By: Diane Benjamin
President Trump banned the teaching of Critical Race Theory in all Federal Departments because it’s Marxist ideology. It is meant to destroy social norms to create an undefined utopia. It rejects the Declaration of Independence, the teachings of Martin Luther King, and of course Christianity. It destroys without ever saying what it is building.
Judging people based on race was wrong in the 1950’s and it is wrong today. It empowers ideology to divide, not bring people together.
Did you hear ISU offensive coordinator, Kurt Beathard was forced out for put a sign saying this on his office door: “All Lives Matter to Our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.” Athletic Director, Larry Lyons, was vilified for saying “Redbird Lives Matter”.
The email below was sent by ISU, it pretends black people are routinely murdered by the police for no reason:
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff Members,
Our hearts are broken, again.
It pains me to address our campus community in response to the relentless acts of violence against Black women and men with the most recent centering around 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, whose life was cut short with careless disregard and with little or no consequence. Breonna, a young Black woman with her future ahead of her, could have easily been my daughter, my niece, or a student in my classroom. The grand jury decision surrounding her death makes us ask once again, do Black lives really matter?
Our nation is fraught with current and historic examples of Black lives being systemically diminished and undervalued on a daily basis. Yet, some forces in our society prefer that we ignore or dismiss the voices of despair, the cries of pain, and the demands for change. The preference by some that we look away and maintain the status quo can no longer stand.
Our communities are demanding change. Our communities are calling for us to invest in public school systems, so that Black children have an equal chance to reach their full potential as future leaders. Our communities are calling for us to provide equal access to health care for low-wage, front-line workers who don’t have the luxury of working from home during COVID-19. Our communities are calling for us to prevent corporations from placing toxic waste sites in the heart of low-income communities like Flint, Michigan, thus exposing innocent children to a lifetime of sickness and developmental delays. To squander the lives of Black people and other marginalized human beings is to rob the world of endless potential. Our society as a whole will bear more fruit when we embrace the essential core value that Black lives do matter – they always have, and they always will.
As our nation faces the unyielding challenge of a health pandemic compounded by racial division and economic disparities, I call on each member of our ISU community to take a stand for Black lives. Take a stand for justice and equality for those who have been marginalized, ostracized, and systematically sidelined from the American Dream.
It is up to us to honor the memory of Breonna and the many Black women and men whose lives have been cut short by the ugly vestiges of racial injustice. For my part, I hope every person in our campus community will take a moment to reflect upon who we are as a people and who we want to be as a nation. As we honor the memory of Breonna Taylor, I encourage us to SAY HER NAME. Then TAKE A STAND.
- Take a stand for Breonna Taylor by getting involved with student organizations and the Multicultural Center that promote social and racial
- Take a stand for Breonna Taylor by joining the Multicultural Center’s virtual Justice Circle on October 16, which provides a space for students to use their voices for change. Faculty can learn how to show up for students and provide a safe space during times of crisis from 4-6 p.m. October 23.
- Take a stand for Breonna Taylor by attending the Culturally Responsive Campus Community (CRCC) Conference on October 29-30, which will focus on addressing anti-Blackness. The theme for the 2020 CRCC is Equity with a Mirror.
- Take a stand for Breonna Taylor by becoming engaged in our communities. Look to the Center for Civic Engagement and Service Learning, especially in this time as we prepare to exercise our rights and civic responsibility to vote.
- Take a stand for Breonna Taylor by seeking in-depth knowledge about the historic and contemporary lived experiences of African Americans, Latinx Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, individuals who identify as LGBTQA+, and international populations by choosing an interdisciplinary minor.
- Take a stand for Breonna Taylor by exercising selfcare and utilizing the wellness resources that our campus offers to support emotional health and a sense of community. Do not talk yourself out of asking for help. Each person is worthy of care. Look to resources on Redbird Life and Student Counseling Services.
- Take a stand for Breonna Taylor by exercising or reconnecting with your faith or spirituality. Students can find faith- and spiritual-based organizations on Redbird Life.
