Black History, Black Lives Matter, And Critical Race Theory In Public Education

Black History, Black Lives Matter, And Critical Race Theory In Public Education

By Tiffany Benson |

Every school district that hosts Black Lives Matter at School (“BLM at School”) perpetuates discrimination while committing intellectual fraud against our youth. Parents and taxpayers should be outraged at the National Education Association for its endorsement and promotion of this race propaganda in public schools.

The Mesa Education Association put Arizona to shame kowtowing to the race narrative. Note that the demographic of black students in Mesa Public Schools is less than 5%.

BLM at School’s parent organization, Black Lives Matter (“BLM”), is a civil rights hack with virtually no ties to the black community. At its core, BLM is anti-God, anti-America, anti-traditional family, anti-police, and anti-white people. Rather than confront overwhelming statistics of black-on-black homicide, BLM’s mission is to “eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on black communities by the state and vigilantes.” BLM claims police brutality is an existential threat to black people. Thus, when black criminals die at the hands of white cops, looting and rioting are perceived as morally justified.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, there’s no significant difference in the amount of whites versus blacks who encounter police on an annual basis. Despite representing just 13.8% of our population, a 2019 FBI report shows individuals within the black community committed the highest numbers of robbery and murder. These perpetrators are not victims.

BLM at School advocates for racial equality in public education with four demands:

  1. “End zero tolerance implement restorative justice”
  2. “Hire and retain black teachers”
  3. “Mandate black history and ethnic studies”
  4. “Counselors not cops”

Anyone in their right mind knows this absurd call to action has nothing to do with K-12 instruction.

“Restorative justice” says, if someone is attacked (e.g. sexual assault, violence, bullying), the victim must engage in “peace circles” and “problem solve” with their abuser. That’s insane. “Hire black teachers” is a directive to practice racial discrimination on its face. If an applicant—who happens to be black—is not qualified to teach, don’t hire them. “Ethnic studies” is Critical Race Theory (CRT), which is Marxism. And last I checked it’s resource officers, not counselors, who keep children safe at school.

Race propaganda in the United States is intimately linked to the Civil Rights Movement and its most notable icon, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Because he was a powerful and effective orator, sincere conservatives and sincere leftists quote Dr. King when the need arises. His rhetoric fundamentally improved societal conditions for (black) Americans though he was an economic socialist who believed in reparations and the welfare state. Dr. King was also a supporter of affirmative action with close ties to the radical activist and communist sympathizer, Jesse Jackson. Judge for yourself whether these facts discredit Dr. King or simply provide a more grounded view of history.

Of course, less than a century ago, many parts of society were segregated and in need of civil rights reform. A hundred years prior to that, the deadliest war in our nation’s history served as the catalyst to abolish slavery. No doubt, the United States had problems and progress was slow. Still, these are not present-day issues. Full-blooded, black Americans living in 2024 are not slavery survivors, and no school-aged child has experienced legitimate, pre-1964 discrimination. It’s also important to grasp that serious threats of white supremacy and systemic oppression throughout history are primarily credited to the Democratic Party.

Rather than teach falsified history through a CRT lens, educators should give students all the facts and allow them to form their own opinions. Make sure they know that BLM was wholly inspired by a radical Marxist, racist, white male named Eric Mann. Talk about the Transatlantic Slave Trade that was facilitated by powerful Africans selling off their countrymen. Inform young minds that one of the earliest accounts of slave ownership in America is attributed to a freed black man named Anthony Johnson. Explain that black people make up a mere 14% of our population due to Margaret Sanger’s genocidal Negro Project (a.k.a. Planned Parenthood) that lives on under the guise of “reproductive rights.”

Much of our nation’s K-12 curriculum is polluted with “The 1619 Project”—a debunked, victimhood manifesto authored by Nikole Hannah-Jones. I listened to the entire podcast from The New York Times and found it to be a gaslighting falsehood that lacked intellectual prowess. Sure, I was gravely disheartened that America’s sinful past provided substance for her sadistic narrative. And yet, it never entered my mind to loot a Target or torch a police station. Thankfully, my emotions are not easily triggered by someone else’s perception of reality.

By Hannah-Jones’ account, every part of America—our Founders, the Constitution, capitalism, healthcare, education—is infected with white supremacy. Thus, black people will never succeed unless current systems of morality, economics, and government are overthrown by toxic anti-white legislation. “Diversity” and “equity” are now propagandist terms intended to make racism palatable and undetectable. You have to be deeply deceived or willfully ignorant to believe “The 1619 Project” or BLM created positive outcomes for black Americans.

