Teacher Banned from Teaching About Racism

 In February, as part of Black History Month, a high school teacher in South Carolina had to stop using Ta-Nehisi Coates’ memoir “Between the World and Me” in a lesson plan about systemic racism — because teachers are prohibited from making students feel uncomfortable about their race or gender in the state. 

Students complained after Mary Wood, who teaches Advanced Placement Language Arts at Chapin High School in Chapin, South Carolina, included the book in a lesson intended to guide students through participating in civil debate, local news outlet The State first reported. 

Wood’s lesson plan was a part of preparing for Advanced Placement tests and involved watching two videos about systemic racism, reading Coates’ memoir and doing research with a variety of sources. Then, students were meant to write essays on their understanding of the book and make an argument about whether they agreed with Coates that systemic racism is a problem in the U.S. 

“This wasn’t one side or the other,” Wood, who has been teaching for 14 years, told HuffPost. “I wanted them to develop their own understanding.”

Students complained that the lesson made them feel ashamed to be white and were successful in blocking the section on systemic racism entirely. 

“Hearing (Wood’s) opinion and watching these videos made me feel uncomfortable,” one student said in their complaint. “I actually felt ashamed to be Caucasian. These videos portrayed an inaccurate description of life from past centuries that she is trying to resurface.”

In 2021, South Carolina Republicans included a provision in the state budget stipulating that taxpayer dollars may not be used to teach lessons suggesting that any race or sex is inherently “racist, sexist, or oppressive whether consciously or unconsciously” or that cause anyone to feel “guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his race or sex.” 

“If the goal is to undermine public education, they’re doing a good job of it,” Wood said of the lawmakers who passed the policy. “You cannot talk about glitter and rainbows and still get students to engage with differing viewpoints.”

Once the lesson, which Wood had taught the previous year without issue, was axed, she said she kept her head down and proceeded with an improvised lesson plan using AP tests from the past.

“I was mortified professionally and I felt my hands were tied,” she said. “I certainly didn’t want to use anything self-selected.”

“If the goal is to undermine public education, they’re doing a good job of it.”

 

South Carolina and California - Sanders

The vote for Biden was impressive,

The last time South Carolina voted for a Democrat in the Presidential election ( not primary) was 1976. I expect  Biden or others to win in Alabama and Mississippi also,

We should watch North Carolina. ( and others like California) on Super Tuesday.  

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders waves to guests after being interviewed by Rev. Jesse Jackson at Operation Rainbow Push on Mar 12, 2016 in Chicago, Ill. Illinois residents go to the polls on Mar 15, 2020 for their state's primary., Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images // Common Dreams


The Important Word in ‘Democratic Socialism’ is ‘Democratic’

Jesse Jackson
February 24, 2020
Chicago Sun-Times


Sen. Bernie Sanders isn’t talking about making America into Cuba or Venezuela. He’s talking about extending social guarantees like those offered in other advanced countries, such as Denmark and Sweden.



After the Nevada caucuses, Bernie Sanders is now the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race.

After the Nevada caucuses, Bernie Sanders is now the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race.

In South Carolina, the next primary, former Vice President Joe Biden is the favorite, buoyed by his support among African American voters. But Sanders will come into the state with real momentum, having won the popular vote in each of the first three contests

More importantly, in Nevada, Sanders revealed the breadth of his growing coalition: he led the field among men and women, among whites and Latinos, among union households and non-union households, among voters of all ages, except those over 65, among Democrats who called themselves liberals, moderates and conservatives.

"Call it capitalism with a conscience, democratic socialism, call it lemonade. It’s the substance, not the label that counts."

Equally important, Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have offered Americans a new direction, not simply another candidate. Both have called for a modern version of what Franklin D. Roosevelt called the Economic Bill of Rights: Medicare for all, tuition-free public education, universal day care, a Green New Deal to generate jobs while addressing climate change. Both would tax the wealthy and corporations to make vital public investments in the common good.

The other candidates—particularly Biden, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg and Mike Bloomberg—have scoffed at these ideas as too radical, too bold, too costly, too ambitious. They offer mostly a continuation of the politics that existed before Donald Trump disrupted the country. The problem with that, of course, is that it doesn’t offer much hope for most Americans.

Sanders calls himself a “democratic socialist.” Warren objects to that label and says she’s for making markets work. But this is a difference in labels, not in substance. Their agendas are remarkably similar. The direction they would set is the same.

Some already have started to frighten people about the label “democratic socialist.” Trump paints it as Venezuela or Cuba. Mike Bloomberg has called Sanders (and presumably Warren’s) views on taxing wealth “communist.” Voters are going to hear a lot more of this nonsense, if Sanders continues to build momentum or Warren catches fire.

Here’s the reality. The important word in “democratic socialism” isn’t socialism, it’s democratic. Sanders isn’t talking about making America into Cuba or Venezuela; he’s talking about extending social guarantees like those offered in most other advanced industrial states, invoking Denmark or Sweden. These countries have universal health care at lower cost, paid family leave, guaranteed paid vacations, higher minimum wages, more generous public retirement programs. They also have vibrant and competitive economies, lower inequality, less poverty, and higher life expectancies.

Sanders is seeking a popular mandate from voters to move in this direction.

When you think of democratic socialism, remember the programs that Republicans and conservatives and the corporate lobbies denounced as socialistic when they were first considered: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, environmental and consumer protection, banking regulation to protect consumers.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which manages our nation’s civil aviation and international waters, is a state program. The Food and Drug Administration, which ensures that drugs are safe is a state program. The minimum wage, food stamps, public housing could all be considered democratic socialist programs.

Our problem has been that we have too much socialism for the rich and the powerful—subsidies for corporations, get out of jail free cards for crooked bankers, tax breaks for the rich that leaves them paying a lower tax rate than their secretaries, monopoly power for corporations that allows them to gouge customers and more.

And we have too little shared security—democratic socialism—for working people: affordable health care, a living wage, guaranteed paid vacation and family leave, universal childcare, affordable college, public mobilization to deal with the threat of climate change.

Obama wins South Carolina

Obama and Oprah in South Carolina

"For the very first time in my life, I feel compelled to stand up and to speak out for the man who I believe has a new vision for America."
- Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey joined Barack and Michelle Obama at free public rallies in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina this weekend.
In total, they electrified nearly 70,000 people across three states and brought thousands of new volunteers into our crucial early-state operations. Thanks to everyone who came out and made these events such a success.
Here's a video with excerpts from both Oprah's and Barack's remarks:

http://www.barackobama.com/oprah
Oprah's public support has attracted a lot of attention and created a tremendous opportunity to reach out to people who otherwise might not hear Barack's message of change.
At every stage of this campaign, the mission for every Obama supporter has been to become an organizer in their own right. By reaching out to your friends, family, and neighbors, you have the potential to bring people back into the political process and make them part of something special.
Oprah can certainly reach a lot more people than most of us, but the challenge she met this weekend is the same one you can meet: To break out of your comfort zone and reach out to your network about the important choice our country faces at this moment.