In the depths of our collective grief, we can find the strength to make change, to make our voices heard. Each person has the right to mourn the decision that diminished the life and death of Breonna Taylor. And we have the right to celebrate the lives of Black people. We matter.
Sincerely,
Dr. Doris Houston
Interim Assistant to the President for Diversity and Inclusion
That last point is immaterial in light of what happened to Kurt Beathard. Is there an approved brand of spirituality ISU?
A reader sent the email to me. That person wanted to respond but feared for their job at ISU. If they were able to respond, this would be it:
Dr. Houston:
I read your piece lamenting the Kentucky Attorney General’s ruling on the death of Breonna Taylor.
Yes, Breonna’s life was cut short. But you completely fail to ignore the poor choices that led to her death. You willfully ignore a mountain of evidence that shows that she was involved in drug dealing with both the current boyfriend and the one before him. The only careless disregard for her life that night involved the actions of both her and particularly her boyfriend. A prudent person would have answered that door with their empty hands in plain view. Actually, a prudent person wouldn’t have been involved in criminal activity to begin with.
What’s more, it wasn’t a “no knock” warrant and it wasn’t carried out at the wrong address. The warrant had her name and address on it. The evidence shows she and her beau chose not to answer the door. And when the boyfriend fired at cops making entry, they returned fire. Some have said her boyfriend was using her as a shield. I don’t know that for sure. What I do know is that if you shoot at the police, they have every right to return the favor.
You suggest that black (intentionally not capitalized to reflect proper English usage) lives somehow matter more than others. All lives matter, Dr. Houston. Every life is precious.
You complain of racial division and economic disparities. Really? I thought Barack Obama was supposed to solve those problems? Could it be that people like you do more to promote those divisions than to close them?
As for economic disparities, was it President Obama who lowered the black unemployment rate to record lows before the pandemic struck?
No it wasn’t Obama that did that. It was President Trump.
Here’s a suggestion: why don’t you “take a stand” for the rule of law and quit promulgating the fake news narrative that has lionized Breonna Taylor without merit.
That would take courage, unlike your virtually meaningless virtue signaling.
Let’s celebrate the lives of ALL people. Because, no matter your skin color, we all matter.
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Beathard put the sign on his door after he found a pro BLM sign on it. He did not give anyone permission to hang the BLM sign on his door and also claimed had no idea who did. Knowing the football culture I can think of a variety of scenarios but I’ll keep those to.myself until the facts are hopefully someday revealed. This story, thankfully, is beginning to get some national traction on some sports apps. As far as Taylor is concerned, most of us have already researched what really happened including the Louisville cops having her on tape basically playing the middle man for her boyfriend’s drug activities but who cares, right? If Houston is so outraged perhaps she is willing to contribute a thousand or two of her six figure salary from stirring up faux racial discourse and contribute it to a local food bank on other source that really tried to assist the less fortunate among us. People like her are no different than the Jesse Jackson’s or Al Sharpton’s who use the race hustle to enrich themselves. She is a among the lowest of the low with a meaningless doctorate degree. This stuff will only end in more violence. Boycott everything ISU until it ceases or until Dietz, the ISU board and others responsible for this intentional race division are sent packing.
Did you happen to see the Dr Phil show yesterday? It was all propoganda promoting Black Lives Matter, White Privilege, and Critical Race Theory. I wouldn’t be surprised if Oprah is behind it.
Dr Phil would simply list all the statistics showing all the areas black people are struggling and than with a wide bigoted brush attribute it all to systemic racism. I went to his facebook page and judging from the comments he lost alot of viewers yesterday.
Good, no I didn’t see it
First we denounced segregation and promoted integration. Now we are devolving from integration back to segregation. When are all people going to “think for themselves, be responsible for themselves and promote integrity, decency and human dignity.” These gutless pronouncements are nothing more than political appeasements. I dont believe them for one second. If anyone has time to walk the streets looking for a fight, dragging any “color” before their personnal integrity and worth, disobeying laws to protect our republics citizens, and proclaiming added value to these same with their political appeasements, THEY ARE JUST BULLIES, each and every single one of them. Dr Houston, you are a bully, same as those who burn and riot. It is time to be honest.
