Monthly Archives: August 2021

The Republican congressman did not cite a single district that was doing so. And he declined to be interviewed or respond to questions seeking specific examples where CRT is taught.

Still, it was good politics.

RELATED: Crowd protests 'government speech,' critical race theory at Rochester School Board meeting

Critical race theory has joined the list of contentious cultural issues, such as abortion and gender identity, that sharply divides activists in both parties, says political analyst Steven Schier. Hagedorn's goal was two-fold: To mobilize his base, and to brand the other side as propagators of a nefarious theory.

"The polling I've seen is that when people learn some aspects of CRT, it's pretty unpopular," Schier said. "So politically, it's a fat target."

Schools are finding themselves at the epicenter of this debate. Rochester was one of the early flashpoints, but it hasn't been the only one in Minnesota.

The issue is also resonating and inflaming debate statewide, as work proceeds on a new set of social studies standards for public schools that seeks to include a more diverse, racially and gender-inclusive perspective.

CRT takes as its guiding premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature, but a social construct used to oppress and exploit people of color. Critical race theorists maintain that the law and legal institutions in the U.S. are racist insofar as they create social, economic and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites.

On one level, it's not surprising that the clash is so supercharged, given that it pits different interpretations and narratives about what it means to be an American.

But on another, it begs the question: How did we get to this point? Less than a year ago, no one knew what critical race theory was.

The Hagedorn Report was sent out on Aug. 12, 2021.

It hasn't mattered that officials for Rochester Public Schools have emphatically denied that CRT is taught in its classrooms. And there are no plans to do so.

Nor has it mattered to eagle-eyed CRT critics who dismiss claims from Minnesota Department of Education officials that CRT is not part of the recent draft of social studies standards. They say elements of CRT are part of the draft, and they want them rooted out.

"The theme of oppression, marginalization, group identity and absent narratives drives the second draft standards and benchmarks," the Center of the American Experiment, a conservative Minnesota think tank, said in a statement this week. "Students will learn that their concept centers around their racial/gender group identity, and that limiting oppression, not facts, is the lens through which all social studies content should be viewed."

Matt Carlstrom, one of the co-chairs of the state social studies committee, said there is "zero" critical race theory in the draft. He argues that CRT is being used as a stalking horse to eliminate discussion of topics that broaden understanding of U.S. history.

"Many people don't know what (critical race theory) is," he said. "And when school districts start to talk about equity and ethnic studies and indigenous history, that is not critical race theory at all."

Carlstrom has been a social studies teacher for 29 years, and notes that before last May, he had never heard of the theory. He began researching it, wondering if it was a subject he should be incorporating in his classroom. He discovered it was an upper-level legal theory that examines how the legal system contributed to oppression and racism.

"The thing about CRT is that even the people who teach it and do research work don't necessarily agree on exactly what it is," he said about a subject that has become such a bugaboo, it has now been banned in several Republican-dominated states.

Carlstrom said the proposed draft standards are different from the ones taught today. The more inclusive historical approach outlined in the draft was in response to a survey sent out last year, seeking input from parents, teachers and community members on what changes needed to be made to the state's standards.

One response came back loud and clear: That the standards need to do a better job presenting a perspective that reflects the diversity of the state and its history.

"That was abundantly clear across the state," Carlstrom said.

He said this broadening of perspective is critical if schools are to improve their ability to engage students of color at a time when the state is become less white and more multiracial.

He recalled that when he attended a high school that enrolled a large percentage of minority students in the 1970s, those students "never saw themselves in their education." And when he went to college, it was "white, Western Hemisphere."

"If kids are going to engage in education, they must see themselves in that education," he said.

And that lack of connection, he said, is a major factor driving the state's "huge" achievement gap between white and minority students.

Meanwhile, high school social studies teachers find themselves in the crosshairs of this debate.

"The last four or five years have been freakishly hard to teach civics," said one area social studies teacher who asked not to be identified. "Very little grace or benefit of the doubt is given to teachers these days."

A recent MinnPost article highlighted how community members have made data requests to identify teachers who have received equity training. They wanted to make sure that their kids didn't have those teachers. Some kindergarten teachers worry about the books they read to students, for fear of offending their parents.

The article quoted Denise Specht, president of Education Minnesota, the state's teachers union, as saying some parents are sharing forms for students to hand to their teachers on the first day of school. The forms ask teachers to see their lesson plans every week and to review the books, worksheets and chapters used in class, MinnPost reported.

"If there is something that they object to," she said, "they plan on taking on the teacher, talking to the principal and people in the district."

Link:

Schools, teachers find themselves in the crosshairs of critical race theory debate - PostBulletin.com

By now youve probably heard that the Taliban fighters whose battle fatigues look like those of neo-hippies on campus at the University of California, Berkeley are on the verge of being back in charge in Afghanistan. All thanks to the failed programs funded by Western taxpayers that were apparently more like Ponzi schemes. How else could one characterize what the U.S. Defense Department estimated as $815.7 billion spent to stabilize the country and develop its institutions when the result is the NATO-trained Afghan army collapsing like it was ordered from an online cheap goods store?

If you cant create a democracy in Afghanistan after 20 years and hundreds of billions of dollars, then you arent ever going to. But where exactly did all the money go?

