FAIR News

How a Member of Our Board of Advisors Overcame His Past Prejudices

And Critical Race Theory in the News

March 24th, 2021

How a Member of Our Board of Advisors Overcame His Past Prejudices

FAIR Board of Advisors member Zaid Jilani penned a thought-provoking piece this week, titled “White People Don’t Have a Monopoly on Hatred.” Through his own personal experience, Jilani, a Pakastani-American Muslim, illuminates the pitfalls of Critical Race Theory’s insistence that all prejudiced beliefs are inextricably tied to “whiteness.” He argues that this argument is in fact racist due to its disempowerment of racial minorities. Jilani describes overcoming his own past prejudices toward Jewish people by coming to view his identity on an individual, rather than “race group” level. 

“Critical Race Theory sees people not as individuals, but more like the Borg from Star Trek,” wrote Jilani. “It insists that white people are inevitably oppressors and that African-Americans are inherently oppressed. And everyone else, like Schrödinger’s cat, exist in a kind of liminal position, playing the role of victims or victimizers depending on the situation. That is how, in the context of the admissions process at Stuyvesant, Asians are seen as “white-adjacent” and privileged, but in the context of street crime, they are cast as victims. Attributes of specific races are assumed.”

Read the full article here:
https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/white-people-dont-have-a-monopoly

We are thrilled to preview the upcoming launch of FAIR chapters across the country. Nearly 15,000 people have signed up with FAIR over the past three weeks to join and be part of the growing pro-human movement. Over the coming weeks, we will be announcing the launch of chapters in New York, New Jersey, California, Ohio, Washington, Texas, and dozens of other states across the country. We will also be supporting the launch of FAIR chapters on college campuses, to advance our mission of promoting civil rights and liberties and a common culture of fairness, understanding and humanity. 

If you are interested in volunteering for FAIR, or in leading or joining a FAIR chapter, click here to sign-up:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfE_VJJUweQbWRHDhhpLBo08Z2qZet_A-Rke5xiRJIeA80FXQ/viewform

If you want to join one of our upcoming Welcome to FAIR group Zoom sessions to learn more about FAIR’s mission, and our vision and plan for effective positive and peaceful change in our society, click here to sign-up:

https://calendly.com/membership-fair/fair-onboarding-group-meeting?month=2021-03

If you want to watch a recording of a previous Welcome to FAIR group Zoom session, click here to visit the Member section of www.fairforall.org:

https://www.fairforall.org/members/content/

Critical Race Theory in the News

This week, there have been several articles, and a letter from 1776 Unites, highlighting the negative impact of Critical Race Theory on American culture, institutions and people.
 

FAIR Board of Advisors member Christopher Rufo’s latest installment in his City Journal series on education reports on the campaign against “whiteness in educational spaces” that has been launched by North Carolina’s largest public school district.  He details Wake County’s February 2020 equity-themed teachers’ conference, where teachers were encouraged not only to challenge “whiteness” but to ignore parental concerns about antiracism curriculum.

Read the article here: 
https://www.city-journal.org/critical-race-theory-in-wake-county-nc-schools

On Monday, 1776 Unites – an organization that includes multiple members of FAIR’s Board of Advisors – published an open letter to the president of Smith College criticizing the university’s handling of a racial profiling accusation against a janitor. 44 black intellectuals, many of whom participated in the Civil rights movement, question the efficacy of mandated CRT trainings and implore: “Please consider that many Black Americans find training that reduces us simply to a racial category profoundly condescending and dehumanizing. Not only do such activities often increase racial animosity rather than reduce it, but they also deeply harm students of color by teaching them to process every one of life’s difficulties through the lens of race.”

Read the letter here: 
https://1776unites.com/essays/1776-unites-open-letter-to-smith-college/

Thomas Chatterton Williams, a member of FAIR’s Board of Advisors, penned a thought-provoking essay in Law & Liberty on Thomas Sowell. He illuminates how Sowell presciently addressed many of today’s arguments prevalent among the Critical Race Theory set. 

Read the essay here: 
https://lawliberty.org/encountering-thomas-sowell/
 

FAIR Board of Advisors member Melissa Chen’s latest for the Spectator analyzes the media’s hasty dissemination of a narrative based on white supremacy to explain last week’s tragic shooting in Atlanta. Chen details how the press’ eagerness to “dissect everything through the prism of critical race theory” results in the dehumanization of victims, who are not honored, but instead used as pawns in our culture wars. 

Read the article here: 
https://spectator.us/topic/media-haste-cry-race-asian-americans-atlanta/