Here is the deal (link to FBI Stats below), 1/2 of a Black Population in the United States = 6.7% of Black Males are committing 52.6% of all the murders in the United States.
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/topic-pages/tables/table-21
This is the problem. The problem is not me or you or racism or our institutions, it is Black Males killing people by the the thousands every year.
No amount of hand wringing, virtue signalling or societal change is going to solve this. It has to be solved by education, black communities and black families.
One more statistic…85% of incarcerated, primarily POC, have not completed High School. They have no marketable skills. This is the result of their poor choices and a lack of personal responsibility not because of systemic racism.
…Unless you count the failed inner-city schools as ‘systemic racism’. But they’re controlled exclusively (or almost so?) by Democrats, whom the inner-city residents keep re-electing…
That letter could still be sent to Doris. She should still read it. I don’t know if it would change her mind, but it would be worth a try.
Social justice U won’t care
The ISU Administration is an embarrassment and lacking courage to rebuff a handful of bullies that use the race card for every possible offense. I’m sure this ISU undergraduate WASP is an embarrassment to ISU as well. So be it and say good bye to the $10,000 annual ISU Foundation commitment due this October and each of the next four years along with the employer match. This entire issue has yet to go full circle but when it does, the current ISU administration will be gone. The good news is that you may qualify for a position with Connect Transit. They have openings for those that have no leadership, critical thinking, financial management skills and are willing submissive subjects to a Board that has the the same lack of skills.
Diane, your response is spot on. In a almost all these cases the media and others like Dr. Houston leave important facts out. One can can only think they’ve do this on purpose to fan the flames ??.
Get Outlook for iOS ________________________________
Supposed report of evidence presented to the Grand Jury in the Breanna Talor case. It’s 39 pages long…
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/63943132/breonna-taylor-summary-redacted1
How is race a concept from Marxism. It is not a par tod his works. In the 18th Brumaire, the work in which he actually discusses social categories, he is primarily concerned with groups or categories in relation to their economic position. None of the discussion involves race. I do not understand how Marx is responsible for critical race theory given that he never discusses race in any of his works. Do explain Diane.
I would tell you to read the BLM website for an explanation, but thy scrubbed it
John,
Marx does not discuss race because the European cultures at the time were extremely homogeneous.
So now lets talk about the interpretation of Marxism and the realities of getting a bourgeois culture to become a Marxist culture.
You need a Marxist Revolution right? For this to happen you need a few things to happen:
Foment discord and discontent in the Proletariat. Which used to be the working class folks.
The big problem here is there is no working class per se to get riled up. So you turn to a historically under-preforming poor racial group (black Americans) and convince them how bad they have it and the reason they are poor is the white mans’ system/culture. You then brainwash white college students into believing that the Black population has the bourgeois boot on its neck and then teach them (Critical Race Theory) and magically you have a reason to start a Marxist inspired revolution.
In conclusion: You should really read Alexandra Solzhenitsyn – Start with “A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” Yes, it is short and easy to read.
I am still not sure what any of your rant has to do with the work of marx. You are going to need to provide better evidence/receipts to convicne me. Solzhenitsyn was not exactly an economist. In fact, he was not even trained in the social sciences. Keep in mind Solzhenitsyn is someone past and contemporary Nazis read and endorse.
Nice try John… but you just proved to me and everyone else, who knows anything about Marx, Communism and the works of Alexandr Solzhenitsyn that your real knowledge and understanding of these subjects has the depth of a pothole puddle on Hershey Street.
Best to withdraw from the field of battle before you make more of a fool out of yourself.
Try actually reading something…. before spouting nonsense and cognitive dissonance word salads?
Deflecting instead of addressing the fallacies of the works you reference. Sounds like you do not actually read much social economic theory. I am not sure what your point is since your reply did not address how race was not part of Marx’s works. Of course, your statement on cognitive dissonance and word salads becomes abstract, vague, and ambiguous since it can be interpreted many different ways. Since you brought up the battlefield, welcome to the thunderdome !!