In “Setting the Record Straight: American History in Black and White,” David Barton wrote:

“Today, black history is too often presented just from a southern viewpoint, describing only slavery and its atrocities as well as the numerous civil rights violations that continued well beyond the end of slavery. Yet there was also what may be called a northern viewpoint with many praiseworthy events; and to be completely accurate in the telling of black history, the story must be told not only of the martyrs but also of the heroes…”

Barton goes on to list William Nell, Carter Woodson, Benjamin Quarles, Joseph Wilson, Booker T. Washington, and Edward Johnson. To this esteemed lineup, I’ll add the brilliant and powerful contributions of Dr. Thomas Sowell, Col. Allen West, Dr. Carol Swain, Dr. Ben Carson, Winsome Earle-Sears, and the like. Acknowledging the achievements of prominent black Americans shouldn’t be relegated to the shortest month or reduced to skin color. Authentic diversity (of thought) should be celebrated by everyone year-round. Lastly, invoking the phrase “black lives matter,” even while attempting to dissociate from the organization, is an affront to this overwhelming fact:

All human lives—born and unborn—matter.

Educators with integrity, who care about future generations, will refuse to disseminate BLM at School’s segregationist propaganda. Tell students the truth.

Black History is American History.

Tiffany Benson is the Founder of Restore Parental Rights in Education, a grassroots advocate for families, educators, and school board members. For nearly two decades, Tiffany’s creative writing pursuits have surpassed most interests as she continues to contribute to her blog Bigviewsmallwindow.com. She encourages everyday citizens to take an active role in defending and preserving American values for future generations.

Chinese Professor With World Economic Forum History Leads Critical Race, Gender Theory Research On Children At ASU, NAU

Chinese Professor With World Economic Forum History Leads Critical Race, Gender Theory Research On Children At ASU, NAU

By Corinne Murdock |

A professor hailing from China with a World Economic Forum (WEF) background is behind critical race and gender theory research on children at two of Arizona’s taxpayer-funded universities. 

Sonya Xinyue Xiao teaches psychological science and performs developmental research on moral and gender development at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Xiao was a postdoctoral scholar at the Arizona State University (ASU) T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (SSFD) from 2020 to 2022, where she taught until last year. NAU has Xiao on a tenure track. 

Presently, Xiao is also an affiliated research fellow for the Cultural Resilience and Learning Center (CRLC) in California and a member of the Diversity Scholars Network in the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan (UM). Xiao’s UM profile declares her social priority on children, youth, and families, with her specific focus pertaining to that priority on gender, sexuality, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, social class, and socioeconomic status.

“[Xiao] is investigating how early adolescents’ multiple intersecting identities in gender and race/ethnicity are related to their prosocial behavior toward diverse others over time, with youth from diverse ethnic racial backgrounds,” stated her UM profile. 

Additionally, Xiao has served as the programming committee member for the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Caucus of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) since 2021. The SRCD has repeatedly opposed efforts to restrict or ban gender transitions for minors. 

Xiao’s published research papers have declared the need for parents to raise their children to embrace gender theory in themselves and their peers, under the claim that rejection results in poor social and emotional outcomes later in life, as well as to engage their children in diverse friendships, under the claim that those as young as preschoolers can be racist.

Characteristics aligning with progressive critical race and gender theories are what Xiao defines as “prosocial behaviors” throughout her research. 

Last year, Xiao contributed to a chapter entry in a book, “Gender and Sexuality Development.” The chapter expanded the understanding of gender to many gender identities.

Xiao’s work includes “gender integration,” which studies the differences between genders with the ultimate goal of total integration. Xiao’s team with the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (SSSFD) holds the belief that gender is fluid and not binary; they receive federal funding through the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

Xiao’s research has also relied on participants’ self-reported gender identities. Elsewhere, her current research team’s most recent release of preliminary findings asked children “how much they think they look like girls and how much they think they look like boys,” and reported that 10 percent thought they looked like both genders, and nearly one percent believing they didn’t look like either gender. 

In May, Xiao’s work on gender integration was featured in an IES blog series focusing on “research conducted through an equity lens.” SSSFD professor Carol Martin said that their work aims to achieve diversity, equity, and inclusion in education. Martin further insisted that teachers need to break up naturally-occuring gender segregation in their students to encourage diversity.

