Category Archives: Political Correctness

The temperature in the Outer Sunset is around 5 degrees lower than the rest of San Francisco, but it always feels much colder. There, the sun struggles to penetrate overcast skies and the wind seeps through row after row of single-family town houses, unhindered by skyscrapers or housing complexes. It is a place where people live, an uncharming expanse of mid-century architecture built on what was once miles of sand, the suburbs, the Outside Lands and where most of my Chinese American friends grew up. And at its edge lies the oldest school west of the Mississippi, my alma mater, Lowell High School.

Founded in 1856 as a boys-only grammar school, Lowell migrated from downtown to the Panhandle in 1913 and then to its current location in 1962. The campus is a short descending staircase from Eucalyptus Drive and from there it sprawls out and downward, until it nudges Lake Merced and the Stonestown Galleria. For four years, Id ride the M or K Muni line from my home in the Mission and walk through the schools front doors; the Sunset kids would hop off the 29 and face an uphill trek to Lowells backside.

Chinese Americans comprise about 21% of San Franciscos population and are the citys largest ethnic minority group. Some families have deep roots the children of railroad workers, the laundromat owners and shopkeepers who built Chinatown but most immigrated here after the Hart-Celler Act was passed in 1965, which opened the U.S. to more immigration from Asia. Chinese immigrants came to San Francisco from Hong Kong or Guangdong Province and worked tough blue-collar jobs, even though many were well educated. They sent their kids to college and bought houses in the Sunset, replacing the Irish and Italian Americans who fled to the suburbs in the 1970s.

At the risk of courting Asian Americas oldest albatross the idea that were all the same its the Sunset that sees Lowell High School as its to lose.

For those who grew up in the San Francisco Unified School District system, Lowell is synonymous with achievement. The school has produced three Nobel Prize winners, one U.S. Supreme Court Justice and a handful of minor celebrities. While Lowell athletics range from unbeatable (track and field) to abysmal (football), its equipment and facilities are top of the line, thanks to a loyal alumni network and generous endowment the Lowell Alumni Association holds over $6 million in assets and that grew by $865,000 in 2020 alone. Lowell is the largest feeder school to the University of California system and offers the most Advanced Placement classes in the San Francisco school district.

Until recently, Lowell was one of only two city public high schools the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts being the other that used a merit-based admissions policy rather than a semi-random lottery. Ambitious students tested into Lowell and were rewarded with well-funded programs, academic rigor and sleepless nights, leaving their lower performing peers in the dust.

Because Lowell grounds itself in elitism, its culture is one of exclusion and tends to recapitulate existing inequities. Like the Sunset, Lowells demographics have shifted from predominantly white to mostly Asian American over the past few decades, but the school has also become notorious for admitting fewer and fewer students from other ethnic and racial minority groups. Last year, it counted just 52 Black students out of around 2,900; Asian Americans, who make up over 50% of the student body, outnumbered them nearly 32 to 1. For comparison, district-wide enrollment is about 8% Black and 33% Asian American.

In 2016, the Lowell Black Student Union staged a walkout after a student had put up a racist poster parodying Black History Month in the school library. The Black students called the incident typical of their Lowell experience, marked by daily microaggressions, snide references to affirmative action and lack of social support. While systemic racism is a truism, the water we swim in, a snake eating its own tail, here at Lowell you see its clear emergence not by design but from design, in a cold place where peers and parents revere success, where its taken for granted that half of the student body looks the same.

Last October, in the midst of Black Lives Matter protests and shrinking student enrollment, the San Francisco Board of Education suspended Lowells selective admissions process for the coming school year, citing the difficulty of collecting grades and standardized test scores during a global pandemic. Though positioned as an interim solution to logistical issues, the change quickly garnered controversy. Parents of Lowell students decried the move as anti-Asian racism; right-wing publications latched onto the story as political correctness gone wild; someone photoshopped swastikas on pictures of board members Alison Collins and Gabriela Lopez and posted them on social media; the head of the Lowell Black Student Union received death threats. A few months later, after yet another incident an anonymous troll posted pornography and spammed anti-Black slurs to an online anti-racism class the board voted 5-2 to make the admissions change permanent.

There are legitimate grievances to be had with the current Board of Education. Their failed proposal to push racial equity by renaming 44 public schools was reactionary, poorly researched and expensive; the Lowell decision also felt hasty and ill-timed. But if not now, then when? The board has the impossible task of making diversity a priority, and the Sunset is impossible to please and quick to retaliate.

In April, the newly formed Friends of Lowell Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to reversing the change, filed a lawsuit against the district. The suit claims that procedural issues void the admissions decision, which was made without the input of the Lowell community. However, considering that Lowell has failed to prioritize racial diversity for decades, its hard not to see this legalistic, middle of the road argument as another bid to keep out the rabble. Even though the school years already begun, the foundation is still trying to revert to the old system: In September, it filed another injunction against the change.

A second legal threat comes from Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco attorney, top Republican National Committee official, Trump legal adviser and regular Fox News guest. She claims that the lottery is rigged because it prioritizes students from the underperforming and majority Black and Hispanic Willie Brown Middle School, and that the change will encourage racist acts against Asian American students.

My social media feeds feature a stream of otherwise apolitical friends reposting videos depicting violence against Asian Americans, Chinatown elders shoved to the ground, stabbed in the face and so on, an endless scroll of viral, harrowing content mainlined into the lizard brain. Its often impossible to disentangle racial animus from systemic poverty. But when the assailants in these viral videos happen to be other people of color, Dhillon and her ilk push a narrative that resonates with the latent racism in the Asian American community. Its the easy explanation, the big grift: the implication that race in America has always been a zero-sum game and this time the Asians are losing.

