My Hometown

 

My Hometown

 

         Recent media attention has been brought to bear on The Villages, where I and about 130,000 others live, because three residents have been identified as having voted illegally. There are several issues I have with the coverage. The Villages, for those who don’t know, is an age 55 plus community in Central Florida northwest of Orlando. The name stems from the original design of small, localized communities, or “villages,” clustered around what has grown to four town centers. Town centers have entertainment venues such as movie houses, restaurants, etc.) The Villages has taken Sumter County Florida from poorest to one of the richest counties in the state. Part of this reflects that fact that we all pay school tax but none of us have kids in school.

         Back to the issue: First off, that (three out of 130,000) represents a whopping .00023 percent of the residents and all three were seasonal and voted both here and in their home state. This is probably the lowest actual statistic for illegal voting to be found in any similar sized population sample. They all did vote Republican, by the way but some reports seemed to stress the party affiliation as if the Villages were entirely Republican, which it is not. Rather the partisan split here is about 55% Red, 45% Blue and, as an aside, several life-long Republicans I personally interact with would have eaten broken glass rather than vote for the ex-President, party notwithstanding.

        Second, and even more egregiously in error, was one article which cited “The hedonistic Villages.” In the opening sentence! While definitions vary. The implication is that much of what all residents do is somehow on or over the borderline of “respectable” behavior. Secondarily, it implies dedication to self-pleasure over all else.

        As an eleven-year resident, I can categorically call bullshit on that implication. Villagers are, as a whole, a health conscious and physically active community with the following indices: More, and more active, churches that any similar sized area in the state. Far more volunteerism via service clubs such as Churches, Rotary and Lions and more than that through individual volunteerism such as mentoring at risk students, meals for homebound individuals, and even outreach programs related to families living off the grid in the Ocala National Forest.

        University of Florida studies over two decades have found The Villages as a demographic to be the healthiest senior population in America. It’s easy to figure out why that is. There are age group specific men’s and women’s softball leagues, numerous yoga, and many other exercise classes at all the regional recreation centers as well as water aerobics and other low impact fitness regimes. On days when I  have an early tee time (we have more holes of golf than anywhere else in the world) I will see, on my way to the course, numerous dogs walking their owners, frequently in twos and threes, runners, joggers, speed walkers and every type of bicycle imaginable from recumbent to two passenger tandems as well as the ubiquitous racing bikes, whose pelotons are out early in groups of 10 to 30 riders. All day at the regional rec centers one hears the sound of pickleball, a lower impact tennis sport as well as regular tennis. There are too many sport and family swimming pools to count. Bocce courts (and leagues) abound as do shuffleboard and petanqe courts.

        Villagers routinely bring home a huge medal count from both Florida and National Senior Games annually.

        So why the “hedonistic” label? In brief, a book and a movie painted the entire population with a brush which bears little or no semblance to the truth. The book, entitled “Leisureville” was written by an individual whose stated viewpoint was that Seniors should remain in their local communities until they move to assisted living or whatever lies in store. Of course, this also means that for many, if not most, an end game of isolation, boredom and, in too many, cases lethargy and physical decline due primarily to inactivity. As a backhanded swipe, since his premise is tragically flawed, he also decided to find several sexually promiscuous residents (one actually, a single male who hung out (not literally, thank you) at a local watering hole and often hooked up with someone. He then, by implication, left the impression that The Villages is little more than a giant swinger’s club. T’ain’t even remotely such.

        Now here’s the rub: the author apparently believes this behavior, not so uncommon to 20 to 30 to 40 something single males in bars across Orlando or any place with a one hundred thousand plus population, is scandalous for fifty-five plus consenting individuals. There are several things wrong here. The man interviewed cited a “ten women for every man” gender distribution, which is actually about a “ten to nine” proportion, so his narrative begins with a lie. If I picked one male slut out of a mixed group of 20 to 40-year-olds in Orlando and extrapolated that to the entire population, I would be laughed out of town.

        Additionally, while, in the first place, what any consenting age adults do is their business, regardless of age, in my 11 years as a resident I have never seen or even heard anecdotal confirmation of any behavior similar to what the author of Leisureville would like the reader to believe is commonplace.

