(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
A 1998 Disney movie is the latest victim of the real cancel culture: The Republican war on education [1]
['Daily Kos Staff', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2023-03-27
Any second-grader who watches a movie about what Bridges experienced as a first-grader becoming the first Black student at a white school and comes out thinking “I should dislike Black people” is a second-grader who went in already disliking Black people. That kid has already been measured for their KKK uniform. But there is a very real risk that kids will come home and ask their families about segregation, about racism, about whether Nana and Gramps went to school with any Black kids. Bridges was taught by a white teacher, so if white kids need a white hero in that story, they can find one. That’s not enough for the Emily Conklins of the world.
But this is not ultimately just about Bridges. This is about the idea that one parent’s objection can up-end the curriculum for an entire school district. Conklin had already not allowed her child to watch Ruby Bridges. But that wasn’t enough for her. She had to keep every kid from seeing it by claiming that it was inappropriate for all of them.
Again, we are talking about a Disney movie from 1998 that has been shown in the schools for years.
Pinellas County also recently pulled Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye from high schools after a single parent’s complaint. And this is all happening in a state that last year rejected 42 math textbooks because they included social-emotional learning concepts and discussion of race that the state prohibited. A similar review of social studies textbooks this year led a textbook company to preemptively strip mentions of race out of the Rosa Parks story. It’s a state where the governor is instituting a partisan takeover of public higher education, with political appointees having the last word on faculty hiring decisions. The objections to specific texts may come from individual parents, but they are empowered by the entire state political structure.
In the cases of both Ruby Bridges and The Bluest Eye, curriculum development experts and teachers used these texts for years as part of educating all the kids in their classes. They developed lesson plans and held class discussions and knew what they were trying to help their students get out of Ruby Bridges or The Bluest Eye. And then one parent comes along and objects and that’s that—thanks to Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican legislators and their “Don’t Say Gay” and “Stop WOKE” laws, which severely limit what can be taught in schools and give individual parents with no educational qualifications new power over the curriculum taught in entire school districts.
The parents who want their kids not just watching Ruby Bridges but discussing it with their classmates under the leadership of a professional educator? They do not matter here. Conklin and her worry that white kids might learn white people don’t like Black people is the only person whose views matter. The loudest, most conservative white person has the power under Florida law. And the goal is to expand that to other states and into federal law if they ever get the chance.
Public education should be a public good. It should be about ensuring that all children have access to a good education, designed and offered with the intention of creating a population with a baseline of knowledge and understanding. It’s not just about a workforce educated enough to drive the economy, though it is about that. It’s also about strengthening democracy by educating kids about how we got where we are and about what threats to democracy—like segregation and institutionalized racism—look like. It’s about teaching kids that their communities go beyond people who look and think just like them. Republicans are trying to dismantle all of this. They’re trying to dismantle public education through privatization and poor funding, but while public schools are still standing they’re trying to tear apart the basics of education itself.
RELATED STORIES:
Tennessee moms' group tears the veil off the whole 'critical race theory' panic
Florida Republicans plan to fire professors and fine bloggers who don't fall in line and obey
March 23rd: Super-sized election roundup with 2024 Senate updates
It's just barely springtime in an off year, but there's been loads of election news lately, so co-hosts David Nir and David Beard have a super-sized roundup on this week's episode of The Downballot. The Davids recap the first round of voting in the race for Jacksonville mayor (which saw Democrats do unusually well) and the collapse of an effort to recall New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell before turning to big batch of 2024 updates.
On tap for the Senate: The GOP's desperate effort to compete with Democratic fundraising enthusiasm by recruiting self-funders; why Republicans are afraid the guy who succeeded John Boehner in Congress will try to challenge Sherrod Brown; and how Democrats' plans to clear the field in Michigan may not succeed. Plus developments in the battle for New Hampshire's governorship, a key House seat in Wisconsin, and the saga of Tennessee's answer to George Santos.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/27/2160479/--Parents-rights-are-a-hot-Republican-talking-point-but-only-some-parents-and-some-rights
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