And then theres the controversy around Collins, the Board of Educations only Black female member. Earlier this year, Diane Yap, the Friends of Lowell Foundation vice president, unearthed a 2016 tweet thread from Collins. After recounting a racist incident that her daughter faced at Ruth Asawa High School, she wrote, Many Asian Am. believe they benefit from the model minority BS ... They use white supremacy to assimilate and get ahead. She continued, Where are the vocal Asians speaking up about Trump?

During her tenure on the board, Collins has done solid work with groups like the Chinese Progressive Association in 2019, she co-sponsored its Our Healing in Our Hands Resolution, which led to increased mental health resources for students of color in the citys public schools. Yap, meanwhile, has been caught dog whistling for white supremacy: On Facebook, shes rallied against critical race theory, asserted that systemic racism does not have a consistent or causal effect on academic performance and joked that a Black person would beat you up if you called them a colored person.

Nevertheless, Collins tweets, which were posted years before she took office, ignore the work of Asian American activists and address us as a monolith. Even worse, she hasnt taken her cancellation on the chin. After being stripped of her titles and committee seats, Collins, who is married to a wealthy real estate developer, attempted to sue the struggling school district for a whopping $87 million before withdrawing the suit last month.

The same adage applies to Collins and her detractors alike: Dont hate the player, hate the game. Collins lawsuit is frivolous and self-aggrandizing; her tweets were borderline racist, generalizing and hurtful. But shes essentially correct, at least about the Sunset.

Historically, Chinese Americans have been among the biggest opponents of the school districts desegregation efforts. In the 1970s and 1980s, they advocated for plans that let them opt out of busing, putting the onus on students in Black neighborhoods like the Bayview to commute across the city if they wanted to attend better schools. In the 1990s, the Asian American Legal Foundation and the Chinese American Democratic Club sued the school district to end the use of racial caps, which dictated that no racial group could exceed 45% of any schools student body, and won.

Since then, the districts diet-diversity initiatives the diversity index, a composite of socioeconomic factors as a stand-in for race; and from 2011 on, a system that prioritizes school choice have led to resegregation. More than a quarter of the citys public schools enroll greater than 60% of a single racial group, and Black and Latino families, who generally submit their paperwork later than white or Asian American ones, end up with lower priority for contested schools.

Many of my friends in the Sunset remain loyal to a gilded ideal of American meritocracy. They oppose affirmative action, diversity initiatives or anything that would threaten their edge in the game of capital. Unlike many of their immigrant parents, theyre not anti-Black on principle, but generally advocate for conservative policies to the same effect. By design, the Sunset is disconnected from the rest of San Francisco. Its restrictive single-family zoning laws were conceived as a vehicle for segregation, and its residents consistently block new housing developments, choosing clean streets and homogeneity over the needs of the city. About 20% of voters in the Sunset went for Trump in the 2016 election, a significantly higher percentage than most city neighborhoods.

Its ironic that the de facto moniker for people of Asian descent, Asian American, was radical before it was descriptive. In the late 1960s, student activists at San Francisco State and UC Berkeley intended to create a pan-Asian coalition, a political group critical of white supremacy and standing in solidarity with Black, Latino and indigenous power. But here we are, half a century later, more fractured than ever, the label stretched to its breaking point. Asian America was always too broad and too unwieldy to comfortably house all of us.

In the stony sleep of leftist solidarity the death of organized labor, the birth of the neoliberal beast the Chinese immigrants who came to San Francisco in the 1970s and onward found shelter in higher education. Insulated by wealth and the Sunsets de facto racist housing policy, they traded an Asian America founded on collective resistance for one based on identity politics. We have representation Crazy Rich Asians and a Marvel superhero and a flourishing literary scene even as the old dream of self-determination recedes into the past.

The incoming freshman class at Lowell is roughly 5% Black and 22% Latino, double the proportion of the previous class. In turn, the proportion of Asian American freshmen has decreased from 42% to 38%, a mere 4% for the chance to iterate on, or even revolutionize, Lowells values.

I remember my tenure at Lowell as a bleary-eyed dash to the finish line. My competitive, college-bound peers constantly compared grades and accolades and wore sleep deprivation as a badge of pride. I had good teachers and bad ones, who coasted on the assumption that most Lowellites would teach themselves while the rest would fail. I opted for classes that gave easy As and gravitated toward friends who let me copy their homework. By Lowell standards, I thrived; I graduated with a high grade point average and matriculated to the UC system. And yet my high school experience failed to uplift me. It mostly reinforced what I already knew: I had tested into Lowell because my parents had taught me how to chase success. I would keep succeeding because of that gift and those without it would continue to struggle without help.

Curiosity, kindness and grace I would learn only later and elsewhere.

I have visited Lowell only once since I graduated my high school friends prefer to come to me, since the Mission has better weather and more expensive bars in 2017, when the Obama years had already curdled into a quaint and distant disappointment. The buildings facade had been repainted, from red and white (our school colors) to a vaguely Soviet shade of green. From a distance, I had trouble distinguishing its silhouette from the relentless gray engulfing it. As I entered, I got lost in once familiar hallways, said hello to the teachers who still remembered me, and left, realizing that time had made me a stranger to the place.

Lowell High School stands for many things academic achievement, racial inequities, Asian America but it also stands for itself, the physical space it occupies. With its generational wealth and storied history, Lowell is responsible for transforming that tract of the Sunset into a place of public good, one that prioritizes the needs of its people above all else. Set Asian America, the grifters and Alison Collins aside for a moment, and picture a revelation peeking through the fog, way out west where the country meets the sea. Imagine a community of students in Lowells cradle gathered from all across San Francisco, dedicated to each other and the city they share, seeing themselves reflected in that oft-forgotten corner of the Sunset, their hour come round at last.

