/usc-professor-slur/%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">remove</span></a> a professor from his class for using a Chinese term that sounds like the N-word, <i>seriously</i> racist work continues to enjoy protection on the grounds that academic freedom is co-extensive with free speech, and scholars like University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax can <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/7/23/20679172/amy-wax-white-national-conservatism-yoram-hazony-racism%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">call for</span></a> a “cultural distance nationalism” whose core belief is that “our country will be better off with more whites and fewer non-whites.” Indeed, in Wax’s case, this strange idea of academic freedom has permitted her to make claims<b> </b>in public, in a 2017 <a href="https://abovethelaw.com/2018/03/professor-declares-black-students-rarely-graduate-in-the-top-half-of-law-school-class/%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">interview</span></a> with Glenn Loury, about the academic achievements of Black law students at Penn that her own dean characterized as “false.”*</span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" style="letter-spacing: -0.3px;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Wax did not emerge entirely unscathed; she was <a href="https://abovethelaw.com/2018/03/amy-wax-relieved-of-her-1l-teaching-duties-after-bald-faced-lying-about-black-students/%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">removed</span></a> from required first-year law classes, and her misrepresentations of Penn’s Black students were repudiated by her dean. But she remains on the faculty, and she remains a hero on the right and a cause célèbre for libertarians; in 2018, Penn trustee emeritus and law school overseer Paul S. Levy actually <a href="https://www.thedp.com/article/2018/04/amy-wax-board-of-trustees-paul-levy-penn-law-upenn-pennsylvania-upenn-gutmann-resignation%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">resigned in protest</span></a> over Penn’s decision to remove Wax from those required first-year courses, writing to then-President Amy Gutmann that the decision effectively suppresses “open, robust, and critical debate over differing views of important social issues.”</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span class="s3" style="letter-spacing: -0.3px;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">And then there is the curious case of Bruce Gilley, a colleague of Jennifer Ruth’s at Portland State University. Gilley made a name for himself as the author of <a href="https://www.nas.org/academic-questions/31/2/the_case_for_colonialism%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">the article</span></a> “THE CASE FOR COLONIALISM,” whose publication by the journal <i>Third World Quarterly</i> in 2017 led to considerable controversy. He has emphatically doubled down since, giving a talk to the German far-right AfD Party about the glories of their colonial past. In 2019, publishing on the website of the National Association of Scholars, he asked, “Was it Good Fortune to be Enslaved by the British Empire?” His <a href="https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/was-it-good-fortune-of-being-enslaved-by-the-british-empire%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">answer is yes</span></a>: “To be Black in America is, historically speaking, to have hit the jackpot.” “For those who came ashore at Jamestown and in the centuries that followed,” Gilley concludes, “being enslaved under the British empire was about as good as it got.” On Twitter, he refers to George Floyd as a “thug” and King Leopold II, whose brutal practices in the Congo Free State resulted in an estimated 10 million deaths, as a “hero.” In a June 30, 2020, tweet, Gilley wrote that the Belgians <a href="https://twitter.com/BruceDGilley/status/1278163382978240512?s=20&amp;t=OH5EXSksRlAH8gkZK_EUUg%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">should apologize</span></a> to Congo, not for the murder of 10 million Congolese, but for</span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">*not colonizing the King’s estates sooner<br />*ending colonial rule despite mainstream Congolese opposition to independence<br />*not arresting or killing Patrice Lumumba sooner<br />And nothing else.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">These remarks are of course protected by the First Amendment. Whether they are also protected by academic freedom is the trickier question—and it is the one we want to ask. The American concept of academic freedom is distinctive insofar as it covers not only research and teaching but also “extramural utterances”—statements beyond research and teaching, including Twitter and podcasts. The idea is that no professor gives up their First Amendment rights as a citizen when they take an academic position. And ever since the infamous Leo Koch case at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1960, in which Koch was fired for writing a letter to the student paper arguing that students should engage in premarital sex, the AAUP has consistently held that faculty should not be fired for extramural speech unless that speech calls into question a professor’s fitness to serve. Ordinarily, that speech has to bear directly on the faculty member’s field of study. The idea is that a historian who is a Holocaust denier is obviously unfit, whereas an electrical engineer who is a Holocaust denier is just a crank. This position makes perfect sense, though few people realize that it entails the unsettling corollary that professors enjoy <i>greater</i> protection for extramural speech when they have no idea what they’re talking about than for speech within the areas of their research and teaching.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">So how does this principle guide us with professors espousing white supremacist ideas and defenses of colonialism and slavery when they claim to be speaking and writing on the basis of their scholarly expertise?</span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">When Gilley compares BLM “criminals” to the Red Guards of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, his First Amendment rights protect him. But that’s not the same thing as saying that his claims have the protection of academic freedom.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">He is not, after all, platforming as an ordinary citizen; he’s doing it, as he says in a <a href="https://twitter.com/BruceDGilley/status/1273059869424156672?s=20&t=9ZkUskK7fCqerTB7OeK%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">tweet</span></a> on June 16, 2020, “based on my knowledge of Mao’s politics.” This is critical. For here he is saying that his extramural commentary is manifestly an extension of what he considers his area of expertise—the history and politics of various regimes. He’s not staking his rights to this speech on the First Amendment, but on his claim to expertise as a scholar of political science.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Professors like Gilley provoke the question: If we are renaming a college that honors John C. Calhoun (as Yale <a href="https://news.yale.edu/2017/02/11/yale-change-calhoun-college-s-name-honor-grace-murray-hopper-0%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">did</span></a> in 2017) and taking Woodrow Wilson’s name off a School of Public and International Affairs (as Princeton <a href="https://paw.princeton.edu/article/princeton-renames-wilson-school-and-residential-college-citing-former-presidents-racism%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">did</span></a> in 2020), why are we not rethinking academic freedom for racists? If Princeton were to say, for example, “We are removing Woodrow Wilson’s name from the School of Public and International Affairs, but we will continue to employ and support faculty members who share Wilson’s beliefs about race and eugenics,” surely one would be right to dismiss the renaming as a purely symbolic public relations gesture involving no substantial reckoning with the legacy of eugenics and white supremacy. A more honest and thorough reckoning would ask whether those beliefs have any legitimacy whatsoever, and, if not, why they should continue to be promoted with the imprimatur of a university rather than relegated to the “race realist” fever swamp of the Pioneer Fund.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Most discussions of “free speech on campus” don’t really concern academic freedom; rather, they tend to involve arguments that “<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-gets-canceled-college-university-ideology-campus-woke-11634680080%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">cancel culture</span></a>” and “<a href="https://www.deseret.com/2021/8/30/22643455/welcome-to-woke-university-cancel-culture-campus-speakers-shouted-down-political-protest-college%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">wokeness</span></a>” are making it impossible for Charles Murray to get a hearing for what are almost always disingenuously called “controversial ideas.” But some ideas don’t deserve a hearing, and one of the primary roles of the university is to distinguish between those that do—and should continue to be explored and built upon—and those that should not be seriously entertained by any legitimate institution of higher education. Conflating free speech with academic freedom obscures this basic truth.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Regrettably, the AAUP itself has contributed to this conflation—in its 1994 statement, “On Freedom of Expression and Campus Speech Codes,” which concludes with the <a href="https://www.aaup.org/report/freedom-expression-and-campus-speech-codes%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">ringing words</span></a>, “Free speech is not simply an aspect of the educational enterprise to be weighed against other desirable ends. It is the very precondition of the academic enterprise itself.” The political pressures of the 1990s remain legible today: The AAUP’s response to the advent of speech codes was not merely a response to the advent of speech codes, but to the broader phenomenon of “political correctness” as allegedly instantiated by those speech codes. For us, however, those ringing words ring false. To be sure, some version of free speech is indispensable to the academic enterprise: Universities must be intellectually autonomous from the state, and faculty members intellectually autonomous from university administrators, trustees, and donors. That is the rock on which the AAUP is founded. Students, for their part, may not enjoy academic freedom in the way that faculty do, but must be free to pursue and to contribute to their education in any manner that does not violate or jeopardize the educational mission of the university.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Astonishingly, however, the statement argues that universities violate or jeopardize their mission if they try to adjudicate between good and bad ideas:</span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">An institution of higher learning fails to fulfill its mission if it asserts the power to proscribe ideas—and racial or ethnic slurs, sexist epithets, or homophobic insults almost always express ideas, however repugnant. Indeed, by proscribing any ideas, a university sets an example that profoundly disserves its academic mission.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The “ideas” expressed by slurs and insults are typically limited to the literal terms of the utterance itself. But even more mistaken is the statement’s insistence that “by proscribing any ideas, a university sets an example that profoundly disserves its academic mission.” This dogmatic proscription of proscription suffuses the document, and it is nothing short of bizarre. It manifestly defaults on one of the primary responsibilities of institutions of higher education. “A college or university,” it claims, “sets a perilous course if it seeks to differentiate between high-value and low-value speech.” On the contrary, it is one of the primary functions of a college or university, if not <i>the </i>primary function, to distinguish between high-value and low-value speech. This is what professors do every time they grade student papers, write student recommendations, evaluate the work of their colleagues (especially for tenure and promotion), or participate in routine committee work. What is the intellectual mission of the university, we wonder, if it abandons the obligation to exercise critical judgment about the comparative value of different speech acts?</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">That abnegation of critical judgment is the most important feature of the 1994 statement. It is announced in the document’s short, emphatic second paragraph, which reads like a pull quote for the statement as a whole (and has often been cited that way): “On a campus that is free and open, no idea can be banned or forbidden. No viewpoint or message may be deemed so hateful or disturbing that it may not be expressed.” This may be the case when it comes to students; that’s what they are there for—to test out their thoughts and ideas and develop them. But one wonders why professors would be so allergic to the idea that some ideas have no place on their campuses—say, ideas that climate change is a hoax, that creationism is as legitimate as the theory of evolution, that phrenology has much to teach us, that vaccines cause autism, that Jews control the world banking system and the mass media, or that—as liberal lion Oliver Wendell Holmes once argued—the state has a perfectly legitimate interest in promoting the <a href="https://disabilityjustice.org/right-to-self-determination-freedom-from-involuntary-sterilization/%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">involuntary</span></a> sterilization of people with intellectual disabilities.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">At stake here is whether American universities can serve democracy, as they should, without turning into places where anything goes and knowledge is determined by those with the most money or the loudest voices. In <a href="https://bookshop.org/books/democracy-expertise-and-academic-freedom-a-first-amendment-jurisprudence-for-the-modern-state/9780300192490%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><i>Democracy, Expertise, and Academic Freedom: A First Amendment Jurisprudence for the Modern State</i></span></a>, Yale law professor Robert C. Post distinguishes “democratic legitimation,” which is why we have the First Amendment, from “democratic competence,” which is why we have universities and academic freedom. As he <a href="https://bostonreview.net/articles/robert-post-democracy-expertise-academic-freedom-first-amendment/%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">explained</span></a> in a 2012 interview, he developed these terms after realizing “that First Amendment protections can function to debase knowledge into mere opinion and thereby to undercut the very political conversation that the First Amendment otherwise fosters.” Democratic legitimation, he writes, “requires that the speech of all persons be treated with toleration and equality.” Democratic competence, by contrast, “requires that speech be subject to a disciplinary authority that distinguishes good ideas from bad ones.” How to reconcile the two? Post concludes that we must understand academic freedom to be based on democratic competence but not on democratic legitimation. Democratic competence—the knowledge and insight made available to society through its universities that are based on study and knowledge and not reducible to mere opinion or viewpoint—can be ensured when academic freedom, not free speech, is the ruling principle: Universities must be “free to evaluate scholarly speech based upon its content.”</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Universities are thus critical institutions in democratic countries because the work they perform—discriminating between opinion or propaganda on the one hand and reasoned argument on the other—inhibits the development of alternate realities rooted in power and special interests. Why, then, has it been so easy and tempting for everyone to treat academic freedom as a synonym for free speech? For two reasons, we suspect. One, “expertise,” some conception of which is integral to academic freedom, is in bad odor these days, for some good and some bad reasons. Two, the idea of “competence” pales next to the triumphant rhetoric of free speech—the idea that everyone has a right to speak their mind. According to Post, while “it is not intelligible to believe that all ideas are equal,” Americans gravitate to free speech over the cognitive ideal embedded in academic freedom because “Americans are committed to the equality of persons,” and “the deep egalitarian dimension of the First Amendment resonates far more with this ethical value than with any cognitive ideal.”</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Post is probably right about this—with the proviso that not <i>all</i> Americans are committed to the equality of persons, and that the conflict between those who are and those who are not has been central to the country’s legacy of racism. Acknowledging this reality—even in states where it is now illegal to acknowledge that legacy in schools—is the first step toward ensuring that white supremacist beliefs do not regain the academic legitimacy they enjoyed for so many years.