        The film I referred to is a later pseudo-documentary where the filmmaker managed to find four somewhat pathetic individuals who were less than happy with their lives and happened to live in the Villages. Their litanies of woe were not unique and, even more to the point, not even actually related to their living here. Nevertheless, while not as bad or outright fallacious as Leisureville, the film maker’s intent seemed to be to somehow link all these individual’s (4 out of over 100,000, remember!) to their living in the Villages. If that were true, why not move? (Because it isn’t true) _

        It seems to me that the real issue of dealing with the myths surrounding The Villages can best be banished by observing firsthand and that is what Dave Barry (you know, a real author from Florida with published creds?) did. In his recent book “Best State Ever” he recounts a three day stay here while preparing the text. While acknowledging that he had heard the “Leisureville” claims of debauchery, he essentially calls bullshit on it all. In fact, the only even close to negative comment (and it was tongue in cheek) is that line dancers at the town squares even line dance to slow numbers. (it’s true!)  

        So meanwhile, here we are. So, what is there to do? There is some sort of live theatrical and/or musical event essentially every night during the winter months, including a Broadway season package. Here is a snapshot from Monday December 13th. On that night, Emily and I went to a Classic Albums Live presentation of Led Zeppelin IV at the eight hundred seat Savannah Center (superb!). The Studio Theater (a two hundred or so seat “Black Box”) had a play entitled “The Cake” and the Polo Grounds hosted an open-air golf cart drive in concert by Absolute Queen, a really good tribute band from Tampa. Meanwhile at the Sharon Morse theater, a state-of-the-art 1200 seat venue, David Foster and (wife) Kathryn McPhee were in concert. If none of those suited, there were live bands at all three town centers as there are every night from 5 to 9 pm.

        Of course, there numerous daytime things to do, from quilting guilds, discussion groups, clubs of all descriptions, to choral groups, various instrumental groups from brass bands to chamber orchestras (we have a ton of retired symphonic players here) drama clubs, continuing education courses, book clubs, various Trivia groups, and the list goes on.

A I reflect on my grandparents’ senior years, I realize how much has changed regarding the “place” of seniors in society and now that I am one, at age 79, I realize just how important remaining active and engaged is. The Villages actually revolves around that concept. And just for the record, in 11 years I have never been accosted by any roving gangs of sex mad grannies.            

General Nattering

 

        I am sick to the point of puke of the entire “influencer” concept. It is understandable when persons of actual education and proven experience gain the approbation and respect of peers. It is another when shallow, sallow, and callow teens sit in front of their webcam and somehow magically acquire knowledge and cachet with zero actual creds. It’s even sadder when a pre-adolescent says that they’d like to be “an influencer” when they grow up. How very Kardashian!

        There seems to have been a recent explosion of new monoclonal antibody-based drugs with certain common features. Among these features are:

        Many are claimed to be improved treatments for syndromes of actual ailments which now have new catchy acronyms, such as IBS, RA, SLE, PCOS, etc. (and I have heard sufferers flaunt the acronym as if it were the Red Badge of Courage) However, this more recently amounts to, in some cases,  the promotion or creation of a disease out of a non-pathologic physical condition accompanied by the promotion of “new” medications.

These “new” treatments (of Pharma and well compensated MDs choice) have been given “catchy” names with too few vowels and astronomical prices, and list of side effects which sounds like biological warfare. I don’t know how many of these end in “ezza” but it’s a bunch. Apparently “ezza” is an old Viking word for “Immortal, destined for Valhalla.”

        I am still trying to get my head around the idea that any sentient human with an IQ over “turnip” would actually believe that John F. Kennedy Jr. had faked his own death and planned to return to the site of his father’s assassination in Dallas. This seems sort of like Jesus coming back and choosing to do it on Calvary. Qanon espoused the conspiracy theory that Kennedy Jr. did not die in a plane crash after all and is set to be America's next vice president when Donald Trump is swept back into the White House. A fair-sized crowd actually gathered at Dealey Plaza on November 9^th. The late, late president’s son failed to materialize (surprise!). One assumes the assembled morons all later embellished their Facebook pages with “safe from Zombie JFK Jr.”

        Right off the top, I’ll cop to being a Sci Fi fan for most of my life. I also freely admit to buying my fair share of Batman and Superman comics as a youngster. I actually read the book versions of many classics, later to become movies, such as Dune, Martian Chronicles, The Martian, All the HG Wells books, etc. I also spent a fair amount of time laughing my ass off at a pudgy Adam West as Batman, even though it was obvious he was camping it up. Before that there was George Reeves trying to look like a Superman.

        One of the “fun” aspects of Sci Fi is the concept of suspended disbelief. Done right (“Alien,” “Blade Runner,” “Star Wars”) it can be brilliant. Done badly, (Plan Nine from Outer Space) it can be hilarious in its inadequacy. Yeah, I know, “So what?” So, I honestly believe that two semi-related phenomena have been created by Covid 19 and the social isolation it engendered.