The internet provides some clues. As American and NATO allied troops evacuate ahead of U.S. President Joe Bidens Sept. 11 withdrawal date, images have shown Taliban fighters sliding their flip-flop-clad tootsies into some heavy artillery co-opted from the NATO-trained Afghan army, whose sub-commanders were bought off by the Taliban as soon as the training wheels came off.

But thats not all. Because this is apparently like the Showcase Showdown on The Price Is Right, where the winners played so well that they get to take home the prizes of all the players.

When NATO troops abandoned the Bagram Air Base earlier this year, ceding it to the Afghan army proteges whom they had spent the better part of two decades training, images quickly appeared online of the Taliban commandeering some nice, shiny gym equipment on that military base. Ah, the spoils of war. Hey, look at that Taliban guy cranking out reps on that state-of-the-art chest press! Check out the dude in the long robe and sandals with socks on the stationary bike!

The idea of the Taliban being back in power is enough to make a lot of people who made personal sacrifices in this war irate. But they see the straw in their neighbors eye rather than the beam in their own, as the biblical saying goes.

Apparently the Taliban are less militant than our own sanitary ayatollahs here in the West at least in the gym. They didnt even have to sign up for a time slot, apply hand sanitizer and wear masks.

Judging by the lack of social distancing and other Covid-era behaviors in the Taliban gym videos, its hard to imagine that they would impose strict sanitary measures on the population the way our leaders have here in the West.

But theyll probably oppress and kill people with whom they dont agree! you might be saying. Perhaps. But were living in countries where leaders are increasingly using the COVID-19 pandemic pretext to force people to take an experimental injection or risk losing their livelihood contrary to the principles of personal autonomy and free will.

We in Paris have spent the past 17 months being placed periodically on house arrest for our own good, being forced to wear cloth over our faces for fear of government-imposed punishment, having our movement controlled, and now being segregated and marginalized if our personal choices dont align with those of our rulers. Moreover, when some people speak out against such oppression, theyre either censored or targeted by institutions or authorities promoting the governments official narrative.

And now were seeing the leaders of our so-called democracies introducing increasingly intrusive monitoring through digital technology such as smartphone applications and QR codes, all under the pretext of ensuring adherence to the governments chosen ideology of sanitary purity.

Those among us who have been relieved of critical thought after being bombarded with fear-driven propaganda now cry out for punishment when a Western woman whips off her symbolically oppressive mask in her local grocery store, proclaims her emancipation from the sanitary regime, or rejects the imposition of a medical act like an injection by claiming, My body, my choice.

Indeed, the women of Afghanistan are going to have to contend with the Talibans return to power. But since the pandemic, the governments of allegedly free and democratic countries are not really in a position to be giving lessons on liberty to the Taliban or to anyone else. Our governments dont get to claim moral authority regarding oppression when theyre increasingly responsible for perpetrating it themselves.

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

Read the original:

Western leaders taking cues on oppression from the Taliban - Minot Daily News

Aug 19th 2021

BABA KOBE ashbe? (When will Daddy come?), asks the youngest daughter of Sajedul Islam Sumon. No one has an answer, but she keeps asking anyway. Her familys lifeand hersrevolves around his absence. Now eight, she was just one when security forces came to their suburb of Dhaka, Bangladeshs capital, and bundled her father, a local leader for an opposition party, into the back of a van. That was the last time he was seen or heard from.

Your browser does not support the

Get The Economist app and play articles, wherever you are

Mr Sumons tale, in a new report on enforced disappearances in Bangladesh, is a chilling example of what can happen to those who oppose or criticise the government of Sheikh Hasina Wajed. Under her 12-year tenure at least 600 Bangladeshis are reckoned to have been disappeared.

Many have eventually re-emerged. Some have been implausibly found and produced in courtlike Shafiqul Islam Kajol, a photojournalist who, 53 days after he went missing in March last year, turned up blindfolded, his legs and arms bound, in a no-mans land between Bangladesh and India. Police took him into custody, slapping a trespassing charge on to his original crime of posting on Facebook about a sex scandal involving a politician in the ruling party. Others, like Aminul Islam, have returned in body bags. He was a labour activist whose tortured remains were found dumped on the edge of Dhaka, days after his abduction in 2012. Eighty-six victims, including Mr Sumon, are still missing.

While these numbers may seem small in a country of 170m, fear of being goom (disappeared) muzzles millions of voices. Disappearances, along with an array of other human-rights abuses, are not new in Bangladesh. Under previous governments, including those led by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the ruling Awami League, dissidents vanished and were killed. But since 2009, the year Sheikh Hasina took office for a second time, state-sponsored abductions have become a systematic tool of oppression, says Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch, the advocacy group behind the report.

Bangladeshs is not the only South Asian state that covertly kidnaps its citizens. Yet, says Ms Ganguly, such actions elsewhere are usually linked to civil strife or insurgencies. Bangladesh is alone in so blatantly targeting political opponents and critics for secret detentions. Disappearances have shot up most in the run-up to elections, with over 130 before the 2014 vote and 98 in the year leading up to the ballot in 2018.

Despite such brazenness, ruling-party politicians deny or play down the abductions. In 2017 Sheikh Hasina claimed that Bangladeshs enforced disappearances paled in comparison with Britains, bogusly citing data for missing persons. Her son, Sajeeb Wazed, recently penned an article for the Diplomat, an online news site, calling the disappearances comical. Many of the vanished were fugitives who, he joked, had gone into hiding to escape arrest.

