Category: Political / Governments / Nations / Countries /

Ta-Nehisi Coates Crashes School Board Meeting Over Removing His Book From Class

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ta-nehisi-coates-shows-up-to-sc-school-meeting-over-banning-his-book?ref=home

Thanks to Ali for leaving this link on MPS.   Hugs

 

The writer’s critically acclaimed memoir has become a flashpoint in a small South Carolina town.

Brooke Leigh Howard

Reporter

Updated Jul. 19, 2023 2:14PM EDT / Published Jul. 18, 2023 1:04PM EDT 

Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me

A South Carolina school board meeting, in which community members railed against an African American culture writer’s award-winning memoir about racial injustice, featured a special guest appearance: Ta-Nehisi Coates, the famed author in question.

On Monday evening, the Lexington-Richland District 5 School Board met to discuss the outrage concerning Coates’ 2015 nonfiction bestseller, Between the World and Me, which has repeatedly caused political literary mayhem among reactionary right-wing communities and been placed on book ban lists.

In February, after getting approval from higher-ups, an AP Language teacher at Chapin High School conducted a lesson involving Between the World and Me. The book, written as an essay to Coates’ son to prepare him for the life he will live as a Black man, details personal accounts of Coates’ life and his first-hand experiences with racism. However, the lesson was shut down and the book was removed from the course after students filed a complaint claiming the book made them feel “guilty for being white,” local news outlet CBS 19 Columbia reported.

According to footage obtained by CBS 19, a slew of people wearing blue rallied in support for the book and for academic freedom during the board hearing. And Coates sat in the back of the room next to the teacher who assigned the book as a sign of solidarity.

“What matters most to me is that my students have the ability to hear six or seven opinions on one topic and come up with their own thesis, supported with evidence, and come up with an independent conclusion,” said Superintendent Dr. Akil Ross. “Sometimes there’s going to be topics you agree with, and there’s going to be topics you disagree with. Academic freedom says even if you disagree, there’ll be another opinion presented to our children. Our democracy needs that.”

PEN America, a literary human-rights organization, called the book’s removal “an outrageous act of government censorship and a textbook example of how educational gag orders corrupt free inquiry in the classroom.”

“We cannot become critical thinkers without being uncomfortable in some way,” one student declared while directly addressing the Lexington-Richland board. “If students can’t learn these things in a safe space, like school, how are they—we—meant to make good decisions and think critically?”

The board did not conduct a vote after public discussion.

In a statement to The Daily Beast, Lexington-Richmond District 5 wrote that it is “important to understand” that Between the World and Me “is not banned in our school district.”

“Superintendent Ross is committed to providing additional training on how to use books like Between the World and Me,” said communications director Amanda Taylor, referring to International Baccalaureate courses and policies on teaching about controversial and sensitive issues. “This training will cover how to determine if the material is appropriate for the course and the maturity of the students. District administration will also provide training to ensure materials are based on state standards and protect the academic freedom of the students.”

Coates did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment on Tuesday.

Brooke Leigh Howard

Brooke Leigh Howard

Reporter

@BLeighHowardBrooke.Howard@thedailybeast.com

PROPAGANDA – They Showed This To High School Kids In 1948! Would They Allow This Today?

This film was made to sell to high school media departments who purchased it to show to their juniors and seniors. Students in public high schools were being exposed to the concept of propaganda, especially given the context of World War II and the early Cold War. At this time there was an emphasis on educating citizens, including school children, about the role of propaganda. Would anyone make a film like this to run in schools involving media fake media or not?

Propaganda from all sides was studied including in history or social studies classes. Teachers used examples from Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy or Imperial Japan to illustrate how propaganda was used to control information and manipulate public opinion during the war.

In civics or government classes, students discussed propaganda in the context of democratic values, freedom of speech and the role of the press. This included conversations about the differences between propaganda, misinformation, and the free exchange of ideas. In English or other language arts classes propaganda was discussed as a form of rhetoric or persuasion.

The early stages of the Cold War and the 1948 presidential election were events for discussion in classrooms. Teachers used these current events to talk about the role of propaganda in politics and international relations.

High school clubs and other extracurricular activities focused on debate, journalism and politics.

Many Americans were well aware of political propaganda in 1948. Political Campaigns: Many people recognized the use of slogans, posters, and speeches during political campaigns as forms of persuasion, if not always identifying these tactics explicitly as “propaganda.”

Given the early stages of the Cold War, Americans were being exposed to constant anti-communist messaging from the government and media. Some saw this as propaganda, though others saw it as necessary information or patriotic messaging.

Newspapers, radio broadcasts, and the then relatively new medium of television would were sources of both overt and subtle propaganda. Some media outlets criticized propaganda efforts, thereby making their audiences more aware of them.

The mid-20th century was also a time when public relations and advertising were growing and becoming more sophisticated. Some people recognized that these industries used similar tactics to those found in political propaganda.

