Gaslighting 101: The U.S. Department of Education’s Attack on Racial Truth

7 minutes ago

Everyone—and Black people in particular—have y'all seen Donald Trump’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Education, Craig Trainor’s Wacky Letter to Public School Districts?

The insanely-stupid, robotic, bureaucratic-pundit, or his ghost writer- wrote: “Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon systemic and structural racism, and advanced discriminatory policies and practices.” WHAT???!!! … WHAT???!!! With regard to the completely simplistic task of laying out tons of concrete, indisputable, factual proof that the thoroughly racist, white supremacist-based U.S. of A. was DEFINITELY “built upon systemic and structural racism” — it feels almost silly to do so. Only a stupid (yes, I said stupid, literally) white-supremacist-supporting-idiot would attempt to argue otherwise. I mean the evidence is just so very clear and overwhelming. For a tiny, minuscule glimpse, see the first 9 reference links below.

Furthermore, other than willingly acting as a completely foolish servant of entrenched, infectious, white supremacy, how in the world could someone possibly allow himself to be revealed as a straight-up-idiotic-fool by attempting to deny that the granddaddy of all thoroughly racist, white-supremacist-based nation-states (this one) has NOT “advanced discriminatory policies and practices?” This is ludicrously unfathomable. Damn, is the money he’s being paid that good that one would allow himself to be made to look like a straight-up fool by attempting to promote a blatant fallacy that NO PERSON ON EARTH COULD POSSIBLE FORMULATE A CREDIBLE ARGUMENT TO DEFEND? I mean the crystal-clear, concrete, factual, evidence to the contrary is just way too overwhelming (again, for a mere, tiny glimpse, see references 10–15).

Let’s be absolutely clear: When extremist, white-supremacist-aligned lawmakers enact legislation that prohibits public school districts—such as the Rochester City School District and countless other urban districts across this deeply racist nation—from considering race in hiring decisions, they are reinforcing and perpetuating systemic racial segregation in public education. These districts often serve student populations that are 90% or more Black and other students of color, while the majority of their educators—over 80%—are white, often residing in racially segregated suburban communities with overwhelmingly white school districts.

This segregation is not accidental; it is the direct result of historically racist policies, practices, and laws that have been deliberately designed to maintain racial inequities. Yet, these very lawmakers, who uphold and defend such systemic racism, hypocritically claim to be concerned about “encouraging segregation by race.”

Let’s call it what it is: blatant hypocrisy. These legislators are not only complicit in upholding white supremacy but are actively working to sustain it while pretending otherwise.

The wildly ludicrous letter ends by thanking educators for their “commitment to providing our Nation’s students with an educational environment that is free of race, color discrimination.” REALLY? So let me see if I have this straight. Teachers (the overwhelming majority of whom are middle or upper class white folks from lily-white, suburban communities, that have lily white school districts) are allowed and encouraged to use curricula that teaches overwhelming-majority, poor, urban, Black students and other students of color- that lowdown, dirty, rotten, slave-holding-racist-white-supremacists-rapists like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson (some of whom — in keeping with perpetuation and reinforcement of white supremacy — have PUBLIC schools named after them) were NOT vicious OPPRESSORS, but were supposedly upstanding citizens who are to be viewed as heroes? Apparently, the joker whose name is on the sick letter has never looked at a Social Studies curriculum. Either that, or he supports continued white supremacy. It’s either the former or the latter. It can’t be both, and there is NO IN-BETWEEN, period.

Modern-day-massuh’s letter represents the type of situation that makes statements such as one uttered by the Late Brother Malik El Shabazz as clear, as relevant, and as important today, as it was when he first uttered it 60 years ago: “Only A FOOL Would Let His Enemy Teach His Children.”

[To listen to the article, click on the link below. When the article comes up, click on this symbol ⧁ right above the photo. https://medium.com/@howardjeagle/only-a-fool-would-let-his-enemy-teach-his-children-5c95cd0512fd]

It’s 1954 all over again, and more so than ever WE NEED A MOVEMENT:

[To listen to the article, click on the link below. When the article comes up, click on this symbol ⧁ above the title.https://medium.com/@howardjeagle/past-time-to-ramp-up-the-anti-racist-struggle-5688036f01d8]

The Struggle Continues…

Howard Eagle is a longtime educator and local anti-racism advocate, known for his campaigns for the Rochester school board and prolific political and social commentary. Eagle taught social studies in the RCSD for 23 years, before retiring in 2010, and was an adjunct professor in the Department of African American Studies at SUNY Brockport for 19 years before retiring in 2020.

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