Such mocking attitudes percolate down through the state apparatus. When Marufa Islam Ruma sought answers about her missing husband, Mofizul Islam Rashed, security-force officers jeered that he had probably run off with another woman. Years after Mr Sumons disappearance, a senior officer came to his familys home and theatrically walked around the house shouting Where is Sumon? Let him out, I need to speak to him!, recalls his niece.

The families interviewed for the report named the Rapid Action Battalion, an elite police squad, as being behind the abductions. But other security units are guilty too, say various rights groups. And they all operate with impunity.

Some families give up or do not try in the first place, says Afroja Islam Akhi, Mr Sumons sister, who runs Mayer Dak, an organisation for the families of vanished Bangladeshis. They know their questions may bring punitive repercussions rather than helpful answers. She reckons the number of disappeared is far higher than the 600 known about. Only God knows the accurate tally.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "They just disappeared"

Read the original here:

Critics of Bangladesh's government are liable to vanish - The Economist

On August 16th, the courts of Belarus sentenced Stepan Latypov, a Belarusian activist and political prisoner, to eight and a half years in prison. He was originally put on trial in June after being arrested in September amid a violent government crackdown on political opposition. Latypovs story, however, became known out of thousands of Belaruss politically detained due to his first appearance in court. His trial earlier this summer was postponed when Latypov stabbed his own neck after recounting the threats that were targeted at his family and the torture he experienced while imprisoned. He received medical treatment and, three months later, was brought back to be issued a verdict. Latypov faced charges of arranging riots, resisting the police, and fraud, according to Reuters. While he pleaded not guilty, he was unable to escape confinement as the Belarusian government persists with its order of repression and terror.

Within the past year, the citizens of Belarus have seen rampant violence and human rights abuses. In a report on the Eastern European country, the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Anas Marin, described the current situation: the Belarusian authorities have launched a full-scale assault against civil society, curtailing a broad spectrum of rights and freedoms, targeting people from all walks of life, while systematically persecuting human rights defenders, journalists, media workers and lawyers in particular. These aggressive governmental actions have drawn the outrage of Belaruss public. Hugh Williamson, the director for Europe and Central Asia at the Human Rights Watch, stated that the sweeping brutality of the crackdown shows the lengths to which the Belarusian authorities will go to silence people, but tens of thousands of peaceful protesters continue to demand fair elections and justice for abuses.

Belarus has developed into a humanitarian disaster as the government attacks its political opponents and supporters of human rights. In the days following the nations presidential election last year, which has been deemed fraudulent by multiple independent organizations, almost 7,000 people were detained by security forces in raids against peaceful proteststhat number has since reached 35,000, as reported by the United Nations. Contested Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has created an authoritarian state that condemns those who disagree with his regime and inhumane methods. The government of Belarus cannot continue to threaten, detain, and repress its opposition, actions that directly violate international human rights. Their efforts to impair peaceful demonstrations put the safety and security of Belarusian civil society at risk; if left unrestrained, such violence will only propel the country into greater chaos.

The Eastern European nation has faced a brutal government crackdown and human rights abuses since August 2020 when a disputed presidential election sparked large-scale protests. Among the thousands of political prisoners like Latypov are reports of police brutality and torture. The Human Rights Watch group investigated the systematic imprisonment and persecution of peaceful protesters and detailed the utilization of beatings, electric shocks, and prolonged stress to maltreat those detained. The freedoms of expression and assembly have deteriorated as the Belarusian government restricts human rights. Over a thousand dissidents have fled the country, including leaders of opposing political parties, while others have been forcibly exiled. Accounts from women in Belarus have detailed threats of sexual violence and of their children being taken away, according to Amnesty International.

As the populace of Belarus continues to suffer under the oppression of their government, there needs to be an increased focus on peace and accountability. Activists like Latypov, who experience the injustice of being arbitrarily imprisoned, threatened, and tortured, do not deserve punishment for fighting for human rights and a free system. International actors must work together to hold the Belarusian government to world standards of electoral credibility and fair treatment. The persistent use of violence in responding to peaceful protests only exacerbates the situation and causes more harm. Belarus must stop employing force and restricting its citizens. Safety, security, and human rights are essential components of civil society that should be valued above political pursuits. Continuing this violent crackdown hurts both the Belarusian people and the countrys future stability.

Go here to see the original:

Belarusian Activist Sentenced After Trying To Take Own Life In Court - The Organization for World Peace

Kabul, Afghanistan-Taliburn Tuesday, Afghanistan, as part of a publicity blitz aimed at respecting womens rights, respecting womens rights, respecting womens rights and reassuring world power and a terrifying population Vowed not to be a shelter for terrorists.

Continue Lightning attacks across Afghanistan Having seen many cities fall into rebels without fighting, the Taliban have sought to describe it as more modest than it was when it imposed strict Islamic rule in the late 1990s.But many Afghans Stay skeptical And thousands of people desperately competed for the airport to flee the country.

Older generations remember the Talibans previous rules of confining women primarily to their homes, banning television and music, and public executions. A US-led aggression pushed al-Qaeda out of power months after the 9/11 attacks organized from Afghanistan while they were protected by the Taliban.