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">We didn’t choose to write about the problem of white supremacist professors simply because of the rise of Trumpism and the vicious backlash against BLM and CRT. Those are factors, to be sure. But the larger problem, which theorists of academic freedom have yet to confront, is that white supremacism has a very long and deeply entrenched history in American higher education. It was for many years the dominant strain of historiography in the United States, <a href="https://columbiaandslavery.columbia.edu/content/william-archibald-dunning-father-historiographic-racism-columbias-legacy-academic-jim-crow%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">inaugurated</span></a> by Columbia professor William Archibald Dunning in the late nineteenth century and carried on by his legions of students for generations. The Dunning School was, in effect, the intellectual arm of the neo-Confederate, white supremacist movement that continued to prosecute the Civil War—with great success. The <a href="https://64parishes.org/entry/carpetbaggers-and-scalawags%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">derogatory and heavily laden terms</span></a> “carpetbagger” (for Northerners who came to the South for political or economic reasons) and “scalawag” (for Southerners who supported Reconstruction) made their way into countless American history textbooks, and there was an entire cottage industry devoted specifically to besmirching the record and the person of President Ulysses S. Grant. The archive of the Dunning School is impressively large, and impressively influential. It was, in effect, the academic accomplice to Jim Crow.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Nor is the Dunning School itself anomalous in the history of American academe. As scholars of literature, we can add that the field of American literary study, from its origins in the 1920s, was almost exclusively an all-white affair as well, and remained so until the 1980s. For much of the first half of the twentieth century, the work produced in elite universities, in many fields, was either complicit with or actively engaged in promoting the projects of white supremacy. Again, Columbia University provides a shining example: John W. Burgess, whose influential two-volume 1890 work, <i>Political Science and Comparative Constitutional Law</i>, assured a generation and more of theorists and policymakers that “the highest talent for political organization has been exhibited by the Aryan nations” and that “Teutons” (by which he meant Anglo Americans, Germans, and Scandinavians) rule by right over their inferiors: “In a state whose population is composed of a variety of nationalities the Teutonic element, when dominant, should never surrender the balance of political power, either in general or local organization, to the other elements. Under certain circumstances it should not even permit participation of the other elements in political power.” Burgess is often considered to be among the scholars responsible for establishing political science as a discipline.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">So for those of us living and working in academe today, what is to be done? Are we to retroactively cancel William Dunning, John Burgess, and all their epigones, firing them posthumously and removing their books from the libraries? Of course not. Like D.W. Griffith’s <i>The Birth of a Nation</i> and Thomas Dixon’s <i>The Clansman</i>, the novel on which the groundbreaking film was based, they are part of the legacy of American white supremacy just as surely as Black disenfranchisement, persecution, and lynching. We need to acknowledge that today and continue to study its implications, not cancel it. But we also need to say, after 250 years of slavery and another 150 of systemic racism in American life, that <i>enough is enough</i>. White supremacist scholarship is bad scholarship; it serves morally and politically repugnant ends; and though we can’t wish its legacy away, we can and should say that it has long outlived its expiration date. Like Holocaust denial by historians of Germany, it needs to be understood as a sign of unfitness that needs to be assessed by a panel of disciplinary peers.</span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">We need to say, after 250 years of slavery and another 150 of systemic racism in American life, that <i>enough is enough</i>. White supremacist scholarship is bad scholarship; it serves morally and politically repugnant ends; and though we can’t wish its legacy away, we can and should say that it has long outlived its expiration date.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Let us be clear about where we are setting the bar. We are not saying that widely held political positions on the right, like opposition to affirmative action or immigration, are grounds for determining a faculty member’s unfitness. Affirmative action and immigration are subjects about which there can be legitimate political disagreement. But the assertion that Black people are biologically or culturally less capable of self-government than others is qualitatively different—and disqualifying. Versions of that belief have poisoned so-called Western culture for more than 500 years, and arguably reached an apex in the early twentieth century, when pseudoscientific racism laid the groundwork for eugenics and genocide. It is past time for them to go the way of beliefs in phlogiston, the philosopher’s stone, and the efficacy of human sacrifice—beliefs that every American is free to espouse but no one would defend on the basis of academic freedom.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">So, this brings us to the money question: Amy Wax <a href="https://www.the"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">made headlines</span></a> again in early 2022, this time for complaining that there are <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/penn-l"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">too many Asians</span></a> in the country. In response, Keith E. Whittington, professor of politics at Princeton, <a href="https://academicfreedom.org/afa-sends-letter-to-penn-on-amy-wax-ca"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">rushed to her defense</span></a>, as he has before—this time under the aegis of the newly formed Academic Freedom Alliance. “Wax should suffer no formal consequences as the result of these public statements,” Whittington wrote. “Regardless of what one thinks about Professor Wax’s personal political views, the only appropriate action that the University of Pennsylvania should take in this situation is to publicly reaffirm the free speech rights of the members of its faculty.” The idea, once again, is that academic freedom is identical with free speech, and that accordingly, <i>nothing</i> a professor says can be considered grounds for “formal consequences.”</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">To be sure, professors should not be fired simply for obnoxious beliefs. But if those beliefs demonstrate unfitness—professional incompetence—then they are grounds not merely for criticism but dismissal. Incompetence has <i>always</i> been the criterion, as it should be; and while the AAUP has rightly insisted that the bar for determining unfitness must be very high, surely it is not so high that it disappears from view altogether. Occasionally, faculty do face consequences for espousing beliefs with no tether to any plausible reality known to humankind; James Tracy at Florida Atlantic University and Joy Karega at Oberlin College are two recent examples. Tracy was a communications scholar and a Sandy Hook truther who made a point of <a href="https://www.sun-senti"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">tormenting</span></a> the grieving parents of children murdered in that massacre; Karega was a professor of rhetoric and composition who promoted a panoply of antisemitic <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/11/16/oberlin-fires-joy-karega-following-investigation-her-anti-semitic-statements-social%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">conspiracy theories</span></a>, including the claims that ISIS is a CIA/Mossad front and that the 2015 Islamist attack on the Paris offices of <i>Charlie Hebdo</i> was in fact a false flag operation conducted by Israel. Both were rightly determined to be in the ballpark of Holocaust-denying historians (though Tracy was technically fired for insubordination).</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">But who gets to decide unfitness, and how is due process ensured? The AAUP has always been resolute in its conviction that only one’s peers can decide one’s fitness. An engineer does not review a literary critic for promotion and tenure; only other literary critics do. A Republican governor does not decide what political scientists determine should be in their curricula. Furthermore, administrators are supposed to defer to the mechanisms of peer review. But when it comes to dealing with allegedly racist faculty, there is no system of peer review whatsoever—and so decisions are handed by default to administration, and procedures are opaque if not Kafkaesque.</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">We therefore call on faculty senates across the country to develop “academic freedom committees” comprising faculty elected to adjudicate cases by establishing field-appropriate review panels in the physical sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Some senates have standing committees with “academic freedom” as their charge already; their jurisdiction should be enlarged to ensure that cases of disciplinary incompetence can be brought to them and panels created by them. Faculty at institutions with strong traditions of shared governance understand the power of universitywide faculty committees, but they may harbor doubts about such committees nonetheless. The vast majority of faculty do not labor under the illusion that some <i>other</i> body, one not made up of one’s peers, is gifted with a degree of clarity and insight that eludes faculty, but they still have reason to wonder if we can trust one another. We understand that we, the faculty, lose academic freedom the moment we search for recourse in any authority but our own.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">But then again, who are <i>we</i>? <i>We</i> exist in the same typically predominantly white institutions that have housed white nationalists and Western chauvinists for years. <i>We</i> are the people who have been unable or unwilling to integrate what Black intellectuals from George Washington Williams to Charles W. Mills have repeatedly pointed out about the structural racism that is baked into higher education no less than it is in democracy itself. <i>We</i> are also the people who jealously guard any apparent infringement on absolute autonomy, willing to protect those we abhor if we think it makes our own protection more invincible.</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Yes, the faculty are still dominated by a “we” for whom largely libertarian defenses of academic freedom remain persuasive. <i>But only by a slight margin</i>. These traditional defenders for whom free speech and academic freedom are synonymous have grown increasingly alarmed by what they interpret to be the younger generation’s ignorance regarding academic freedom’s purpose and importance. This is the generation that will populate and direct academic freedom committees—and the same signs that worry free-speech absolutists and those who conflate free speech with academic freedom are the ones that give us hope. There is much more to be said on this question of the emergent values of the next cohort of academics, of course, and much that remains unclear. But we cannot look outside the university for the help we need to solve a problem specific to universities; and academic freedom, unlike free speech, is specific to universities. And we believe we need to do something. We will offer one last example of why.</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">In July 2020, Lawrence M. Mead, a professor of politics and public policy at NYU, published an essay in the journal <i>Society</i> titled “POVERTY AND CULTURE.” The article immediately <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/07/28/leading-voice-welfare-reform-accused-racism%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">sparked controversy</span></a> and calls for its retraction, on the grounds that its argument was not only overtly racist but utterly unsupported by scholarship on poverty. There is no question, we think, that the argument is racist. The really challenging and daunting thing about it, however, is that it is not an outlier, and not unsupported by other scholarship. On the contrary, it draws on decades of white supremacist work in the social sciences, including much of Mead’s prior work.</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The thesis is simple and familiar: Poverty is not, by and large, caused by structural oppression, historical and compounded inequities, or racism. It is caused primarily by cultural differences, by which Mead means the enterprising individualist culture of “the West” and the collective, less-than-enterprising cultures of the “non-West”: “Today, the seriously poor are mostly blacks and Hispanics, and the main reason is cultural difference. The great fact is that these groups did not come from Europe.... Their native stance toward life is much more passive than the American norm.” Mead argues that the non-West is the source of “minorities”: “the West has simply chosen a more ambitious way of life than the non-West, where minorities originate.... An enterprising temperament, historians suggest, chiefly explains why the West has dominated the globe in recent centuries.” You will not be surprised to learn that there is no footnote to indicate which “historians” have suggested this. But you might be surprised to learn that Hispanics—who, last we checked, came to the Americas from Spain—are part of the “non-West” in which minorities originate.</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">If the relegation of Hispanics to the non-West were not bad enough, Mead treats his readers to some straight-up anti-Black racism, laced with a degree of ignorance that should embarrass anyone claiming the title of professor:</span></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Academics blame black social problems on white oppression. By that logic, the problems should have been worst prior to the civil rights reforms in the 1960s. But in fact the opposite occurred. The collapse of the black family occurred mostly <i>after</i> civil rights rather than before. Most blacks came from a highly collective society in Africa, then lived under slavery and Jim Crow in the South. Those structures kept disorder at a low level. In that era, black levels of crime and female-headedness were not much higher than among whites. But blacks lost that structure after many migrated to the Northern cities in the last century, and especially after Jim Crow was abolished in the 1960s. So black social problems escalated even as opportunities broadened.</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">One hardly knows where to begin. Should one point out that the Black family was all but nonexistent under slavery, insofar as marriage was illegal and children were routinely sold away from their mothers? Natal alienation would seem relevant to any historical understanding of the “Black family.” Or should one remark on the Gilley-esque implication that slavery and Jim Crow had benefits for Black families, by keeping “disorder at a low level”? Or should one stop and marvel at the culturally illiterate claim—again, embarrassing for anyone with the title of professor—that “Africa” is a highly collective society? It is surely but a half-step from there to the belief that Africa is a backward continent.</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Not long after Mead’s essay was published, Mohamad Bazzi, a professor of journalism at NYU, tweeted a series of screenshots of excerpts of what he called “this stunning article.” The tweets drew the attention of Timothy Burke, a historian and Africanist at Swarthmore who from 2002 to 2021 maintained a highly respected <a href="https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/blog/2021/06/14/still-distracted-but-not-here/%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">blog</span></a>, Easily Distracted (he has since moved, like so many other bloggers, to Substack). Burke proceeded to compose a nearly 3,500-word blog post <a href="https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/blog/2020/07/28/mucking-out-mead/%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">detailing</span></a> the numerous inaccuracies and failures of scholarship in Mead’s essay.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">What was especially striking about Burke’s response was his breakdown of the claim that Africa is a highly collective society, offering quick sketches of “Igbo-speaking communities in the Niger Delta/Cross River area between 1600–1800,” “Mande-speaking societies associated with the formation of the empire of Mali in the upper Niger and the savannah just west of the Niger,” the Asante Empire, and the Kingdom of Dahomey. “I’m going to be somewhat crudely comparative here,” Burke wrote, “but what I’m calling crude is essentially about ten magnitudes of sophistication above Mead’s crayon scrawling.”</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Burke’s post is dated July 28, 2020; the following day, an “editor’s note” appeared online at the head of Mead’s article, reading, “Concerns have been raised with this article and are being investigated. Further editorial action will be taken as appropriate once the investigation into the concerns is complete and all parties have been given an opportunity to respond in full.” (We do not mean to imply that Burke’s post alone was responsible for this note; the outcry sparked by Mead’s article was immediate, loud, and widespread.) Two days later, the editor in chief of <i>Society</i>, Jonathan B. Imber, Jean Glasscock Professor of Sociology at Wellesley College, together with Springer Nature, the publisher, <a href="https://group.springernature.com/gp/group/media/press-releases/springer-nature-statement-society-article/18232228%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">retracted</span></a> the article. Imber has since stepped down as editor in chief.