FAIR News: An Inclusive Approach to Ethnic Studies
FAIR News: An Inclusive Approach to Ethnic Studies
Newsletter
Dear friends of FAIR,
Last year, California became the first state in the nation to require all high school students to complete an ethnic studies course as a graduation requirement. Subsequently, Washington, Vermont, and many local school districts have passed similar measures.
In response to California’s AB 101 mandate, some activists have been encouraging schools to adopt a “liberated” ethnic studies curriculum. Earlier this week, in an article published in RealClearEducation, our team explained the issues with this liberated or “critical” approach to ethnic studies:
Critical [liberated] ethnic studies offers the view that American history and liberal democracy constitute an ongoing colonial project, in which white ethnic groups subjugate non-white ethnic groups. It presumes that all American institutions—the legal system, the economic system, and the education system, among others—are inherently unjust because they are based on oppressive forces such as white supremacy, colonialism, patriarchy, neoliberalism, and capitalism. The pedagogical mandate is to convert students to this worldview and enlist them in the political project to “dismantle” oppressive systems.
According to Rethinking Ethnic Studies—a seminal resource for developing critical ethnic studies courses—a proper ethnic studies course “reframes the United States from ‘a nation of immigrants’ to ‘a nation of settler colonialists.’” It lists “decolonization” as a central goal of all ethnic studies courses and refers to “the repatriation of sovereign Indigenous land.” It instructs teachers to become “enemies of the state,” to “use education to subvert state agendas,” and to “critique the ideas of “abstract liberalism” such as “equality for all.”
In short, “liberated” in the context of critical ethnic studies refers to the “liberation” of people from the system of American liberal democracy. Most Americans want their children to learn the whole story of America, to think critically about our history, and to apply historical lessons to the problems we face today. They do not believe our nation is irredeemably oppressive and do not want their children to be used as political tools to “disrupt and dismantle” American institutions.
Rather than instilling an informed sense of curiosity, optimism, and compassion, the “liberated” ethnic studies curriculum flattens and stereotypes people based on crude identity group labels. This shift toward a reductionist way of teaching, and thinking, about skin color and ethnicity in so many of our schools is why I was inspired to start FAIR. An inclusive approach means that every child should be valued and uplifted, and never stripped of their agency and individuality.
Our ethos at FAIR is to be constructive—and to that end, we have been working since last year to develop educational resources and an inclusive ethnic studies curriculum based on our pro-human learning standards. FAIR’s ethnic studies curriculum is designed to meet California’s ethnic studies mandate requirements, and will be offered free of charge to schools and educators.
The curriculum relies on original sources, and presents diverse perspectives to help students develop their own understanding of complex issues. Students will learn about the similarities that unite us all, and the differences that make each of us unique. By providing an honest take on American history, students will gain an appreciation of the contributions of the various ethnicities and cultures that have contributed to the beautiful mosaic that is America.
Yours,
Bion
__
Bion Bartning
bion@fairforall.org
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The Colorado Parent Advocacy Network’s Official Launch Event
The Colorado Parent Advocacy Network (CPAN) has selected FAIR to receive a CPAN Appreciation Award at their Official Launch Event on Sunday, November 13, 2022, featuring FAIR advisory board member, Erec Smith. The event will take place at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Englewood, Colorado from 2:30-4:30pm. FAIR is honored to be presented with this award! We appreciate CPAN’s acknowledgement of FAIR’s commitment to restoring the parent’s voice in education.
Beyond WPATH: A Conversation With Dr. Joseph Burgo
Join FAIR in Medicine on Thursday, November 17, 2022 for our webinar Beyond WPATH: A Conversation With Dr. Joseph Burgo, hosted by FAIR Advisor and Senior Fellow Zander Keig and featuring Dr. Joseph Burgo, a psychologist who created the online Beyond WPATH Declaration to raise awareness about the errors and ethical failures in WPATH’s latest guidelines released in September.
Joseph Burgo, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, and media commentator. In addition to his blog for Psychology Today, he also writes about personal development issues from a psychodynamic perspective on his personal blog After Psychotherapy. He’s the author of several books centered primarily on the relationship between shame and narcissism.
As a therapist with more than 40 years in private practice, Dr. Burgo currently focuses on gender distress, detransition, and problems of identity. He serves on the Leadership Team for the Gender Exploratory Therapy Association and as Clinical Lead for Beyond Transition, a program offered through Genspect.
FAIR Book Club: Ian Rowe’s Agency
FAIR’s Book Club meets monthly with a goal to read books that challenge and deepen our understanding of humanity and fairness, while enriching our sense of what it means to be pro-human.