Taliban long-time spokesman Zabifra Mujahid emerged from a shadow that first appeared publicly on Tuesday to address these concerns at a press conference.

He promised that the Taliban would respect womens rights within the norms of Islamic law without giving details. The Taliban encouraged women to return to work, allowed girls to return to school, and handed out Islamic scarves to the doors. A female newscaster interviewed Taliban officials at a television studio on Monday.

The treatment of women varies widely throughout the Islamic world, sometimes within the same country, and rural areas tend to be much more conservative. While some Islamic countries, including neighboring Pakistan, have female prime ministers, ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia has recently allowed women to drive.

The Mujahideen also said the Taliban would not allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for attacking other nations, as it did in the years prior to 9/11. The guarantee was part of the 2020 peace agreement between the Taliban and the Trump administration, paving the way for the withdrawal of the United States.

The Pentagon said the US commander is communicating with the Taliban, who are working to evacuate thousands of people through Kabuls international airport. The Taliban said it was not acting hostile there.

The Mujahideen reiterated that the Taliban provided full amnesty to Afghans working for the US and Western-backed governments, saying, No one goes to their doors to ask why they helped. It wont happen. He said the private media should remain independent, but journalists should not work against national values.

The capital, Kabul, remains calm while the Taliban patrol the streets. However, many are still afraid even after prisons and arsenals have been emptied while rebels have wiped out the country.

Residents of Kabul say that a group of armed men are making door-to-door canvassing in search of individuals to cooperate with exiled government and security forces, but the armed forces are Taliban or a crime disguised as a militant. I wasnt sure if he was a person.

The Mujahideen accused the former administration of the collapse of security, saying that the Taliban had only entered Kabul to restore law and order after the police broke up.

An Afghan broadcaster said she was hiding in a relatives house. She said she and the other women did not believe the Taliban changed their way. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was afraid of her safety.

A group of women wearing Islamic scarves gave a brief demonstration in Kabul and put up a sign demanding that the Taliban not exclude women from public life.

Jake Sullivan, US National Security Adviser, said the US and other governments would simply not accept the Talibans words when it comes to womens rights.

As Ive always said, this isnt about trust, its about verification, Sullivan said in a White House briefing. And we will see what the Taliban will do in the coming days and weeks, and when I say us, I mean the entire international community.

Whatever their true intentions, the Taliban are interested in predicting moderation to prevent the international community from isolating governments, as they did in the 1990s.

The European Union has suspended development assistance to Afghanistan until the political situation becomes clearer, but said it would consider strengthening humanitarian aid.

EU Foreign Policy Officer Josep Borrell said Tulliburn must respect UN Security Council resolutions and human rights in order to gain access to the approximately $ 1.4 billion development fund allocated by 2024. rice field.

Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said Britain could provide up to 10 percent more humanitarian aid, but the Taliban would not receive the money previously allocated for security.

On Tuesday, the Taliban entered half of the airports private sector and fired in the air to expel about 500 people there, Afghan officials said on anonymous terms because he was not authorized to explain to journalists. rice field.

The Taliban appeared to be trying to control the crowd rather than prevent people from leaving. Videos circulating online show that the Taliban oversee the orderly departure of dozens of foreigners.

The US Embassy in Kabul, currently operated by the military side of the airport, urged Americans to register online for evacuation, but prevented them from coming to the airport before being contacted.

The German Foreign Ministry said the first German transport plane landed in Kabul, but due to turmoil it took off with only seven people on board. The other later left with 125 people.

US President Joe Biden Defended his decision He blamed the Talibans rapid takeover of Afghanistans western-backed government and security forces to end the longest war in the United States. NATO Secretary General Jason Stoltenberg Repeated the evaluation, While saying that the alliance must investigate flaws in its efforts to train Afghan troops.

Talks continued on Tuesday between the Taliban and several Afghan politicians, including former President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, who once headed the states negotiating council. The Taliban said it wanted to form a comprehensive and Islamic government.

The talks focused on how the Taliban-controlled government works in light of the changes in Afghanistan over the last two decades, rather than simply splitting ministries.

The Talibans top leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, may have arrived in Kandahar from Qatar on Tuesday night, indicating that the deal is imminent.

Meanwhile, the exiled government vice president tweeted that he was the legal interim president of the country. Amurula Surrey said President Ashraf Ghani had fled the country and he should be held liable under the Constitution.

Fayez reported from Istanbul, Ganon from Guelph, Canada, and Klaus from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Tameem Akhgar in Istanbul, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, Pan Pylas in London, and Aya Batrawy in Dubai contributed to this report.

Source link Taliban vows to respect women despite the history of oppression | News

View post:

Taliban vows to respect women despite the history of oppression | News - Pennsylvanianewstoday.com

Documentarian Nanfu Wangs latest film, In The Same Breath, which premiered Wednesday on HBO Max, had quite a rapid turnaround. Depicting the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, the film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January. But its no less thoughtful, carefully constructed and inquisitively insightful than any of Wangs other films, an approach that has become her hallmark in a career thats been marked by one remarkable film after the next.

Wang, who was born and raised in southeast Chinas Jiangxi province, was educated in the U.S. at Ohio University and New York University. Her work has consistently probed at the oppressive Chinese government through an intimate and human perspective, and In the Same Breath turns its lens on how that manifested during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically focusing on the messaging and information, and sometimes misinformation, presented by the state-run news media.

