Th Horror of EQUITY

“The Horror of Equity”  June 9, 2021

Parents are waking up to the progressive agenda of ‘diversity’ and ‘equity’ in education, including the pernicious ‘critical race theory’, which is being aggressively pushed in school districts and private institutions across the country. From the most affluent to the poorest communities, from the liberal bastions of Manhattan to traditionally conservative areas, curricula and the focus of teaching is on dividing people by race. Karl Marx based his theory on class struggle, but his ideological descendants have turned to race as the wedge they need to divide people and thereby accrue power. This progressive offensive on the family and traditional values includes attacks on the achievements of western civilization, biology and the cohesion of a society based on family. The bonds which are needed for a healthy society and the amity of free people working together voluntarily are being destroyed by fanatics who desire power above all things. What kind of society do they hope for? What is their endgame? That is the wrong way to think about these ideologues and their ideology. Ifthey had studied history or rationally considered the consequences of their policies...but of course they have not. For history is replete with the failures of totalitarian systems and the horror left in their wake is obvious to any open- minded, open-hearted person. Many of these open minded, rational people are recognizing the racism and divisiveness being taught to their children and are speaking up at school board meetings and confronting school administrations across the country. A taxpayer revolt may be imminent ,and it is certainly overdue.There are well understood reasons for the disparities in education outcomes, graduation rates and rates of incarceration. These have nothing to do with ‘white privilege’ or ‘systemic racism’. How, for instance do you explain the success, including educational achievement, of Asian immigrant populations? Lawsuits have been filed because Harvard and other universities have discriminated against applicants of Asian descent. Is this not ‘systemic racism’?Is Harvard fighting ‘white privilege’ by barring Asian students from its campus? Perhaps Asian applicants can self-identify as ‘people of color’. This would be more honest than biological males competing in women’s sports. How can these same people tout‘equity’ ceaselessly while approving the destruction of women’s sports? It is obviously the opposite of a level playing field. But of course, ‘equity’ has nothing to do with equality of opportunity. ‘Equity’ is the code word for control of outcomes and is the enemy of true equality and justice. He who controls outcomes wields enormous power and dispenses the ‘privilege’ in totalitarian states. The‘Great Society’ programs of the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson created a welfare culture which destroyed black families. The high percentage of black Americans, especially men, raised without fathers is the direct cause of low educational success and high crime rates. Parenting matters, fathers matter and a strong family is part of the equation for a successful person, as for a successful nation. Recently, twenty-three Democrat state Attorneys-General signed a letter urging the Biden administration to reinstate a policy of the Obama administration which supported race-based ‘equitable’ school discipline. The executive order, which President Barack Obama signed in 2012, urged school administrations to correct ‘disparities’ in the rates of discipline meted out to black students as compared to other students. It essentially told schools to ignore the actual conduct of individual students and use a race-based quota system. This executive order ignored the problems of black students, their higher rates of infractions of discipline, of crime and higher school dropout rates in favor of a system which covered up the problems and provided no real help to the students. The unintended consequence of this policy is the “Horror” in this article’s title. The tragedy of the shootings which occurred at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida was, at least partially, the result of Obama’s misguided policy and the failure to address a known violent offender. Those who screamed for increased gun control ignored the fact that if the perpetrator of that massacre had been dealt with properly by the school administration and local law enforcement, he would have been prohibited from obtaining firearms legally. The re-institution of Obama’s failed school discipline policy would sweep under the rug the real issues and challenges in education today in the name of ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’. Covering up the disparate failure rates of certain students does them and our society only harm. But for those who traffic in division and hatred, the loss of many young lives and the damage to our country is not a small price to pay but a price they are unaware of or have no intention of paying. The millions of taxpayer dollars being poured into these racist initiatives stoke hatred while ignoring the real issue of students being turned out of school deficient in the skills needed in a fast changing, challenging world.

Gene Comiskey