If there was any lingering doubt that MAGA and Trumpism are rooted in racism, the extension of refugee status to White South Africans–at the same time Trump rescinded the similar status of vetted Afghans who had, at significant risk, worked with U.S. forces during the war–should put an end to it. That “in your face” evidence joins the administration’s barely-less-obvious measures to “protect” White folks from perceived victimhood: the dismissal of Blacks and Women from positions of authority (and their replacement with laughingly unqualified Whites), the scrubbing of websites documenting the achievements of women and minorities, and especially the disgraceful and dishonest all-out war on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
An embarrassing number of institutions have folded under that attack, but others have not. Vernon shared an entirely appropriate response to the federal government’s anti-DEI demand from one school superintendent.
Here is that letter.
___________-
To Whom It May (Unfortunately) Concern at the U.S. Department of Education:
Thank you for your April 3 memorandum, which I read several times — not because it was legally persuasive, but because I kept checking to see if it was satire. Alas, it appears you are serious.
You’ve asked me, as superintendent of a public school district, to sign a “certification” declaring that we are not violating federal civil rights law — by, apparently, acknowledging that ci1vil rights issues still exist. You cite Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, then proceed to argue that offering targeted support to historically marginalized students is somehow discriminatory.
That’s not just legally incoherent — it’s a philosophical Möbius strip of bad faith.
Let me see if I understand your logic:
If we acknowledge racial disparities, that’s racism.
If we help English learners catch up, that’s favoritism.
If we give a disabled child a reading aide, we’re denying someone else the chance to struggle equally.
And if we train teachers to understand bias, we’re indoctrinating them — but if we train them to ignore it, we’re “restoring neutrality”?
How convenient that your sudden concern for “equal treatment” seems to apply only when it’s used to silence conversations about race, identity, or inequality.
Let’s talk about our English learners. Would you like us to stop offering translation services during parent-teacher conferences? Should we cancel bilingual support staff to avoid the appearance of “special treatment”? Or would you prefer we just teach all content in English and hope for the best, since acknowledging linguistic barriers now counts as discrimination?
And while we’re at it — what’s your official stance on IEPs? Because last I checked, individualized education plans intentionally give students with disabilities extra support. Should we start removing accommodations to avoid offending the able-bodied majority? Maybe cancel occupational therapy altogether so no one feels left out?
If a student with a learning disability receives extended time on a test, should we now give everyone extended time, even if they don’t need it? Just to keep the playing field sufficiently flat and unthinking?
Your letter paints equity as a threat. But equity is not the threat. It’s the antidote to decades of failure. Equity is what ensures all students have a fair shot. Equity is what makes it possible for a child with a speech impediment to present at the science fair. It’s what helps the nonverbal kindergartner use an AAC device. It’s what gets the newcomer from Ukraine the ESL support she needs without being left behind.
And let’s not skip past the most insulting part of your directive — the ten-day deadline. A national directive sent to thousands of districts with the subtlety of a ransom note, demanding signatures within a week and a half or else you’ll cut funding that supports… wait for it… low-income students, disabled students, and English learners.
Brilliant. Just brilliant. A moral victory for bullies and bureaucrats everywhere.
So no, we will not be signing your “certification.”
We are not interested in joining your theater of compliance.
We are not interested in gutting equity programs that serve actual children in exchange for your political approval.
We are not interested in abandoning our legal, ethical, and educational responsibilities to satisfy your fear of facts.
We are interested in teaching the truth.
We are interested in honoring our students’ identities.
We are interested in building a school system where no child is invisible, and no teacher is punished for caring too much.
And yes — we are prepared to fight this. In the courts. In the press. In the community. In Congress, if need be.
Because this district will not be remembered as the one that folded under pressure.
We will be remembered as the one that stood its ground — not for politics, but for kids.
Still Teaching. Still Caring. Still Not Signing.
_________________
May that Superintendent’s tribe increase.
Hooray for everyone who resists! Support them. Celebrate them. Whatever you do, don’t undercut them.
GREAT. Please share with educators
Excellent!
Bravo!
we have a congress thats filled with white privilege. we have elected the suits to answer to suits. if any were in a lower tier civilization,they conveniently forgot it ever existed. the blackhouse has become the billionaire resents lower class cast. wall street makes sure the profits fit into their pockets first. the working class is being screwed and education set the fire. not every teach, just the ones hired to ignore DEI facts and issues(this started decades ago). curriculum(seems microsoft uses two pages to promote its product over my search for the correct spelling of it,go figure whos more important eh?) by school,districts who ignore civics are probably a leading cause. yep the high school kids i talk with here in NoDak never of dont remember civics being taught,seems many got their governments world view from parents and close bys who worship POX news and white privilege in this locked up world, i can see how the congress for the few now holding fast to ignoring any help past thier white privilege. we have started a downwrd spiral of sect neutrality. everyone created equal. except giving joe white(congreess also) the power to decide who is equal. . KKK anyone?
A prominent charity I support and often work with in center Jerusalem recently received a letter from the U.S. Embassy very similar to the one being sent to colleges and universities here in the homeland. The letter was sent to every entity in Israel doing business and/or receiving funds from the U.S. Government.
This non profit leases several underground parking spaces convenient to the embassy. The CEO responded to the Embassy “would they like our response in Arabic, English or Hebrew. Please advise when you find convenient, secured parking elsewhere.”