</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">This regrettable sequence of events seems to us right and just, for as with Gilley’s “the case for colonialism,” the publication of “POVERTY AND CULTURE” appears to have rested on editorial judgment that is questionable at best, and certainly not in line with standard academic practice. As Imber explained in a statement, his decision “was a mistake, and one I deeply regret. My intent was to have this commentary published alongside two critical reviews of Mead’s 2019 book, <i>Burdens of Freedom</i>, on which Mead’s commentary is based, that identify flaws in Mead’s arguments. The decision was entirely my responsibility and no other member of the editorial board of <i>Society</i> was consulted or participated in that decision.” Mead, for his part, refused to agree to the retraction.</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">But the mention of Mead’s book <i>Burdens of Freedom: Cultural Difference and American Power</i> raises the larger question at stake. <i>Burdens of Freedom</i> was published by the conservative press Encounter Books, not by an academic press, but it testifies to the fact that for Mead, “POVERTY AND CULTURE” was not a one-off. Quite the contrary, the ideas in that essay are the foundation of Mead’s career; in fact, <i>Society</i> had recently published (in 2018) a substantially similar essay by Mead, “CULTURAL DIFFERENCE.” And Mead has been recycling this material for quite some time. Furthermore, it is not as if Mead is an obscure academic, quietly ruminating on why people of color lack individual initiative while whittling on his front porch; he is, by all accounts, one of the most influential voices in American public policy on welfare, having provided the intellectual apparatus for welfare “reform” in the 1990s as enacted by Rudolph Giuliani in New York City and (to some extent) President Clinton at the federal level.</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The problem with Mead, therefore, is not the narrow question of whether “POVERTY AND CULTURE” was properly peer reviewed. It is not even whether his account of poverty or his characterization of “African society” makes any sense. Timothy Burke understood the stakes immediately: When a work “is not only bad,” he wrote, “but makes morally and politically repellant [sic] claims, it’s right to not merely offer public criticism but to raise questions about why a respectable scholarly journal would offer a place to such work.”</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">There is no question, we believe, that Mead’s article makes morally and politically repellent claims, just as Gilley’s “THE CASE FOR COLONIALISM” and “Was it Good Fortune to be Enslaved by the British Empire?” do. As to the question of whether it is “bad” in a scholarly sense—well, yes, of course. It is very bad. But then that judgment is an indictment not merely of this essay but of the entire tradition of pseudoscholarship of which it is a part. “But wait,” you say. “This argument extends well beyond the kind of white supremacism you’re targeting, and you’re assuming that it will be adopted only by people you agree with. What if leftist pseudoscholarship were at stake? Wouldn’t you close ranks and invoke the very idea of academic freedom you’re critiquing here?”</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">No, we wouldn’t. Pseudoscholarship knows no party affiliation, and the arguments of Joy Karega and James Tracy should be subject to the same scrutiny we’re applying to Mead. As if to make our case for us, <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/mark-crispin-miller-neoliberalism-and-its-impacts-on-free-speech-education-and-democracy/%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">renowned</span></a> leftist media theorist Mark Crispin Miller has for many years offered an impressive array of “alternative” accounts of reality, from <a href="https://observer.com/2017/07/mark-crispin-miller-nyu-professor-conspiracy-theories/%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">9/11</span></a> and <a href="https://markcrispinmiller.com/2021/12/what-happened-at-sandy-hook-we-need-to-have-the-courts-adjudicate-that-question/%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">Sandy Hook</span></a> to the little-known “fact” that Black Lives Matter is <a href="https://www.thepressandthepublic.com/post/perspectives-on-the-pandemic-xviii%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">funded</span></a> by the CIA. In the era of Covid-19, Miller has turned the volume up to 11, <a href="https://markcrispinmiller.com/2020/08/covid-19-terror-ramped-up-just-as-the-virus-fades-away-how-else-to-get-the-masses-screaming-for-injection-with-that-rushed-inhuman-witchs-brew-of-nanoparticles-human-dna-from-fetal-cells-and-to/%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">proclaiming</span></a> that the vaccines are an “inhuman witch’s brew of nanoparticles, human DNA (from fetal cells), and toxic adjuvants” and warning all and sundry of the global eugenicist conspiracy being carried out by Bill Gates, George Soros, the Rockefellers, the House of Windsor, and Ted Turner.</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">If Miller is indeed teaching such material in his courses on Mass Persuasion and Propaganda, we think he should be treated identically to someone who tells students that <i>The Protocols of the Elders of Zion</i> is a reliable source. But instead, what happened to Miller at NYU was that in 2020 his colleagues called for an “<a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-professor-of-paranoia?bc_nonce=jmhidq2kcwgrymjv9zw1je&cid=reg_wall_signup%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">expedited review</span></a>” of his alleged “intimidation tactics, abuses of authority, aggressions and microaggressions, and explicit hate speech.” In 2021, Miller was <a href="https://markcrispinmiller.com/2022/01/mcm-on-nyu-covid-censorship-woke-lunacy-what-digital-technology-hath-wrought-and-more-in-conversation-with-eric-francis-coppolino/%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;">cleared</span></a>, and declared victory over the forces of woke oppression; he sued his colleagues for defamation, and that suit was dismissed in February of this year.</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">But there is a crucial question here. Mark Dery asked it in his <i>Chronicle of Higher Education</i> essay on Miller: “Why did his colleagues, in the letter that provoked his lawsuit, focus not on his seeming disregard for core academic values like intellectual rigor and objective fact, at a moment when the very notions are under assault, but rather his alleged ‘hate speech,’ ‘microaggressions,’ and transphobia?” The answer, we propose, is that NYU has an office and a procedure for dealing with hate speech, microaggressions, and transphobia. It does not have an office or a procedure for dealing with faculty whose teachings violate every standard of legitimate and responsible research. And so Mark Crispin Miller’s case was adjudicated by means of a category error, as if the real problem is his allegedly nasty attitude and transphobia rather than his manifestly falsifiable conspiracy-mongering.</span></span></p><p class="p6" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i>That</i> is why universities need academic freedom committees: to differentiate between professors’ high-value and low-value speech, and to determine whether a professor’s beliefs can be, at an extreme, disqualifying. That is how we can maintain the <i>academic</i> integrity of academic freedom.</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 15px 0px;"><span class="s4" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Excerpted and adapted primarily from Michael Bérubé and Jennifer Ruth’s <a href="https://bookshop.org/books/it-s-not-free-speech-race-democracy-and-the-future-of-academic-freedom/9781421443874%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span class="s5" style="letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><i>It’s Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom</i></span></a>. © 2022 Johns Hopkins University Press. Reprinted with permission of Johns Hopkins University Press.</span></span></p><p class="p8" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Michael Bérubé is an Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Literature at Penn State University.</span></p><p class="p8" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Jennifer Ruth is a professor of film studies at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.</span></p>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-59366902324638271962024-01-28T08:22:00.006-06:002024-01-28T08:54:43.716-06:00‘America Is Under Attack’: Inside the Anti-D.E.I. Crusade, by Nicholas Confessore, New York Times | January 20, 2024<p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">This attack against DEI is a totally work-shopped, strategic-planned, well-orchestrated, well-heeled attack, as laid bare by this <i>New York Times </i>investigation </span></b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>by Nicholas Confessore </b></span><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">that consists of Freedom of Information requests of those in the center of this extremist, anti-civil rights agenda. Their "observations" are sprinkled throughout the document and are well worth reading, but you do have to subscribe to the newspaper to read them. Spoiler alert. Here is a statement in just one exposed email:</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></b></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b> </b><em style="background-color: white; background-image: linear-gradient(to right, white 50%, transparent 50%), linear-gradient(transparent 10%, rgb(255, 255, 108) 20%); background-position: -100% 50%, -100% 50%; background-size: 200%; border: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.675); font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">America is under attack by a leftist revolution</em><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.675)" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><b> disguised as a plea for justice [...] This is, in fact, the goal: to produce swarms of anti-American zealots who will work to reshape the culture, customs, and political principles of the country, using strategies reminiscent of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution (</b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #121212;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Ryan P. Williams, President, Claremont Institute, Claremont, California).</b></span></span></blockquote><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.675)" style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b></b></span><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.675)" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;">THIS IS A LIE and it's SO OFF BASE that laughter was my initial response. Note: There are a bunch of other doozies, too.</span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.675)" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I'll not spoil it anymore for you. </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">🤭</span></span></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.675)" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">The irony is a strong critique that I and many others have had of our higher education institutions being so incredibly conservative. After all, higher education institutions are dominated by elites and the knowledge that is produced within them overwhelmingly reflects the interests and preferences of this very class! </span></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.675)" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">Ever heard of the term, the "Ivory Tower?" Exactly. Elitism is what that phrase means. Were this not the case, we as minoritized researchers and faculty—where we are woefully underrepresented—wouldn't be fighting from the margins for substantive inclusion in the higher education curriculum. Not that we've not made a modicum of progress, but rather that we are a far cry from a "leftist revolution."</span></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.675)" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">Moreover, to regard the left within academia as "</span><span style="background-color: white;">anti-American zealots" smacks of what we REALLY should be concerned about, namely, "</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Scare">Red Scare</a> politics," that this attack represents—with its scurrilous, irresponsible rhetoric with echoes of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism">McCarthyism</a>, and the late Sen. Joe McCarthy's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee">House Un-American Activities Committee</a>.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Moreover, these extremist think tanks, donors, politicians, and leaders hypocritically decry activism within academia while failing to own up to their own.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">And boy, are these folks activists, manifesting</span></b><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> a fear that makes them say ridiculous things that reveal their deep-seated anxieties.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> That's precisely what this <i>NYTimes </i>piece is about. If they weren't so dangerous, I'd feel sorry for them. A life filled with fearing the "other"—or "an-other"—that actually doesn't want to hurt you or take anything away from you sounds so unnecessarily hard of a life to live. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">From the diverse side of the anti-diversity equation, there is so much to appreciate, honor, and celebrate that these folks are willfully missing out on. The truth is obviously not all unicorns and rainbows, but as the Good Book says, the truth does set us free. </span></b><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Plus, they totally miss the mark of what a </span></b><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">21st-century, </span></b><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">world-class K-12 and higher education system could be, one that provides general uplift to all of God's creation.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Instead of seeking to engineer antagonistic perspectives toward </span></b><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">the "other"—or "an-other"—let's do what Jesus would do and discover love, caring, and compassion instead. Love vibrates at a higher level anyway, as opposed to hate-filled rhetoric that, by all indications,</span></b><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> won't motivate another generation. This is especially true if theirs is about repression through this raw exercise of power. What they propose isn't appealing and never will be.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">I wish I could cut and paste all the email comments that populate the <i>NY Times</i> interactive piece because they pull down the curtain on the current moment, revealing the cowering and conniving proverbial Wizard of Oz, together with the fear, resentment, and machinations that drive their behaviors and agenda. So pathetic. So sad. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">This <i>New York Times</i> article is a keeper. I'm sharing it with my students and everyone I know who could use a bit of clarity regarding what's afoot in higher education politics today.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">-Angela Valenzuela</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="color: #333333; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/20/us/dei-woke-claremont-institute.html"><span style="font-size: x-large;">‘America Is Under Attack’: Inside the Anti-D.E.I. Crusade </span></a></b></p><p class="p1" style="color: #333333; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="p1" style="color: #333333; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>By Nicholas Confessore, </b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">New York Times | January 20, 2024</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #333333; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><b></b></p><p class="p3" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyacfuyckwBLag1BcZaCRzOTgHINJTDTKEEaOtdicWjbidniETyvWC2M-jFu0orkNKFK5axv9FV6Sa1dAW-0IIAoFSQ7FF7T-3ETp4lN3kYq2L9bT-3x_zHUa6KbiQn6JppqjBgddnCoVVZ6QDDsoeMWCdj8eR6OWgxIaXdIH7gdryBUaiPuGiSA/s694/Screenshot%202024-01-27%20at%207.58.32%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="694" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyacfuyckwBLag1BcZaCRzOTgHINJTDTKEEaOtdicWjbidniETyvWC2M-jFu0orkNKFK5axv9FV6Sa1dAW-0IIAoFSQ7FF7T-3ETp4lN3kYq2L9bT-3x_zHUa6KbiQn6JppqjBgddnCoVVZ6QDDsoeMWCdj8eR6OWgxIaXdIH7gdryBUaiPuGiSA/w545-h320/Screenshot%202024-01-27%20at%207.58.32%20PM.png" width="545" /></a></div><p class="p3" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In late 2022, a group of conservative activists and academics set out to abolish the diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Texas’ public universities. They linked up with a former aide to the state’s powerful lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick,<b>1</b> who made banning D.E.I. initiatives one of <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/10004193/5304604970147992434"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">his top priorities</span></a>. Setting their sights on well-known schools like Texas A&M, they researched which offices and employees should be expunged. A well-connected alumnus conveyed their findings to the A&M chancellor; the former Patrick aide cited them before a State Senate committee. The campaign quickly yielded results: In May, Texas <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/10004193/5304604970147992434"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">approved legislation</span></a> banishing all such programs from public institutions of higher learning.