        The first is the seemingly never-ending stream of Marvel and Marvel spinoff superhero films. I admit to loving the first several, but like even Butter Pecan ice cream, a constant diet of them (for me) leads to gradual lessening enthusiasm. The same is true (again, for me) of the Star Wars spinoffs. The first several were good but as “space westerns” there is a sameness of type which eventually palls.

        The second, is the increasingly escapist nature of mainstream network programming. “La Brea?” really? Sixty-five million years of evolution on hold down below Los Angeles? One imagines that actually living in LA might make this seem a palatable alternative to daily reality, but…! The number of shows centering on alternative realities continues to grow. Of course, if one has access to CGI T-Rexes and Pterodactyls as villains, such things as real plotting and dialogue are of secondary importance, I suppose. Remember, this is my opinion. If you like escapism, such as NCIS (which is pure fiction in every aspect), be my guest.

        After an average week of seeing the most outrageously false claimed debunked, it seems we might be better served if there was a bullshit chip implanted in on air personalities. Wouldn’t it be cathartic trio see Tucker Carlson scream in pain every time he told a demonstrable lie? This child of privilege has all the advantages attendant to being the son of a rich white man and his diatribes and so called “causes” seem aimed at assuring he always will and no one else should be so fortunate (white male Conservatives excluded of course).   

        What does Carlson actually believe? I use the term “believe,” although there is always the Rush Limbaugh factor which makes actual belief a distant second to the desire for shock effect and ratings. Belief or scam, he isn’t subtle about it. He argues that immigrants make America “dirtier” and “poorer.” He criticizes politicians for praising diversity and suggests that it weakens the country. He often portrays the rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6 in sympathetic terms while framing the Black Lives Matter movement almost exclusively in terms of violent unrest and civil disorder. He thinks white supremacy is a “hoax” and denounced President Joe Biden’s calls to fight it at the inauguration as nothing but a stealth plot to persecute conservatives. There is little doubt regarding his playing to the worst of us.

        Other prominent bigots apparently regard Carlson as their champion. He has received praise from Klansmen and neo-Nazis like David Duke and Andrew Anglin, the latter of whom called Carlson “literally our greatest ally.” Derek Black, the estranged son of a prominent white-nationalist leader, said in 2019 that his family watches Carlson to hone their messaging strategy. But in media circles, Carlson’s bigotry was often treated as a curiosity or an eccentricity in the early Trump years.

        So, what, if anything, makes Tucker Carlson different? To begin with, he’s a “born into it” lifetime member of the same “elite” that he frequently rails against. His father served as president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and was the ambassador to the Seychelles. Carlson himself attended fancy East Coast boarding schools and colleges. He wrote for years for conservative magazines and more middle-of-the-road publications before turning to a broadcast career on CNN, MSNBC, and finally Fox. Carlson’s transition from the editorial safety nets of magazine journalism to unfiltered (read that as “unedited by his superiors”) and immediate live television exposed him as glib, smug, and not nearly as clever as he thought he was.

        One final example of just how morally bankrupt this man is: On an anti-mask mandate rant he actually said: “Your response when you see children wearing masks as they play should be no different from your response to seeing someone beat a kid at Walmart,” (he told viewers.) “Call the police immediately. Contact child protective services. Keep calling until someone arrives.”

        Joseph Goebbels would have been proud of that!

Stupid Governor Tricks

 

                              More Stupid Governor Tricks

 

        Our illustrious governor, Ron DeSantis has, according to our local paper, stated his desire to revive and reactivate a World War Two organization, generally called the “State Guard” which was primarily aimed at civil defense and the possibility of resisting attack from a foreign power.

        The article says (and I quote) “Governor Ron DeSantis, citing a ‘yeoman performance’ by the Florida National Guard says the state’s vaunted 12,000-member air and land forces need some backup.” This might make sense, except for the fact that he is referring to, and desires to fund, a state guard of two hundred volunteers who would supplement the state’s quick responses during hurricanes and similar emergencies. So, get this right: he says our 12,000-member guard would benefit from adding two hundred more volunteers. Translating DeSantis speak, this really means “I want to create an organization that cannot be federalized and is under my direct control.”  If that doesn't scare the **** out of you, it should.