“We study the importance of having diverse classrooms (mixed-gender in our case) and breaking down barriers that separate people from each other but stress that this diversity matters only when it is perceived as inclusive and fosters a sense of belonging,” said Martin. “For some students, additional supports might be needed to feel included, and we hope to identify which students may need these additional supports and what types of support they need to promote equity in classrooms around issues of social belongingness.”

According to her LinkedIn, Xiao attended Tianjin University of Science and Technology before beginning her career as a teacher at Zhenguang Primary School in Shanghai, China. While at Tianjin, Xiao had two notable back-to-back volunteering stints in 2010: first, a two-month gig at the Shanghai World EXPO 2010, then a month-long gig at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Summer Davos. For the latter gig with the WEF, Xiao reported providing document and verbal translation at the Lishunde Hotel, as well as assistance to conference attendees. 

China’s practice of its cultural subversion tactics on U.S. soil, especially involving children, have been widely reported over the years, most recently concerning TikTok. While the Beijing-based company behind the app pushes content ranging from the mind-numbing to dangerous to foreigners, it restricts Chinese youth to a domestic version, Douyin, which contains only educational and inspirational content. In its short existence, TikTok has become a major influence in American children’s development. 

Papers published while at ASU or NAU where Xiao was the principal author are listed below:

  1. Meet Up Buddy Up: An Effective Intervention To Promote 4th Grade Students’ Prosocial Behavior Toward Diverse Others
  2. Parents Matter: Accepting Parents Have Less Anxious Gender Expansive Children
  3. Family Economic Pressure And Early Adolescents’ Prosocial Behavior: The Importance Of Considering Types Of Prosocial Behavior
  4. Parents’ Valuing Diversity And White Children’s Prosociality Toward White And Black Peers
  5. Being Helpful To Other-Gender Peers: School-Age Children’s Gender-Based Intergroup Prosocial Behavior
  6. Interactions With Diverse Peers Promote Preschoolers’ Prosociality And Reduce Aggression: An Examination Of Buddy-Up Intervention
  7. Young Adults’ Intergroup Prosocial Behavior And Its Associations With Social Dominance Orientation, Social Positions, Prosocial Moral Obligations, And Belongingness
  8. Early Adolescents’ Gender Typicality And Depressive Symptoms: The Moderating Role Of Parental Acceptance
  9. A Double-Edged Sword: Children’s Intergroup Gender Attitudes Have Social Consequences For The Beholder
  10. Gender Differences Across Multiple Types Of Prosocial Behavior In Adolescence: A Meta-Analysis Of The Prosocial Tendency Measure-Revised
  11. Characteristics Of Preschool Gender Enforcers And Peers Who Associate With Them
  12. Will They Listen To Me? An Examination Of In-Group Gender Bias In Children’s Communication Beliefs
  13. Longitudinal Relations Of Preschoolers’ Anger To Prosocial Behavior: The Moderating Role Of Dispositional Shyness.

Xiao has also contributed in over a dozen other research papers uplifting critical race and gender theories, as well as promoting “nurturant parenting,” described as inductive discipline and punishment avoidance, versus the disciplinary model of “restrictive parenting,” described as punitiveness, corporal punishment, and strictness. That paper on nurturant versus restrictive parenting further advised that white parents should avoid restrictive parenting to ensure their children behaved better toward non-white peers. 

Other papers to which Xiao contributed argued that white parents who claimed to be color-blind or were displaying evidence of “implicit racial bias” caused their children to have less empathy toward Black children.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Horne Finds Parents And Teachers Share “Valid Concerns” On Empower Hotline

Horne Finds Parents And Teachers Share “Valid Concerns” On Empower Hotline

By Daniel Stefanski |

Arizona’s Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction gave an update on the new Empower Hotline from the state’s Department of Education.

On Thursday, Superintendent Tom Horne provided an update on the Empower Hotline program and elaborated on some of the concerns that his staff had fielded since the March launch. According to the Department, “the Empower Hotline allows parents to report inappropriate content being taught that detract from teaching academic standards. These include those that focus on race or ethnicity, rather than individuals and merit, promoting gender ideology, social emotional learning, or inappropriate sexual content.”

In a release sent after the update, the Department made clear that complaints submitted through the Empower Hotline have revealed potential violations to state law and demonstrate that elements of Critical Race Theory are present in the public school system.