I’m missing something. Who is “Vernon”? And who is the author of that terrific letter?
Our higher education “leaders” in Indiana should cut and paste this letter and adapt it for their use. Oh, I forgot—they already bent the knee. At Ball State, their BOT voted unanimously to support scrubbing their DEI initiatives. #pathetic
Not even a lone rebellious soul had the guts to defend students and parents.
So far, the only school ignoring Trump and Braun is Notre Dame, a private Jesuit school. Has Jurist Amy Coney Barrett applauded their stance, or has she stayed quiet? She’s been harassed a lot this Spring by MAGATs for voting against Dear Leader on several rulings. They believe she’s gone “woke” on them. Maybe she hasn’t received enough money to be a total sellout like most of her jurist peers.
I hope people take note of the sellouts because this will eventually end with voting or rebellion. They need to be held accountable because the “press” was the first to fold under authoritarianism. Law firms that are folding deserve a complete rebellion from their clients.
One interesting note on United Healthcare, their replacement CEO has already resigned due to missing target earnings by a bunch, and now the company seems to be in a sort of freefall. They are also facing investigations for fraud and market manipulation. Imagine that! While a pacifist, I still support Luigi for having the courage to rebel against our oppressors. He chose a good target since UHG represents our healthcare system, which is fraudulent and declining. Trump acts like he wants to fix our broken healthcare system, but like with other decisions he makes, it’s more about getting entities to deal with him.
More will be revealed…
And just yesterday I read where some right-wing extremist in Oklahoma who is running for state school superintendent wants to add to the history curriculum how Trump was cheated out of the 2020 election. I said something about how liberals have been altering history for their own agenda, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Change the curriculum without a shred of evidence and with over 60 court rulings debunking the “stolen” election. That’s how the right wing rolls.
It was great to see this letter above sent to me by an old friend in Texas with whom I collaborated on various letters and missives to responsible and irresponsible politicians. Thanks for posting it to the blog, Sheila.
All on this blog have read “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. It’s probably esteemed partly because it demonstrates racism, seen through a child’s eyes, as practiced by adults.
I know of a Black, former Purdue professor who said Black people don’t consider TKAM as a classic; they already know there’s racism.
Fair point.
Vernon Turner, who comments on here frequently, is an author, highly educated world traveler who has books available on Amazon.
Ahhh! A real American speaks! Bless that superintendent for standing up to the bullies who care not for ALL Americans!
Mary, thanks for the credit. Going to Iceland in July. Maybe I’ll stay there and study volcanoes.
I came here to learn, and I did this morning.
I didn’t learn a new subject, but I did learn something very important: how we have to resist this attack on equality. It’s an attack on fundamental inequity by pretending we have lived under a prejudice against the few with the most by those with the least.
What is government for? Its purpose must be to most effectively progress through what businesses call Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP, now a major league set of software suites.
What resources get managed? They are the same as rule the Universe: matter, energy, and spacetime. Matter is what gravity mutually attracts, so we walk on the heaviest molecules, swim in lighter ones, and fly through the lightest ones. Energy is what comes here and stays briefly before returning to space. Spacetime is the notion of places at moments inevitably progressing.
Life in all its forms is built from and creates more of itself by simply taking in molecules, connecting them in patterns programmed by DNA using energy, and discharging the molecules not needed, all using energy to progress through spacetime.
Governments organize human lives by using internal and external energy and matter to build our lives. The governments that have proved the most efficient in organizing matter and energy through spacetime are a delicate balance between centralized and decentralized. Still, they all accomplish a safe and comfortable life for most humans.
Here and now, people with the most have corrupted our national ERP by directing what the many create to serve those with the most of what is created.
Enslaving the many to serve the few is among the least efficient means of stoking progress for the most. Because of that physical reality, it will collapse.
It’s just a matter of spacetime.
Whoever wrote that letter has really put it all on the line, if indeed it is real. Down here in sunny SW Florida and.in tons of other school districts in the country, the school board would fire him or her immediately. Regardless of locale, anything that is uncomfortable for the ruling party will be dealt with by doxing the sender and siccing the Proud Boys and the rest of the NOT well regulated militia on our hero.
Todd, Notre Dame.is the Congregation of the Holy Cross, not the Jesuits. The Jesuits would not just resist, they wouldn’t leave any doubt about where the DoE should put any such request.
Vernon, that is a great letter! Thanks for sharing it.
TKAM should never have been a bringer of news, anyone with an eye on reality could/should have seen racism, from the get-go.
And the Trump-thing has helped people learn just how sadly vibrant it still is.
I read that letter a couple days ago. Vernon, thanks for sharing!
Have a safe and happy trip to Iceland and please do come back home. We need you!
Thanks Vernon. Thanks Sheila.
That letter was beyond wonderful!
Thank you for the encouragement. This shows how real resistance in the face of monsters is so valuable. Gandhi would be proud.
Well said , we need everyone to stand up and fight the ignorance of this administration.
I agree that the letter is absolutely spot-on!
The author deserves the Presidential Medal of Honor! Not that they are likely to get it from the current denizen of the office.
I really enjoyed that letter Vernon. It’s easy and precise and we need clarity like that spoken and written. Thanks Professor for sharing it with us.