While the Chinese media attempted to downplay the severity of the pandemic early on, including obfuscating the number of deaths, as well as presenting rosy human interest stories about how well doctors were fighting the deadly disease, Wang, who was visiting her mother in China in January 2020 as the pandemic began, sent cameras into the hospitals to capture what was happening on the ground. She contrasts her footage and interviews of grieving families with the propaganda presented in the news media. She then juxtaposes the highly controlled Chinese media landscape, where freedom of speech is forbidden and citizen journalists arrested, with the anti-lockdown protests in the U.S. and viral misinformation spread via social media, where perhaps freedom of speech ultimately led to more misinformation and mistrust. Ultimately, she imagines a world where the pandemic was taken seriously and governments transparently shared information, though that reality will never be an option at this point.

Its a fascinating and sophisticated latest entry in her oeuvre, posing important questions and helping us to unpack the unseen and seen before our eyes, which she has done again and again in her work, which includes some of the best nonfiction films of the past five years.

Her debut film, Hooligan Sparrow has similarities to In the Same Breath, focusing on the oppression of the Chinese government on free speech, this time with regard to womens rights activist Ye Haiyan, who has faced persecution and violence for her protests against child sex abuse. In Hooligan Sparrow, Wang herself, who is often a part of her films, struggles to capture these events for fear of violence and intimidation, and depicts the harrowing process of getting her footage out of China. Watch it on the Criterion Channel and Kanopy, or rent it for $3.99 on iTunes.

More:

Pandemic's early days examined in documentary - The Columbian

On Wednesday August 11th, The Connecticut Association of Schools hosted an event titled Learning & Leading for Systemic Racial & Social Justice. The star-studded lineup included opening remarks by Miguel Cardona, U.S. secretary of education, and remarks by Charlene Russell-Tucker, acting Connecticut commissioner of education. In the spirit of Rahm Emanuels saying, You never want a serious crisis to go to waste, the clear intent of this conference was to take this moment of Americas racial reckoning, to shift the purpose of K-12 education from developing critical thinking to an emphasis on critical consciousness.

The term critical thinking was coined by philosopher John Dewey to capture the intellectual process used by Enlightenment intellectuals to understand the world. He extensively quoted Francis Bacon, John Locke, and John Stuart Mill in his description of this scientific approach to learning.

Critical theories reject the concept of Enlightenment rationalism, and substitute the power of story-telling.

Critical Pedagogy is a critical theory created by Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator, and author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Freire believed that the traditional education system, with the teacher as the sage on the stage, was designed to produce workers to support the capitalist system, and perpetuate the oppression of the working class. He envisioned a participatory form of education.

As Henry Giroux, a disciple of Critical Pedagogy explains:

For Freire, pedagogy is not a method or an a priori technique to be imposed on all students but a political and moral practice that provides the knowledge, skills, and social relations that enable students to explore the possibilities of what it means to be critical citizens while expanding and deepening their participation in the promise of a substantive democracy.

Critical thinking for Freire was not an object lesson in test-taking, but a tool for self-determination and civic engagement. According to Freire, critical thinking was not about the task of simply reproducing the past and understanding the present. To the contrary, it was about offering a way of thinking beyond the present, soaring beyond the immediate confines of ones experiences, entering into a critical dialogue with history, and imagining a future that would not merely reproduce the present.

Critical pedagogy attempts to understand how power works through the production, distribution, and consumption of knowledge within particular institutional contexts and seeks to constitute students as informed subjects and social agents.

Freire was acutely aware that what makes critical pedagogy so dangerous to ideological fundamentalists, the ruling elites, religious extremists, and right-wing nationalists all over the world is that central to its very definition is the task of educating students to become critical agents who actively question and negotiate the relationships between theory and practice, critical analysis and common sense, and learning and social change. Critical pedagogy opens up a space where students should be able to come to terms with their own power as critically engaged citizens; it provides a sphere where the unconditional freedom to question and assert is central to the purpose of public schooling and higher education, if not democracy itself. And as a political and moral practice, way of knowing, and literate engagement, pedagogy attempts to make evident the multiplicity and complexity of history (Said, 2001, p. 141). History in this sense is engaged as a narrative open to critical dialogue rather than predefined text to be memorized and accepted unquestioningly. [emphasis added]

Critical consciousness is an entirely different frame of reference than critical thinking. As Columbia linguistics professor, John McWhorter, has posed the question: Do you want your children taught that battling power differentials is the central endeavor of intellectual, moral and artistic endeavor?

The government and quasi-government entities that sponsored and participated in the conference included the U.S. Department of Education, The Connecticut State Department of Education, The Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS), and the Connecticut State Education Resource Center (SERC).

Many think this debate is about how or what we teach in high school history classes, but the goal of these groups is to install curricula based on the precepts of Critical Pedagogy into all subjects in every grade from K-12. To demonstrate how this shift might be applied, a conference presenter offered the following example of a fifth-grade math problem:

For a deeper dive into the concepts and strategies for infusing critical theories into K-12 education, see Kimberl Crenshaws summer school program for educators.

Is the oppressor/oppressed dynamic the best or only way to think about society?

