Equality – KensView

Affirmative Action

Chief Justice Roberts, author of the majority opinion in the case of Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, eviscerating the use of race-based factors for consideration in college admissions, left a loophole in his legal reasoning. Roberts tried to limit how a school could go about considering those factors in its admissions decisions. It could no longer be on the basis of an applicant’s race, of course, but possibly in how those racial factors — such as, discrimination — impacted him or her as an individual.

Suggestion:

In application forms include an optional essay question, one that will allow schools to justify their admission and enrollment decisions based not on race per se, but on an individual’s experience of racism. For example:

Please explain whether racism has impacted your development as a person, impacted or inspired your courage or determination, or motivated you to seek any goal in any aspect of your life.

America’s Promise

This country was launched under the bold premise of equality as penned in the Declaration Of Independence and established through the adoption of its Constitution to “form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” Have we lived up to this unprecedented promise? We call our national experience exceptional, implying we are on the right path. But are we?

Langston Hughes: Let America Be America Again

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech (Steve Harwood video)

When did America become so timid and Americans so destructive to themselves?

Suggestion:

Be an active citizen. The welfare and progress of this country depends on the participation of all its people. Here are a few guidelines:

Civic Duties & Responsibilities

Racism and Politics

A great many presidential campaigns have centered on racist policies: slavery, war on Native Americans, Manifest Destiny, civil rights, welfare, white supremacy, America first, and immigration. Even the “best” presidents, like Lincoln & Obama, who tried to get their fellow Americans to fight it, had to campaign for votes of and compromise with racists.

Suggestion:

Silence is cowardice. Ignoring racism doesn’t make it go away. We need to pay attention, make moral judgements, actively support solutions and vote. Elections have consequences. Racism also has economic consequences—no one group is a self-sustaining economic island.

Purveyors of racism in the media must be denounced. Racist business decisions must be opposed. Politicians aiding racist policies must be defeated. Racist laws must be overturned. All this sounds hard, but having your heart and in your daily actions in the right place makes it easier.

Racism is Politics

Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law

Revolution, AmeriKan: Reality

The Revolution that birthed the United States was not the sweeping transformation many of us have been taught to believe.

American Revolution was:

1. A war of independence from Britain by the colonies to establish their own governance, control of economy, and management of foreign relations.

2. A protest against British interference, including taxation without representation and trade restrictions.

3. A movement for economic freedom to remove British constraints on commerce and property acquisition.

4. An opportunity for westward territorial expansion.

5. A moment of ideological shift toward enlightenment ideas shaping the writing of documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights.

The American Revolution was not:

1. A unified movement: Patriots and loyalists were deeply divided, and even among patriots, disagreements over governance were significant.

2. A systemic change: The Revolution did not dismantle existing social or economic hierarchies. Many of the ideals cited in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, have proven not to have been long-lasting, mainly lip-service or only cited to protect the elites.

3. A movement for racial or gender equality: Slavery persisted, women remained disenfranchised, and Native Americans faced ongoing displacement, violence, and genocide.

4. A class-based uprising: The Revolution was led by elites, with little regard for the working class, enslaved people, or marginalized groups Political power largely remained restricted to property-owning white men.

5. A call for universal religious freedom: Many states maintained official Christian religions, and certain religious groups and others continued to face restrictions.

A sKKKool lesson

Majority-minority country

No self-rule in home of self-rule

You all need OUR Vigilance

Beware of what you read

Don’t upset fragile classmates

Slavery offered useful skills

Shouldn’t love whom you love

Prisons still do have libraries

Know your place and all is well

Learning! in the Land of the Free