Justin Lai is a San Francisco native and freelance writer. You can find him at http://www.torwards.com. A version of this piece was originally published in the Potrero View.

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Lowell High, Alison Collins and the Sunset's rage against diversity - San Francisco Chronicle

It was such a pleasure to watch an adult interview last night between Anderson Cooper and Robert Gates as part of the 60 Minutes program. I then watched the entire interview on 60 minutes overtime. There was no screaming and talking over one another and trying to elicit salacious comments.

You have to respect someone who served eight presidents from both parties and is rightly knowledgeable about the most important issue that is facing our nation and that is our national security and where we stand in the world in competition with China and Russia and the threat of terrorism. He didnt waffle and was willing to take his share of the blame for mistakes that were made. How refreshing.

When asked about comments he had made about President Trump and President Biden, he simply said he stands by his comments which is refreshing in itself. When pushed on the hot topic politically correct issues that are tearing apart our country his only comment was he had never seen so much hatred and if we are not careful that hatred will be our downfall.

Robert Gates is one of my heroes. I remember well in October of 2000 when I was the associate director of the John Ben Shepperd Public Leadership Institute and we held one of our periodic Leadership Forums, this one on Domestic Terrorism. He was a panelist.

At that time over 800 domestic terror groups had been identified and the discussion centered on how to stop their efforts as well as those of foreign terrorist. I will never forget in his closing comments, he said.

It is not a matter of if but simply a matter of when a major terrorist attack will occur on American soil and how we respond will define the American character. Eleven months later, 9/11 happened. The question I have for the America of today, what is our character and how does it reflect on us as a people?

I think most Americans are tired of the political correctness, the social media bullying, and our elected officials being more interested in the party than the Americans they were elected to represent. A recent poll showed 29 % identified as Democrat, 29% as Republican, but 41% as independent. The independents have the power to reshape this country to once again make it the great melting pot and the shining example of what is possible to the world. That is my prayer.

Charles Cotten

Odessa

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Respectful conversation easy to watch - Odessa American

Lawrence Brown| Columnist

Before Halloween comes, we have King Richard'sFaire just across the bridge in Carver.

If youve never been (and shame on you if you havent) the Faire runs from early to late fall.The grounds are spacious with medieval and Renaissance buildings, staged musical productions, animal and acrobatic acts, a jousting field and places to throw an ax.You can even devour a huge leg of meat like Henry VIII.

At least a third of the visiting public shows up in costume as well and nobody gets too particular about authenticity.Fantasy and historicity casually blend here. Fairy elves pass you on tiptoe, making way for medieval executioners in black hoods with broadaxes as big as desktops.There are lots of women bulging out of their lace-up bodices, which suggests that more women enjoy being weekend wenches than you might guess.(Political correctness has no place in the 1600s.)

Meanwhile, professional troops of performers do musical skits with lusty singing and ribald humor.The slapstick has the children in giggles while the other half of the humor goes right past the kids to you.The amazing stunt men who joust for your entertainment will make sure you have clear heroes to scream for and villains to boo at.

So much humor and passion goes into the place that you can only conclude there are more neighbors than youd think whose daily lives just dont cut it, that they are more alive at King Richards Faire than they feel at homeor God bless em, at work.Its Halloween on steroids.

Meanwhile, the full free-for-all of Halloween is around the corner.We live in a more fearful age.Back in the day, children roamed the neighborhood from house to house unsupervised, just as they did in daylight. I remember a lonely old man with a fiddle. Halloween was his big chance every year to throw his door open and serenade everyone who came in.Its a lot more organized now and a lot more commercialized. Americans will spend over $10 billion this year.Only Christmas gets more.

Inflatable ghouls and monsters inhabit our front lawns, but we havent had kids work the neighborhood in years.All Hallows Eve may provide some slight historical grounding but unlike Christmas, we cant really argue that all the meaning has been drained from something that at least in this country had so little meaning in it to start with.

When we were kids, there was a frisson of real spookiness about being out after dark.More recently, the kids I taught were far more apt to believe in ghosts than in, say, angels.Whats the difference?None really, only angels have heaven to live in while ghosts seem to be stuck down here with us and none too happy about it.

Nobodys afraid of ghosts anymore; were too afraid of each other.Mamma herds the kids into tight packs, and pores over the treats for the pins and razor blades that are never there.You cant be too careful.Whats still fun?Dressing up.And why is dressing up fun?Because we get to be somebody else.

Kids get to be superheroes with capes.Or pirates. Or nurses, the real superheroes of our age.(In the real world, though, nobody sees nurses with the mesh stockings and little bitty outfits they sell at CVS for 20 bucks.)

Maybe it would be a more honest world if everybody had to wear a costume all the time, something that reflected their true nature.Then you could go to work and see who the court jesters, inquisitors and executioners reallywere. That might be a more honest reflection of who we are than the plain clothes costumes we wear every day.

Meanwhile, in my old school, the little kids will get into their costumes and parade through the hallways.Some will giggle.Monsters will go, Aaarrrghhh!Superheroes will be stern and heroic.The older kids and faculty will have their costume contest in the Commons.

At the Faire, the late afternoons have gotten chilly and darker.Still, the executioner offers a courtly bow in passing.Good afternoon, MLord, he says. Good day MLady. I offer my camera and a buxom wench behind a table adjusts the slant of her hat, drops her chin a bit and flashes a sly smile.Whatever youre selling, says the smile, I aint buying it.Little twin girls prance by twirling long streamers in spiraling rings.Finally, Im worn out.

