Commentary and Criticism about the National Education Association
We have absolutely no affiliation with the National Education Association and do not represent its views in any way, shape or form.
Sometimes I think that the NEA is posting articles just to piss me off personally.
Am I being paranoid? Just kidding, of course. But this latest one, as my grandmother used to say, is a real "doozy." One thing is for sure. Articles like the one posted by Brenda Alvarez at neaToday.org on November 20, 2017 highlight the exact reason why we started this blog. MY ANTI-LIBERAL RANT In case you missed it, the article was entitled: White Privilege Permeates Education’: Q&A With Anti-Racist White Educator What was Alvarez thinking when she accompanied her post with that picture, by the way? Was she purposefully trying to annoy all of the non-liberal members of our union? Well, she certainly annoyed me. NEA ON LIBERAL STEROIDS The article was an interview with Terry Jess (he is the guy wearing the shirt in the accompanying picture) who describes himself as “anti-racist white educator.” Is anyone else besides me already annoyed at this guy? What kind of description is this anyway? His description of himself plus his tee shirt indicate to me that he is about as racist as it comes. But it gets worse. The NEA poses the following ludicrous question to Terry Jess: “How do we get to a point where people can accept that everyone is racist because we live in a racialized society?” First of all, everyone is racist? Second of all, the term racialized comes up with a red line under it in my Microsoft Word program – seems that this is not a common term. So I had to look it up. I checked Wikipedia for some illumination and I found it. But when I started reading I had to stop after the first line because it was almost impossible to comprehend. Judge it for yourself: “A racialized society is a society where socioeconomic inequality, residential segregation and low intermarriage rates are the norm, where humans’ definitions of personal identity and choices of intimate relationships reveal racial distinctiveness.” In all seriousness, do you get what this is saying? I honestly can say that I don’t even understand what this means. Incidentally, this is why sociology gets a bad rap. This definition was probably formulated by a college sociology major who couldn’t get a job after graduation and so spent maybe a couple of weeks thinking up interesting ways to put words together so that they sounded, sort of … kind of … No, it is pure garbage, plain and simple. BACK TO THE ANTI-RACIST WHITE EDUCATOR But I was digressing quite a bit there - back to the NEA’s ludicrous question. Terry Jess’s answer to this silly question is his view that that everyone is racist. Yes, dear reader, that means you – and all your teacher colleagues - and your family ... And of course Donald Trump ... Here are Jess’s own words: “We need to understand that racism is a spectrum of actions and beliefs. All of us fall on that spectrum at different points in our life.” THE WORST PART – HOW IT AFFECT EDUCATORS Sorry to report that there is some bad news here for all of us racist educators. Our grading policies must be adjusted to take into account the “racialization” of society. Jess reminds us to ask these important questions before we enter our grades: “How do you conduct your classroom and enforce late work and homework policies? Is your content supporting systems of white oppression and supremacy? Anti-racism is to engage in owning the privilege that you have, dismantling it when you see it, and where you’re exposed to it. “ CONCLUSION I get a lot of flak on this website because my views are a bit radical. Maybe some would describe them as too conservative. But when I read articles like this and realize that my dues money is going to support this garbage I get mad. As I indicated earlier, this is why I started the Anti-NEA blog. If the NEA decides to continue printing commentary along these lines, I will have no choice but to ramp up my criticism. In any case, I do appreciate the many people who have supported me both on Facebook and here on our blog.
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October 2018
AuthorJonathan Smith - A New Jersey Public School Teacher who disagrees with the National Education Association. |