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Long before Claudine Gay resigned Harvard’s presidency this month under intense criticism of her academic record, her congressional testimony about campus antisemitism and her efforts to promote racial justice, conservative academics and politicians had begun making the case that the decades-long drive to increase racial diversity in America’s universities had corrupted higher education. Gathering strength from a backlash against Black Lives Matter, and fueled by criticism that doctrines such as critical race theory had made colleges engines of progressive indoctrination, the eradication of D.E.I. programs has become both a cause and a message suffusing the American right. In 2023, more than 20 states considered or approved new laws taking aim at D.E.I., <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/10004193/5304604970147992434"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">even as polling</span></a> has shown that diversity initiatives remain popular.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p6" style="color: #121212; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thousands of documents obtained by The New York Times cast light on the playbook and the thinking underpinning one nexus of the anti-D.E.I. movement — the activists and intellectuals who helped shape Texas’ new law, along with measures in at least three other states. The material, which includes casual correspondence with like-minded allies around the country, also reveals unvarnished views on race, sexuality and gender roles. And despite the movement’s marked success in some Republican-dominated states, the documents chart the activists’ struggle to gain traction with broader swaths of voters and officials.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Centered at the Claremont Institute, a California-based think tank with close ties to the Trump movement and to Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, the group coalesced roughly three years ago around a sweeping ambition: to strike a killing blow against “the leftist social justice revolution” by eliminating “social justice education” from American schools.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The documents — grant proposals, budgets, draft reports and correspondence, obtained through public-records requests — show how the activists formed a loose network of think tanks, political groups and Republican operatives in at least a dozen states. They sought funding from a range of right-leaning philanthropies and family foundations, and from one of the largest <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/04/far-right-republican-donor-woke-thomas-klingenstein"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">individual donors to Republican campaigns</span></a> in the country. They exchanged model legislation, published a slew of public reports and coordinated with other conservative advocacy groups in states like Alabama, Maine, Tennessee and Texas.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In public, some individuals and groups involved in the effort <a href="https://unsafescience.substack.com/p/invitation-to-sign-letter-protesting"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">joined</span></a> <a href="https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/faculty-letter-support-ilya-shapiro-january-31-2022"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">calls</span></a> to protect <a href="https://velocityconvergence.com/"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">diversity</span></a> of thought and <a href="https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2023/01/at-unc-more-good-news-on-free-expression/"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">intellectual freedom</span></a>, embracing the argument that D.E.I. efforts had made universities intolerant and narrow. They claimed to stand for meritocratic ideals and <a href="https://americanmind.org/memo/defend-america-defeat-multiculturalism/"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">against ideologies</span></a> that divided Americans. They argued that D.E.I. programs made Black and Hispanic students <a href="https://dc.claremont.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/How-Texas-AM-Went-Woke-web.pdf"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">feel less welcome instead of more</span></a>.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yet even as they or their allies publicly advocated more academic freedom, some of those involved privately expressed their hope of purging liberal ideas, professors and programming wherever they could. They debated how carefully or quickly to reveal some of their true views — the belief that “a healthy society requires patriarchy,” for example, and their broader opposition to anti-discrimination laws — in essays and articles written for public consumption.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In candid private conversations, some wrote favorably of laws criminalizing homosexuality, mocked the appearance of a female college student as overly masculine and criticized Peter Thiel, the prominent gay conservative donor, over his sex life. In email exchanges with the Claremont organizers, the writer Heather Mac Donald derided working mothers who employed people from “the low IQ 3rd world” to care for their children and lamented that some Republicans still celebrated the idea of racially diverse political appointments.</span></p><p class="p3" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lagging achievement for African Americans and other racial minorities, some argued privately, should not be a matter of public concern. “My big worry in these things is that we do not make ‘the good of minorities’ the standard by which we judge public policy or the effects of public policy,” wrote Scott Yenor,<b>2</b> a conservative Idaho professor who would come to lead the anti-D.E.I. project for Claremont. “Whites will be overrepresented in some spheres. Blacks in others. Asians in others. We cannot see this as some moral failing on our part.”</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In a statement for this article, Claremont said that it was “proud to be a leader in the fight against D.E.I., since the ideology from which it flows conflicts with America’s Founding principles, constitutional government and equality under the law. Those are the things we believe in. Without them there is no America. You cannot have those things with D.E.I.”</span></p><p class="p8" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The institute added: “Repeatedly, and in public, we make these arguments to preserve justice, competence and the progress of science.”</span></p><p class="p9" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Naming ‘the Enemy’</span></b></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In recent decades, amid concerns about the underrepresentation of racial minorities on campus, American universities have presided over a <a href="https://www.heritage.org/education/report/diversity-university-dei-bloat-the-academy"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">vast expansion</span></a> of diversity programs. These have come to play a powerful — and increasingly controversial — role in academic and student life. Critics have come to view them as tools for advancing left-wing ideas about gender and race, or for stifling the free discussion of ideas. In response, officials in some states have banned D.E.I. offices altogether. Others have limited classroom discussion of concepts like identity politics or systemic racism. A growing number of states and schools have also begun eliminating requirements that job applicants furnish “diversity statements” — written commitments to <a href="https://ofew.berkeley.edu/recruitment/contributions-diversity/rubric-assessing-candidate-contributions-diversity-equity"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">particular ideas</span></a> about diversity and how to achieve it that, at some institutions, have <a href="https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/the-ohio-state-reports-dei-contributions-in-practice"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">functionally served</span></a> as litmus tests in hiring.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But in early 2021, in the wake of the George Floyd protests and President Donald J. Trump’s re-election defeat, the Claremont organizers were on the defensive. The documents show them debating how to frame their attacks: They needed not only to persuade the political middle but to energize conservative politicians and thinkers, many of whom they regarded as too timid, or even complicit with a liberal regime infecting American government and business.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Rhetorically, our side is getting absolutely murdered,” Mr. Klingenstein wrote to Dr. Yenor and another Claremont official. “We have not even come up with an agreed-on name for the enemy.”</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One problem, Dr. Yenor reported to his colleagues, was that many lawmakers were reluctant to take on anything called “diversity and inclusion.” Terms like “diversity,” he argued, needed to be saddled with more negative connotations.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“I obviously think social justice is what we should call it,” he wrote. “We should use the term that is most likely to stigmatize the movement that is accurate and arises from common life.” While nobody wanted to seem in favor of discrimination, he argued, “social justice” could be “stigmatized so that when people hear it they can act on their suspicions.”</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At the time, a like-minded activist, Christopher Rufo of the Manhattan Institute, <a href="https://twitter.com/realchrisrufo/status/1371540368714428416"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">was popularizing</span></a> an alternative catchall with his attacks on “critical race theory” — a once-obscure academic framework that examines how racism can be structurally embedded in seemingly neutral laws or institutions.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In short order, Republican officials and activists around the country set out to ban critical race theory — or anything that could be successfully labeled “C.R.T.” — from schools. But Dr. Yenor believed such bans were not far-reaching enough.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To combat leftism in America, conservatives would need to wage a much broader war. The Claremont group kept tinkering.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">By 2022, as Claremont and allies like the Maine Policy Institute and a Tennessee group called Velocity Convergence rolled out early research, the approach had changed. Their public <a href="https://velocityconvergence.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/CSJ-in-Tennessee-Higher-Education-February-2022-1.pdf"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">reports</span></a> began to borrow from Mr. Rufo’s rhetoric, attacking “critical social justice” or “critical social justice education.”</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When Claremont and the Texas Public Policy Foundation turned to the state’s public universities in early 2023, they circled back to “diversity,” but with a twist.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Academics and administrators are no longer merely pushing progressive politics but are transforming universities into institutions dedicated to political activism and indoctrinating students with a hateful ideology,” <a href="https://dc.claremont.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/How-Texas-AM-Went-Woke-web.pdf"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">warned</span></a> a report on Texas A&M. “That ideology is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).”</span></p><p class="p9" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">A Donation Opportunity</span></b></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Woke” politics was not just a threat to American life. It was also a fund-raising opportunity. By spring 2021, as parents grew impatient with Covid school closures, or skeptical of “anti-racist” curriculums in the wake of the Floyd protests, Claremont officials had begun circulating urgent grant requests to right-leaning foundations. </span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“America is under attack by a leftist revolution disguised as a plea for justice” reminiscent of “Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution,” Claremont’s president, Ryan P. Williams,<b>1</b> wrote in a draft proposal to the Jack Miller Family Foundation.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(A spokesman for the Miller foundation said that officials there did not recall whether the foundation had ever received the proposal, and that it had not made any grants to Claremont in recent years.)</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Liberals dominated the world of higher education, the Claremont proposals said. What was needed was a frontal attack on public university systems in states where conservatives dominated the legislatures.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Claremont officials would partner with state think tanks, and with the hundreds of former fellows scattered through conservative institutions and on Capitol Hill. They would catalog the D.E.I. programs and personnel honeycombed through public universities. Then they would lobby sympathetic public officials to gut them.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the proposals, Claremont set a first round of targets, in states including Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Our project will give legislators the knowledge and tools they need to stop funding the suicide of their own country and civilization,” Claremont pledged in an August 2021 draft proposal to the Taube Family Foundation.</span></p><p class="p10" style="color: #121212; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Wisconsin-based Searle Freedom Trust had separately agreed to fund a Claremont effort to inventory what it considered “C.R.T. courses” that had “metastasized throughout Higher Ed,” according to the draft proposal. Another proposal, drafted for the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation in May 2022, aimed to dissect how red states could disentangle themselves from federal funding and mandates that, in Claremont’s view, advanced social justice ideology. Related proposals went to at least eight foundations in total.<span class="s2" style="color: black;"><b>1</b></span> (Representatives of the Taube and Rupe foundations did not reply to emails and phone messages seeking comment.)</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p6" style="color: #121212; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ultimately, according to one document, the Claremont organizers hoped state lawmakers across the country would pass sweeping prohibitions on teaching “social justice programming.”</span></p><p class="p6" style="color: #121212; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As the project progressed, Claremont made plans to prospect for donors at a Dallas country club and at the Palm Beach home of Elizabeth Ailes, the widow of the Fox News co-founder Roger Ailes. Growing anger among older conservatives helped open the spigot. “The Searle kids don’t like wokery,” wrote Chris Ross, a Claremont fund-raising official, in a December 2021 email, apparently referring to adult children of the trust’s late benefactor, Daniel C. Searle. (A representative of the Searle trust disputed whether Claremont officials had knowledge of the Searles’ political views.)</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Among other efforts, the Searle trust agreed to back a project examining critical race theory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The school had been roiled that fall by the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/20/us/dorian-abbot-mit.html"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">cancellation</span></a> of a science lecture by Dorian Abbot, a geophysicist who, like a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/16/americans-and-affirmative-action-how-the-public-sees-the-consideration-of-race-in-college-admissions-hiring/"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">plurality</span></a> of Americans, <a href="https://reason.com/2021/10/21/mit-dorian-abbot-cancel-lecture-affirmative-action/"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">opposed aspects</span></a> of affirmative action in higher education.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The following year, a Utah scientist and renewable-energy consultant, along with his wife, kicked in $25,000 for the project.<b>1</b> It had “really caught their imagination,” Mr. Ross wrote, because of their “ongoing concerns about their grandchildren and wokeism.” Secrecy was essential. “This work will be done more easily if the wokesters at MIT don’t see it coming,” he wrote.</span></p><p class="p9" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Under the Banner of Freedom</span></b></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Claremont effort seemed to diverge from others on the right who had long urged academic institutions to renew their commitment to ideological diversity. In one exchange, some of those involved discussed how to marshal political power to replace left-wing orthodoxies with more “patriotic,” traditionalist curriculums.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“In support of ridding schools of C.R.T., the Right argues that we want nonpolitical education,” Mr. Klingenstein wrote in August 2021. “No we don’t. We want our politics. All education is political.”