Historian: Segregation Persists Because Whites Opposed Any and All Efforts to Advance Desegregation | Diane Ravitch's blog

Historian: Segregation Persists Because Whites Opposed Any and All Efforts to Advance Desegregation | Diane Ravitch's blog

Historian: Segregation Persists Because Whites Opposed Any and All Efforts to Advance Desegregation

Today’s is the anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education of 1954. Much has changed. Barack Obama was elected President twice. But much has not changed. The desegregation of schools that once seemed inevitable stalled, inhibited by white flight from urban districts and housing desegregation.

Historian Matthew D. Lassiter of the University of Michigan argues in this opinion piece in the Washington Post that desegregation failed because of white resistance and pusillanimous federal courts, which turned against desegregation as Republican presidents added conservative justices to the Supreme Court.

Fifty years ago today, the Supreme Court issued the landmark decision of Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg, the most far-reaching school desegregation case since Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. The Swann ruling upheld a lower court-imposed plan to integrate the public schools of metropolitan Charlotte through two-way busing between the segregated White suburbs and the all-Black central city neighborhoods.

During the next few years, busing helped transform the CONTINUE READING: Historian: Segregation Persists Because Whites Opposed Any and All Efforts to Advance Desegregation | Diane Ravitch's blog

CURMUDGUCATION: New Anglo-Saxon Caucus Has Some Education Thoughts. They Are As Bad As The Rest Of This Damn Fool Platform.

CURMUDGUCATION: New Anglo-Saxon Caucus Has Some Education Thoughts. They Are As Bad As The Rest Of This Damn Fool Platform.

New Anglo-Saxon Caucus Has Some Education Thoughts. They Are As Bad As The Rest Of This Damn Fool Platform

So, led by a team-up of House of Representative winners from Georgia and Arizona, there is now a White Racist Nativist America First Caucus that swears to "follow in President Trump's footsteps and potentially step on toes and sacrifice sacred cows for the good of the American nation" as well as calling for "common respect for the uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions."

It's as awful as it is dumb. There are seven full pages of a "platform" which could be considered a racist nativist dog whistle if you are thinking of a dog so deaf that he has to be called by yelling his name through a bullhorn. 

I am not going to get into the various details of this embarrassing mess, other than to note that they express a love for Roman-based stuff, a stance that doesn't really mesh well with a love of Anglo-Saxonisity, as the Anglo-Saxons got their own nation by kicking Roman and Roman-trained ass up and down Britain. Whatever reverence the Angles and Saxons have for Roman culture and language more likely is at least partially the result of the Norman Conquest, when the French (themselves the linguistic descendants of the Romans) came across the channel and kicked a whole lot of Anglo-Saxon ass, and then subjugated it for a really long time (which is why, boys and girls, it's "scientific" to say that you must defecate, but rude and gross if you say you need to shit). But I digress. Point being, as with most white supremacist nativist European-loving bullshit, there's a lot of ahistorical dumb going on here.

However, in amidst the rest of this, there's a whole paragraph devoted to the White Folx Platform for education, and since that's my wheelhouse, let's take a look: CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: New Anglo-Saxon Caucus Has Some Education Thoughts. They Are As Bad As The Rest Of This Damn Fool Platform.

CURMUDGUCATION: RI: Another Dumb Bill For Protecting White Folks

CURMUDGUCATION: RI: Another Dumb Bill For Protecting White Folks

RI: Another Dumb Bill For Protecting White Folks

Three Rhode Island representatives have proposed a bill to protect students in the state from what the legislators imagine, I suppose, what critical race theory or any of those other nasty anti-racist programs might be.

The three legislators are:

Rep. Patricia Morgan, who has also proposed that mail-in balloting be "tightened up," that the house condemn major tech companies "for their attack on the free speech rights of the American public," and that the house commemorate the life and career of Rush Limbaugh.

Rep. George Nardone, who has also proposed that charter schools be allowed to "engage in non-traditional approaches to learning," that ESAs be established in Rhode Island, and, well, he's on that Rush Limbaugh bus, too.

Rep. Sherry Roberts, who has also proposed the mail-in ballot thing, the Rush Limbaugh thing, and an act providing for the authorized taking of mushrooms from public lands.

Their bill is HB 6070, prohibiting the teaching of "divisive concepts." 

The divisive concepts in question do not, it turns out, include issues such as whether or not the earth is flat, whether Han shot first, or whether Mary Ann is hotter than Ginger. Instead, the legislators are concerned that some naughty teacher might choose to teach-- CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: RI: Another Dumb Bill For Protecting White Folks

#PhilanthropySoWhite: An Urgent Conversation on Whiteness in Philanthropy | Schott Foundation for Public Education

#PhilanthropySoWhite: An Urgent Conversation on Whiteness in Philanthropy | Schott Foundation for Public Education

#PhilanthropySoWhite: An Urgent Conversation on Whiteness in Philanthropy

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After more than two years of reckoning, uprising for racial justice, a pandemic, and a turbulent election — where do white leaders in the philanthropy sector find themselves and their leadership regarding racial justice in and outside of their organizations? Philanthropy remains so white, but progress has been made, and there have been some interesting learnings on the journey.

This one hour livestream event will be moderated by Schott Foundation's Senior Vice President Edgar Villanueva, author of Decolonizing Wealth.

In 2018, Schott presented the original #PhilanthropySoWhite webinar. While its title raised eyebrows, the conversations that transpired were vulnerable, truth-speaking catalysts to sector-wide discussions about the urgent need to change philanthropy’s approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion. #PhilanthropySoWhite is also a call for white leaders to create anti-racist organizations and giving practices that are representative and inclusive of the communities and cultures they serve. 

Joining Edgar on the panel will be:

• Nick Donohue, President & CEO, The Nellie Mae Education Foundation 
• John Palfrey, President, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation 
• Hilary Pennington, Executive Vice President of Programs, Ford Foundation 

Vanessa Daniel, Founder and Executive Director of the Groundswell Fund, will offer an end-of-session reflection and response to the discussion on confronting whiteness in philanthropy. 

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#PhilanthropySoWhite: An Urgent Conversation on Whiteness in Philanthropy | Schott Foundation for Public Education