If I have any complaint about King Richards Faire its that, as the sun goes down, they make us all go home.

Lawrence Brown is a columnist for the Cape Cod Times. Email him atcolumnresponse@gmail.com.

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Costumes, masks and things that go bump in the night - Cape Cod Times

To the editor: One thing you can always count on from John McClaughry is his uncanny ability to spout the most tone deaf nonsense under the guise of some other seemingly valid concern. The other is that he is the print version of Fox News. Let me add a third; I would wager that he hasn't set foot in a public school in the past 3 or more decades. No matter, that makes him an expert on threats to our American way of life by way of public schools teaching a "radical curriculum" to our innocent, impressionable young minds ("Public school democracy: Voice vs. choice," Oct. 19). And, oh, by the way, there's nothing wrong with public education that a simple school choice for all won't fix.

As usual with McClaughry mistruths and half truths, where does one even begin?

Be very suspect whenever someone with a media pulpit, especially John McClaughry and his ilk, tries to convince you that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is the latest invasion of "political correctness" in the public school curriculum. Talk to any teacher or administrator in Vermont and other public schools and they will tell you that the best they hope to achieve in school is the teaching of respect, the fostering of an open-minded spirit that accepts difference and celebrates diversity. They will have the "lived experience" of working day to day with the challenges of achieving this when the culture at large doesn't celebrate it enough. The far-right drum beating and fear mongering on CRT is just another smokescreen to erase and deny the deep-seated history of racism in this country and the long-overdue work to reconcile Americans to the truth of a shameful past.

Bill Conley

Dummerston, Oct. 20

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Letter: McClaughry: Editor of The Tone Deaf Times - Brattleboro Reformer

The trolley arguments

[Monday] night, the City Council majority, consisting of Councilors Erik Brechnitz, Joe Rola, Greg Folley and Claire Babrowski, acknowledged residents opinions and voted to stop trolley/transient expansion on Marco Island.Congratulations and thank you!

Councilors Jared Grifoni, Rich Blonna and Becky Irwin dissented. If I were to (hypothetically) award prizes for their dissenting arguments, heres how they might go:

Third prize to Councilor Grifoni whose interest in a brand-new Marco restaurant might have inspired him to favor increasing our islands visitor numbers.

Second prize to Councilor Blonna, who lectured that Marco residents had a moral duty (?) to grow Marco businesses because some are owned by Marco residents.

First and grand prize to Councilor Becky Irwin who proudly stated having received five emails supporting trolley/transient expansion plus about 230 emails opposing it.However, Ms. Irwin insisted that these impressive numbers did not really represent an opposing majority opinion because, (ready?), many, maybe most of the opposing emails, each from different people, contained exact or similar rationales.

The grand prize would be Beveridges Basic Math for Dummies with addendum: majority a number or percentage equaling more than half of a total (Webster).

Russ Colombo, Marco Island

I read the article on school board member Chris Patricca, wherein she shared some of the challenges of educating children arriving from Guatemala. Such students were an example of difficulties faced by educators here, where the system must acknowledge both the difficulties and the expectations for success. Unfortunately, rather than addressing the facts, certainboard members focused on investigating her for offending a community. That is simply nonsense! If we followed their rhetoric, we would move further from the truth and a potential solution set.

When are we going to stop making excuses and start implementing a solution to move such immigrants forward. Guatemalans have a proud heritage that doesnt want sympathy. Help them find the educational and cultural tools necessary and their value to the entire community will only increase. I look forward to a time when those that spend time pandering to a misguided political correctness argument that is hollow; change to implementing programmatic improvements and deliverables. The only offending being done here is to Chris Patricca.

John Tomlinson, Bonita Springs

There is a cure to Senator Joe Manchin's obstruction on meaningful infrastructure spending to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and alleviate some of the human factor in climate change. She is Val Demings, Democratic candidate for Florida's Senate seat up for election in 2022. Manchin is doing what he thinks the people in his state and the coal companies that finance his campaign want him to do. The only way to change that is to send more Democrats to the Senate so one senator cannot deny the whole country what it needs to prepare for the weather and economy of the future. Maybe we Floridians are more aware of the threats of rising sea levels and more powerful hurricanes, but the people of West Virginia will feel its effects as well the next time they get a few days of 100-year rains or a crippling blizzard and deep freeze. Until then, we will have to let Senator Manchin bury his head in the coal, and elect senators who understand the problems and want to work on solutions.

Karen Wentzel, Naples

Constant wildfires in the West; I call my relatives in California.The smoke often keeps them inside, but so far the fires are not on their doorstep.My granddaughters family in Brooklyn, N.Y., suffered a foot of water in the first floor of their building during the recent post-hurricane flooding; fortunately they live on an upper floor.Here, we have the seasonal worry about hurricanes, but now we are told they will likely be much worse.

Report targets economic risks from climate change was the heading on an Oct.16 report in the Naples Daily News.The report tells of potential changes in the mortgage process, stock market, retirement plans, federal procurement and budgeting.This problem is huge!

What can I do? I like to search for the root of the problem.Global warming causes these extremes in weather, and carbon emissions contribute to this warming.This planet has gone through climate change before, but never before at such a rapid pace. Industrial operations must stop feeding the atmosphere with carbon.

The government should place a fee on every ton of carbon emitted, and that fee should be increased each year.Companies would increase innovative ways to reduce carbon and global warming could be slowed.The net fees collected should be distributed to U.S. citizens.

