Arkansas Department of Education Goes After AP African American Studies
This act further stigmatizes essential information about race and Black people.
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Arkansas Department of Education Goes after AP African American Studies (Arkansas Times)
Officials in Arkansas are emulating Florida in making it harder for their students to learn about racial history and the contributions of Black people in the United States.
At the very last minute—school started on Monday and they handed this directive down the previous Friday—the Arkansas Department of Education under Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ administration told teachers that, “the state would not recognize [Advanced Placement African American Studies] as counting toward state graduation requirements, nor would the state cover the $90+ exam fee.”
Beyond the course credit and fees, the deeper implications of Arkansas Department of Education action is that it stigmatizes any course or content that teaches about race and ethnicity.
To their “credit” (see what I did there), every school in Arkansas that intended to offer AP African American Studies is still providing the class for students.
We’ll see more of this kind of repression, and it will take courage teachers and administrators to ensure our students learn the history and principles many of us are only just now learning in adulthood.
Read more from the Arkansas Times.
'Blind Side' subject Oher alleges Tuohys made millions off lie (ESPN)
According to Michael Oher, former NFL player and subject of the movie The Blind Side, his parents Sean and Leigh Anne Touhy never officially adopted him. In a legal filing, Oher alleges the Touhy’s actually enter into a conservatorship not an adoption, and then financially benefited from the association.
“But there are some important legal distinctions. If Oher had been adopted by the Tuohys, he would have been a legal member of their family, and he would have retained power to handle his own financial affairs. Under the conservatorship, Oher surrendered that authority to the Tuohys, even though he was a legal adult with no known physical or psychological disabilities.”
Years ago, an L.A. Times book review article gave very helpful context for why The Blind Side movie felt so cringe to so many of us. The movie is based on a 2006 book of the same name by Michael Lewis (also the author of Moneyball). The book was reviewed by Steve Almond who had questions about the “uncritical” view that Lewis took of the Touhy family. Then he read the author’s note…
“As I tore through the book, I kept wondering how Lewis got such remarkable access to the Tuohys; and I also wondered, why does he take such an uncritical view of their role? The author’s note at the end provides the obvious explanation, stating that Lewis is a friend of Sean Tuohy’s and that they had been longtime classmates at the same New Orleans school.
The book served as source material for the movie which was also criticized as a “white savior” film. The root determines the fruit!
Sean Touhy responded to the allegations HERE.
This Made Me Laugh!
It’s funny because it’s true. 😂
This Is Bizarre to Me
I saw this tweet the other day and it just strikes me as bizarre for a host of reasons—namely, how am I the extreme?!?
What do you think? Let me know in the comments!
P.S. I wanted to let you know about the Active Witness Challenge (AWC). It’s a fundraiser for The Witness Foundation that actually challenges us not just to raise money but to participate in the ongoing struggle for civil rights today. I’ll be forming a team, and I hope you’ll join! Read more HERE.
These people that have you as the far left have not actual understanding of the range that actually exists in the world.