In college, I had a course on the effects of technological innovation on societies through history. On my bookshelves sits The Sea and Civilization, which is described by Amazon as, A monumental retelling of history through the lens of the sea revealing in breathtaking depth how people first came into contact with one another by ocean, river, lake, and stream and how goods, languages, religions, and entire cultures spread across and along the worlds waterways bringing together civilizations and defining what makes us most human.

There are numerous was to think about the interplay of our societal interconnections.

Alleged differentials of power are only one frame of reference for examining the world. Further, there are real questions as to what exactly constitutes oppression. Are unequal outcomes de facto proof of discrimination? Or, are there perhaps multiple overlapping causations?

And to clarify I am for education reform in Connecticut, especially reform that focuses on making sure that all of our children, including those currently assigned to failing schools, have the opportunity to learn and thrive.

But the critical theory lens denies individuality. People are not individuals, but intersections of their multiple group identities. Are all people in an assigned group oppressed or oppressor? What are the mental health impacts on children of teaching them they are a part of a group rather than an individual, that their outcomes are determined by their status at birth, and that it is their moral responsibility to root out any and all perceived power differentials in society?

The issue is not whether Americans should strive for a just society, or if Connecticut schools should teach a complete history of America, including the numerous racist policies it has implemented. Our students should know the whole truth. Nor is the issue one of banning critical theories. Theories cannot be un-invented and intellectual inquiry is appropriate in education. The issue is not one of democracy. It does not matter whether a majority of voters favor or reject implementing Critical Pedagogy in schools, or which side wins the contested Guilford School Board contest.

The issue at hand is the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

Public schools are the government. As such, they cannot control the speech of citizens. Freedom of conscience is inherent to freedom of speech; therefore, the government cannot compel anyone to accept a belief system. This principle has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in their 1977 ruling, in the matter Wooley v. Maynard, which ruled that the State Of New Hampshire could not compel Jehovahs Witnesses to display the slogan Live Free or Die on their license plate. Our schools cannot compel students to accept a belief system that the morality of society must be judged by the single framework of alleged power differentials among group identities.

Read the original:

Comparing 'Critical Thinking' and 'Critical Consciousness' Pedagogy in Public Schools - CT Examiner

Agartala: The people of the Chakma community living in parts of Tripura, Assam, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh observe August 17 as Black Day every year, in protest against the decision to give the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region to what is present day Bangladesh, during Partition.

Who are Chakmas?

Chakmas are one of the largest ethnic groups living in the easternmost area of India and are native to the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region of southeastern Bangladesh. The people of the Chakma tribe also live in various states of the Northeast, including Tripura, Mizoram, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. They are predominantly Buddhists.

At least 10 ethnic minorities including Chakma, Marma, Tipperas, Chak, Murung, Khumi, Lushai, Bowm, Pankho and Mog live in the CHT. The area spreads across 5,138 square miles and is bound on the north by Tripura, Arakan Hills of Myanmar on the south, Lushai Hills of Mizoram and Arakan Hills of Myanmar on the east and by Chittagong district on the west.

Also read: In Illustrations: The Story of the Chakmas

Since 2016, Chakma people have observed August 17 as Black Day. According to Chakma National Council of India (CNCI), Chakmas mourn the day of August 17, 1947, when the CHT region was awarded to then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The decision to include the region as part of Pakistan was announced only two days after India won freedom.

The CNCI was established in the year 2014, to address the problems of Chakmas nationally and internationally. In their first convention held in 2016 in Guwahati, the CNCI workers had decided to observe August 17 as Black Day.

The Chakma community observing August 17 as a Black Day in Tripura. Photo: author provided.

Aniruddha Chakma, vice-president of the CNCI Tripura explained that when the British colonial government finally acceded to the demand of giving independence to India and Pakistan on the basis of the theory that Muslim majority areas would fall in Pakistan and non-Muslim majority areas would be part of India. The CHT region of then undivided India should have been a part of India as it was predominantly a non-Muslim populated area, comprising over 98.5% ethnic hill tribes where the Chakmas were regarded as the majority.

Though the people of CHT and its leaders protested vehemently against this unjust decision and its leaders made every possible effort to bring back CHT to India, Indian leaders were not proactive. Thus, the CNCIs efforts and initiative is to make people aware that Chakmas have been one of the worst victims of partition, which made them stateless and one of the most discriminated and persecuted races on the globe, Aniruddha told The Wire.

He further said, It is noteworthy to mention that the Chakmas of CHT in anticipation of the merger of CHT with India hoisted the tricolour on August 15, 1947 for seven days at the district headquarter of Rangamati, till the Baloch Regiment of Pakistan army pulled it down on August 21, 1947.

He said that many pro-Indian Chakma nationalist leaders had to flee the CHT region due to their loyalty to India.

The Chakma leaders made every effort to merge CHT with India and for that our leaders Lieutenant Sneha Kumar Chakma and Lieutenant Kamini Mohan Dewan made several trips to New Delhi to meet national leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, to convince them to merge the CHT with India, he said, adding that during Independence, at least 98.5% of the region was inhabited by Buddhist and Hindu communities. However, it was still declared Pakistan territory by the Boundary Commission led by Sir Cyril Radcliffe.

Also read: India Needs a Proper Refugee Law, Not a CAA Suffused With Discriminatory Intent

Oppression against Chakmas

Seven decades since Independence, the Jumma tribes an umbrella community comprising 11 tribal clans of CHT, including Chakmas allege that they face oppression from security forces, political factions and land grabbers.

