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Jul. 10, 2021 11:00AM EST
Educators and activists fight back against the efforts to limit discussions about anti-racism
Teachers and civil rights activists are organizing and preparing to go to court to stop conservatives' efforts to block curriculum about institutional racism.
Why it matters: "It is the modern-day Scopes trial," American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten tells Axios, recalling the 1925 case over teaching evolution.
- Legislators in nearly half of U.S. states in recent months have passed or introduced proposals to constrain lessons about how racism has shaped the nation's history and political and economic systems.
- Conservative groups also are driving recall campaigns against school board members around the U.S.
Driving the news: Weingarten said her union will defend teachers' right to teach American history — and will aggressively protect any educator accused of violating such new laws and restrictions.
- "We're looking at court actions because these laws conflict with standards and our licensure requirements and our professional obligations," she said.
- Union delegates with the National Education Association earlier this month voted to expand the teaching of anti-racism and diversity in American classrooms, despite the growing backlash.
- The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 79 other civil rights and education groups recently released a statement calling anti-racism classroom lessons a student right needing to be defended.
The big picture: This backlash against critical race theory comes as school systems grow more diverse and many parents welcome more diverse curriculums.
- The popularity of The New York Times' 1619 Project, by Nikole Hannah-Jones, which examined the history of slavery and its lasting impact in the U.S., also sparked conservative anger.
The other side: Citizens for Renewing America, a group led by a White House budget director under former President Trump, offers activists model legislation to craft bans on critical race theory in their states. Teachers also are facing threats of firing for introducing anti-racism lessons.
- At least 51 local recall efforts involving K-12 school boards have been initiated this year in reaction to critical race theory and COVID-19 closures.
- Critics of critical race theory are suggesting long-time popular children's books and novels regularly listed high school reading are dangerous now.
- Idaho state lawmaker Heather Scott cited the 1960 novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee as evidence that critical race theory was "creeping through our schools."
- A group of white parents in Tennessee claimed "Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story,” by Ruby Bridges, the first African-American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana, was anti-American (and) anti-white.”
Reality check: Critical race theory — which holds that racism is baked into the formation of the nation and ingrained in our legal, financial, and education systems — was developed in law schools in the 1970s and isn't really taught in grade school.
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Mar. 27, 2021 03:15PM EST
"The Expanse" offers a realistic depiction of space colonization
A series of novels that have been turned into a TV show offers one of the most realistic visions of what the colonization of space might actually be like.
Why you should read and watch: "The Expanse" imagines a future where human beings have moved into space without growing much beyond the often unjust political and economic systems of today.
How it works: Set in the 24th century, when humanity has managed to colonize Mars and part of the asteroid belt, "The Expanse" views space not as the final frontier, but as merely the latest backdrop for age-old geopolitical struggles — albeit without the "geo."
- Humans have left Earth less out of the spirit of discovery than because their planet had become hot and crowded, with the only opportunities for advancement to be found in the hostile environment of space.
Context: "The Expanse" is an example of "hard sci-fi," meaning it largely operates under the constraints of science as we know it.
- So that means no warp drives, no transporters and absolutely no Force.
- What definitely exists is gravity, which functions almost as a supporting character on "The Expanse," a factor that always needs to be reckoned with.
- Humans who grow up in the lighter gravity of Mars or the asteroid belt can't really function on Earth, which contributes to political divisions.
Analog for "Star Trek" fans: The 1990s series "Deep Space Nine."
- But if "Deep Space Nine" was occasionally gritty, "The Expanse" is a veritable Beijing-style sandstorm of grit, featuring brutal worker exploitation, planetary-scale war and very nasty aliens.
Yes, but: Still fun!
- Plus Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is such a fan that he reportedly helped save the show from cancellation by moving it to Amazon Prime in 2019.
- That's a little odd, given that Bezos is one of the foremost advocates of space settlement, which "The Expanse" largely portrays as a terrible mistake.
The bottom line: Do read the books and watch the show.
- Don't go to space.
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Oct. 06, 2020 09:13PM EST
Facebook bans QAnon across all its platforms
Facebook announced on Tuesday it would ban all accounts, pages and groups representing the fringe conspiracy theory QAnon from its platforms.
Why it matters: Facebook previously banned or restricted hundreds of groups, pages and Instagram accounts that "demonstrated significant risks to public safety" due to their ties to QAnon, but the latest update goes even further — removing all accounts "even if they contain no violent content."
Context: QAnon is a sprawling, far-right conspiracy theory that alleges a secret cabal of sex traffickers and pedophiles is waging a war against President Trump from inside the government. Trump has previously praised the group, which the FBI has deemed a potential domestic terrorist threat, saying that he understands its supporters "like me very much" and that they "love America."
The big picture: The move comes as Facebook, long accused of bending over backward to accommodate the right, looks to take action against harmful rhetoric coming from conservative groups and figures. Just this morning, Facebook took swifter action than Twitter against a post from President Trump falsely claiming COVID-19 is less deadly than the flu.
Yes, but: Facebook has its work cut out for it with the hard ban. QAnon supporters have already gotten canny about dodging enforcement actions from social media platforms, and the movement is increasingly intermingling with more anodyne-seeming calls to protect children that may be hard to claw apart from the conspiracy theory.
What they're saying: "We’ve been vigilant in enforcing our policy and studying its impact on the platform but we’ve seen several issues that led to today’s update," Facebook said in a statement.
- "For example, while we’ve removed QAnon content that celebrates and supports violence, we’ve seen other QAnon content tied to different forms of real world harm, including recent claims that the west coast wildfires were started by certain groups, which diverted attention of local officials from fighting the fires and protecting the public.
- "Additionally, QAnon messaging changes very quickly and we see networks of supporters build an audience with one message and then quickly pivot to another. We aim to combat this more effectively with this update that strengthens and expands our enforcement against the conspiracy theory movement."
Go deeper: QAnon's 2020 resurgence
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Dec. 10, 2024 10:12AM EST

