FAIR News: Anti-Racism Fight Club
FAIR News: Anti-Racism Fight Club
Newsletter
FAIR responds to elementary school’s “Anti-Racism Fight Club” event
On May 12th, FAIR Legal sent a letter to Janney Elementary School in Washington, D.C. responding to a FAIR Transparency incident report. The school held a presentation called “Anti-Racism Fight Club” for students in pre-kindergarten through third grade. Those students were provided with a booklet titled Anti-Racism Fight Club Fistbook for Kids that contains many concerning generalizations and attributes skin color to behavior and beliefs. For example, the booklet claims that “white privilege” exists virtually everywhere, “white” people benefit “in almost every instance,” and “white” people “walk around with an invisible force field” and “hold all of the power in America.” The booklet also teaches that “being color blind is a bad idea” and that it is racist to avoid talking about race. Additionally, it asks children to identify which of their family members are racist and to develop a strategy “for dealing with them.”
FAIR supports antiracism programs where all students are treated with equal respect and none are made to feel different based on skin color or other immutable traits. The “fistbook” does the opposite, assuming racist behavior and engendering feelings of shame and guilt in young students for no reason other than the color of their skin. FAIR urged Janney Elementary to reconsider the propriety of uncritically presenting the “fistbook” to its primary school students.
FAIR Legal also sent letters to Evanston/Skokie School District 65 in Illinois and to Pathfinder K-8 School in Seattle, Washington.
Join FAIR Working Groups!
The Educators Alliance is growing! We are actively working to spread the pro-human message throughout schools and classrooms across our country through the expansion of the Educators Alliance with a FAIR Administrators Alliance, a FAIR Libraries Working Group, and a FAIR Independent School Strategy Working Group.
If you’re a K-12 school administrator and would like to join our Administrators Alliance, please email educators@fairforall.org.
If you work in a library, are concerned with recent trends in your field, and would like to join our FAIR Libraries Working Group to share resources and create a strategy to address the pressing issues facing libraries and their staff, please email libraries@fairforall.org for more information.
If you’re the parent of an independent school student and would like to join our Independent School Strategy Working Group to address the unique needs of parents and students in K-12 independent schools, please email educators@fairforall.org.
Stay tuned to the FAIR Educator’s Alliance webpage for more updates!
Have Something to Say? Write for Us
We want FAIR Substack to be the go-to publication for diverse perspectives on culture and civil rights. Whether you’re a seasoned author or an amateur writer with a story that can contribute to our mission of promoting fairness, understanding, and humanity, we would love to receive your stories, opinions, investigations, reviews, interviews, and more!
Please submit your piece to submissions@fairforall.org
Submission guidelines:
Complete articles only (i.e., no “works in progress”).
No previously published submissions.
We have no hard word count limits, but prefer submissions between 1,000 and 2,500 words.
In the email, please include a short personal introduction and brief (one paragraph) summary of the article.
We hope to hear from you!
FAIR Perspectives
This week on FAIR Perspectives, hosts Angel Eduardo and Melissa Chen talk to Greg Lukianoff, the President of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), and co-author of the bestselling book The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure.
In this episode, we discuss free speech as a principle and why the many arguments for censorship or restricting speech don't hold water. We also touch on cancel culture, disinformation, campus free speech codes, and the potential benefits of Elon Musk taking over Twitter.
Tune in on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts!
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.
FAIR in the Arts Meetup
Join FAIR in the Arts for a community Zoom meetup on Sunday, May 22nd at 3 pm EST! Moderated by Heather Blakeslee, this meetup will be an opportunity to learn about FAIR in the Arts' ongoing initiatives, meet the team and fellows, have your questions answered, and connect with other members. All members of FAIR who are artists, advocates and administrators, in the media or are supporters of arts and culture are welcome.
FAIR Film Festival
Registration is open for the FAIR Film Festival! Featured films include What Killed Michael Brown?, directed by FAIR Advisor Eli Steele, Mighty Ira, I Am A Victor, and more. The festival will take place from June 12th through June 16th, with in-person events in New York City and virtual registration available to all.
FAIR Diversity Training
Meet FAIR Diversity: What It Means to Be Pro-Human
For all FAIR Members and volunteers. These events are typically held on the last Monday of each month.
Registration is now open for the following events:
May 30th, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET
June 27th, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET
FAIR Diversity Conversations Series
Open to the public! These events are typically held on the first Monday of each month.
In this webinar series, FAIR Diversity panelists discuss how to apply the fundamental principles of inclusive and civil dialogue to everyday social interactions. We use the pro-human approach to navigate challenging conversations in healthcare, education, corporate, non-profit sectors, and more.
Upcoming Webinar: Navigating difficult conservations with family and friends
June 6th, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET
Please feel free to bring any relevant thoughts, ideas, questions, and insights, to the conversation!
To learn more about FAIR Diversity, please visit our FAIR Diversity website.
FAIR Pro-human and Perspectives Tour
On June 11th in Denver, please join FAIR National, FAIR Colorado and local chapters to celebrate the kick-off of the FAIR Pro-Human and Perspectives Tour and to discuss the FAIR principles in the context of current issues of the day. This event will be an opportunity to connect with FAIR Board of Advisors members, Daryl Davis and Erec Smith, FAIR’s founder and president Bion Bartning, plus FAIR-minded friends from around the state. Register here.
FAIR Twin Cities Quarterly Meeting
To register for the FAIR Twin Cities Quarterly member meeting, click here.
FAIR Chapter Events
Chapter Leader Meetings
May 23rd:
Series 1: Sharpening Our Perspectives
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. ET
May 24th:
Series 2: The Pro-Human Leader
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. ET
May 26th:
Series 3: Pro-Humanizing Language
12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET
Chapter Events
May 19th:
San Bernardino Chapter Meeting
7:00 p.m. PT
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87898531566?pwd=L1RER2lpWlo3VVdtY3dyenFLZmZxUT09
May 20th:
Spokane Meet and Greet
5:30 p.m. PT
Details: washington@fairforall.org
May 23rd:
FAIR Washington Educator Alliance
7:30 p.m. PT
Info: washington@fairforall.org
May 26th:
Toronto Chapter Meeting
7:30 p.m. PT
FAIR Educator Alliance ‘Happy Hour’
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.
We have an informal “happy hour” every Thursday evening at 8:00 p.m. ET, and hold more formal monthly meetings that will address issues based on your interests and needs.
We welcome all teachers and hope you will get connected.
For more information, contact educators@fairforall.org or, for Canadian educators, contact educators-canada@fairforall.org.
Join the FAIR Community
Become a FAIR volunteer or to 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.
Sign the FAIR Pledge for a common culture of 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.
I had to do some sleuthing to find the "Fistbook," but it does have some troubling elements: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XHjFajb8vyzz6W_kQNc_2zfQ8Kuyi_G8/view
I found this TEDx talk from the instructor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6RjgXvQ1II and Today show feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNx38Y8-C-I&t=177s I think it's worth watching them to humanize him. He seems like a kind, good-hearted guy who has deeply personal reasons for taking the stance he has taken, even though I disagree with the stance, and think that this content is likely to do far more harm to his cause than good. But I'd love to see, maybe, Melissa and Angel reach out to him for a podcast interview. I'd love to see FAIR reaching out more to pull people in to a humanistic approach to opposing racism. There is common ground to be found.