</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr. Yenor appeared to agree, responding with some ideas for reshaping K-12 education. “An alternative vision of education must replace the current vision of education,” he wrote back.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">State legislatures, he proposed, could strip “educational professionals” of the power to decide what to teach and even shorten the school day so that young people would spend less time in class. They might pass laws letting private citizens sue school board members with financial ties to the “education industry.”</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At the same time, individuals and groups involved in the effort seemed to grasp that academic freedom could be a politically useful frame for their attacks.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In a 2023 exchange, Dr. Yenor and two associates discussed how to defend Amy Wax, a conservative law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Wax had <a href="https://www.thedp.com/article/2022/04/penn-law-amy-wax-tucker-carlson-interview-reignites-controversy"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">drawn the ire of administrators and students</span></a> there for once opining, among other things, that the United States would be “better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration,” and that Black people felt “resentment and shame and envy” over the “Western peoples’ outsized achievements and contributions.”</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Filing a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/facing-sanctions-penn-law-prof-amy-wax-files-grievance-against-dean-2023-01-26/"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">grievance claim</span></a> against the university, Dr. Wax’s lawyer apparently asked David Azerrad,<b>1</b> a professor at Hillsdale College, for a statement of support. Dr. Azerrad, in turn, sought his Claremont friends’ advice.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p10" style="color: #121212; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr. Yenor had experience with such situations. Two years earlier, <a href="https://lawliberty.org/inside-the-title-ix-tribunal/"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">he had faced</span></a> Title IX complaints at Boise State University following a speech in which he argued that feminism had made women “more medicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome than women need to be.” Amid the uproar, Boise State officials <a href="https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/boise-state-professor-criticized-controversial-statements/277-06cdb26c-0232-4bb4-81d9-ef29946fc8cb"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">defended</span></a> the right of faculty to “introduce uncomfortable and even offensive ideas.”</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Now, Dr. Yenor advised his friend Dr. Azerrad to aim his statement at a liberal audience — to defend Dr. Wax on the grounds that if she were fired, it would only embolden red-state lawmakers to fire controversial left-wing professors.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“But don’t we want this to happen?” Dr. Azerrad asked.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Yes,” replied Dr. Yenor. “But your audience doesn’t want it to happen.”</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In an email, Dr. Azerrad described the exchanges as “flippant banter” that “do not discuss substantive policy matters.” A spokesman for Claremont said that both Dr. Yenor and Mr. Klingenstein believed that “intellectual diversity and free speech are not ends in themselves but means to other important ends, including a vision of education.”</span></p><p class="p9" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">‘More Wholesome Policies’</span></b></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Even as they sought to stigmatize and defeat left-wing ideas, academics and activists in the Claremont orbit seemed cognizant that some of their own views were outside the mainstream.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In a 2021 exchange among academics at Claremont, Hillsdale and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Dr. Yenor discussed edits to an essay he was planning to publish in First Things, a conservative journal. His editor, he said, wanted Dr. Yenor to be less “prudent” in his writing about homosexuality, encouraging him to voice ideas like — as Dr. Yenor characterized it — “Our sexual culture will not heal until ‘faggot’ replaces ‘bigot’ as the slur of choice,” or “Our sexual culture will not be healed until we once again agree that homosexuality belongs in the closet and that a healthy society requires patriarchy.” (“Since they are my views, I have tried to do that,” Dr. Yenor wrote. In the end, he settled for <a href="https://www.firstthings.com/article/2021/11/sexual-counter-revolution"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">tamer language</span></a>.)</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In casual discussions with like-minded academics and activists, some those involved in the anti-D.E.I. effort mocked what they considered liberals' obsession with hierarchies of oppression. Some evinced a frank dislike of gay people.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In an exchange last May, Dr. Yenor, two former Trump administration officials with Claremont ties and Ms. Mac Donald discussed a court case in India about same-sex marriage. Ms. Mac Donald<b>1</b> — a fellow at the Manhattan Institute who last spring published a book titled “When Race Trumps Merit: How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty and Threatens Lives” — was not formally connected to Claremont’s anti-D.E.I. efforts but corresponded frequently with those who were.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She speculated in the May exchange that it would be “fun to see” what liberals would say about Indians if the court conferred gay marriage rights but Indians refused to “go along.” “How will western elites explain the benightedness of yet another group of POCs?” In response, Dr. Yenor noted that “not tons of asian countries have SSM” but rather “more wholesome policies like prison” for gays.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She speculated in the May exchange that it would be “fun to see” what liberals would say about Indians if the court conferred gay marriage rights but Indians refused to “go along.” “How will western elites explain the benightedness of yet another group of POCs?” In response, Dr. Yenor noted that “not tons of asian countries have SSM” but rather “more wholesome policies like prison” for gays.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Neither Ms. Mac Donald nor a Manhattan Institute spokeswoman replied to emails seeking comment.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr. Yenor and his allies bristled at the conventions of academic life as overly solicitous toward female and nonwhite students. He sometimes shared routine emails from administrators at his home institution, Boise State, deriding them as examples of being “ruled by women.” On one occasion, he forwarded a Boise State email featuring a photo of a female computer science student with close-cropped hair and a plaid shirt. “Gynocracy update!” Dr. Yenor wrote.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Riffing on the woman’s masculine appearance, his friend Dr. Azerrad chimed in with a correction: “Androgynococracy update.”</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In another email to Dr. Yenor, Ms. Mac Donald reflected on a further “curse of feminism”: the proliferation of “nannies of color” in her Manhattan neighborhood and the “bizarreness” of women entrusting their children to caregivers from “the low IQ 3rd world” while devoting themselves to making partner at a law firm.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ms. Mac Donald, some Claremont friends and a conservative Canadian professor also discussed a routine in which the comedian Bill Burr took feminists to task for the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY9Gz_IMn_k"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">low attendance</span></a> at WNBA games. (“None of you showed up! Where are all the feminists?”)</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When Ms. Mac Donald asked why the comedian hadn’t been “canceled,” Mr. Williams, Claremont’s president, pointed out that Mr. Burr was “married to a black woman, which helps.”</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ms. Mac Donald replied, “We are all just SO grateful if there is a black who does not overtly hate us.” She went on to rail against a libertarian podcast that praised former President George W. Bush for selecting Black people for his cabinet, “as if there is any talent required to make quota appointments.”</span></p><p class="p9" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The Movement Grows</span></b></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Since 2021, the network’s anti-D.E.I. campaign has spread to at least a dozen states, according to the documents.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In Tennessee, where Claremont partnered with Velocity Convergence, one of the anti-D.E.I. reports they produced <a href="https://tennesseelookout.com/2022/02/17/conservative-report-affects-higher-education-anti-diversity-bill/"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">reportedly</span></a> circulated among Republican state lawmakers as they worked to pass a bill limiting how universities could teach or train students about “divisive concepts.” A spokeswoman for the University of Tennessee said in a statement that the report's conclusions "seem to be based on subjective criteria, made-up definitions and the opinions of the authors," who obtained information from online searches and public records but “made no attempt to understand the information through questions or interviews.” Tennessee’s governor <a href="https://www.wbir.com/article/news/education/utk-faculty-reject-divisive-concepts-law-tennessee/51-f850afcb-b67d-45c9-be73-022dc96b13d1"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">signed the new law</span></a> in April 2022.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Susan Kaestner, Velocity’s founder and a veteran Republican operative in the state, said that “the obsessive focus on diversity, equity and inclusion is effectively reducing viewpoint diversity on Tennessee campuses.”</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Last year, Claremont organizers forged connections with the Arkansas Senate’s Republican leader. In Alabama, they partnered with a group called Alabamians for Academic Excellence and Integrity. Jeff Sessions, the former U.S. attorney general and a supporter of the Alabama group, was among those who provided funds for a Claremont <a href="https://dc.claremont.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Going-Woke-In-Dixie-Report-3.pdf"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">report</span></a>, “Going Woke in Dixie?,” that focused on Auburn University and the University of Alabama.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After it was released last summer, according to another email, Samuel Ginn,<b>1</b> a wealthy Auburn alumnus and donor to both the school and Claremont, confronted the university’s president, Christopher B. Roberts, and pressed him to address the report’s findings.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“The president then told him, ‘Things will change,’” a Claremont fund-raiser wrote to Dr. Yenor and other officials there.</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">An Auburn spokeswoman said in an email that Dr. Roberts “has no recollection of the comment that was attributed to him.” Efforts to contact Mr. Ginn were unsuccessful.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, the group also teamed with Republican political operatives and a think tank in Maine — where Mr. Klingenstein owns a vacation compound — to gather examples of “D.E.I. in action” in the state’s public universities and K-12 schools. Mr. Klingenstein suggested highlighting examples of putatively odd-sounding college courses,<b>1</b> as another conservative group had done in a report about left-wing influence at Bowdoin College in Maine. (Among them were “Queer Gardens” and “Sex in Colonial America.” Bowdoin responded by defending its coursework and calling the report distorted and “meanspirited.”)</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p10" style="color: #121212; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After the group published <a href="https://mainepolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/CSJ-in-Maine-K-12-Education-FINAL.pdf"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">a report</span></a> on “critical social justice” in Maine’s K-12 classrooms, Mr. Klingenstein noted in one email that despite the need to reform public schools, the group faced difficulty figuring out what was “actually happening on the ground.” He praised the report but acknowledged it was “necessarily rather anecdotal.” Even so, the work could be wielded as a bludgeon. By fall 2022, the effort had expanded to include an advertising campaign against the state’s Democratic governor, Janet Mills. The campaign, funded by Mr. Klingenstein, was spearheaded by a national advocacy group called the American Principles Project, which in turn operated through a front group called Maine Families First.<span class="s2" style="color: black;">Citing the Maine K-12 report, among other sources, <a href="https://vimeo.com/762318620/0de77b5ebe"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">ads</span></a> from the group <a href="https://www.mainepublic.org/politics/2022-09-13/maine-governor-race-is-center-stage-in-a-national-conservative-groups-latest-attack-on-lgbtq-books"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">misleadingly claimed</span></a> that Ms. Mills was “distributing pornography to our children,” referring to “Gender Queer,” a graphic memoir for young adults that includes sexually explicit scenes. (In fact, <a href="https://www.mainepublic.org/politics/2022-09-13/maine-governor-race-is-center-stage-in-a-national-conservative-groups-latest-attack-on-lgbtq-books"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">according</span></a> to a report by Maine Public Radio, the book had appeared on one American Library Association list of gay-themed literature, a link to which could be found on the website of the Maine Department of Education.) All told, the <a href="https://www.mainepublic.org/politics/2022-11-18/mainers-have-spoken-heres-whats-next-in-state-politics"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">group would spend</span></a> nearly $3 million on ads attacking Ms. Mills.</span></span></p><p class="p9" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">‘Just the Beginning’</span></b></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ms. Mills went on to win re-election. But the anti-D.E.I. campaign has gained ground in more Republican-leaning states. Claremont has claimed credit for helping pass the most wide-ranging bans, in Florida as well as in Texas. Last January, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas <a href="https://governor.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/EO-23-05-Prohibit-Indoctrination.pdf"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">issued</span></a> an executive order banning “indoctrination and critical race theory in schools.” In North Carolina in June, Republican lawmakers <a href="https://www.wral.com/story/c-passes-new-anti-dei-pro-lender-laws-following-override-of-gov-cooper-s-vetoes/20930140/%22%20%5Cl%20%22:~:text=@NCCapitol-,NC%20passes%20farm%20bill,%20anti-DEI,%20pro-lender,Cooper's%20vetoes%20of%20the%20bills."><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">passed a law</span></a> barring public universities and other agencies from requiring employees to state their opinions on social issues, a move Democratic lawmakers said was aimed at D.E.I. programs more broadly. Oklahoma’s Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, issued <a href="https://oklahoma.gov/governor/newsroom/newsroom/2023/december2023/governor-stitt-signs-anti-discrimination-executive-order--takes-.html"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">a similar executive order</span></a> in December.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Last year, Claremont officials also courted Mr. DeSantis, then a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination and the governor most closely associated with anti-D.E.I. policies. The institute dispatched Dr. Yenor to Florida to run a new office in Tallahassee, appointing him as its “senior director of state coalitions.” (On Sunday, Mr. DeSantis suspended his presidential bid.)</span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In early April, as Mr. DeSantis prepared to announce his presidential campaign, he visited Mr. Klingenstein. In an email, Mr. Klingenstein told Claremont officials that Mr. DeSantis had agreed to give Dr. Yenor access to his top political and government aides. Mr. Klingenstein also said he’d urged the governor to do a better job explaining to voters why “wokeism” was dangerous.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Appearing on the campaign trail in subsequent weeks, Mr. DeSantis began to offer a more expansive definition of the term — while mentioning “woke” <a href="https://twitter.com/DashaBurns/status/1664722042187390976?s=20"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">so many times</span></a> that some reporters <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/video-ron-desantis-saying-woke-six-times-19-seconds-goes-viral-1810299"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">began keeping count</span></a>.