"Anti Racism" controversy getting ugly in Virginia

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On March 12, members of the private Facebook group “Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County” began to compile names.

The group’s members in Loudoun County, Virginia — one of the last school districts in the United States to desegregate, where white students now make up less than half of total enrollment — were concerned about growing opposition to diversity and equity programs in the local public schools. They believed other parents were spreading false claims about these initiatives, and so a handful of members started a list of these opponents as a way of tracking the claims and countering them. One member of the anti-racist group suggested infiltrating or hacking the websites of groups opposed to diversity programs.

Screenshots leaked almost immediately. Parents who had been named as opponents of school diversity initiatives called the sheriff’s office to complain. Conservative media outlets picked up the story, framing it as a group of liberal parents dubbed the “chardonnay antifa” creating a “hit list” of parents who disagreed with them.

Several members of the anti-racist Facebook group said they never intended to harass anyone, and considered the name sharing in the private group to be more in line with oppositional research than an attempt at intimidation. But whether intentional or not, the decision to compile names was perceived as a threat. Parents who had been named in the group said they didn’t know what the group was planning, and they feared for their safety.

As the firestorm escalated, members of the anti-racist Facebook group — including parents, teachers and school board members — were bombarded with threats, some directed at their children. The school board added extra security at public meetings. Parents on both sides of the issue said they filed reports with the sheriff’s department and installed security cameras.

The problem with diversity programs is that they try and tell students how to act.

The school should stick to education, not indoctrination.

If someone wants to be atheist, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant ... the school should encourage such open-mindedness.

I can understand being atheist

I can even understand being anti-immigrant

But how on earth do you think its ok for a school, especially a multi-racial one, to tolerate racism and sexism? Please explain that to me.

And when you say tolerate racism and sexism how far are you willing to go with that tolerance? Does a person wearing Klan robes to school, or someone who thinks blacks were better off in slavery, do you seriously think that's ok?

The thoughts of racists ARE wrong. They are usually based on either stereotypes, and plain old non-exposure.

I was a racist until I was actually exposed to actual black people when I was in middle childhood.

Everyone has the wrong thinking from an alternate viewpoint.

Non-smokers tell smokers they're wrong.
Savers tell spenders they're wrong.
Thin tell fat they're wrong.
Exercise junkies tell lazy they're wrong.
Religious and non-religious tell each other they're wrong.

They should tolerate the thoughts, not the actions.

An atheist verbally attacking religious students should be punished.

However, don't have special programs to lecture atheists, racists, whatever they don't like .. that their thinking is WRONG.

I can understand being atheist

I can even understand being anti-immigrant

But how on earth do you think its ok for a school, especially a multi-racial one, to tolerate racism and sexism? Please explain that to me.

And when you say tolerate racism and sexism how far are you willing to go with that tolerance? Does a person wearing Klan robes to school, or someone who thinks blacks were better off in slavery, do you seriously think that's ok?

The term "Anti-racists" is so incredibly Orwellian. As is much of the new Left's lexicon.

What's wrong with promoting equality among all races? What's wrong with fighting against forces that would one race less than another?

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/24/90551539 ... nti-racist

I can't get the link to work.

When the topic of racism comes up, I often think of a billboard in the small town of Harrison, Arkansas.

It was a sign promoting a white supremacist radio station called White Pride Radio. The sign's message, emblazoned next to the picture of a cute-looking white girl with a cute-looking dog, read "It's not racist to [heart] your people."

My takeaway: Even white supremacists don't want to be called racist.

Which might explain why, for people dedicated to fighting racism, simply saying you're "not racist" doesn't feel like quite enough. To effectively defeat systemic racism — racism embedded as normal practice in institutions like education and law enforcement — you've got to be continually working towards equality for all races, striving to undo racism in your mind, your personal environment and the wider world.

In other words, you've got to be anti-racist.

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You may know me as NPR's TV critic. But I've also spent years exploring how systemic racism affects media and society. I've written a book about it, called Race-Baiter, and built a TEDx talk around how to talk about race across racial lines. As a Black man who speaks often on these subjects, I find race, racism and anti-racism to be things people think they know but often don't – at least, not as well as they think they do.

