(Getty Images)
“A Washington State governor-appointed education panel recently gave a presentation to state agencies in which they asserted concepts such as objectivity and individualism stem from ‘white supremacy,’” reports The College Fix.
This is the same state whose left-wing Supreme Court recently used Critical Race Theory to undermine due process in civil litigation, and overturn convictions for criminal race.
“Government Jay Inslee’s self-appointed Professional Educator Standards Board also told his sister agency at the Nov. 30 Governors’ Equity Summit that it wants a ‘cultural shift’ towards ‘indigenous relational pedagogy,’” noted The Fix. PESB claims that unlike “white supremacist culture”, “indigenous relational pedagogy” prioritizes “slowness and willfulness”, “humility and gentleness”, and “responsibility and reciprocity”. The presentation happened with the knowledge of Governor Jay Inslee, who told officials at the Equity Summit that “We are not breaking centuries of customs and thinking, unless we decide to break that historical chain.”
PESB’s Erica Hernandez-Scott started her presentation with a land acknowledgment to the Puyallup Tribe that she claims “serves[e] land from the beginning of time.” In fact, many different Native American tribes have inhabited Washington State for centuries, and none were present in Washington State 20,000 years ago. Native Americans came to North America at different times, routinely displacing or exterminating other tribes in the process.
Hernandez-Scott continued with a moment of silence to underline that America “has uplifted the story of democracy and freedom while minimizing the impact of violence and oppression on marginalized communities” and that people of color “continue to experience racism through police brutality, mass incarceration, poor education and health services.” unjust, deportation, and other forms of subjugation.”
He later argued that people should “change themselves from the top down, the bottom up, the outside in, and the inside out” so as not to “undermine” diversity and equality.
As The College Fix notes,
The concept behind the “white supremacist” used by PESB comes from the “grassroots student” artist and poet Tema Okun who, not so ironically, is behind the “White Supremacist Culture” website. Okun said that professionalism, “is driven by capitalism […] focuses productivity on people, honors time commitments, completes tasks in a linear fashion, and often supports individuals who are white and Western.”
Teacher candidates considering the Evergreen State for employment should be aware that PESB “has the rule-making authority for the preparation, certification, continuing education, and assignment” of public school educators.
Earlier this year, the health agency of Washington’s southern neighbor, Oregon, adopted Okun’s principle and suspended meetings between officials and members of the public… because being on time is also a “white supremacist value.”
Weird teachings about race are nothing new to Washington State educators. Two decades ago, the Seattle School adopted a strange definition of racism that portrayed forward planning and individualism as racist or white traits.
As the National Association of Scholars notes, “The Seattle Schools teach that ‘individualism’ is a form of ‘cultural racism’; that planning ahead is a white characteristic; that racists expect minorities to exhibit those characteristics; and only white people, who benefit from ‘white privilege’ and ‘institutional racism’, can be racist. This strange teaching was ridiculed in opinion by Justice Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas in their opinion in June 2007 in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No.1. Justice Thomas argued that this and other aspects of the Seattle School’s obsession with “white privilege” made it inappropriate to blindly submit to school districts when they used race in student assignments. But Seattle Schools diversity consultant Glenn Singleton, far from rethinking his obsession with “white privilege” and “institutionalized racism,” continues to propagate his queer racial philosophy.
The Supreme Court cited this odd definition of racism in striking down Seattle’s race-conscious student assignment policy. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court did so in footnotes to 14 of his decisions. Likewise, Judge Thomas agreed to cite this definition as arguing that “local school boards should not be” “entrusted with the power to make decisions on the basis of race.” As he notes in a footnote to 30, the Seattle School defines as “cultural racism” the useful trait of “having a forward-time orientation” — that is, planning ahead.
For the kindness of Liberty never give up.