Daily Archives: August 26, 2021

Theres an irony to the uproar over the claim that institutions of higher learning are advancing critical race theory to suppress white people. The reality is that many colleges and universities still struggle to make amends for their racism or even recognize that amends need to be made. While researching and publishing facts about an institutions ties to slavery is important and praiseworthy, this should be the bare minimum for colleges and universities that are committed to racial justice. Once past wrongs are identified, these institutions should develop and implement plans for restitution.

Racial reckonings are happening at many colleges and universities across the United States. The University of Richmond is now taking steps to mark and protect a burial ground for enslaved persons, which previous leadership knowingly desecrated. Students, faculty and staff have also lobbied to remove two names from school buildings the name of a slave owner, who is considered one of the founders of what became the University of Richmond, and the name of a segregationist who advocated for eugenics. While the university created signage marking the burial grounds, and is discussing ways to further memorialize the dead, the universitys board has refused to remove the names of the slave owner and of the eugenicist a noted historian from the buildings, despite sustained pressure.

Reparations are the most progressive and meaningful actions universities can take.

At a time when many of the nations public-facing institutions are grappling with what it means to become anti-racist, an increasing number of colleges and universities are finally acknowledging that white supremacy has been encoded into their land, built into their environment, and culture.

But in too many cases, acknowledging the racism at their institutions roots has been mere lip service, while action that could bring justice to victims and begin to right the wrongs of the past is halting or nonexistent.

Related: Student debt cancellation isnt regressive, its anti-racist

Over 80 institutions of higher education including the University of Richmond have joined the Universities Studying Slavery (USS) consortium, created and led by the University of Virginia. The consortium builds on the pioneering work of Brown University, which began studying its own complicity in slavery in 2003 for a report published in 2006. And recently, Virginia legislators passed a law that requires five public institutions the University of Virginia, the College of William and Mary, Longwood University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia Military Institute to make reparations through scholarships or community-based economic development and memorial programs.

These colleges and universities, along with others elsewhere, are hoping that reparations in the form of preferred admission as well as scholarships and other financial aid will not only atone for the past but also help address issues of inequitable access to higher education and financial disparities in paying for that education. While there are still plenty of questions surrounding whether this approach will produce tangible results, the legal accountability is a welcome feature that will go a long way in ensuring meaningful action.

Reparations are the most progressive and meaningful actions universities can take. But the implementation of reparations is an ongoing challenge. For example, Georgetown University officials made headlines in 2019 when they announced the creation of a $400,000-a-year reparations fund after it was widely reported the school had once sold 272 enslaved men, women, and children for the equivalent of $3.3 million in todays dollars in order to remain financially solvent. Georgetown, which is a participant in the USS consortium, plans to invest this money to benefit descendants indirectly, through strengthening community services including health clinics.

But to the descendants of those enslaved persons, $400,000 a year in community investment is a paltry sum, particularly given the universitys $1.5 billion endowment. Georgetown students have critiqued the plan on the basis that it transforms the fund intended to repay a debt into a philanthropy effort. As one student put it, The fear is that the university will use these funds for their own purposes The university is trying to control the narrative, and were trying to prevent that. Georgetown students created their own proposal for handling reparations: 66 percent of the student body voted to levy a $27 student fee to be paid directly to the descendants. But the university has thus far chosen not to pursue this approach.

Related: If you dont want critical race theory to exist, stop being racist

Making direct cash payments to descendants is the most straightforward approach to reparations. If higher education leaders decide on a different approach, the burden is on them to demonstrate how their alternative approach will produce tangible results. Moreover, leaders often act as though universities particularly those with large endowments must choose between paying reparations or pursuing community development efforts to respond to local racial disparities in health, wealth and education.

That is a false choice. They can and should do both.

As we wrote in a recent Brookings report, institutions like the University of Richmond have the capacity to do heavy-lifting in addressing racial disparities through their sheer size as an employer to say nothing of their ability to leverage their assets and procurement and contracting power. There is no reason why colleges and universities cannot pursue a multi-pronged approach to reparations and racial justice.

Nevertheless, while the mechanics of reparations are important, we cannot allow the best to be the enemy of the good especially when that means lost momentum.

For every college or university that is demonstrating meaningful commitment to restitution, there are many others with an explicit history of being complicit in slavery and white supremacy that are now quietly hoping to avoid accountability altogether. Without unrelenting pressure, many leaders in higher education will be forever content with forming task forces, drafting reports and publishing committee recommendations while never taking the bold action required to formally address the injustices of the past. In the words of a professor at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, most universities will do as little as they can get away with. It is our job to ensure that these schools do the most, not the least.

In the end, acknowledging previous wrongs is a crucial first step in establishing racial justice. But now its time for universities complicit in slavery to put their money where their mouth is, and pay the restitution that is owed.

This story about reparations was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechingers newsletter.

The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn't mean it's free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

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Universities are finally acknowledging their complicity in slavery, but they must offer reparations, too - The Hechinger Report

Spectrum 10K is led by researchers at the world-leading Autism Research Centre (ARC), the University of Cambridge, together with the Wellcome Sanger Institute and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and will study how biological and environmental factors impact on the wellbeing of autistic individuals.

In the UK, there are approximately 700,000 autistic individuals. The level of support needed by autistic individuals varies considerably. Many autistic people have additional physical health conditions, such as epilepsy, or mental health conditions, such as anxiety or depression.

It is unclear what gives rise to the diversity within the autism spectrum or why some autistic people have better outcomes than others. The project aims to answer this question and to identify what support works best for each individual.