         The end of the Cold War saw a significant decrease, in general, of interest in state defense forces. While state defense forces and civil defense organizations had been so closely linked that they were almost one and the same, there was widely seen no “on the ground necessity” for them any longer.   The attacks of September 11th, 2001, did generate some additional interest, even though emergency personnel of highly trained and organized police and fire departments did heroic service, and didn't need to refresh themselves on what was required in an emergency as almost certainly any state defense force would under the circumstances. There is also some general scrutiny from some in the U.S. military who actually question the training and equipment of such units and whether they simply provide an outlet for “warrior wannabes,” who might not otherwise qualify for service in the armed forces.

        The currently non-existent State Defense Force is a military entity described by the Florida Statutes as a state-authorized militia prepared to assume the state mission of the Florida National Guard in case all of Florida's National Guard units are federally mobilized and authorized by executive order when the situation requires. This implies that the only time activation of such a state guard would be valid when be in the circumstance that all 12,000 members of the Florida National Guard are otherwise occupied on federal orders. Presently only 450 members of the Florida National Guard are deployed or training outside the state. Make sure you understand the implication: our governor believes that although11 and a half thousand National Guardsmen are still within the state we desperately need two hundred more under the governor's control and outside federal regulation.

        A state guard might well have little or no actual military training and probably would see themselves as loyal to the governor, vice the federal government. Consider a recent New York Times report. The Times found that many senior officers of the New York guard had little, or no formal military training yet held, in some cases, the ranks of general. This harks back to the Civil War days when a senator could be a general simply for the asking. One former officer of the New York guard actually told a Times reporter, “If you’re friendly with the governor and you always wanted to be a general, you ask the governor to make you a general and "poof" you’re a Brigadier General."

        Reflecting on today’s political divisions among citizens’ points of view, I find it highly likely that those that volunteered for a state guard would be those who think it is their role to defy the federal government, not support it. Why do I feel that way? Simply because our governor, who wants to form this organization, has already defied government recommendations regarding masks in public, government regulations related to the safety of schoolchildren during the COVID pandemic and has tried to pass a law which while, on paper aimed at quelling violent protest, is so vague as to what constitutes “protest” that Mr. DeSantis could simply order almost any peaceful demonstration quashed.

         Thankfully, the initial appeal of this law found it to be unconstitutional; however if it goes to the Florida Supreme Court, DeSantis has friends there that might actually allow this bad legislation, even though the lower court’s 90 page ruling says, in part, the law is “vague and overbroad” and persons engaged in peaceful protest or innocently in the same area, if the demonstration became violent, could face criminal charges or even the death penalty (Florida, remember?) under the law.

        Lest you think even for a moment that no governor would do such a thing as misuse a state guard, consider this: in 1934, Louisiana Senator, Huey Long, actually had his political ally and pawn, the governor of Louisiana, mobilize  members of the Louisiana National Guard, armed with submachine guns, to raid establishments in New Orleans that he considered immoral. He gave orders to “shoot without hesitation” if resistance occurred. Gambling equipment was burned, prostitutes were arrested and were actually frisked, nude, in public, and $25,000 which today is equivalent to $376,000 was seized from private individuals and put into government funds at Long's disposal. Authorities in the city had requested no assistance and the Louisiana Attorney General declared Long's actions illegal, but “The Kingfish”, in a very Ron DeSantis type statement, simply said “Nobody asked him for his opinion.”  While it is true that this was misuse of the National Guard, it is a shining example of what a demagogue might do with an even less regulated state guard, and what action they might take undertake against their own constituency without authority.

        And, before you cite the Second Amendment and the words a “well-regulated militia”, you must understand that the founding fathers viewed most militia performances as anything but well-regulated or acceptable. First President and Revolutionary War commander George Washington, himself referred to the state militias as a “broken staff.” Additionally, from historical perspective, the Second Amendment was, as were many of the provisions of the Bill of Rights, added by James Madison after the constitution was ratified, generally at the insistence of rabid anti-federalists such as Patrick Henry.

        Following ratification of the constitution, the militia generally underperformed again in the War of 1812 and in the following decades many militia would show up for musters with broom-sticks or cornstalks instead of rifles. This did not happen in the Southern states of which, I remind you, Florida is one, because they needed the militia to enforce slavery. What? a governor mobilize a state security, force to suppress a portion of the population?  Never say never. And finally, consider that even an ardent believer in Federal power, Alexander Hamilton, grudgingly opined that he thought militias were valid entities because, of course, militias would be composed of “individuals the average citizen knows and trusts.” 