</span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But as Mr. DeSantis’s presidential bid sputtered and conservative campaigns against left-wing education began to lose <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/16/us/politics/moms-for-liberty-sex-scandal.html"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">traction</span></a> in some parts of the country, people involved in the anti-D.E.I. effort began to retool once again. In June, the American Principles Project circulated a memo detailing the results of several focus groups held to test different culture-war messages.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For all the conservative attacks on diversity programs, the group found, “the idea of woke or DEI received generally positive scores.” Most voters didn’t know the difference between equality and the more voguish term “equity,” oft-mocked on the right, which signifies policies intended to achieve equal outcomes for different people, not simply equal opportunities.</span></p><p class="p10" style="color: #121212; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The memo was sent by an associate to Mr. Klingenstein and Mr. Williams, along with an undated draft speech apparently written for Representative Jim Banks,<span class="s2" style="color: black;"><b>1</b></span> an Indiana Republican who founded the House Anti-Woke Caucus last January. (Mr. Banks’s spokesman did not reply to an email seeking comment.)</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For Mr. Banks and other Republicans, the controversies over antisemitism on campus this fall provided a fresh opportunity to make their case. With some student protesters defending or even valorizing the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas, criticisms of campus D.E.I. programs began to gain more of an audience among liberals. In December, when House Republicans summoned Dr. Gay to Capitol Hill, along with the presidents of M.I.T. and the University of Pennsylvania, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/us/universities-antisemitism-conservatives-liberals.html"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">they argued that</span></a> diversity programs were the root cause of antisemitic rhetoric on campus.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As the presidential election looms, Republicans <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/05/us/politics/house-republicans-antisemitism-colleges-harvard.html"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">are embarking</span></a> on a renewed campaign against the higher-education institutions they have long criticized, now under the banner of eradicating anti-Jewish hate. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce is investigating Harvard and other schools, and the scope of the inquiry is expected to expand.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p7" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 9.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“This is just the beginning,” pledged Representative Elise Stefanik, the New York Republican whose questioning of Dr. Gay helped set in motion the Harvard president’s resignation. “Our robust congressional investigation will continue to move forward to expose the rot in our most ‘prestigious’ higher-education institutions and deliver accountability to the American people.”</span></p><p class="p9" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This article is primarily based on more than 5,000 documents obtained through public-records requests. The documents include correspondence among staff and fellows at the Claremont Institute, draft grant proposals and board presentations. They also include emails between Claremont officials and outside academics, politicians, activists and others. The graphics here show selected text from the documents, as well as selected senders and recipients of different emails, unedited for spelling or grammar.</span></p><p class="p9" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p9" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 5px 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Research by Julie Tate. Produced by Shannon Lin and Rumsey Taylor.<br /><br />Photo credits: Dan Patrick: Adam Davis/EPA, via Shutterstock; Scott Yenor: Idaho Education News; Thomas Klingenstein: via YouTube; Ryan Williams: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Agence France-Presse—Getty Images; David Azzerad: Gage Skidmore; Heather Mac Donald: Gage Skidmore; Sam Ginn: via YouTube; Rep. Jim Banks: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images.</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-74260644806744426872024-01-25T10:00:00.001-06:002024-01-25T10:00:10.785-06:00Outrage as Oklahoma bill labels Hispanic gang members ‘terrorists’<p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> Shame on this Oklahoma lawmaker. For a state that endured a major bombing of a</span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikG1Ha-LKyfDuqZV2sRkVfeYeO1JnMWfWqt1Yo4zeHcq_cvrPtntN3KztnyTccHSvFcse9gZm_qxeJvy18wM2MYa_Xe5p89_WTQOSdNjAOJaK760YkZk1tXcBLa3e5aOKzPRHgdejBL8OA5DUskUf3EpNCtrrenKGZhHOl9QuuXpljwEdlWsMMtw/s1176/Screenshot%202024-01-25%20at%209.59.13%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1176" data-original-width="888" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikG1Ha-LKyfDuqZV2sRkVfeYeO1JnMWfWqt1Yo4zeHcq_cvrPtntN3KztnyTccHSvFcse9gZm_qxeJvy18wM2MYa_Xe5p89_WTQOSdNjAOJaK760YkZk1tXcBLa3e5aOKzPRHgdejBL8OA5DUskUf3EpNCtrrenKGZhHOl9QuuXpljwEdlWsMMtw/s320/Screenshot%202024-01-25%20at%209.59.13%20AM.png" width="242" /></a></span></b></div><b><span style="font-size: medium;">federal building at the hands of a white supremacist, domestic terrorist, they should know better.</span></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">-Angela Valenzuela</span></b></p><p><br /></p><div class="dcr-1djovmt" data-gu-name="headline" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; grid-area: headline; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-14emo0l" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; 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line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/18/oklahoma-bill-labels-hispanic-people-terrorists">Outrage as Oklahoma bill labels Hispanic gang members ‘terrorists’</a></h1><h1 class="dcr-1fasd0d" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 4px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--headline-colour); font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Republican JJ Humphrey seeks punishments for ‘acts of terrorism’ and defines terrorist as ‘any person who is of Hispanic descent’</span></h1></div></div></div><div class="dcr-1yi1cnj" data-gu-name="standfirst" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; grid-area: standfirst; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-1kkpghj" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--standfirst-text); font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; 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src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnul5XDkcd4JFD7wA6bEKtqEiu94cV99yTlhyphenhyphenofD5jQXs_govrYjB3M2rsHqOxJ2NI-g9sEYDehm_TsJ5O_9xXFnT51pBBaUe4xFpwWNelfYhnOGaNIDdDBkPKIHq1AK295TuRIbY4GKE438hDFa45sxXvAnvrMjG-TZ3pZz2scB28PzYLxLPobQ/w470-h283/Screenshot%202024-01-21%20at%205.50.51%20PM.png" width="470" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="dcr-1qvd3m6" face="GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #707070; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: 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flex-grow: 1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px; z-index: 1;"><div class="dcr-1x4h12y" id="maincontent" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-4txmpa" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">An <a data-component="auto-linked-tag" data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/oklahoma" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Oklahoma</a> lawmaker is facing backlash for proposing a discriminatory bill that deems gang members of Hispanic descent as “terrorists”.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">The Republican state representative JJ Humphrey introduced the bill, <a data-link-name="in body link" href="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2023-24%20INT/hB/HB3133%20INT.PDF" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">HB 3133</a>, which seeks to combat problems in the state, such as drug and human trafficking, and lay out punishments to those who have committed these “acts of terrorism”.</p><div id="sign-in-gate" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><gu-island config="{"renderingTarget":"Web","darkModeAvailable":false}" data-island-status="hydrated" deferuntil="visible" name="SignInGateSelector" priority="feature" 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#121212; --tabs-input: #FFFFFF; --timeline-atom-bullet: #121212; --timeline-atom-highlight-text-background: #FFE500; --timeline-atom-highlight-text: #000000; --top-pick-background: #EDEDED; --top-pick-link: #0077B6; --twitter-handle: #707070; --witness-title-author: #C70000; --witness-title-icon: #C70000; --witness-title-text: #C70000; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: contents; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="dcr-1m887w9" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/18/donald-trump-election-interference-january-6-trial-delay" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-1lhuo3r" style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: var(--rich-link-border); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="White man wearing suit raises his hand." class="dcr-1e3yjba" height="1261" src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/dc9ec53a2e6f99d5e7a743fc76de01158af717d7/0_61_2101_1261/master/2101.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d9f7320129d71433b1665d53eb427011" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 220px;" width="2101" /></div><div class="dcr-ut4tvs" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 2px 5px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-1h5b6rb" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--rich-link-header); font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-1fcd5by" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 3px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Judge hints that Trump’s election interference trial might be delayed</div></div><div class="dcr-eurq8n" style="-webkit-box-align: center; -webkit-box-pack: start; align-items: center; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; fill: var(--rich-link-fill); flex-direction: row; font: inherit; justify-content: flex-start; margin: 0px; padding: 2px 0px 6px; vertical-align: baseline;"><svg height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><g fill-rule="evenodd"><path class="rich-link__arrow-icon" d="m12 0c-6.627 0-12 5.373-12 12 0 6.627 5.373 12 12 12 6.627 0 12-5.373 12-12 0-6.627-5.373-12-12-12m.21 19l-.637-.668 4.888-6.326h-11.465v-1.01h11.465l-4.888-6.333.637-.668 6.79 7.158v.685l-6.79 7.157"></path></g></svg><div class="dcr-cy8rfj" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--rich-link-text); font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;">Read more</div></div></div></a></div></div></gu-island></figure><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">The punishment for such a crime would be forfeiting all assets, including any and all property, vehicles and money.</p></div></div></div></div><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 1.0625rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">In addition to “a member of a criminal street gang” and someone who “has been convicted of a gang-related offense”, the bill defines a terrorist as “any person who is of Hispanic descent living within the state of Oklahoma”.</span></p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">No other racial or ethnic group is singled out in the legislation.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">The move was met with fierce criticism.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">The State senator Michael Brooks, who serves as the senate’s minority caucus vice-chair and founded the Oklahoma Latino legislative caucus, said the move by Humphrey was unsurprising.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">“To have the law treat people differently based on their race or ethnicity only creates greater divides,” Brooks said. “The bill is fatally flawed, and I don’t know if there’s much of a way to be able to change it.”</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Some Oklahomans voiced their outrage on social media.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">One X user <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://twitter.com/Ohemgeeitsalys1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1747624739546304607%7Ctwgr%5E7e88137cbc9e1c3cdd3fe34324a70629b5129792%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fglobal%2F2024%2Fjan%2F18%2F65a9a9988f08fb29729fece8" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">wrote</a>: “Tell us you’re racist without telling us you’re racist …”</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Humphrey apologized but then doubled down.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">He said: “I apologize for using the word Hispanic, but I was not wrong. Again, these are Hispanic. Reality is they are Hispanic. There’s nothing to be ashamed with.”</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Humphrey said he will go back to the bill and amend the language from “Hispanic” to “undocumented here illegally, or something like that”.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">If passed in the Republican-controlled legislature, the bill would become law and take effect on 1 November.</p><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Humphrey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><footer class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><p class="dcr-1lpi6p1" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span data-dcr-style="bullet" style="background-color: #c70000; border-radius: 50%; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; content: ""; display: inline-block; font: inherit; height: 13px; margin: 0px 0.2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 13px;"></span> This article was amended on 19 January 2024 to clarify the bill targets gang members of Hispanic descent</p></footer>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-87027791031009838622024-01-24T15:12:00.003-06:002024-01-24T15:12:50.271-06:00More than 26K rape-related pregnancies estimated after Texas outlawed abortions, new study says<p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">These numbers are staggering. Tragedy layered over tragedy for rape survivors who are not getting the health care that they need. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">One of my relatives was the product of a rape. His mother resented him his entire life. Clearly, his very existence was a daily reminder of the violence that befell her. I felt torn about his recounting of how she abused him as a young child, on the one hand, and how she was herself a victim, on the other. Yes, they were both "survivors," so to speak, but they both lived tough lives. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">For survivors and children alike, theirs is a massive burden of fluctuating emotions of pain, anger, and despair. Now multiply this by 26,000 women in our state who are impacted by the Texas state legislature outlawing abortions. In another 16 months, will this figure double and grow to 52,000, and then to 78,000 in yet another 16 months?! This feels horrific to me, setting into motion yet another policy-induced pathology in society that will find expression in the ugliest of ways. What are these legislators thinking?!</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">We must restore women's reproductive rights, not the least of which is the right to an abortion under circumstances of rape or incest. The current policy is beyond cruel and inhumane.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">-Angela Valenzuela</span></b></p><p><br /></p><div class="rel" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontC),var(--fallbackFontC); font-style: var(--fontC-style); font-weight: var(--fontB-weight); line-height: 1.1em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/texas-sees-estimated-26k-pregnancies-rape-18625692.php?sid=6043be43e959af3d5131a2b9&ss=A&st_rid=69f39755-0f64-40ee-8401-29a74887192e&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=news&utm_campaign=HC_BreakingNews"><span style="font-size: large;">More than 26K rape-related pregnancies estimated after Texas</span></a></div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontC),var(--fallbackFontC); font-style: var(--fontC-style); font-weight: var(--fontB-weight); line-height: 1.1em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontC),var(--fallbackFontC); font-style: var(--fontC-style); font-weight: var(--fontB-weight); line-height: 1.1em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/texas-sees-estimated-26k-pregnancies-rape-18625692.php?sid=6043be43e959af3d5131a2b9&ss=A&st_rid=69f39755-0f64-40ee-8401-29a74887192e&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=news&utm_campaign=HC_BreakingNews"><span style="font-size: large;"> outlawed abortions, new study says</span></a></div></div><h2 class="c-gray700 ff-fontG fw-fontG fs-fontG lh13 lg:fs20 md:fs18 fs16 tal" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--gray700); font-family: var(--fontG),var(--fallbackFontG); font-size: 1.266rem; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Texas abortion laws do not offer exceptions for rape or incest.