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, leading Spectrum 10K and Director of the ARC, explained: There is an urgent need to better understand the well-being of autistic individuals. Spectrum 10K hopes to answer questions such as why some autistic people have epilepsy or poor mental health outcomes and others do not.

Individuals of all ages, genders, ethnicities and intellectual capacities will take part in Spectrum 10K. Eligible participants join by completing an online questionnaire and providing a DNA saliva sample by post. Autistic participants involved in Spectrum 10K can also invite their biological relatives (autistic or otherwise) to participate. Information collected from the questionnaire, DNA saliva samples and information from health records will be used to increase knowledge and understanding of well-being in autism.

James Cusack, CEO of the autism research charity Autistica and an autistic person, said: We are delighted to support Spectrum 10K. This project enables autistic people to participate in and shape autism research to build a future where support is tailored to every individuals needs.

The Spectrum 10K team views autism as an example of neurodiversity and is opposed to eugenics or looking for a cure for preventing or eradicating autism itself. Instead, their research aims to identify types of support and treatment which alleviate unwanted symptoms and co-occurring conditions that cause autistic people distress.

The Spectrum 10K team collaborates with an Advisory Panel consisting of autistic individuals, parents of autistic children, clinicians and autism charity representatives to ensure Spectrum 10K is designed in a way that best serves the autistic community, and 27 specialist NHS sites around the UK are also helping with recruitment for Spectrum 10K.

Venkat Reddy, Consultant Neurodevelopmental Paediatrician in the Community Child Health Services at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, said: There is a need to conduct further research into autism and co-occurring conditions to enable researchers and clinicians to build a better understanding of autism. I would encourage autistic individuals and their families to consider taking part in Spectrum 10K.

Chris Packham, naturalist and TV presenter who is also autistic, said: Im honoured to be an ambassador of Spectrum 10K because I believe in the value of science to inform the support services that autistic kids and adults will need.

Paddy McGuinness, actor, comedian, television presenter, and father of three autistic children, said: As a parent of three autistic children, I am really excited to support Spectrum 10K. This research is important to help us understand what makes every autistic person different and how best to support them.

Anna and Alastair Gadney, parents of a teenager with autism and learning difficulties, said: We have been exploring, over many years, how to implement the best support for our son. We wholeheartedly endorse Spectrum 10K and hope our involvement can help increase understanding of autism and in turn support many families out there.

Recruitment for Spectrum 10K is now open. Autistic children under the age of 16 must be registered by their parent or legal guardian. Autistic adults who lack the capacity to consent by themselves must be registered by a carer/or family member. To register, participants should visit http://www.spectrum10k.org

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10000 autistic people to take part in the UK's largest study of autism - PMLiVE

The question of white replacement theory is gaining some steam. First, let me say that the position held by supremacists and separatists is an ugly position and is contrary to the teachings of Christ. It has no place in church life. The Christian has no business participating formally or informally in such a worldview.

The manipulation of people through political rhetoric and contrived events has a lengthy history. It is easy to bait people, especially the reactionary, to get the desired result and advance an agenda.

Lets say youre an anti-capitalist. There are not too many of them around so that should make for a suitable test case. These anti-capitalists (ACs) are actually neo-Marxists whose desire is to erase national borders, convert government and economics to a socialist system, eliminate private property, and generally control the thought life of the nation. I cant think of any movement so extreme, so we should be able to look at this dispassionately.

Now back to white replacement theory (WRT). Its been around in various forms for a long time. It was a concern of progressives such as Woodrow Wilson and Margaret Sanger. They were quite specific about limiting the Asian and Southern European populations in the U.S. Whether through the accusation of criminal intent (the Alien and Sedition Act) or through extermination (eugenics and abortion) the perception was part of progressive ideology. Thats just history. Part of that remains today. It is not uncommon to hear progressives articulate that all citizens of Israel ought to register as foreign agents. It is, again, an ugly system.

Then there are the KKK & related groups. Theyre all pretty small, at least formally. Only around five thousand KKK members are in the U.S. But with what you read in the news it seems like more. (sigh) And there are others, of course.

Again, this has no place in the Christian life or in the church.

But these people are often reactionary. We know there are reactionaries in every crowd. Whats the best way to bait them? If I were to guess it would be to open the border. Let a few million people stream in unquestioned, and in these days untested for COVID-19, and youre going to get a reaction.

Now the target reacts. Why he asks, would anyone want to let twenty million people into this country? One of the first reactions is that there is a hatred for what people who are of originally European descent have built. Then the response is they hate white people.

Similar reactions abound.

Does that mean its all white replacement theory? No. Some may be. Others, it seems, dont see the bigger AC picture. That picture is the intent to disrupt the system.

Reactionary comments that address the symptom of allowing millions to enter without restriction but dont address the issue behind the situation, those comments can be taken either way. Are they all partaking in WRT? Probably not. Are some? Likely so.

My friends from Singapore, from the Philippines, from China, Taiwan, and Japan, from various countries in Africa, from India and Nepal, all of these people have to do their paperwork. They do. And theyre all my friends. But when it comes to the Southern border, theres some manipulation going on. It is intended to disrupt our system. The full picture, all of the methods and plans, that Ive not gathered yet. And it seems many of the reactionary crowd has no idea of the broader framework at play. To many of us, closing the Southern border is not about race. Its about stopping the manipulation of a corrupt government. Nothing more, nothing less. Any suggestion otherwise is a complete fabrication. But its not like that hasnt happened before.

Cross-post.

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The White Replacement Theory Mess - Caffeinated Thoughts