The FAIR in Education Fellows invite you to our next book club meeting on November 30th, where FAIR Advisor Ian Rowe will join us to discuss his book, Agency: The Four Point Plan (F.R.E.E.) for All Children to Overcome the Victimhood Narrative and Discover Their Pathway to Power.
We hope you will join us as we dig into the sage wisdom and advice offered in this phenomenal book.
FAIR Fundraiser: San Francisco
Join us on Saturday, November 12th at 6:00 p.m. PT at Villa Taverna in San Francisco, California for a special evening of music, conversation, and celebration.
Featuring FAIR in the Arts Fellows Winston Marshall and FAIR Advisor Michael Shellenberger, this event includes an option for a VIP pre-event cocktail hour.
Illiberalism in Medicine with Heather MacDonald and Sally Satel
Join FAIR in Medicine on December 8, 2022 for our webinar Illiberalism in Medicine: A Conversation With Heather MacDonald and Sally Satel hosted by FAIR Board of Advisor, Co-Founder & CEO of Vertex Partnership Academies, and AEI Senior Fellow Ian Rowe. How is DEI affecting medical training and practice? What are solutions to illiberalism in healthcare? Hear from Manhattan Institute Fellow and New York Times bestselling author, Heather MacDonald, and AEI Fellow, author, and practicing psychiatrist Sally Satel, MD. To learn more about their thoughts, read Heather MacDonald’s The Corruption of Medicine and Sally Satel’s What Is Happening to My Profession?
Rights and Responsibilities: A Symposium for School Board Members
The importance of school boards has come to the forefront in recent years. Join us at the Great Wolf Lodge in the Wisconsin Dells from the evening of Thursday, December 15th to Saturday, December 17th to learn more about your rights and responsibilities as a board member, and how to approach your local community leadership position using FAIR’s principles of fairness, understanding, and humanity.
Presenters include FAIR Advisors Robert Pondiscio, Adam Seagrave, and Zander Keig, along with Cory Brewer, Jennifer Meinhardt, and FAIR Action Fellow Tanya Simons.
Registration is FREE and open to all!
FAIR Perspectives Podcast
This week on Fair Perspectives, we speak with FAIR in the Arts fellow Rosie Kay about her background as a dancer and choreographer, the discourse around representation and marginalized groups in the arts, gender ideology, the importance of biological sex, the role of art in human connection, FAIR in the Arts, and Rosie’s plans for the future.
FAIR News Podcast
For audio versions of our FAIR News and FAIR Weekly Roundup newsletters, subscribe and listen to FAIR News Weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or via RSS feed.
Join the Pro-Human Movement with FAIR Merch!
How to Deal with Hatred: Featuring FAIR Advisory Board member Zander Keig
"When I was angry, I doubt I changed a single mind. The man who walked away from me in Denver, if I had not apologized to him, I am fairly certain he would have returned home to come up with every reason in the world why he was right and I was wrong. But when I engage people with friendship, conversation, and genuine interest, that attitude is so often returned back to me. I know I’ve helped others find acceptance that way, because I’ve seen the proof."
FAIR Educators Alliance & Administrators Alliance Happy Hours
Teachers often feel isolated and alone in their schools, but FAIR is here for you! The FAIR Educators Alliance brings together educators from all levels to share experiences and concerns and work on developing resources that can support teachers, community members, and FAIR chapters.
FAIR’s Educator’s Alliance is hosting an informal happy hour every other Thursday evening, alternating between beginning at 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. ET, and will hold more formal monthly meetings that will address issues based on your interests and needs.
If you’re a K-12 school administrator, we’re here to support you too! You’re invited to join the FAIR Administrators Alliance, which holds meetings the last Thursday of every month at 1:00 p.m. ET!
All teachers and administrators are welcome! For more information and to subscribe to the calendar, reach out to educators@fairforall.org.
Calling all FAIR Member Librarians and Library Staff! FAIR has established a network for members to connect and discuss key issues affecting their profession, advance pro-human principles, and preserve academic freedoms in library systems. The group meets biweekly.
Please contact tanya.simons@fairforall.org if you are interested in joining!
Join the FAIR Community
Become a FAIR volunteer or join a FAIR chapter:
Join a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission, or watch a previously recorded session in the Members section of www.fairforall.org.
Take the Pro-Human Pledge and help promote a common culture based on fairness, understanding, and humanity.
Join the FAIR community to connect and share information with other members.
Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.
We live in the stupidest times. This is all very pre-enlightenment except the madness isn’t God related. We’re fighting the next enlightenment against an anti liberal agenda with a different name.
Your newsletter is a disgusting example of bigoted retrofitting. You are using language that mimics good ethics to justify bad policy, fascist rewriting of history, and fear based intolerance. You should be ashamed of your manipulative dishonesty.