Jean Prokopow, Naples

More: Letters to the Editor, Oct. 1

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Letters to the Editor, Oct. 22 - Marco News

Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Images/Shutterstock

Usually, when Washington is at a decisive consensus that one party is in disarray that its next election cycle will be messy, that its wings cant agree, that voters arent convinced by its standard bearer its candidates follow a simple formula: Ditch the national party and focus instead on local issues. But with three weeks until Virginia votes for its next governor, the electoral equation has been scrambled. From Richmond to Virginia Beach, it is Democrats who are working to nationalize the campaign despite President Bidens dipping approval ratings and Republican optimism about next years midterms, a move Bidens White House has dialed into in recent weeks, while right-wingers are trying to turn voters focus toward the hyperlocal.

Terry McAuliffe, the former governor running for his old job, has been talking about what he accomplished in Richmond but has recently spent an increasing amount of his time and ad budget focusing on his opponents ties to Donald Trump. Glenn Youngkin the Republican private-equity exec who was so little-known locally that early campaign stories had to use old news photos of his appearances in Davos is, on the other hand, contorting himself to avoid invoking Trump in front of moderates and suburbanites, while at the same time appearing with conspiracy-spewing Trump allies such as Seb Gorka. Meanwhile, hes been pitching the final weeks of his campaign as an effort to save Virginias schools from, as one local GOP leader put it to me last week, critical race theory, wokeness, and political correctness.

Its all made for an appropriately portentous preview of the next year of American politics, where every semi-competitive race is now treated as if it holds the secret key to long-term electoral success.

While top Democrats in Washington work out how best to deploy Biden himself in the home stretch, operatives and elected officials have called on Barack Obama, First Lady Jill Biden, and Stacey Abrams to campaign for McAuliffe, in part because they acknowledge his loss would create waves of commentary about Democrats electoral struggles in the Biden era. (McAuliffes roughly eight-point lead in the FiveThirtyEight polling average in early August had shrunk to less than three points as of mid-October.)

More substantively, though, theyre concerned that it might actually be true: White House aides have focused on the race in recent weeks, asking for regular updates from the ground, not least because they see the contest as the first genuinely competitive race in an important state where voters will, directly or indirectly, render a verdict on Democrats handling of the pandemic. Furthermore, they see McAuliffes fate as directly tied to that of Bidens legislative priorities on Capitol Hill, even if the measures currently mired in negotiations are beside the point in most Virginia voters eyes. If Democratic wrangling over Bidens agenda on Capitol Hill fails at the end of October, they believe, it could be a huge blow to McAuliffes pitch of competent Democratic leadership with the election so soon after. Conversely, a McAuliffe loss in early November could doom Bidens further legislative pushes if it spooks marginal Democrats in Congress, people close to Biden and McAuliffe both fear.

The issue is that while Virginia has trended Democratic for more than a decade now, this years electorate is projected by local strategists to be the most conservative one in years, befitting the states long-standing tendency to elect a governor from the opposite party of the president. McAuliffe, who won in 2013 after Obamas re-election, is the lone politician to have bucked that trend in the past half-century.

Youngkin, meanwhile, has been trying to focus his bases attention on local curricula, using the specter of critical race theory in particular to rile up conservatives and attract some parents in the heavily suburban state who are less enthused by his calls to audit its voting machines. What nobody saw coming is the visceral reaction suburban parents would have to the school issues, and the big question on everybodys mind is whether, in the post-Trump era, these local issues that are getting so much attention energize the pro-Youngkin voters more than the pro-McAuliffe voters, said John Whitbeck, a former state GOP chairman. Youngkin is riding an issue he wouldve been riding anyway: Every Republican thats running in a suburban district, or a place thats trending blue like Virginia, is going to run on education.

Whats not yet obvious is whether this can be a winning issue, targeted at the kind of swingy suburban voters who once dominated Virginia politics, if its coming from a place of right-wing anger. Theres no question that Republican voters are enthusiastic about voting. The question is: Are there enough of them in Virginia to outweigh Democrats showing up in an off-year election? said Josh Schwerin, a former long-time McAuliffe aide. No one in or close to either the McAuliffe camp or the White House has denied that parents of all ideological stripes entered the fall extremely nervous about the coming school year after 17 months of pandemic education, but their public pronouncements suggest they think this latest wave of conservative curriculum talk is a fad and far less relevant than COVID-based schooling fears, even if its a potentially powerful one with some voters.

After a few days of Youngkin promoting McAuliffes statement that parents shouldnt be telling schools what to teach, the Democrat replied with an ad warning that Youngkin would cut school budgets. Republicans always find something to gin up their outrage machine, said Schwerin. Im old enough to remember when the crisis for 2022 was going to be @POTUS failure to open schools, White House chief of staff Ron Klain tweeted earlier this week, pointing to a report that 96 percent of the nations public schools have reopened in person. (The two operations are close: McAuliffes campaign manager, a longtime senior Democratic aide in the state, ran Virginia for Biden, and Biden himself offered McAuliffe a job as his presidential campaigns finance chairman back in 2019.)

Ever since Obama won Virginia in 2008, statewide races there have been shadowed by questions of just how much the states rapid suburbanization, especially outside of D.C., has changed its politics. Every four years, polls tighten in the final weeks. And, so far, every four years Democrats have won. The margins have at times been far too close for comfort when McAuliffe won in 2013, it was by less than 3 points and the states most recent electoral tradition is for the closing days to feature a mind-numbingly dumb sideshow that pundits cast as a game-changer. (On the morning of the 2017 vote that elected Ralph Northam, a Morning Joe panel unanimously predicted his loss and pointed to the release of former DNC chair Donna Braziles book about the 2016 election as a sign of Democratic discord that would doom him.) Even the most recent big-picture question is predictable: Can Democrats win without Trump on the ballot? The races of 2017 and 2018 provided an answer (yes, clearly), but still it lingers on cable and Twitter.

Yet McAuliffes closing message is recognizable, predictable, and understandable, too.