We are loyal to India. We wanted to merge with India at the time when East Pakistan was formed, he said.

Our community is facing oppression continuously. Security personnel keep disturbing them. Chakmas are caught between clashes of political factions like Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, United Peoples Democratic Front and others. Land grabbing is happening at the hands of settlers.

Aniruddha said the CNCI has appealed to the International Court of Justice to look into the matter.

The rest is here:

Why Chakmas Observe August 17 as Black Day - The Wire

'There is a certain belief that the behaviour of Brahmins and Upper castes is already good. While my behavior needs to be judged, theirs need not,' says Vipin Veetil in this interview.

A 36-year-old assistant professor of the Economics Department at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, Vipin P Veetil, quit the premier institution in July and an email he wrote on the alleged caste discrimination he faced in the institute went viral. This caused huge public outrage, once again raising questions about the discrimination faced by both faculties and students belonging to oppressed communities at such institutions in the country.

After quitting IIT-M, Vipin joined another institution, but had to quit due to personal reasons. Vipin will soon be rejoining IIT-M after he decided to withdraw his resignation. According to IIT-M rules, faculty at Vipins position can return within a year after quitting the institution. However, he is waiting for the OBC Commission to probe a complaint that he has filed detailing the discrimination he faced. Vipin, who hails from Kerala, belongs to the Maniyani (OBC) caste.

Speaking to TNM, Vipin says that there is considerable oppression at different institutions in the country. He says there are only two groups in IIT Madras Brahmins and Non Brahmins, and the latter had been silently facing oppression for decades. He does, however, mention that in the case of IIT-M, there are active processes to deal with such cases, but they need to be strengthened significantly.

Answering some of the important questions in a Q&A session with TNM, Vipin clearly lays down the caste dynamics in IIT-M, the root cause of the problem and the solution at hand.

How many times had you written to IIT-M management before quitting?

I have written several emails to the management over the last two years. I had previously written to the grievances committee of IIT-M and have been reporting this incident for a good period of time.

I joined IIT-M in March 2019 and at the end of the year, I wrote for the first time regarding the general circumstances of discrimination and other issues in the campus. And in March 2020, I again wrote to the Head of Department of Economics and staff members of the Department, where I explicitly asked if the rules are different for Brahmins or are we all operating on the same rule? So I have raised such questions and issues for a long time, but none of the emails were leaked.

The last email was leaked and got all this attention because I resigned. So unless someone kills themselves or resigns there is no traction, which is unfortunate. However, thats the reality of the matter. Technically, I had resigned even before the email came out and I did not initially intend to write the email because I had written so many before and received no response. All these issues could have been sorted at a much lower level, but the Department is rotten and did not want to do so. I also filed a complaint with the grievances committee before resigning.

What was the incident that made you feel you were being discriminated against on the basis of caste?

I tried to teach a course, to which the Department staff said it cannot be done as I am in my probation period. I demanded that they give this in writing, but the HOD refused. Also a senior faculty member said that this is the time to observe my behaviour and that they cannot allow me to teach a new course.

Of course, people in the past have been stopped from teaching in the first year and this clearly does not account for discrimination. But after 10 months of me joining, another Brahmin faculty joined the Department. He was also on probation but he was allowed to teach two new courses in his first year. While he took classes, those who were against me teaching the course, had no concerns against him. No one in the Department said lets examine his behaviour. This actually prompted me to ask if the rules are different for Brahmins. I do not want him to discontinue teaching the course. My concern has only been about preference over caste.

How do the dynamics of giving preference to others (Brahmins or other upper castes) work in institutions like IIT-M according to you?

There is a certain belief that Brahmins and upper castes are superior and their behavior is already good. While my behavior needs to be judged, theirs need not.

And another important thing is that they are all connected with people in ministries, government committees and so on, and have powerful people to back them. And even if you want to raise something against them, you wont because you know you will have consequences as you come from nowhere.

My parents are not college professors. They havent even gone to college. I do not have MP connections or have anyone in the family who is a judge or even a lawyer.

Explain to us the caste dynamics in your Department that exposes caste privilege?

In our Department, every HOD was a Brahmin. In 2020, when there was a change in HOD, I raised this issue again. I requested that we have someone who is not a Brahmin. It doesnt have to be an OBC or SC member, but someone who is not a Brahmin, but again they appointed a Brahmin.

In our Department, there are 35 faculty members, in a total of 45 sanctioned positions. Now if you apply the 27 percent OBC reservation formula, that means roughly about 10 to 15 OBC professors. And if you apply for SC/ST reservation, that will be 5 to 10 SC/ST professors. But as far as I know, there is only one SC/ST professor and I got in through General Category and not OBC reservation. Hence I cannot be counted and maybe there is one OBC professor who got through reservation.

The Department has people of various ideologies, and most have leftist ideology. They have done PhD from JNU and other institutions, but when it comes to real conflict, they all unite on the basis of caste.

Do you feel this is a particular problem in your Department or IIT-M or other IITs?

There will always be places where the problem is more severe than others, but this is a twofold issue. Firstly, any Department or institute you create in India, you draw people from Indian society. So it will naturally tend to reflect the value, preference and behaviour of the people in the society. So this idea that you somehow can create institutions which will not reflect societies is not going to happen.