        Consider this: the legal team for 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse referred to him throughout his trial as a member of “the militia” and a “minuteman” as if he were part of the patriotic forces fighting the British at Lexington in Concord in 1775. This terminology, although archaic, is still far too common in “gun circles” and, with more radicals acting as if the U.S. Constitution has somehow deputized them to form unregulated paramilitary groups. What Governor DeSantis proposes is little more than his own private paramilitary group, free to operate completely outside of federal control. If you can think of a worse idea let me know.

CRT - Critical Real Thinking

 

 

CRT 

       I had decided with all the uproar over the teaching of critical race theory to weigh in on the subject. I then realized that CRT in and of itself means different things to different people. To history teachers like me, also a liberal, it means laying the facts of history out and teaching in the Socratic method, when possible, how to critically evaluate those facts and evaluate their impact on society.

        To others, teaching critical race theory carries the scary connotation of giving their children sufficient skills and critical thinking to possibly change their mind about the biases and bigotry they've been taught at home. This puts the educator in the position of having to critically evaluate how they present information. For me it was simple, primarily because I already taught by the Socratic method. Obviously, this is not new. In fact, the parables attributed to Jesus (many of which are actually Buddhist tradition), are exactly the Socratic method in action. First the story, then the question, such as “Who was truly this man's neighbor? Like modern educators, Socrates was criticized for teaching his students to think critically and evaluate based on facts and ultimately forced to drink hemlock and commit suicide. Fortunately, Socrates prize student Plato and, in turn, his prized student Aristotle, carried on the tradition of critical and analytical thought hundreds of years before Jesus was even born.

 

        I said that to say this: it is possible without throwing around trigger words like CRT to change the way people, especially students, think by simply teaching them to think in the first place. Before we ever heard of CRT, schoolboards in places like Kansas and Oklahoma were lamenting the inclusion of critical thinking skills into Common Core standards. It was almost as if they understood that teaching their kids to think rationally and critically might make them reevaluate what they've been sent to school believing, because they've been taught it at home. Many various religious observers have the same fear of the critical evaluation of dogma

        Much of what far too many Americans believe seems to stem from some mystical belief that everything we as a nation have ever done has been perfect, or at least better than anyone else has ever done. Of course, the corollary to that is that any other point of view is (insert trigger word here) Commie, Socialist, Liberal, etc.

         One of the differences when critical race theory is involved is that we forget, sometimes, that immigrants from central Europe and the Mediterranean were treated with significant bias and prejudice simply because of their origins or beliefs. At one point simply being Catholic and Irish was cause for such things as the Bible riots 0f 1844 in Philadelphia. The only “crime” of Irish immigrants was that they were Catholic, generally poor and in the mid-19th century, even considered as “non-white” in some circles. But, to the stolid Protestant nativists of Philadelphia, they were also Catholic and coming over in large quantities and that threatened their status quo as dominant ethnic group in the city. Quaker and pacifist, William Penn. would have been mortified. Anti-immigration/nativist Philadelphians killed a significant number of Irish before peace was restored, but as late as the late 1850s, many New York Times want ads contained the phrase “Irish need not apply”. Later, Italians were treated little better. Of course, both ethnic groups were quick to discriminate against Blacks, principally because discrimination based on pigmentation was so ingrained in the land of the “free”. The difference in pigmentation meant that, if so desired, a second- generation immigrant Caucasian could fit in because they looked like any other Caucasian. This removed the instant perceived stigma of skin tone.

        Historically, Blacks are not the only group to be blatantly socially disadvantaged based on color. This is another reason some fear CRT – because it may bring up formerly poorly known unpleasantness. Take Asians, for example. The case of The People vs Hall, an 1854 California case is instructive. A Chinese miner was shot by a White man (Hall) in front of three witnesses, also Chinese. The relatively new California code already stated that: “No Black, or Mulatto person, or Indian shall be allowed to give evidence in favor of, or against a White man.” On appeal to the State Supreme Court, two of the three justices allowed Mr. Hall to go free, writing, in part:  “The anomalous spectacle of a distinct people, living in our community, recognizing no laws of this State, except through necessity, bringing with them their prejudices and national feuds, in which they indulge in open violation of law; whose mendacity is proverbial; a race of people whom nature has marked as inferior, and who are incapable of progress or intellectual development beyond a certain point, as their history has shown; differing in language, opinions, color, and physical conformation; between whom and ourselves nature has placed an impassable difference, is now presented, and for them are claims, not only the right to swear away the life of a citizen, but the further privilege of participating with us in administering the affairs of our Government” 

        This anti-Asian sentiment recurred nationally in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and again, in 1942, on an even grander scale in the Internment and confiscation of property of American citizens of Japanese ancestry. Without any actual cause other than wartime hysteria and prejudice. German Americans were, of course, being white, spared such treatment, as pigmentation was the Golden ticket.