When he voted early this month, he was surrounded by campaign signs proclaiming, simply, YOUNGKIN = TRUMP, and his recent ads about Youngkins theoretical education cuts featured not just Betsy DeVos but Trump, too, as have a huge range of his spots and campaign-trail lines about his opponent. Trump himself hasnt visited the state for Youngkin, but McAuliffe has been transparent about trying to lure the ex-presidentfor months now, as well as highlighting every time he mentions Youngkin.

In a state where Trump remains unpopular he lost it by six points in 2016 and ten in 2020 theres nothing surprising about it, even to Republicans. When I was chairman of the party, I asked my executive director, When are [Democrats] gonna stop campaigning on the war on women? And he said, When it stops working, Whitbeck said. If McAuliffe loses, we may see the end of the Trump bogeyman every Democrat has rolled out for four years. If he wins, theyre going to keep using it.

Last week, Trump argued in a statement that no Republican should vote until the Presidential Election Fraud of 2020 was resolved. This was roughly an hour and a half before the kickoff of a Richmond rally that Steve Bannon was headlining for Youngkins ticket. The event began with a pledge of allegiance to an American flag that, the organizers said, was present at the Capitol riot, which they called a peaceful rally with Donald J. Trump. Youngkin didnt show, and his running mate, Winsome Sears, whod been billed as a speaker, left before the speeches started.

But Republicans secretary-of-state candidate earned a standing ovation for insisting to the crowd that Donald Trump won, which was shortly before Trump himself called in to deem Youngkin a great gentleman and to gin up the crowd by insisting we won in 2020, the most corrupt election in the history of our country, probably one of the most corrupt anywhere, but were gonna win it again. That, in turn, was just before state senator Amanda Chase, whom Youngkin beat in the primary but has recently embraced on the trail, called for the return and gold plat[ing] of Virginias Confederate monuments.

Within minutes, McAuliffes campaign account was tweeting about the event, making sure as many voters knew about it as possible. Not long after the rally ended, he was sharing video from it. The next morning, he called a press conference, just in case anyone still hadnt heard about it.

Later that day, Youngkin tried distancing himself from the event, insisting there is no room for violence when asked about the flag. This was too little, too late: McAuliffes campaign had already posted a new ad with footage from the previous evening.

Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world.

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Virginias Election Is Breaking the Rules - New York Magazine

Build Back Better?

My house is nearly a century old. Its balloon frame is built with true dimensional lumber and rests on a rubble foundation. Wood sash windows with pulleys and weights still adorn the house, but, at some point in time, were augmented with storm windows, and the cedar shakes were covered with aluminum siding.

This well-built structure was constructed with the materials and codes of that era. Over the years, owners have updated its systems and made improvements. What once was a coal-fed boiler is now an efficient natural gas system. The knob and tube wiring was replaced with insulated copper wiring and circuit breakers. Heat pumps now help with climate control, and insulation reduces air leaks. Modern appliances assist with everyday chores.

This home has the elegance of history and the comfort and efficiency of today. Never did any owner have to build back to make it better. Never was it razed so that it could be brought up to par with modernity. In nearly a century, it has remained standing with improvements throughout the years.

I am bewildered by Joe Bidens Build Back Better. Why, when our Constitution is the bedrock of our society, when this nation has evolved from slavery to civil rights, from one-room schoolhouses to universities, from stagecoaches to space shuttles, must we destroy everything? Why teach our children that their ancestors are bad when they have created such a wonderful place for us to live? We can always be better, but why must we destroy it all to do so?

The countries that have done this to themselves are much worse off than before. This administration is following the same path as Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela and a host of other totalitarian regimes. The devastation in those nations was so complete that it has taken generations to build back any semblance of a civil society, if one exists at all. None have but a fraction of the freedoms and prosperity that we now enjoy. Why destroy it?

Jim Dixon, Waltham

The travesty on Mass and Cass is an everyday reminder of how utterly incompetent government at all levels has become. Politicians have become so obsessed with political correctness that they would literally rather have people die on the street than criminalize addiction. Sheriff Tomkins has suggested what any reasonable person with an ounce of common sense would suggest get the people off the street into an unused building that is readily available and use the tens (or is it hundreds) of millions of unspent COVID funds to get them proper help. Why in the world is this so complicated? Politicians like Michelle Wu should stop having a conversation and get to work.

Brian Miller, Boston

This team has a rookie quarterback and should be 5-1 but the defense cant stop anyone. Steve Belichick cant make the tackles but hes putting them in their situations. Maybe he doesnt know what hes doing.

Stephen Lynch, Middleton

Continued here:

Letters to the editor - Boston Herald

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) If you want to run for a Grand Haven city offices, you need to meet a few qualifications, like being over the age of 21 and being a registered voter in the city.

To drill that down even more, Section 4.2.of the city charter reads: An elected official has to be a resident of the city or of territory annexed to the city, for at least six months immediately preceding his election or appointment, if a person be appointed to fill a vacancy in an elective office.

But what if it was her election not his?

It says he and his for all of the offices of the city and all of the officers of the city. Why would we refer to them in the male form of the pronoun? City Manager Pat McGinnis said.

While most ballots for the fast approaching Nov. 2 election wont include any major state races, there are some interesting local questions facing voters. In Grand Haven, voters are being asked to neutralize gender references in the city charter.

Scroll through the city charter and youll find dozens of male references. Changing it is not just a matter of political correctness, McGinnis said its just not accurate as it is now.

During our staff meeting this morning there were 15 of us around the table: seven women and eight men, McGinnis said.

That would have been 15 men and no women in 1959, when Grand Havens charter was written.