The year 1948 was especially filled with political propaganda with the presidential election and internationally with the ongoing Cold War. In 1948 President Harry S. Truman was running for re-election against Thomas E. Dewey. The now-famous “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline from the Chicago Daily Tribune was an example of premature victory claim due to inaccurate polling data which could be seen as a form of propaganda, trying to shape the narrative before the election was even over. Truman’s own campaign used the slogan “Give ‘Em Hell, Harry!” to rally the working-class vote and present Truman as a straightforward, no-nonsense candidate.

In the context of the early Cold War, both the United States & the Soviet Union used propaganda extensively to promote their respective ideologies and to denigrate the other. In the US, fear of communism was ramped up with government-sponsored propaganda, including films like “Red Nightmare” warning about the supposed dangers of communism. The government also produced numerous posters & leaflets depicting the Soviet Union as a menacing, totalitarian state that threatened American freedom.

With the establishment of Israel in 1948, there was significant propaganda on both sides of the conflict. Arab nations spread messages depicting the newly formed state of Israel as a colonial imposition, exploiting religious sentiments & framing it as a battle against Zionism. Conversely, Israeli propaganda emphasized the need for a Jewish homeland after the horrors of the Holocaust & cast their struggle as one of survival against hostile neighbors.

In 1948-1949, when the Soviet Union blocked access to West Berlin, the U.S., U.K., & their allies organized an airlift to supply the city with food, fuel, and other necessities. This event was accompanied by extensive propaganda on both sides. The West highlighted it as a humanitarian mission & an example of democratic nations stepping in to help those in need, while the Soviets depicted it as an aggressive act & an attempt to exert control over Berlin.

Organizations & companies advertise on this video clip. It is interesting to see what they are using this for. Search the words Disinformation. Public relations in business. Political advocacy. Political campaign. Public relations consulting firms. Healthcare agency. PR consultant. Best public relations. Media public relations. Political action committee.

Federal Judge Orders State Police to Stop Illegally Detaining Drivers

Kansas was well-known for how it treated out-of-state drivers.

TRUMP “ATTACKED!!” | Armageddon Update | Christopher Titus. Thanks to Randy for sending the link.

Book Bans Are Fascist

A recent wave of book bans and curbs to educational free speech, led in part by Florida governor Ron DeSantis is hurting our children and allowing a vocal radical minority of parents and lawmakers control the narrative.

How Junk Science is Being Used Against Trans Kids

From a medical journal
Learn how health sources are defined by the World Health Organization 
This researcher has been studying the history of Trans kids for years. Here’s what you need to know.

‘There were no benefits to being a slave’: Florida St. Sen. slams Florida’s new slavery curriculum

Florida’s new slavery curriculum sparks outrage as the state’s war on accurate Black history ramps up with a plan to teach that there were benefits to slavery for enslaved descendants of Africans in America. Florida St. Sen. Shevrin Jones joins Joy Reid to discuss saying, “I want to make it clear to everyone… there were no benefits to being a slave… All of this is disingenuous.”

‘Poisoning the well’: Florida middle schoolers to be dragged into DeSantis’ war on history

The latest educational repercussions of Ron DeSantis’s campaign against “woke” is a set of new guidelines that will have Florida middle school students learning false, racist tropes about the benefits of slavery to slaves and casting racist violence against Black people in a more “both sides” context. Jelani Cobb, dean of the Columbia Journalism School discusses with Alex Wagner.  

Jen Psaki reveals what ‘Moms for Liberty’ is all about

Soome Sam Seder clips I thought were important.

https://www.youtube.com/@TheMajorityReport/videos

The MR crew looks at horrifying reports coming out of Texas that show Republican governor Greg Abbott ordered border agents to begin drowning and dehydrating migrant children.
A woman who is undergoing hormone treatments calls in to dispel the myths that transgendered individuals are dominating women’s sports and then gives a powerful story of her own transition.
Jeff Sharlet, professor of English at Dartmouth College, joins to discuss his recent book The Undertow: Scenes From a Slow Civil War.
Ben Shapiro reacts to a piece in the New York Times about a recent fashion trend that is seeing men wearing crop tops. Shapiro says: “Just as a fashion matter, no one wants to see the midriff of another man. Just as a general-i’m not going to speak for gay men. women, i don’t think, are interested. Neither are straight men.”
Charlie Kirk responds to reporting from MSNBC that far Right-Wing extremists have used at-home workout trends to expand their reach into mixed martial arts spaces. Kirk says that reporting like this shows that liberals only want men to be weak, depressed, and have low testosterone.
CNN’S Kaitlan Collins asks Senator Tommy Tuberville about the comments he made regarding White Nationalists serving in the military. Collins asks if he’d want to clarify that he wouldn’t want racists to be serving in the military. Tuberville reiterates his belief that he doesn’t see White Nationalists as necessarily racist, and that it’s people’s opinions that they’re racist. He says, however, that if there are White Nationalists who are racist, he wouldn’t support them serving in the military.

Later Tuberville was asked by reporters on Capitol Hill About why he continued to double down on his stance on White Nationalists. Tuberville attempted to amend his response: “I’m totally against racism. If the Democrats want to say that White Nationalists are racists, i’m totally against that, too.”