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Thank you for covering this. I have covered the dangers of ethnic studies on my Substack, with particular attention to its embrace of anti-Jewish tropes. The leading ES advocacy orgs in Washington openly state their vision of overturning enlightenment ideals in favor of intersectionality and oppressor/victim paradigms. They blame Jews (code name: “Zionists”) for ruining the first California curriculum, and one leader here has stated on the record that Jews claim “people of color status” and don’t recognize their white privilege, and they act as “barriers and gatekeepers to the work of people of color.”

These groups are actively doing professional development with school districts around Seattle and Olympia.

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Of course it embraces anti-Jewish tropes. The whole thing is simply a careful rebranding of what the National Socialists and their predecessors were doing in the 1920s and beyond. Race essentialism is one of the core tenants of National Socialism...calling this stuff Marxist or whatever just gives it a veneer of possible academic respectability it doesn't deserve.

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Apr 4, 2023
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I'd suggest you actually read and understand my comment. The DEI people are the ones reusing National Socialist methods and tropes...right down to the race essentialist labels and tactics. They also target educators quite effectively. Many like to forget National Socialism had strong proponents within the German university system (as did its precursors in the more pan-German nationalist movements). In fact, many of the mid- and upper-level leaders in the SD were professors and lawyers (many of whom were considered quite successful academically). Methods migrate, as do the targets of those methods.

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This is a really good point. All hate groups share a persecution complex, victimhood mentality and complete self-assurance in their groups' own moral superiority. In this sense both the far left and far right are exactly the same, but the far left is doing even more to solidify in-group thinking and racialize our identities. I could just as easily imagine pogroms under the left as the right. Both groups are equally dangerous. Just look at The Terror of the French Revolution.

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And that's why I like to stress that many of the tactics and methods being used by what's loosely considered the left these days are lifted from the National Socialist playbook almost verbatim. They also share the same obsession with race and identify as being immutable and easily generalized/stereotyped. And if you want left-wing pogroms, you don't need to look much further than Cambodia, China, or Stalin's USSR. Power-mad zealots all tend to be quite similar regardless of their ideological trappings.

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That's a good point. How could I forget about the Pol Pot regime? I do think that socialism itself is not to blame, but rather the ignorant, militant interpretation of Marxism that inspired "critical theory." Inspired is the key word, because aside from vaguely Marxist-sounding terminology, CRT/CT has nothing in common with real socialism, nor does DEI. They just imitate some of the rhetoric to lend their own bunk arguments some badly-needed credibility. As DEI activists themselves are fond of pointing out, "equity" has nothing in common with equality. Rather than "leveling the playing field" (which is what I felt and hoped for back when I identified as a liberal), theirs is a robber baron mentality that's much more oriented towards vengeance, segregation and retaliation than "social justice." If anyone on the left still actually believed in equality, justice, democratic processes, or bridging differences, I would still be a liberal, but its devolved into pure narcissism and power grabs. They decided to become what they claimed to hate.

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I don't think most of it has much of anything to do with socialism, honestly. I use the more formal name for the Nazi party so people don't skip over it when they see it. Interestingly, there was a faction of the NSDAP (the Berlin or Strasser faction) that had more socialist trappings than Hitler's Munich faction. But at the end of the day they were race essentialist robber barons as you say (just look at Robert Ley for one example). Payback for wrongs real and imagined was as much a part of the NSDAP's DNA as it is their more modern ideological fellow travelers.

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I totally understand what you're saying, as well as the shorthand. And while Nazi analogies are often overused in this day and age, your analysis is spot on, sadly. The only real difference between National Socialism and DEI is who the perceived victims and villains are. The Nazis also has a victim/persecution complex at the heart of their mythology. They were the only group more obsessed with race than the DEI movement, and you're right, the victimhood mentality is just a façade for grabbing power and enacting revenge fantasies. It has nothing at all to do with creating concord between people, or even righting past wrongs.

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Exactly. The similarities are very disturbing. But too many people are buying the whole "it's Marxism" line without actually bothering to look and what's being said and, perhaps more importantly, how it's being said.

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Apr 4, 2023
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Clearly you lack the ability to understand historical comparisons. Can you even explain why you feel so strongly compelled to slap ideological labels on anyone with whom you might have a point of disagreement? Since rational discourse seems to elude you, I'll leave you to your rant.

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Apr 4, 2023
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Hey Chandra. Thanks for sharing this article. I think it does a pretty good job of showing how Jews are both white and non-white, depending on circumstances.

The reasons many of us here are critical of ethnic studies is because it's not what it sounds like. It is a political ideology rooted in the 1960s Third World Liberation Front (and it does share many characteristics with Marxism and Maoism, hence Steve's comment above). It's not about "teaching history accurately" - we actually all agree that schools should teach black history, native history, women's history. The thing is, they already mostly do this. We like this, because it's about our shared humanity as Americans and part of our national quest to form a more perfect union. Ethnic studies - specifically, Liberated Ethnic Studies - demonstrates that it wants the opposite of this. Its leaders here on the West Coast are basically training students to resent the system and become political adversaries. When someone says "race essentialist," that means that we are assigning characteristics (often stereotypes) to racial groups and pitting them against each other in a power complex rather than seeing our struggles and identities as intertwined as human Americans. There is also very little evidence ethnic studies as a lens will improve educational outcomes.

As for Jews, what I have uncovered is a flattening of our identities and a resurgence of tropes. Jews in this intersectional framework are almost always white - whiteness being power. And so when we push back on that narrative, we are called out for shutting down people of color. This is directly related to anti-Jewish tropes of the powerful Jew controlling the narrative (usually the media). We are stuck in a loop where we can't have any voice - as soon as we speak up, we are accused of controlling the conversation.

I want to put myself out there for conversation if you'd like - my email is thecholentseattle@gmail.com.

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Apr 4, 2023
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I see you are not really interested in engaging with the conversation and documentation on this. Literally, these messages are on ES orgs' social media pages. It's easier to engage in character assassination I suppose.

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Apr 4, 2023
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If you want credibility as a creator on Substack and as some sort of intellectual you shouldn't just straw man everyone you disagree with but actually engage with the arguments. My offer to continue on email stands.

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Emily, that was kind of you to reach out to her. It's clear that the Chandras of the world exist to make instant enemies of everyone who disagrees (or agrees) with their rapid paranoia and one-dimensional understanding of the world. Woe to any of us offering a slightly more nuanced (or thoughtful) approach. You aren't the only one here who got Chandra'ed. :) It's a great case study in why demagoguery is SO harmful to intelligent, civil discourse.

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Oh wow, you really went down the rabbit hole! I love how the response to a conversation IRL always ends with a proclamation of victimhood.

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Apr 4, 2023
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Ha! Please do be sure that all World Chandras get your memo to be offended! I'm sure they will welcome you as their savior! (Wow has this "discussion" become surreal or what?). Thank you for the free entertainment.

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