I was happy to look around the table and see that my peers are almost evenly balanced, and I think its time that my citys founding document ought to reflect that reality, McGinnis said.

A charter is a living document. As times change, it has been updated with various amendments. On Nov. 2, voters will be asked to amend it again to eliminate gender-based pronouns.

The ballot question reads:

Grand Haven City Council proposes that gender biased pronouns in the City Charter (such as he/she, his/hers, him/her) be deleted and replaced with gender neutral pronouns (such as they/their/them).

Older charters with outdated language are nothing new to communities. But most often, the gender problem is fixed with a statement.

That (common statement) says all references to the male gender in this document or in these documents shall include any gender, McGinnis said.

He believes Grand Haven charter amendment is a better fix.

I think theres a leadership issue here of are we making a statement that gender equity is an important concern for us, McGinnis said. And we ought to be leaders in that area and not followers.

Grand Haven voters will also decide on a charter amendment eliminating the requirement that the city attorney be present at all city council meetings, and another that will allow changes to obsolete sections of the charter.

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Ballot proposal would replace he with they in Grand Have n city charter - WOODTV.com

When the social media mob and some in traditional media come to cancelanyone (usually those on the political right),the reaction often results in an apology from that person. And that apology is primarily driven not by remorsebut byfear.

Thankfully,in the name of all that is sane and sober, Dave Chappelle themost fearless comedian of the 21st century,and certainly no conservative is pushing back on attempts to cancel him.Why did he become a target? His comedy isdeemedtoo offensive, too farover the line, no laughing matter, because heridicules trans-people along with just about every other group in America today in"The Closer,"his latest Netflixspecial.The 48-year-old Emmy-winner also had the audacity to defend "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, anothertarget of woke warriors on social mediabecause of her views on gender identity.

"Theycanceled J.K. Rowling my God, hesaid. "Effectively, she said gender was a fact, the trans community got mad as (expletive), they started calling her a TERF," an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist.

Im Team TERF. I agree. I agree, man. Gender is a fact, headded.

Those and othercommentsprovoked abacklash, most notablyfromJaclyn Moore, who publicly announced her decision to leave Netflix after serving as the executive producer of the streaming giant's "Dear White People."

"I love so many of the people Ive worked with at Netflix, shetweeted after detailing her own gender transition in a passionate post. Brilliant people and executives who have been collaborative and fought for important art, Moore continued. [But] I will not work with them as long as they continue to put out and profit from blatantly and dangerously transphobic content.

CNN, perhapspredictably, jumped into the mix, too,with severalon-airsegments on the matter, including onethat attemptedto indict Chappelle for future transgender fatalities while featuring guests urging a boycott of Netflix.

"Let's talk about the data and the harm that you're noting because the National Black Justice Coalition says that this year, quote. 'is on track to be the deadliest year on record for transgender people in the United States and the majority of whom are black transgender people.' What do you think needs to be done to address that," guest anchor Boris Sanchez asked Lina Bradford, a transgender D.J. andactress.

"People might want to look into where it is youre getting your content from, Bradford replied. You know, dont go to comedians and maybe not give your money to a conglomerate that's very insensitive to a community, but yet okay to take that coin."

An opinion piece from the network also somehow tied Chappelle to who else? Donald TrumpDonald TrumpTrump goes after Cassidy after saying he wouldn't support him for president in 2024 Jan. 6 panel lays out criminal contempt case against Bannon Hillicon Valley Presented by Xerox Agencies sound alarm over ransomware targeting agriculture groups MORE.

"That's not to say Chappelle doesn't have a right to run his mouth," writes @claycane. "It cuts both ways, but it's critical to remember that unlike the communities who bear the brunt of his jokes, Chappelle is in no way powerless. https://t.co/V6uaYpOBPD

On cue, NPR and GLAADspoke out as well.

Dave Chappelle's brand has become synonymous with ridiculing trans people and other marginalized communities. Negative reviews and viewers loudly condemning his latest special is a message to the industry that audiences don't support platforming anti-LGBTQ diatribes. We agree. https://t.co/yOIyT54819

NBC News reported that Chappelle was facing "swift backlash" for the routine, with said swift backlash coming from random tweets from random people with relatively few followers. The Spectator's Stephen MillerStephen MillerDave Chappelle refuses to be cancelled White House orders release of Trump records to Jan. 6 committee Far-left bullies resort to harassing, shaming Kyrsten Sinema it won't work MORE, anastute observer of media, argued (correctly) that the news organizationwas"searching for outrage" to create a story.

The story cites 3 tweets, one from an account they call "a Twitter user" with 200 followers.

If a news story simply cites you as "one twitter user said.." your opinion isn't newsworthy. It's irrelevant.

Facebook is not the problem https://t.co/R8f3xFtieo

If a news outlet cites "one Twitter user said.." that is NBC going and searching for outrage. That is the journalist searching for any random account upset about Chappelle. That is NBC attempting to create a story where there isn't one. Facebook. Is. Not. The. Problem.

Instead of apologizing, or groveling, ortrying to appease a mob only interested in ending careers.Chappelle is pushing back in Chappelle-esquefashion. "If this is what being canceled is like, I love it. I don't know what to tell you, except I'm a bad mother-(expletive)," he declared during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in L.A., earning a standing ovation in the process.

F Twitter. F NBC News, ABC News, all these stupid-ass networks, he reportedly said. Im not talking to them. Im talking to you. This is real life.

Netflix is standing by its star.

Chappelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long-standing deal with him, Netflix's co-CEO TedSarandos wrote. His last special Sticks & Stones, also controversial, is our most-watched, stickiest and most award-winning stand-up special to date.

