Seattle students told it's 'white supremacy' to love reading, writing

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Rantz: Seattle students told it's 'white supremacy' to love reading, writing

Jason Rantz

Students in a Seattle English class were told that their love of reading and
writing is a characteristic of "white supremacy," in the latest Seattle Public
Schools high school controversy. The lesson plan has one local father speaking
out, calling it "educational malpractice."

As part of the Black Lives Matter at School Week, World Literature and
Composition students at Lincoln High School were given a handout with
definitions of the "9 characteristics of white supremacy," according to the
father of a student. Given the subject matter of the class, the father found it
odd this particular lesson was brought up.

The Seattle high schoolers were told that "Worship of the Written Word" is white
supremacy because it is "an erasure of the wide range of ways we communicate
with each other." By this definition, the very subject of World Literature and
Composition is racist. It also chides the idea that we hyper-value written
communication because it's a form of "honoring only what is written and even
then only what is written to a narrow standard, full of misinformation and
lies." The worksheet does not provide any context for what it actually means.

"I feel bad for any students who actually internalize stuff like this as it is
setting them up for failure," the father explained to the Jason Rantz Show on
KTTH.

The father asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution against his child
by Seattle Public Schools. He said the other pieces of the worksheet were
equally disturbing.

The worksheet labels "objectivity," "individualism," and "perfectionism" as
white supremacy. If students deny their own racism - or that any of the nine
characteristics are legitimately racist - is also white supremacy. Denialism or
being overly defensive is a racist example of an "entitlement to name what is an
[sic] isn't racism and that those with power have a right to be shielded from
the stresses of antiracist work."

The father argues the concepts are "incoherent and cannot stand any sort of
reasoned analysis." And he notes that it's set up to ensure students accept
every concept without ever questioning the claims.

"How is a 15-year-old kid supposed to object in class when 'denial and
defensiveness' is itself a characteristic of white supremacy? This is truly
educational malpractice."

Another aspect of the white supremacy lesson at this Seattle school involved a
video titled "Getting Called Out: How to Apologize" by Franchesca Ramsey. It's
reportedly presented in the context of white students expressing what the
teacher views as "white supremacy."

"Getting called out, in this context of this video, is when you say or do
something that upholds the oppression of a marginalized group of people," Ramsey
says.

Ramsey says her advice is about becoming an ally and "doing the right thing."
She explains you shouldn't "get defensive" by denying you're oppressing
marginalized people, even if you're not actually oppressing marginalized people.

"What you really need to do is listen because this is where the other person is
hopefully going to explain to you what you did wrong and how you can explain
it," she says.

In the context of the worksheet on white supremacy, it seems clear that students
must merely accept that they are upholding oppression. Using the worksheet, if a
student defends independence or a love of reading and writing, that student is
supposed to accept that it's white supremacist thinking and stop acting
independently or loving to read and write.

The father says he taught his son to be on the lookout for this kind of Radical
Left indoctrination. It's why his son flagged the worksheets to him. But he
notes that the curriculum doesn't exactly help his kid on the subject he's
supposed to be learning.

"My problem with this curriculum is that this is supposed to be a writing and
literature class and lessons like these do nothing to help my kid become a
better writer," the father explained. "I'm sure Lincoln administration will
point to the high ELA proficiency scores but the high proportion of HCC [highly
capable] kids (40% of the student body) is a big factor. With so many smart,
hard working kids (white supremacists) it's easy to support these luxury beliefs
but system-wide only 63% of kids are proficient in English. Is this really the
best use of class time? "

The father also wonders how many students will fall for this toxic thinking
across Seattle schools where concepts around white supremacy are so clearly
partisan.

"I feel bad for any students who actually internalize stuff like this as it is
setting them up for failure," he said.

Seattle Public Schools spokespeople provided their normal response to requests
for comment: none.

https://mynorthwest.com/3950467/jason-rantz-seattle-english-high-school-students-white-supremacy-reading-writing/