        Native Americans (I’m going to use “Indians” for brevity, But I actually prefer the term “First Nations” which Canada uses) have fought the same biases since 1607, when Jamestown was established. Their apparent crime in Virginia, and then later in Massachusetts and the rest of British North America, was being in the way. In New England, Indians fared a bit worse because of the religious fervor of the Pilgrims, themselves fleeing religious persecution, only to dish it out to the Wampanoags and other regional tribes. In fact, the first actual “Thanksgiving,” proclaimed in 1637, was an event announced by the governor of Massachusetts to celebrate the massacre of several hundred Native people from the Pequot tribe.

        An example of the way Indians were regarded even if Christian, was the Gnadenhutten massacre, where in 1782, a group of militiamen from Pennsylvania killed 96 Christianized (Moravian pacifist) Delaware Indians, illustrating their growing contempt for native people. The converted Delawares, who had been falsely blamed for attacks on white settlements, were ordered to go to the cooper (barrel maker’s) shop two at a time, where militiamen beat them to death with wooden mallets and hatchets.

        Later, at Fort Utah, Governor (actually de facto dictator) Brigham Young issued an order to exterminate the Timpanogos in Utah Valley. The Mormon militia approached the Timpanogos, telling them that they were friendly. The militia proceeded to line them up and execute them. Dozens of Timpanogos women and children were enslaved. Other examples of unprovoked armed brutality against Indians are too numerous to mention, but the curious reader might look up the Sand Creek, Washita, and Wounded Knee Massacres.

        In all, U.S. government would go on to authorize over 1,500 wars, attacks, and raids on Indians, the most of any country in the world against its Indigenous people. Not included as “attacks” is the systematic planned extinction of the Plains Indians’ primary food source, the American bison. By the close of the Indian Wars in the late 19th century, fewer than 238,000 Indigenous people remained, a precipitous decline from the estimated five million to 15 million living in North America when Columbus arrived in 1492. As an aside, every single treaty ever enacted between the native Americans and the US government has been broken by the government. Of course. Indians were even darker skinned than most Asians,

        I do not have the room to begin to describe all the atrocities committed against Black Americans, by US citizens and by their government. The distinct difference between Black Americans and other non-Caucasians is the fact that, for Indians, slavery, as such, was relatively limited and situational, while it was the raison d’etre for the involuntary forced immigration of Blacks to this continent. Black Slavery was initially based on the European assumption of the supposed innate inferiority of the Black man, compounded by greed and the lure of cheap labor, facilitated by the willingness of a small minority of Africans to sell their own into servitude. It was compounded by the early silence of the Church on the subject. Unlike most other forms of this vile traffic, Race, and by race, I mean pigmentation, not social position, or national identity, was the sole determinate.

        While the Government and a somewhat more enlightened portion of the populace have made efforts (and strides) in chipping at the wall of bias which still disproportionately hampers Black Americans, there are far too many who, through ignorance and familial tradition, see the bad old days as the nostalgic past. They, and to a lesser extent immigrant Hispanics, have become the external focus of much of the internal self-loathing of the MAGA crowd, who see an America where we are truly equal as brothers and sisters as threatening to their own misplaced sense of racial superiority. The fear of change compounded in many cases by religious extremism, eats at these folks like acid, so they oppose such initiatives as teaching CRT or critical thinking.

        Fortunately for those of us who know better, CRT is simply an acronym for what good teachers have done for years. And finally, in the interest of candid disclosure: as in any other movement, there is a danger of extremism which can cripple the achievable effort of more organized practitioners. The individual who hates an entire group because of the actions of some of its members is less effective than they might be otherwise. And that statement is operative in both directions. Telling an impressionable student that they are responsible for the condition of others they have never met, assumes, without proof, that the student has been fed a diet of racism and bigotry at home. While this certainly can be true, it is far from a universal condition, as some militant CRT advocates proclaim.   

        To posit that, as is stands today, America still struggles with racism, is undeniable. To further state that all Caucasians   are responsible for that sad state of affairs is hypothesis, conjecture without fact and not universally valid. In a succinct nutshell, institutional racism has affected every ethnic minority in America to some degree. Perhaps examining the mistakes and evils of the past with an eye to non-repetition is more valid than “paying the blame forward.”

        As for as the crippling effects of racism: “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.” 

                     Mark Twain