As with our other talent, we work hard to support their creative freedom even though this means there will always be content on Netflix some people believe is harmful, Sarandos continued.

Here's a bet: There won't be any mass cancellation of Netflix accounts. In fact, Netflix will likely gain subscriptions, becausewhat's hot or trending on Twitter calling for boycotts and cancellations look much worse than they everreallyare. The outrage comes and goes like the tide. The outrage is sound and fury, usually signifying nothing.

Another all-timecomedygreat and star of the best TV show ever, JerrySeinfeld, warned about political correctness destroyingcomedy back in 2015. "They just want to use these words Thats racist.' Thats sexist, Thats prejudice. They dont even know what the fk theyre talking about," Seinfeld told ESPN.

I have no interest in gender or race or anything like that," he later added. "But everyone else is kind of, with their calculating isthis the exact right mix? I think thats, to me, its anti-comedy. Its more about PC-nonsense.

Bingo.

Netflix is standing by Chappelle. Chappelle is blistering his critics.

Good for them.To both, nothing is considered too politically incorrect. Or out of bounds.

That's kinda the point of comedy.

But in 2021, we have "right" speech and "wrong"speech determined by the judge and jury that is the Twitter mob and traditional media.Now that's comedy, albeit of the unintentional variety.

A line has to be drawnsomewherein this craziness that is cancel culture. Thisappears to be it.

JoeConchais a media and politics columnist for The Hill and a Fox News contributor.

Originally posted here:

Dave Chappelle refuses to be cancelled | TheHill - The Hill

Hispanic Heritage Month came to a close last week, but as with many specifically heritage-based holidays, this shouldnt mean that the sentiments promoted need to cease. Especially in Los Angeles, learning about and celebrating Latin culture is important year round if we are to understand many of our neighborhoods and the people who inhabit them (and used to inhabit them before gentrification). After the controversy in January of last year over the novel American Dirt, we think its more important than ever to highlight Latin authors and subjects that get it right. We purposefully do so here and now to make a point as compassionate human beings we shouldnt need a month to be reminded of or recognize other cultures and their contributions to American life. From actors to artists to activists, we offer this handy list of new and new-ish books to buy or check out (the library remains a wonderful resource- use it!) now. We encourage readers to add these titles to your gift lists for friends and family too, Latin or not.

Boyle Heights- How a Los Angeles Neighborhood Became the Future of American Democracy

Tracing the evolution of Boyle Heights and how the region in L.A. has evolved as different immigrant groups have come and gone, bringing their unique culture and customs with them, this great book explores how its inhabitants have sought to maintain their cultural identity as well. USC professor George J. Sanchez illustrates how the neighborhood has influenced ethnic politics as a model for diversity, and more importantly, unity.

We interviewed legendary the Danny Trejo as few years ago and was inspired by his story, which saw him go from convict to movie star. But even then, we knew wed only just scratched the surface of his story. His new book lays it all out and as it is told to co-writer/fellow actor Donal Logue, it has a raw and conversational tone that holds nothing back. The Pacoima-based actor is not only a badass, hes funny, smart and inspirational with the kind of insight and wisdom that comes with a hard life, lessons learned and ultimately, multiple success in entertainment and the food industry. As a Latino, we are proud call him one of ours and this book shows why. (On another note: we just got word that Trejo will be honored with a wax figure at Madame Tussauds in Hollywood at the end of the month. Congrats Amigo!)

Perhaps nothing has divided the Latin community as much as the terminology we prefer. Older people of Latin-American descent have a real distain for the label Latinx especially when white media uses it to seem woke. But Vice News/Telemundo reporter Paola Ramos just might change some of these mindsets with this book. She shares her personal perspective as an LGBTQ+ person and how her coming-out corresponded with the terms popularity, which for queer people, is less about performative political correctness and more about rejection of gender roles and unquestioned conformity in how we use language.

Editor Margarita Longorias collection of short stories, poems and more from acclaimed YA writers is a must have if you want to understand the Mexican-American experience in a creative and real way. Its written for a young audience but its expressive insight is easily accessible for all.

Profiling 50 POC artists and entrepreneurs breaking boundaries with their work, Jasmin Hernandez of Gallery Gurls, celebrates queer, trans, nonbinary, and BIWOC visionaries from Los Angeles, New York and more. From the subjects creative process to personal challenges to actions and intents for changing the world, its a compelling collection thatll give you hope for an inclusive future.

The complexities of racial identity are explored by Laura E. Gomez, an expert on the topic who posits that Latinos influence on culture is bigger than anyone has acknowledged. Latin people have reached over a third of Americas population but beyond demographics, views on immigration and societal roles in this country continue to hold us back. Racism exists, and for Latinos, its literally, figuratively, psychologically and politically, beyond a Black and white issue. This book attempts to get to the bottom of the problem.

Razabilly- Transforming Sights, Sounds, and History in the Los Angeles Latina/o Rockabilly Scene

This look at Los Angeles Latin rockabilly enthusiasts explores the communitys connection to 50s and early 60s aesthetics, style and music. We may not have seen it reflected much on TV or film of the time (for save Richie Valens and West Side Story) but La Razas influence on mid-century pop culture was always there, making the modern scene more a trend. Author Nicolas F. Centino enlightens us with history, which focuses on L.A.s scene and vital venuesthe 90s resurgence including Rudolphos in Frogtown/Silver Lake.

As Hispanic History Month began, we also covered three beautiful books about our culture (Nuestra Cultura), all pertaining to Los Angeles Latin community and its rich sense of style and expression, including Street Writers, Cruise Night and L.A. Graffiti Black Book.

Read the cover story HERE.

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Keep Appreciation for Hispanic Heritage Alive With These Great Books - L.A. Weekly