</h2><div class="f jcb sm:aic sm:fdr sm:g0 fdc ais g16" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-direction: row; font-size: 16px; gap: var(--s0); justify-content: space-between; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="f fdc sy4" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-direction: column; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="c-gray700 f aic g2 fw owa" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--gray700); display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: var(--s2); margin: 0px 0px 4px; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;"><span class="lg:fs16" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span class="ff-fontG fw-fontG fs-fontG lh12 ps1 lg:fs16 fs14 lg:fs16" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontG),var(--fallbackFontG); font-size: 1rem; font-style: var(--fontG-style); line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--ps1); padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">By </span><span class="ff-fontD fw-fontD fs-fontD lh12 ps1 lg:fs16 fs14" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontD),var(--fallbackFontD); font-size: 1rem; font-style: var(--fontD-style); line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--ps1); padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a class="c-primaryAccessible hover:o70 td300 wbbw" data-link="native" href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/author/julian-gill/" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.3s; word-break: break-word;">Julian Gill</a></span><span class="ff-fontH fw-fontH fs-fontH lh12 fs14 lg:fs16 c-gray700 ml2 mr4" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--gray700); font-family: var(--fontH),var(--fallbackFontH); font-size: 1rem; font-style: var(--fontH-style); line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px 4px 0px 2px; padding: 0px;">,</span></b></span><span class="ff-fontH fw-fontH fs-fontH lh12 fs14 lg:fs16 ls0 block sm:inline" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; font-family: var(--fontH),var(--fallbackFontH); font-size: 1rem; font-style: var(--fontH-style); letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b>Staff writer</b></span></span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="ff-fontG fw-fontG fs-fontG lh12 ps1 lg:fs16 fs14 c-gray600" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--gray600); font-family: var(--fontG),var(--fallbackFontG); font-size: 1rem; font-style: var(--fontG-style); line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--ps1); padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><b>Jan 24, 2024</b></span></span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="ff-fontG fw-fontG fs-fontG lh12 ps1 lg:fs16 fs14 c-gray600" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--gray600); font-family: var(--fontG),var(--fallbackFontG); font-size: 1rem; font-style: var(--fontG-style); font-weight: var(--fontG-weight); line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--ps1); padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br /></span></span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIdJQj-mAx3PcU2EOeIR9y2Ckbi-IHgoQHx6aqIbhQvTrKIFhmyOPH3n7Za0J8ozUqQndC0p-LoqzegnVEADMLaVmwWa171_KmywaBv3fMNllUkSz5QUn4Fm67qjhLoJDWy0wjEn7ipKgjytnyHGnrMiY_UYpu9TzGse65EfECryMUrLOZBaKrw/s1684/Screenshot%202024-01-24%20at%202.43.32%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1264" data-original-width="1684" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIdJQj-mAx3PcU2EOeIR9y2Ckbi-IHgoQHx6aqIbhQvTrKIFhmyOPH3n7Za0J8ozUqQndC0p-LoqzegnVEADMLaVmwWa171_KmywaBv3fMNllUkSz5QUn4Fm67qjhLoJDWy0wjEn7ipKgjytnyHGnrMiY_UYpu9TzGse65EfECryMUrLOZBaKrw/w560-h420/Screenshot%202024-01-24%20at%202.43.32%20PM.png" width="560" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="ff-fontG fw-fontG fs-fontG lh12 fs14 c-gray700 ya block" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--gray700); display: block; font-family: var(--fontG),var(--fallbackFontG); font-size: 0.889rem; height: auto; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">A pregnant woman stands for a portrait in this 2023 AP file photo. Texas saw an estimated 26,313 rape-related pregnancies during the 16 months after the state outlawed all abortions with no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. </p></span></span><span class="ff-fontG fw-fontG fs-fontG lh12 fs13 c-gray600 block mt2 mr48" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--gray600); display: block; font-family: var(--fontG),var(--fallbackFontG); font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 2px 48px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">AP file photo/Associated Press</span></span><span class="ff-fontG fw-fontG fs-fontG lh12 fs13 c-gray600 block mt2 mr48" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--gray600); display: block; font-family: var(--fontG),var(--fallbackFontG); font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 2px 48px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span></span><span class="ff-fontG fw-fontG fs-fontG lh12 fs13 c-gray600 block mt2 mr48" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--gray600); display: block; font-family: var(--fontG),var(--fallbackFontG); font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 2px 48px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Texas saw an estimated 26,313 rape-related pregnancies during the 16 months after the state outlawed all abortions, <a class="" data-link="native" href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/abortion-supreme-court-18517971.php" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--primary); box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">with no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest</a>, according to a <a class="" data-link="native" href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2814274?guestAccessKey=e429b9a8-72ac-42ed-8dbc-599b0f509890&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=012424" rel="noopener" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--primary); box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">study published Wednesday</a> in the Journal of the American Medical Association.</p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">That’s the highest figure among the 14 states with total abortion bans, with Texas having the largest population, according to the study. </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“Survivors who need abortion care should not have their reproductive autonomy further undermined by state policy,” said one of the authors, Dr. Kari White, of the Texas-based Resound Research for Reproductive Health. </p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MM_onlineOnly" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="CCI Online Only"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">TEEN BIRTHS:</span><a class="" data-link="native" href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/texas-teen-birth-rate-sees-first-rise-15-years-18621083.php" rel="noopener" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--primary); box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"> Teen birth rates in Texas rise for first time in 15 years amid abortion ban, report finds </a></p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The authors noted that while some pregnant rape survivors who need abortion care may be able to travel out of state or manage the pregnancy at home with abortion pills, the bans leave many survivors without a viable alternative. </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Following the June 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, the researchers estimated there were 519,981 rapes associated with 64,565 pregnancies during the four to 18 months after states implemented total abortion bans. Of those pregnancies, an estimated 5,586 occurred in states with exceptions for rape and 58,979 in states with no exceptions.</p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Of the five states with rape exceptions, strict gestational limits and requirements to report the rape to law enforcement make it harder for most survivors to qualify, the study said. There were 10 or fewer legal abortions per month in the five states with rape exceptions, the study said, indicating that survivors with access to abortion care still cannot receive it in their home state. </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“Politicians use the idea of abortion exceptions to provide political cover, but those so-called exceptions don’t actually help pregnant survivors get the care they need,” the study’s lead author Dr. Samuel Dickman said in the release. </p><div class="package" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><article class="rel" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: var(--fontJ-style); font-weight: var(--fontJ-weight); line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Dickman, a researcher at the City University of New York’s Research Foundation and the Chief Medical Officer at Planned Parenthood of Montana, said rape survivors who become pregnant “deserve to make informed, personal decisions about their pregnancy, and state-level abortion bans–even those with exceptions–don’t allow them to do that.” </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: var(--fontJ-style); font-weight: var(--fontJ-weight); line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Behind Texas, the states with the highest totals were Missouri (5,825), Tennessee (4,990), Arkansas (4,660), Oklahoma (4,530), Louisiana (4,290) and Alabama (4,130). </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: var(--fontJ-style); font-weight: var(--fontJ-weight); line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Researchers at Harvard Medical School and The University of California, San Francisco, also carried out the study. The authors analyzed survey and crime report data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the FBI and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. They estimated the numbers of girls and women aged 15-45 who had survived rape that could result in pregnancy in each state after the bans took effect, then applied estimates of the pregnancy rate from rape. </p></div><div class="r1udwkp5 d1uy5mhj ff-fontJ fw-fontJ fs-fontJ lh18 fs18 mb32" data-block-type="text" data-dropcap="false" style="--paragraph-spacing: var(--s32); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontJ),var(--fallbackFontJ); font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: var(--fontJ-style); font-weight: var(--fontJ-weight); line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">This story will be updated. </em></p></div><div class="y1px x100 abs bgn top" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: inherit; 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padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Jan 24, 2024</span></span><div class="bt bb b-gray400 py16 pr8" style="border-bottom-style: var(--border-style); border-bottom-width: var(--border-width); border-color: var(--gray400); border-top-style: var(--border-style); border-top-width: var(--border-width); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 16px 8px 16px 0px;"><div class="f aic jcb mb8 fw g8" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: var(--s8); justify-content: space-between; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px;"><div class="f sx8 aic sy4" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="x48px mnw48px" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; min-width: 48px; padding: 0px; width: 48px;"><div class="rel x100 block" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 48px;"><picture style="box-sizing: inherit;"><source sizes="48px" srcset="https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/13/43/04/19804446/4/80x0.webp 80w" style="box-sizing: inherit;" type="image/webp"></source><img alt="Photo of Julian Gill" class="x100 br50 y100 opc bgpc ofcv bgscv block mnh0px fill" loading="lazy" sizes="48px" srcset="https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/13/43/04/19804446/4/80x0.jpg 80w" style="aspect-ratio: 1 / 1; background-position: 50% center; background-size: cover; border-radius: 50%; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: 48px; inset: 0px; margin: 0px; min-height: 0px; object-fit: cover; object-position: center center; padding: 0px; width: 48px;" title="Photo of Julian Gill" /></picture></div></div><div class="f fdc sy4" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-direction: column; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="c-gray700 f aic g2 fw owa" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--gray700); display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: var(--s2); margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: anywhere; padding: 0px;"><span class="fs16" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="ff-fontG fw-fontG fs-fontG lh12 ps1 lg:fs16 fs14 fs16" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontG),var(--fallbackFontG); font-size: 1rem; font-style: var(--fontG-style); font-weight: var(--fontG-weight); line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--ps1); padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">By </span><span class="ff-fontD fw-fontD fs-fontD lh12 ps1 lg:fs16 fs14" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: var(--fontD),var(--fallbackFontD); font-size: 1rem; font-style: var(--fontD-style); font-weight: var(--fontD-weight); line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: var(--ps1); padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a class="c-primaryAccessible hover:o70 td300 wbbw" data-link="native" href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/author/julian-gill/" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0.3s; word-break: break-word;">Julian Gill</a></span></span></span></div></div><div class="sx8 f" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a aria-label="find Julian Gill on twitter" href="https://twitter.com/JulianGi11" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><svg class="p0 bn bgt on m0 p0 td300 hover:c-primary" fill="none" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path d="M12 24C18.6274 24 24 18.6274 24 12C24 5.37258 18.6274 0 12 0C5.37258 0 0 5.37258 0 12C0 18.6274 5.37258 24 12 24Z" fill="currentColor"></path><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6506 9.18857C17.136 8.88224 17.5085 8.39651 17.6833 7.81788C17.2288 8.10223 16.7266 8.30787 16.1907 8.4192C15.7631 7.93701 15.152 7.63635 14.4756 7.63635C13.178 7.63635 12.1265 8.74609 12.1265 10.1147C12.1265 10.3089 12.1459 10.4983 12.1863 10.6791C10.2338 10.5756 8.50257 9.58992 7.3428 8.08947C7.14043 8.45678 7.02478 8.88224 7.02478 9.33606C7.02478 10.1955 7.43961 10.9542 8.07026 11.3995C7.68502 11.3868 7.32263 11.274 7.00529 11.0897V11.1202C7.00529 12.3214 7.81478 13.3233 8.89118 13.5502C8.69352 13.6084 8.48644 13.6375 8.27129 13.6375C8.12001 13.6375 7.9721 13.6226 7.82957 13.5935C8.12808 14.5777 8.99607 15.2953 10.0247 15.3145C9.21995 15.9796 8.20675 16.3753 7.10614 16.3753C6.91654 16.3753 6.72896 16.3646 6.54541 16.3412C7.58551 17.044 8.82059 17.4545 10.1478 17.4545C14.4709 17.4545 16.8335 13.6779 16.8335 10.4025C16.8335 10.2948 16.8321 10.1877 16.8274 10.082C17.2866 9.73245 17.686 9.29564 18 8.79857C17.5784 8.9957 17.1253 9.12901 16.6506 9.18857Z" fill-rule="evenodd" fill="white"></path></svg></a></div></div><div class="ff-fontG fw-fontG fs-fontG lh13 fs16 fs16 c-gray700 sy16" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: var(--gray700); font-family: var(--fontG),var(--fallbackFontG); font-size: 1rem; font-style: var(--fontG-style); font-weight: var(--fontG-weight); line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">Julian Gill is a medical reporter for the Houston Chronicle. He can be reached at julian.gill@houstonchronicle.com. His wide-ranging work on the medical beat, including a three-part narrative on a COVID-19 lung transplant patient, was recognized at the 2022 Texas Managing Editors awards, where he received top honors in the specialty reporting category and second place in the star reporter of the year category.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;">In addition to his extensive reporting on COVID, he has written about the effects of the Texas abortion ban, the maternal mortality crisis, and advances in the Texas Medical Center.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">He joined the paper in 2018 after two years at the Denton Record-Chronicle, where he covered police and county government. He graduated from the University of North Texas. A San Antonio native, he is a die-hard Spurs fan and avid runner.</p></div></div></div></div></div></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-34436656891236162342024-01-23T11:45:00.000-06:002024-01-23T11:45:14.601-06:00In Major Win, Appeals Court Upholds Block on Texas Book Rating Law By Andrew Albanese | Jan 18, 2024<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>It's hard to keep up but this shouldn't go without notice. This is indeed a major win against <a href="https://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=88R&Bill=HB900">House Bill 900</a> provisions that would have consisted of a book rating process. Arguments by the state included a right to "government speech" that allows it to ignore the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I'm glad that the very conservative 5th Circuit didn't buy it. This is indeed a great day for First Amendment rights. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>The plaintiffs included Book People located at <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">603 N Lamar Blvd in Austin, TX</span>, a locally owned book store that I've frequented and plan to frequent more. Thanks to all the plaintiffs that went the distance on this extremist agenda.