Dr. John H. Jackson: The Malice of One and the Silence of Many: January 6th is the Emblematic Expression of America's Historic Tension | Schott Foundation for Public Education

The Malice of One and the Silence of Many: January 6th is the Emblematic Expression of America's Historic Tension | Schott Foundation for Public Education

The Malice of One and the Silence of Many: January 6th is the Emblematic Expression of America's Historic Tension

The violent attack on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021 was a stark reminder of America’s historic tensions and struggles. The storming of the Capitol came amid a Pro-Trump protest, by a predominately white and male group of domestic terrorists. Their white privilege assured they could go beyond the police barriers of perimeter and enter the Capitol Building. In the end, many people were injured and five killed, including a Capitol police officer.

What happened is reminiscent of this nation’s historic struggles with race, racism, power, and privilege. For instance, over 150 years ago, a group of southern, Confederate flag-carrying insurgents led the nation into a Civil War. Years later, America is once again met with a similar group of Confederate flag-toting individuals who would rather have no America than exist in an evolving one.

While the pretext for the Capitol riot was to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, the protesters’ words proved that this was less about their candidate losing an election and more about their collective sense of losing their America.

While there is a clear history of violence on American shores, scores of elected officials claimed that the events on Jan. 6 did not represent America or the people of America. While I firmly believe there are indeed more people committed to love and justice in America, what happened at the Capitol last Thursday — as well as the violence that greeted Black Lives Matter demonstrators in D.C. this summer — is evidence of society's clear hierarchy of human value and tolerance for white CONTINUE READING: The Malice of One and the Silence of Many: January 6th is the Emblematic Expression of America's Historic Tension | Schott Foundation for Public Education

On This Insurrection, and The Next | The Jose Vilson

On This Insurrection, and The Next | The Jose Vilson

ON THIS INSURRECTION, AND THE NEXT

I wasn’t supposed to ever forget the day because it was my son’s ninth birthday. In the middle of a pandemic, we still thought it best to keep this tradition. On the news, anchors kept reiterating that the day’s proceedings wouldn’t normally get this much attention if not for the president’s consistent obfuscation about the proceedings. One by one, he and his cronies started speaking on a podium in DC in a small picture-in-picture set-up on the bottom right corner with no audio, but the events of the day weren’t supposed to get much coverage other than a demonstration and a confirmation.

Then, the insurrection struck. Just then, the America so many of us knew came into HD view. Rogue recusants made their way with ease up the Capitol steps. The crowd thought to have dissipated after Election Day had intended on discrediting the process by any means necessary. The idea that the United States of America had ostensibly descended into a “third-world banana republic” – whatever that means – seemed to flummox many of the anchors and correspondents witnessing the red caps slide through Capitol Rotunda. The “blue lives matter” chants were not to be found as they trampled and passed by Capitol police while flashing badges of their own. As the velvet ropes widened, it became more evident that many of the police in charge of maintaining security would watch along with us, unabated and unconcerned about drawing guns the way they had at the Black Lives Matter protestors all summer.

My son, nine years old and a hundred years wise, wasn’t surprised. While no person of color belongs to a tight-knit monolith, our CONTINUE READING: On This Insurrection, and The Next | The Jose Vilson

Sticking to My Guns | Teacher in a strange land

Sticking to My Guns | Teacher in a strange land

Sticking to My Guns

God, I hate that phrase—stick to your guns! —because it represents everything that triggered the Capitol breach on Wednesday: Intransigence. The false glory of never yielding, even when your case is weak or based on falsehoods. Violence as means of accruing power.

In the past two days, as conversations sprang up and grew heated on social media, our new town square, a friend (a moderate Republican I’ve known for 15 years, through education channels) posted this:

Heartbreaking to see violent crowds breaking into US capitol. Reminds me of Vietnam protests and Kent State.

More than enough people immediately countered this—the two are nowhere close to comparable—but there were also several commenters who noted that the vast majority of Republicans are good people, appalled by low-rent protestors, who don’t represent the modern Republican party. This isn’t the party my father taught me to love, back in the day. Tsk, tsk.

I pushed back: The time for Republicans to redeem themselves was years ago. With the CONTINUE READING: Sticking to My Guns | Teacher in a strange land

Betsy DeVos Resigns, Citing Trump’s Support for Insurrection | Diane Ravitch's blog

Betsy DeVos Resigns, Citing Trump’s Support for Insurrection | Diane Ravitch's blog

Betsy DeVos Resigns, Citing Trump’s Support for Insurrection

With only a few days left in Trump’s term of office, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos resigned. She says she objected to his rhetoric in inciting the insurrection of his devoted loyalists. This is certainly an anti-climax. DeVos had to clear out anyway, but by resigning now she avoids the painful decision about forcing Trump to resign by the terms of the 25th Amendment. Whether she resigns or stays is irrelevant. Whether she uses her position to force the ouster of a malevolent, incompetent president does matter. She opted out.

