WHEN IT COMES TO RACE, SHOULD OUR SCHOOLS BE TEACHING KIDS WHAT TO THINK INSTEAD OF HOW TO THINK?

 

I asked a question on a certain social media platform about how people view current policies on race, and it got the boot because it “did not conform to community standards.” So I will continue the question here and I will keep it pretty simple. There is a very big and important conversation that is not taking place in the public square of the townish City of Watertown.

When it comes to discussions about race, there is an elephant in the room, but certain people tell us not to look at him because he’s a very bad elephant who only wants to distract us from THE MISSION.  

 And only by ignoring the elephant’s existence can we get on with “doing the hard work” that will set all of us on the only true path to salvation. I am here today to argue that Watertown has reached a point that requires us to give the elephant a seat at the table.                       

To begin the process of making my case, I will for now resist the temptation to use the entire alphabet for my stockpile of potential exhibits and present to you only Exhibits A, B, C, and D.

Exhibit A:

This is one slide from a presentation made by a consulting company to the Watertown School Committee. While watching this meeting over Zoom, I was instantly struck by the absurdity of this slide. I believe I shouted at the TV set: ”Leaders” are actually supposed to do this?

 

Call me crazy, but how about leaders using their brains, experience, and love of education for all decisions made within WPS?

You can watch the entire March 21, 2022 presentation to the School Committee here, beginning at 0:23:43.  And remember, it’s only a presentation. Just because a consulting company comes up with nutty, ideological solutions to problems requiring a realistic, practical approach, it doesn’t mean the customer – a committee and administration made up of intelligent adults − has to buy them. 

But it seems they did.

Exhibit B:

On a July 17, 2023 list containing 54 action items for the District’s Equity Strategic Action Plan Dash Board, here’s item number 4:

“4. Use an explicit Equity Decision-making lens for all decisions made within WPS. Adopt an equity decision-making framework through which all decisions are reviewed. In order to end individual, institutional, and structural racism and bias in the district, all leaders must consistently and intentionally apply an equity lens to every decision made.”

 According to the action plan, this policy is already underway and will be “ongoing, multi-year work.”

 Exhibit C:

Recent WPS District Reads (from the WPS website)

Leading the list:

How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi

Is there any reading material listed anywhere on the WPS website that opposes anti-racism, which would include books and articles by prominent Black writers and scholars? Of course not.

In Kendi’s own words:

“The opposite of racist isn't 'not racist.’ It is anti-racist. One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist or confronts racial inequities, as an anti-racist. There is no in-between safe space of not racist.”

“Like fighting an addiction, being an anti-racist requires persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination.”

So if you’re a run-of-the-mill decent person, treating everyone with respect, but not actively working, during every waking hour, to hunt down and kill your own inner racist, you are a big part of the problem.

So says the guru and so do his obedient followers, even as a red-faced Boston University carefully and quietly goes about the business of cleaning up his mess.

Exhibit D:

This is the opening of a TED Talk by Coleman Hughes. The title is A Case for Colorblindness.

In the context of this blog post, I will take the liberty of temporarily renaming it: Introducing the Elephant.

“I want to do a quick exercise. Close your eyes. I want you to picture your best friend. Think about what specifically you love about them. What trait makes them…them? Now open your eyes. I don’t know what each of you came up with but I’m pretty sure I know what you didn’t come up with. I’m pretty sure none of you thought that what makes Jim…Jim is the fact that he’s six foot two and a redhead. I’m guessing you chose their inner qualities – their sense of humor, their generosity, their intelligence – qualities they would have no matter what they look like. There’s one more quality I’m pretty sure you didn’t choose – their race. Of all the things you could list about somebody, their race is just about the least interesting you could name − right down there with height and hair color. Sure race could be good source material for jokes at a comedy club, but in the real world, a person’s race doesn’t tell you whether they’re kind or selfish, whether their beliefs are right or wrong, whether they’ll become your best friend or your worst enemy. But over the past ten years, our societies have become more and more fixated on racial identity. We’ve all been invited to reflect more on our inner whiteness or inner blackness as if these racial essences define who we are. Meanwhile, American society has experienced its greatest crisis in race relations in a generation.”

 Author and podcaster, Coleman Hughes 

 

"Enlightened" School districts, including WPS, do not teach Kendi’s anti-racism as a theory or a philosophy. They teach it as indisputable truth. Colorblindness – judging an individual by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin – which my generation grew up with, is now characterized by Kendi-ists as being racist.

I have yet to hear a single Watertown School Committee member or candidate question the district’s all-consuming anti-racism policies. And so, they go unchallenged.

There is a compelling argument that anti-racism indoctrination is harmful to Black children, fueling divisiveness and reinforcing stereotypes. The alternatives, such as teaching children to respect others and empowering them with the anti-bias skills of critical thinking are what most parents and residents actually want. (I wrote about it here.) But there is currently no celebrity guru like Kendi to champion those commonsense policies.

My question is: Who will be the first of Watertown’s elected representatives to dare stand up and question our deeply entrenched anti-racist policies and insist that the elephant gets a seat at the table for an important conversation that is long overdue? Until that happens, the most important diversity of all will remain stifled – diversity of thought.

 

Bruce Coltin, The Battle For Watertown