Horne issued a statement in conjunction with the press release, saying, “Despite those in ideological groups and some in the media that propagate the urban myth that CRT is not a part of the school system, we have evidence from the empower hotline, that there is enough CRT in our schools to constitute a problem, though it is obviously not universal. We also have evidence that schools have put systems in place to hide or attempt to hide critical personal information from parents about their child. This is in direct violation of Arizona law, A.R.S. §1-602.”

The Arizona Department of Education pointed to three examples of vetted concerns brought to staff through the Empower Hotline. The first came from Mesa, where the Department shared that “a teacher reported through the hotline that the Mesa school district has a training program for teachers that clearly states that certain Americans are ‘living under a system of white supremacy.’” Horne added, “That is a divisive and bigoted statement that has no place in education. We are individuals, entitled to be judged by what we know, what we can do, our character, and not the color of our skin. To its credit, Mesa is in discussion with the Department about this.”

The other two examples occurred in the Catalina Foothills School District and in the Chandler Unified School District. In the Catalina Foothills instance, the Department revealed that a concern was raised regarding “a spreadsheet distributed in this school district with a list of pronouns chosen by students. The email and attached file clearly show the school withholding information from parents contrary to A.R.S. §1-602.”

In Chandler, the Department reported that “a lunch time Gay-Straight Alliance Club was created to discuss gender issues but also included the distribution of emancipation paperwork, which a parent only knew about because parents found it in their students backpack. Both of the above are examples of activity contrary to Arizona law.”

Since assuming office in January, Horne has worked tirelessly to shed light on what children are being taught and exposed to in their schools, giving interested parents the transparency that many have demanded in increasing numbers over the past few years. Horne stated, “Since its inception earlier this year, ADE has been compiling information regarding inappropriate activity occurring in Arizona schools through the Empower Hotline. These complaints have come not just from concerned parents but also from teachers. When parents saw during COVID what students were being taught on their laptop, they were outraged by CRT content, and went to school board meetings, where some were treated rudely. The Employer Hotline directs them to a method to communicate their concerns.”

The Department also communicated that the Hotline had received 30,000 crank calls and emails since its inception in March, promising that “all legitimate complaints received through the Empower Hotline will continue to be accepted and investigated.”

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.

ASU Supportive Of Ibram Kendi Proposal For Authoritarian Rule By Anti-Racist Elite

ASU Supportive Of Ibram Kendi Proposal For Authoritarian Rule By Anti-Racist Elite

By Corinne Murdock |

Arizona State University (ASU) featured prominent anti-racist proponent Ibram Kendi last Thursday, who proposed an authoritarian rule by anti-racist elite. Kendi said it wouldn’t be necessary for most of the country to support anti-racism — just those with power to mandate it. ASU characterized this solution and others presented by Kendi last week as the necessary steps for “meaningful change.”

“In order to create a society whereby we have policies and practices that are equitable and just and fair — and provide equal opportunity for all, and institutions that are built on those policies — we don’t necessarily need to create a critical mass of Americans who are anti-racist,” said Kendi. “We just need enough people who can get into positions of power, who will then institute [anti-racist] policies and practices.”

The campus venue for Kendi’s speech had to be relocated, reportedly due to outsized interest in the event. ASU estimated that about 1,200 individuals registered for the event. Kendi was the keynote speaker for the event: ASU’s annual A. Wade Smith and Elsie Moore Memorial Lecture on Race Relations. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as well as the School of Social Transformation organized the event. 

During his speech, Kendi advocated for reparations for descendants of slaves. He also claimed that Arizona law impedes voting rights for “black, brown, and indigenous people.” 

Kendi, a humanities professor and founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, has written several books promoting Critical Race Theory (CRT) concepts such as institutional racism and anti-racism. In his 2019 book “How To Be An Antiracist,” Kendi claimed that everything has to do with race.

“There’s no such thing as a non-racist or race-neutral policy,” wrote Kendi.

Moderating Kendi’s speech were School of Social Transformation associate professors David Hinds and Lisa Anderson, also an associate dean in the Graduate College.

Anti-racism has support across the state’s university system. Last summer, a Northern Arizona University (NAU) teacher development affiliate made anti-racism the focus of its annual summer conference. NAU also trained faculty in anti-racism as part of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

Support for anti-racism policies and practices has also dictated Arizona’s K-12 schools in the past — though the current Arizona Department of Education administration opposes it. Arizona’s first inductee into the National Teachers Hall of Fame declared that even “nice, white folks” could be racist if they didn’t subscribe to anti-racism, and that teachers opposed to anti-racism shouldn’t be allowed to teach black children. 