The Washington Post reported:

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos submitted her resignation Thursday, citing the president’s role in the riot on Capitol Hill.
“There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me,” she wrote in a letter to President Trump. The behavior of the “violent protestors overrunning theh U.S. Capitol” was “unconscionable,” she wrote.


“Impressionable children are watching all of this, and they are learning from us. I believe we each have a moral obligation to exercise good judgment and model the CONTINUE READING: Betsy DeVos Resigns, Citing Trump’s Support for Insurrection | Diane Ravitch's blog

What I Told My Students About Yesterday’s Attempted Trump Coup | gadflyonthewallblog

What I Told My Students About Yesterday’s Attempted Trump Coup | gadflyonthewallblog

What I Told My Students About Yesterday’s Attempted Trump Coup

The moment I had been dreading happened.

Student names started popping up on my screen waiting to be admitted into this morning’s first Zoom meeting.

What was I going to say to them?

Yesterday in Washington, DC, thousands of Trump supporters charged into the Capitol Building at his urging in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying his Presidential defeat.

What would I tell my middle schoolers?

What COULD I say?

We can’t offer you equitable resources. We can’t stop judging you with biased standardized tests. We can’t desegregate your schools. We can’t protect you from gun violence. We can’t even give you in-person classes because of a global pandemic CONTINUE READING: What I Told My Students About Yesterday’s Attempted Trump Coup | gadflyonthewallblog

SPECIAL REPORT: DIANE RAVITCH ON THE TRUMP INSURRECTION OF 2021 | Diane Ravitch's blog

The Trump Insurrection of 2021 | Diane Ravitch's blog

SPECIAL REPORT: DIANE RAVITCH ON THE TRUMP INSURRECTION OF 2021

Like everyone else, I was stunned by the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6. I followed the proceedings from the start to see what stunt Trump might pull. I watched as the mob approached and stormed the Capitol, where Electoral votes were being counted. What happened was a violent desecration of the Constitutionally prescribed process for transferring power from one president to the next. It was an attack on our government and our Constitution. The ceremony is typically dry as dust, and no one watches it.

This time there was an air of anticipation because some 140 Republican members of the House and at least 13 Senators had announced that they would oppose certification of Biden’s victory unless there was an “audit” of the states that Trump thinks he should have won, despite multiple recounts and 60 failures in state and federal courts and two rejections by the United States Supreme Court. Not a single court agreed with Trump’s claims of election fraud. (Remember that Trump said on the famous phone call with Georgia election officials that he couldn’t possibly have lost Georgia; not only did he lose it on November 3, he lost it again in the Senatorial elections of January 5.)

I have visited the Capitol many times for meetings with members of Congress. I always thought security was CONTINUE READING: The Trump Insurrection of 2021 | Diane Ravitch's blog

Twitter Temporarily Suspends Trump’s Account

Twitter Trump 12 Hours

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by dianeravitch / 16h

At the end of a shameful day, in which Trump claimed falsely (again) that he had won in a landslide, Twitter announced that it was suspending him—but for only 12 hours. Twitter warned Trump that his account might be permanently blocked. Twitter locks Trump’s account for 12 hours and warns he could get kicked off permanently President Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to call for calm mere hours

Terrorism at the U.S. Capitol, Inspired by Trump

53by dianeravitch / 20h

Trump’s violent cultists invaded the United States Capitol today. The president watched on television. He did nothing as his base broke windows, stormed into the Rotunda and entered members’ offices while our elected officials 

Coup? | JD2718

Coup? | JD2718

Coup?

A friend grew up in another country’s capital. There was political tension. One morning the tv was buzzing. There were tanks out the window. Good, he thought, no school.

He was right – there were some days off. The coup succeeded. Officials were fired. Leaders were executed. And life resumed.

By the way, the coup plotters were homegrown. Locals. But they were trained by a foreign power, a beacon of democracy. And they acted because the government had created a link to the other, evil, great power.

It seems, as I think about coups over the last 75 years, an awful lot of them were instigated, or even orchestrated, in Washington DC. But none of them took place there. And I thought none ever would. Until today.

Frankly, I was surprised by Trump’s video statement – because he told them to go home. This could have been much worse.

No credit, to him, of course. It is not clear to me what consequences he faces. But I’m guessing it’s a lot clearer to him. He’s a bully. And most bullies are cowards.

I watched too much tv today. TV news is addictive. I’m glad I usually skip it. But today…  I’m about to CONTINUE READING:  Coup? | JD2718