Nonetheless, within IIT-M, I feel this Department is particularly problematic among a few other Departments. The Civil Engineering Department, for example, is a good place to work in, I have been told. It is not that IIT-M per se is problematic. There are specific people in specific Departments who are problematic.

Secondly, places with the most amount of conflict need not be places with the most amount of oppression. Because conflict arises when the oppressed feel that they have some chance of victory when they challenge the oppressor. I am certain there are many institutions in India where the circumstances of oppression are much worse but you will never hear about it, because the oppressors know the oppressed will not fight back.

Are you saying you have a chance of victory if you fight back?

Absolutely, because the institute has set up an internal grievances committee and I filed a complaint before I resigned. Then I filed a complaint with the OBC commission and besides this, there is pressure from the media to do things.

So though there is sizable oppression at different institutions, in the case of IIT-M, there are active processes to deal with such cases, but they need to be strengthened significantly.

But what does not help is the comment made by people like Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on July 19 when he was asked by DMK leader TR Baalu about the discrimination at IIT-M and he said there is no discrimination at IIT-M.

There is a grievance committee that is currently inquiring into the matter but someone as powerful as him reaching the conclusion before the committee submits a report is unfair. Additionally, the National OBC commission is yet to begin its inquiry.

It is already difficult for people to report discrimination in this country. I was challenged when I decided to speak up. Because when in March I wrote to the HOD, a senior professor (current HOD) asked me to prove it because he was confident that I would not be able to prove it.

Are you wary about coming back to the Department?

Not at all. People who discriminate should be worried.

Have any of your colleagues warned you or shared their episodes of discrimination with you?

Yes, absolutely. I am able to do a lot of these things because there is support from other professors. When I was denied the opportunity to teach a course, a few professors supported me and said there is no such rule that you are not allowed to teach. I have documented emails about it.

And there were other colleagues who came and told me that there is a professor in the Department with great influence. I should watch what I do. He can call up the former CM and directly talk to him, they said. These are intimidation tactics and it does not work with me. But there are many who will be frightened. Thats why you cannot say if someone is oppressed or not depending on whether they are speaking or not.

Speaking out also depends on circumstances. I am single, but many professors at IIT-M have children who are studying in expensive schools. It is also costly to find another job, because even there another Brahmin or upper caste person will interview you and they will talk to each other and inform each other. Then where will you go?

Can you tell us more about the discrimination fellow colleagues have gone through?

Many fellow colleagues are there who have been denied promotions repeatedly. And in terms of work, the quality is better than the Chairperson who is publishing papers. But the problem is, he (colleague) is not a Brahmin.

In IIT-M, there are only two castes Brahmins and Non- Brahmins. Many faculties who do not belong to SC or OBC communities have also faced discrimination.

Some of them have developed health issues partly because of the structures they have created, structures that Non Brahmin faculty are forced to endure. Every time a Non Brahmin is denied promotion, they will create a new excuse for why he is not promoted and never give it in writing.

What are the other issues you find in the IIT-M management?

I raised an issue in November-December 2019 where I mentioned that the vast majority of IIT-M directors and deans have been Brahmins. And this needs to change. To let others be part of decision-making authority is a paramount, basic and democratic thing to do.

There is an election during the formation of the committee and Brahmins frequently vote and choose the leaders. Here, an important thing to note is that people from the Bahujan community vote once in four or five years, while Brahmins vote much more frequently.

Now we also want to be part of the committee where we vote ultimately making decisions on the resource allocation in society that we have no say in. It is a tax funded institution, money is taken from us.

If you want to run your own institution, bring your resources. You cannot have a tax funded institution which is not accountable to the general public.

How can discrimination and other concerns be addressed effectively?

Within the government system, there is no incentive to recruit on the basis of merit. Because the pay of the director is fixed, so it doesnt depend on how well the institution does. It is not like if you teach poorly, students will leave and you will lose money. Even if students leave, you will still get money.

Firstly, reservation should be imposed so that all communities have their numbers and representation. And a system where the director and dean positions are on rotation so that people from all castes are part of decision making. And reservation should be there in the IIT-M board also, this needs to be quick.

The education system needs to open up widely. The supply side needs to open up massively- Oxford, Cambridge and numerous American universities want to come to India. The elites have always been able to send their children to foreign countries for studies and now the Bahujan people want that quality of education.

Typically, private institutes in India are able to open up because they have social and financial capital. I would love to raise the money to start a private university, but I have not inherited wealth and cannot use the money made from stock exchanges, as by law, institutions cannot run for profit.

Because we dont have a thriving supply side in education due to the regulatory burden, it hurts the people unequally, especially those who have historically not had access to education.

Earlier (before the BJP government), foreign institutes could not come to India because of socialism and Marxism...as Americans are imperialists and what not. But still their children went to study there. Now, institutes are not allowed to come because of nationalism, so the elite always have some kind of grandstanding ideology. But they dont bear the cost, instead we bear the cost. Now we are not willing to bear the cost, we want that quality education, open up the education system and let people come in.

We want an open recruitment system so that Bahujan members are not preyed on by the social network of Brahmins and upper castes.

More here:

No one cares unless oppressed die or resign, IIT-M prof who alleged casteism to TNM - The News Minute