School districts in recent years have established or supported policies and groups that subscribe to anti-racism, such as Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) and Litchfield Elementary School District (LESD).

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

DEI Is an Attack on Campus Free Speech

DEI Is an Attack on Campus Free Speech

By Dr. Thomas Patterson |

Jonathan Haidt is a professor at NYU, an acknowledged leader in the field of social psychology, and a champion of free speech. He recently faced a requirement that all scholars wishing to present research to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology were to submit a statement explaining “whether and how this submission advanced the equity, inclusion, and antiracism goals of SPSP.”

He resigned instead. This was no small sacrifice, but Haidt takes his principles seriously. Moreover, as he pointed out on his way out the door, “Most academic work has nothing to do with diversity.”

Scholars working, for example, on ultra-bright, nano-structured photo emission electron studies would be required to present their “anti-racist” bona fides. Academics in all disciplines, as well as administrators, would be forced to “betray their quasi-fiduciary duty to the truth by spinning, twisting or otherwise inventing some tenuous connection to diversity.”

This is not just another quibble among pointy-headed academics. Refusing jobs to dissenters is meant to quash the last remnant of open debate in American higher education.

Our universities, particularly the elite, were once celebrated as sanctuaries for unpopular ideas, where free discourse was sacrosanct and none need face fear of censure over doctrinal disputes.

But when the Left achieved numerical domination in the majority of universities over recent decades, their mindset evolved into rooting out the few dissenters in their midst, or, better yet, blocking them from getting a job in the first place.

The reason so-called anti-racists feel justified in forcing their views into unrelated disciplines, such as the hard sciences, is that they view the entire world through the lens of race. Ibram S. Kendi, the leading proponent of anti-racism, writes “there is no such thing as a non-racist or race-neutral policy.”

Their opinions on everything from raising taxes (good) to merit-based promotion in schools (bad) are race-based. It follows that if you disagree with their views, then you’re a racist.

The philosophy of anti-racism is profoundly anti-education and anti-merit. Colleges and universities are less and less committed to the search for truth or the transmission of knowledge. Instead, they are in thrall to the endless dictates of the ironically titled “social justice” bureaucracy.

DEI offices, larger than many academic departments (and better paid), are now sprouting in the halls of academia. 25% of all universities now mandate DEI statements from job applicants, and 40% more are considering jumping on the bandwagon.

DEI statements are loyalty oaths to race-based ideologies, similar to those required by authoritarian regimes throughout history. They often demand evidence of the applicant’s past support of such notions as Critical Race Theory, which holds that an individual’s tendency to racial bias can be reliably determined from their skin color.

To our state’s shame, Arizona’s universities have enthusiastically thrown themselves into the front lines of this movement. According to a Goldwater Institute report, Arizona State University last fall required DEI loyalty oaths for 81% of all job applicants. NAU was at 73% while the University of Arizona demanded 28% bend the knee to be considered for a job.

Such required ideological allegiance makes a mockery of the value of any research these aspiring scholars may do. The results are predetermined. In 2020, two major research organizations and 16 scientific societies issued a joint statement that researchers “must stand against the notion that systemic racism does not exist.” No research was cited.

Topics like urban crime, immigration, and welfare fraud are rarely studied when only the approved narrative is permitted anyway. Ignoring data inconsistent with the agenda gives us startling conclusions as when “scientists” proclaimed that family dinners and church services were COVID “superspreaders,” while massive racial protests and pro-abortion rallies were no problem.

The Left has a way with words. Diversity now means rigid conformity. Equity stands for unearned equal outcomes. Inclusion means exclusion of dissenters.

But Americans are starting to catch on. Outraged parents are protesting overt racism in school curricula. A growing number of universities and corporations are pulling back on DEI mandates. In Arizona, SCR 1024 is a proposed constitutional amendment that will hopefully be on the ballot next election. It would eliminate racist instruction in our public schools.

Take heart.

Dr. Thomas Patterson, former Chairman of the Goldwater Institute, is a retired emergency physician. He served as an Arizona State senator for 10 years in the 1990s, and as Majority Leader from 93-96. He is the author of Arizona’s original charter schools bill.