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>-Angela Valenzuela</b></span></p><p></p><div class="article-byline" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #999999; display: inline; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><p></p><h1 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 28px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/94115-in-major-win-appeals-court-upholds-block-on-texas-book-rating-law.html#:~:text=In%20a%20major%20victory%20for,Amendment%20protections%20against%20compelled%20speech.">In Major Win, Appeals Court Upholds Block on Texas Book Rating Law</a></h1> <div class="article-byline" style="color: #999999; display: inline; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">By Andrew Albanese | </div><div class="article-date" style="color: #999999; display: inline; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Jan 18, 2024</div><div class="inline no-paper-copy" data-ajaxsrc="components/share.html" data-article="94115" data-comments="true" data-deliver="ajax" data-inline="false" data-jsclass="share" data-path="/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/94115-in-major-win-appeals-court-upholds-block-on-texas-book-rating-law.html" data-topic="68" data-url="/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/94115-in-major-win-appeals-court-upholds-block-on-texas-book-rating-law.html" id="share-inline" style="color: #333333; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1200" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggpThs0gMXfvGi6IYop8907W1FC4LAdTvSynyLwn9eQRo1rhvgjNQ-j9-oLtG3BNSJ1F29_4QkIUpqwwbfFg0Aiu6IUfiCn11qZq1_rZIxRI7vOdkf8E-QLuGl_1ciPUs6GITtoo14A75Gm_4B2FR96iLBXXTBPCYjwcjyVlTUQG-trj97CUYGhw/w531-h354/Screenshot%202024-01-23%20at%2011.25.56%20AM.png" width="531" /></a></div><p class="article" style="font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="article" style="margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I</span><span style="font-size: medium;">n a major victory for freedom to read advocates, the Fifth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals on January 17 upheld a lower court decision to block key provisions of HB 900, Texas’s controversial book rating law, finding that the law likely violated First Amendment protections against compelled speech.</span></p><p class="article" style="padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/binary-data/ARTICLE_ATTACHMENT/file/000/006/6431-1.pdf" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">an unequivocal 36-page decision</a>, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit—viewed by many as <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2018/08/30/under-trump-5th-circuit-becoming-even-more-conservative/" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">the most conservative court in the nation</a>—easily dispatched with the state’s key legal arguments (that the plaintiffs lacked standing, that the case was not ripe, and that the plaintiffs’ claims were barred by sovereign immunity) and made it only to the first of the plaintiffs’ multiple constitutional claims—that the mandatory book ratings at the heart of the law represent compelled speech.</span></p><div class="embed-table-left" data-ajaxsrc="components/article-related.html" data-article="94115" data-deliver="ajax" data-jsclass="articleRelated" data-try-photo="1" id="articleRelatedEmbed" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 10px; overflow: auto; padding-right: 15px; text-align: center; width: 213px;" tag="div"><div aria-hidden="true" class="articeRelated-container" style="background-image: url("/images/dotted-vertical.png"); background-position: right top; background-repeat: repeat-y; overflow: auto; text-align: left;"><div class="articleRelatedStories" style="margin-right: 15px;"><h3 style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-size: medium;">RELATED STORIES:</span></h3><ul style="margin: 1em 0px 1em 15px; padding: 0px;"><li><a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/binary-data/ARTICLE_ATTACHMENT/file/000/006/6431-1.pdf" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">File</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20240122.html" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">PW issue Contents</span></a></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">More in <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/index.html" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;">News -> Publisher News</a></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">More in articles by <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/article_authors/42.html" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;">Andrew Albanese</a></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">More in articles by <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/article_authors/931.html" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;">Andrew Richard Albanese</a></span></li></ul></div><p style="border-top: thin solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 15px;"><a href="https://marketplace.copyright.com/rs-ui-web/mp/search/journal/0000-0019" style="color: #005ea7; display: block; font-family: arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; 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The ratings are the vendor’s speech, not the government’s,” the court held. “The ratings [HB 900] requires are neither factual nor uncontroversial. The statute requires vendors to undertake contextual analyses, weighing and balancing many factors to determine a rating for each book. Balancing a myriad of factors that depend on community standards is anything but the mere disclosure of factual information. And it has already proven controversial.”</span></p><div class="embed-table-left" data-ajaxsrc="components/article-photo.html" data-deliver="ajax" data-jsclass="articlePhoto" data-photo="greg" data-row="94115" data-table="ARTICLE" data-width="220" id="photo-greg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 10px; overflow: auto; padding-right: 15px; text-align: center; width: 220px;" tag="div"><div aria-hidden="true"><div class="image-wrapper" data-jsclass="imageWrapper" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/lazy.gif"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: 147px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: 220px;"><img data-height="147" data-lazysrc="/images/cached/ARTICLE_PHOTO/photo/000/000/106/106770-v1-220x.JPG" data-max-height="147" data-max-width="220" data-width="220" id="ARTICLE_PHOTO.106770" src="https://www.publishersweekly.com/images/cached/ARTICLE_PHOTO/photo/000/000/106/106770-v1-220x.JPG" style="border: 0px; height: 147px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 220px;" /></div><div aria-hidden="true" class="caption" style="max-width: 220px; padding: 0px;"><div class="photo-credit" style="color: #999999; font-style: italic; line-height: 15px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Texas.gov</span></div><p style="color: #666666; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Texas governor Greg Abbott at the signing of HB 900.</span></p></div></div></div><p class="article" style="padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Furthermore, the court also accepted arguments made by the plaintiff booksellers that the law would cause them “irreparable” economic harm. “Even if the bookstores could pass along some costs to their customers, [plaintiff bookseller] Blue Willow has alleged here that the compliance costs alone ‘threatens the very existence of [its] business.’ Recovering costs won’t resurrect Blue Willow if compliance costs put it out of business,” the court observed.</span></p><p class="article" style="padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">With the decision, the court remanded the case to the district court with instructions to dismiss two defendants from the case—Martha Wong, chair of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, and Kevin Ellis, chair of the Texas State Board of Education—but affirmed<a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/93089-judge-blocks-texas-book-ban-law.html" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"> Judge Alan D. Albright’s August 31 decision</a> to block Texas Education Agency commissioner Mike Morath from enforcing the the book rating provision of the law and, crucially, denied the state’s bid to stay Albright's preliminary injunction while the appeal proceeds.</span></p><p class="article" style="padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Another section of the law that mandated the creation of statewide library collection standards was not part of the appeal and remains in effect.</span></p><p class="article" style="padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Viewed by many as the most high profile of a wave of book banning laws at the state level, the law was <a href="https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-signs-key-legislation-empowering-texas-parents" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">signed by Texas governor Greg Abbott on June 12</a>. The controversial law requires book vendors to review and rate books sold to Texas schools—both new books and books previously sold—for sexual content. Under the law, books rated “sexually explicit”—books with material deemed “patently offensive” by unspecified community standards—are banned entirely from Texas public schools. Books rated “sexually relevant”—books with any representation of sexual conduct—would require written parental permission for students to access them. Furthermore, the law gives the state the unchecked power to change the vendor rating on any book, and to bar vendors that do not accept the state's ratings from selling to Texas schools.</span></p><div class="embed_table_right" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; padding-left: 15px; text-align: center; width: 190px;"><div class="embed_pullquote-top_doublequotes" style="border-top: thin solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; padding-top: 30px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“</span></div><div class="embed_pullquote" style="font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; line-height: 27px; padding-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The ratings [HB 900] requires are neither factual nor uncontroversial.</span></div><div class="embed_pullquote-bottom_doublequotes" style="border-bottom: thin solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: bold; padding-top: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">”</span></div></div><p class="article" style="padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/92858-booksellers-industry-groups-file-suit-to-block-texas-book-rating-law.html" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">The lawsuit challenging HB 900 was first filed in July</a>, by a coalition including two Texas bookstores, Austin’s <a href="https://www.bookpeople.com/" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">BookPeople</a> and Houston’s <a href="https://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Blue Willow Bookshop</a>, together with the <a href="https://www.bookweb.org/" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">American Booksellers Association</a>, the <a href="https://publishers.org/" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Association of American Publishers</a>, the <a href="https://authorsguild.org/" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Authors Guild,</a> and the <a href="https://cbldf.org/" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Comic Book Legal Defense Fund</a>. In August, <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/93089-judge-blocks-texas-book-ban-law.html" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Judge Alan D. Albright orally enjoined HB 900</a> and, in September, issued <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/binary-data/ARTICLE_ATTACHMENT/file/000/006/6363-1.pdf" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">a forceful 59-page written opinion and order</a> blocking the law.</span></p><p class="article" style="padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The state immediately appealed Albright's decision and, in a legal twist, <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/93350-appeals-court-lets-texas-book-rating-law-take-effect-orders-expedited-hearing.html" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">a separate motions panel of the Fifth Circuit on September 25 issued an administrative stay on Albright’s injunction</a>—a stay not based on the merits of the case—which actually allowed the law to take effect pending further action by the appeals court, despite it being found unconstitutional. With this decision, that stay is now lifted.</span></p><p class="article" style="padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In a <a href="https://publishers.org/news/fifth-circuit-court-of-appeals-affirms-that-texas-book-ban-law-is-unconstitutional/" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">joint statement,</a> the plaintiffs praised the decision. “With this historic decision the court has moved decisively to ensure the constitutionally protected speech of authors, booksellers, publishers, and readers, and prevent the state government from unlawfully compelling speech on the part of private citizens,” the statement reads. “This is a good day for bookstores, readers, and free expression.”</span></p><p class="article" style="padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Plaintiff Charley Rejsek, CEO of Book People, said she was delighted that the court recognized the peril the law put booksellers in. “They made it very clear why they agreed with us, pointing out how it would take significant resources away from our business,” she noted. “It could have potentially put bookstores out of business, and we're ecstatic the court identified that as an issue.” Fellow plaintiff Valerie Koehler, owner of Blue Willow Bookshop agreed, saying she felt “validated,” by the decision.</span></p><p class="article" style="padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Texas state rep. Jared Patterson, the author of the law, urged the state to continue its appeal. "I call on the Office of Attorney General to appeal this decision to the United States Supreme Court and in the meantime look forward on how Texas can improve vendor accountability with other legislative solutions next session," <a href="https://twitter.com/JaredLPatterson/status/1747736540829098041" style="color: #005ea7; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Patterson said, in a statement</a>.</span></p></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span></span></p><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><small style="color: grey;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A version of this article appeared in the 01/22/2024 issue of <em>Publishers Weekly</em> under the headline: In Major Win, Appeals Court Halts Texas Book-Rating Law</span></small></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004193.post-48708928766524241302024-01-18T14:41:00.003-06:002024-01-18T14:41:39.615-06:00Understanding Texas’s DEI Ban at Public Universities – Infographic<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> <b>Helpful infographic compliments of the Texas Legislative Equity Coalition.</b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">-Angela</span></b></p><h2 class="resource-title bold" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0072cf; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 0px 0px 50px; padding: 30px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://www.idra.org/resource-center/understanding-texass-dei-ban-at-public-universities-infographic/">Understanding Texas’s DEI Ban at Public Universities – Infographic</a></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1l4f1LxWDSoD0V5yCLP-lHJBEmtl2POr2FF0tAEN272zW0FcC0iGDwtLPYMk6I8pcj3JJqDqofeF-Ur6W2MHl3IXt_ByCmgpvijLQikRa5s_7Csgr1HOzGvSOdUdQtd1eE6U9nwmdjx1_F-7ZjFI-uY0ja_tWU4Cwx9jZFkoI-sw2wCemgY9JOw/s1366/Screenshot%202024-01-18%20at%202.33.20%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="1084" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1l4f1LxWDSoD0V5yCLP-lHJBEmtl2POr2FF0tAEN272zW0FcC0iGDwtLPYMk6I8pcj3JJqDqofeF-Ur6W2MHl3IXt_ByCmgpvijLQikRa5s_7Csgr1HOzGvSOdUdQtd1eE6U9nwmdjx1_F-7ZjFI-uY0ja_tWU4Cwx9jZFkoI-sw2wCemgY9JOw/w508-h640/Screenshot%202024-01-18%20at%202.33.20%20PM.png" width="508" /></a></h2><div><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444b5c; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Texas is home to many exceptional higher education institutions. Unfortunately, the state legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 17 last spring, a law that prohibits diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and offices at public universities. It went into effect on January 1, 2024.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444b5c; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This new anti-DEI law introduced changes that will have far-reaching consequences for college quality and accessibility in Texas.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444b5c; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SB 17’s broad language invites ambiguities and has sparked concerns about the potential chilling effects on campuses for student support services, centers and outreach programs.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444b5c; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The law also requires universities to certify compliance each year before they can spend any money received from the state for the upcoming year, which comprises a significant portion of their budgets. If universities fail to comply, they will lose state funding and could face legal action.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444b5c; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Check out this infographic to see what SB 17 affects and what it doesn’t. (<a href="https://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Tx-DEI-Ban-Infographic.pdf" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0072cf; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">See PDF version</a>)</p></div>Angela Valenzuelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16377527828841110131noreply@blogger.com0