FAIR News

Segregation Comes to an Atlanta Elementary School

And Other News

August 11th, 2021

 

Atlanta Mother Files Federal Complaint Over Segregation

Upon discovering that Mary Lin elementary school was segregating children into separate classrooms depending on skin color, Atlanta mother Kira Posey filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

Niara Savage reported for the Atlanta Black Star that Posey had hoped to have her daughter placed in a classroom with a specific teacher, but was told that the teacher's classroom was not for “Black students.”

“First, it was just disbelief that I was having this conversation in 2020 with a person that looks just like me — a Black woman,” Posey said.

According to an administrator Posey spoke to at Mary Lin, the segregation policy was put in place by the principal of the Atlanta public school, Sharyn Briscoe, because she thought “it would be best for all students.” 

Posey’s attorney, Sharese Shields, says the segregation of children into different classrooms based on skin color at Mary Lin Elementary is in clear violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

 

Read the full article here

 

Oregon Axes High School Graduation Requirements

On July 14, Oregon Governor Kate Brown skipped standard procedure and quietly signed a bill axing many graduation requirements for a high school diploma in Oregon. Under Senate Bill 744, students will no longer be required to prove that they can read, write or do math at a high school level to graduate. The Governor's spokesperson claimed that removing such requirements will benefit “Oregon’s Black, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color.” Hillary Borrud covered the story for The Oregonian. 

“Brown’s decision was not public until recently, because her office did not hold a signing ceremony or issue a press release and the fact that the governor signed the bill was not entered into the legislative database until July 29, a departure from the normal practice of updating the public database the same day a bill is signed.”

 

Read the full article here.

 

Other News

For Quillette, Hrishikesh Joshi shared an excerpt from his new book Why It’s OK To Speak Your Mind where he asserts that social pressure to remain silent on certain topics can "degrade the epistemic commons", and consequently hinder humanity's collective pursuit of truth.

“A healthy field of inquiry, one whose product we have reason to take seriously, has to be one where people are incentivized to critique and disagree with ideas, such that no idea is sacred or beyond criticism.”

 

Read the full article here.

 

After the University of California school system moved to eliminate standardized test scores as part of its admissions process, citing disparities based on skin color, Caitlin Flanagan expressed her opposition to the move for The Atlantic.

“Saying it’s the tests’ fault is like feeding children a poisoned sundae and then blaming the cherry on top for making them sick.”

 

Read the full article here

 

For UnHerd, artist Jess De Whals detailed how a climate of ideological conformity and fear has captured the artist world.

"Perhaps loss of courage is the trade-off one makes for a successful career within the arts establishment. I wouldn’t know, but I noticed things."

 

Read the full article here.

 

 

For AllSidesNow, John Wood Jr. writes about how the organization Braver Angels is working on bringing people together from diverse backgrounds and perspectives to have productive and respectful conversations. 

“Across our differences we have a part in each other’s history and a stake in each other’s future.”  

 

Read the full article here

 

For his Substack It Bears Mentioning, FAIR Advisor John McWhorter considers why Boston University professor Ibram X. Kendi seems unwilling to debate his academic peers. Mcwhorter suggests that this aversion to engaging his critics comes from Kendi’s training in a field that puts orthodoxy over inquiry and stifles criticism and dissent.  

“He is irritated at real questions because he has had no experience with actual academic give and take.”

 

Read the full article here.

 

For the Center For Inquiry, FAIR Advisor Angel Eduardo shares how he has “adopted the term ‘star-man’ to describe a rhetorical step above the steel man.” Interlocutors committed to “steelmanning” will typically engage with the strongest interpretations of each other’s positions. 

“To star-man is to not only engage with the most charitable version of your opponent’s argument, but also with the most charitable version of your opponent, by acknowledging their good intentions and your shared desires despite your disagreements.

 

Read the full story here.

 

As part of an event with Braver Angels, FAIR Advisor Coleman Hughes joined John Wood Jr. of Braver Angels and Rakim Brooks of the ACLU for a cross-partisan conversation about “Critical Race Theory,” group psychology and tribalism.

 

Watch the discussion here.

 

FAIR Advisor Glenn Loury joined the Bad Faith podcast for a passionate and civil discourse with Briahna Joy Gray on the disparities among various people of differing skin colors. 

“We need to be teaching our kids their numbers, their shapes, and their colors. We need to be reading to them. We need to be valorizing that kind of achievement just as much we valorize other kinds of achievement.”

 

Watch the discussion here.

 

Upcoming Event

On September 11th from 1:00 - 4:00 pm EDT, join FAIR Advisor Erec Smith and other notable speakers as they discuss Growing Diversity of Thought in K-12 Education: Current Challenges and the Path Forward.

 

Learn more and register here.

 

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