As the world continues to sort through a racial and civil rights reckoning kicked off by police killings of Black people like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, now more than ever, people want to know how to be anti-racist.

After talking to a few experts, I and the good folks at Life Kit have come up with a few suggestions.

Tip #1: Accept that we've all been raised in a society that elevates white culture over others. Being anti-racist will mean first challenging those notions inside yourself.
This was one of the most important takeaways from my conversation with Anneliese A. Singh, who just joined Tulane University as its first Associate Provost for Diversity and Faculty Development. She's also written a workbook on these issues called The Racial Healing Handbook.

"Everyone who lives in the United States kind of learns some form of anti-Black racism," Singh says. "I think we have to ask ourselves that question...How does anti-Black racism live within us?"

Singh calls white supremacy "white body supremacy," a term used by therapist Resmaa Menakem, as a way to emphasize how racism has a visceral, physical impact; elevating white bodies, and bringing trauma to non-white ones.


Tip #2: Learn the history of racism and anti-racism, especially in America, to educate yourself about the complexities of the issues you'll be confronting.
A glance at the 2020 bestseller lists reveals lots of great books on anti-racism, from Ibram X. Kendi's How to Be an Antiracist to Layla Saad's Me and White Supremacy and Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility.

Most of them note that, for white folks, anti-racism involves learning to accept that white people have a racial culture, too. I've said white supremacy's greatest advantage is that white racial culture in America is often treated like it's invisible; not directly talked about among white people, some of whom joke that they have no culture.

Singh says people of color can benefit from similar study and introspection, with a particular focus on identifying and challenging any ideas that may breed colorism or contempt for other non-white groups.


Tip #3: Seek out films and TV shows which will challenge your notions of race and culture and dive in deeply, learning to see anti-racism in new ways.
I'm probably biased, but I've always felt TV shows and films teach us how to dream about what is possible in society and what ought to be. (For example: I insist Morgan Freeman's performance as a Black American president in Deep Impact and Dennis Haysbert's turn as President David Palmer on 24 made it easier for some voters to imagine a Black POTUS when Barack Obama came around.)

Dear White People centers on a group of non-white students at a mostly white, Ivy League college as they negotiate issues of identity, classism, anti-racism vs racism, homophobia and more. One poignant storyline features a young Black student, Reggie Green, who is nearly shot by a campus security guard at a party. Reggie then finds himself haunted by flashbacks of the traumatic event as well-meaning acquaintances attempt to check in on him.

Simien says the scenes with Reggie show, without lecturing the audience, how attempts to ask a Black person about racial trauma can sometimes backfire.

Simien suggests viewers pass up "feel good" TV shows and films showing indisputably virtuous Black people overcoming racism, often in the Jim Crow South, with help from well-meaning white people (in other words, skip screenings of The Help or Green Book.)

Well-made TV shows and films about anti-racism should be messier and much more provocative.

"You should feel challenged in some way by the piece because it's so subversive," Simien says. "[Racism is] ubiquitous and it's systemic and we can't see it...Racism lives in our collective blindspots. That's why it's so pernicious. So, there has to be a moment in the piece where you go, 'Oh! I didn't think about it like that.'"



Tip #4: Find local organizations involved in anti-racism efforts – preferably led by people of color – and help uplift their voices and ideas.
This tip comes courtesy of Arisha Hatch, the Vice President and Chief of Campaigns at Color of Change – a civil rights organization founded in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina.

She says learning to uplift non-white voices – even those who may disagree with you – is important for white people seeking to be anti-racist.

"Part of being an ally and part of letting go of privilege is, I think, putting yourselves in situations where you may be uncomfortable," Hatch adds. "You may have a different idea, but...you're actively working to support organizers and activists who have been thinking about these systemic problems for generations."

Also, Hatch says to be an effective anti-racist, you must assess your own power – where are the spheres where you can have the most influence?

Beyond the obvious strategy of confronting family and friends who may be racist, consider this: When you sit down at a PTA meeting at your child's school, which parents do you speak with and get to know?