How many local schools hired Ibram X. Kendi to speak?

[Anonymous]

I personally love Kenji’s recipes. Best of the best. I’d be thrilled if our school brought him in.

[Anonymous]

Our school still talks about antiracsim. I wish they would stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did any local school have him come in person? My child’s college had him come via zoom, no idea what that cost. Holton did have faculty and students read one of his books but there was no huge cost to that. I’ve read a few and his ideas make for great discussions so don’t think it was a waste of time. The reader doesn’t not need to take it all as fact, just another viewpoint to add to the discussion.

Only if our kids want to get canceled.

Oh your poor children. What victims they are.

Yes, they are. My Asian kids have been horribly treated by this garbage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did any local school have him come in person? My child’s college had him come via zoom, no idea what that cost. Holton did have faculty and students read one of his books but there was no huge cost to that. I’ve read a few and his ideas make for great discussions so don’t think it was a waste of time. The reader doesn’t not need to take it all as fact, just another viewpoint to add to the discussion.

Only if our kids want to get canceled.

Oh your poor children. What victims they are.

Yes, they are. My Asian kids have been horribly treated by this garbage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our school still talks about antiracsim. I wish they would stop.

I know it goes against the racism I teach at home. Parents should control their kids education!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did any local school have him come in person? My child’s college had him come via zoom, no idea what that cost. Holton did have faculty and students read one of his books but there was no huge cost to that. I’ve read a few and his ideas make for great discussions so don’t think it was a waste of time. The reader doesn’t not need to take it all as fact, just another viewpoint to add to the discussion.

Only if our kids want to get canceled.

Oh your poor children. What victims they are.

Yes, they are. My Asian kids have been horribly treated by this garbage.

So if I were MAGA this is the part I would tell you to go back to China. But sure DEI is the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school still talks about antiracsim. I wish they would stop.

I know it goes against the racism I teach at home. Parents should control their kids education!

Not sure if you are a troll or a simpleton. Antitacism is a fraudulent and divisive “theory” for white liberals who are at once self-congratulatory and self-hating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And how much did they pay him? Sidwell did, and recommended his book. Will there be any sort of mea culpa from the administrators who thought it was a good idea to force our kids to listen to him?
https://www.bu.edu/articles/2023/bu-launches-inquiry-into-center-for-antiracist-research/

I’m confused. This article talks about how the school is looking into his restructuring of his center from a grants-seeking organization to a fellowship-based model, resulting in layoffs of more than half the staff (19 people). It says nothing against his views or book, in fact all the quotes from BU admin specifically recognize the importance of his views and vision and say they look forward to continuing to work with him. How do you se this article as some kind of indictment that would require a mea culpa from schools that read his book or had him speak?

+1

OP sounds racist to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I want answers for is why so many public and private schools threw money at him to come speak for an hour instead of using that money for actual DEI projects. It stinks of performative celebrity-chasing non-work to impress an audience that isn't even impressed by it. Nobody is more inspired to pay tuition because Kendi came to speak.

None of this is a complaint about his work or ideas, which can be debated separately. There are many amazingly contributive people that aren't woth $20K for an hour zoom call.

This is my issue. I don't really have a problem with schools reading his book as long as it's not the only book they are reading on these issues. I think especially at the HS level, it's valuable for kids to develop a nuanced understanding of racism and inequity issues and the current thinking on the topic, and Kendi's scholarship is definitely a major part of that.

But paid speeches are rarely worth the high costs for very in-demand speakers. No shade to Kendi, but no one's speech is solving racism or inequity issues at any school, and I am certain he knows that. It is a waste of money for schools and absolutely more about looking like they care without actually doing anything. I also think for POC at the school, both students and staff, there is somewhat limited value in a speaker like Kendi. Normally I would say that more black speakers on campus is good for representation, but I'd rather see representation efforts spread across all programming and invited speakers, on all topics, rather than channelling so much money to a single, well-known black speaker coming to speak specifically on racism. For a black student, it would be more valuable to simply see more black professionals among invited guests generally, on many topics, not only on equity issues.

But in terms of grifters who emerged from the BLM movement to sell ideas to schools and corporations, I don't consider Kendi in that group. But he still costs too much as a speaker given the likely value of his speech to a school. Let tech companies and banks shell out for his speeches if they want. There are far better ways for schools to improve on DEI issues, and better ways to spend money on behalf of the community and specifically on diversity/racism concerns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school still talks about antiracsim. I wish they would stop.

I know it goes against the racism I teach at home. Parents should control their kids education!

Not sure if you are a troll or a simpleton. Antitacism is a fraudulent and divisive “theory” for white liberals who are at once self-congratulatory and self-hating.

I’m someone who isn’t scared of ideas. I’d say go cower in the corner but you’re more likely to call in a bomb threat.

[Anonymous]

Kendi drew a huge amount of attention to a concept that was largely ignored before and a lot of people learned from it - that doesn't mean its perfect or that his should be the only voice or that you have to agree with him, but the idea that he is out there to attack and hurt white people as a race is really silly if you look at anything he actually says or writes. I also thought the 1776 project was thought provoking and opened a perspective that many of us had never seen. I truly don't understand why this is so threatening to so many people except that they don't like having to confront the way their own mind has glossed over some ugly truths of our collective past. My heritage is Irish and my husband's is English - do you think teaching our kids about English colonization of Ireland is teaching the kids to hate their Dad? Get a grip

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did any local school have him come in person? My child’s college had him come via zoom, no idea what that cost. Holton did have faculty and students read one of his books but there was no huge cost to that. I’ve read a few and his ideas make for great discussions so don’t think it was a waste of time. The reader doesn’t not need to take it all as fact, just another viewpoint to add to the discussion.

Only if our kids want to get canceled.

Oh your poor children. What victims they are.

Yes, they are. My Asian kids have been horribly treated by this garbage.

So if I were MAGA this is the part I would tell you to go back to China. But sure DEI is the problem.

No MAGA person has ever told me that. But it didn’t bother you! Fascinating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school still talks about antiracsim. I wish they would stop.

I know it goes against the racism I teach at home. Parents should control their kids education!

Not sure if you are a troll or a simpleton. Antitacism is a fraudulent and divisive “theory” for white liberals who are at once self-congratulatory and self-hating.

I’m someone who isn’t scared of ideas. I’d say go cower in the corner but you’re more likely to call in a bomb threat.

I’m not scared of ideas. Rather, I think his ideas are not very good, and thus, I find it mildly annoying when they are held up as something we should all embrace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kendi drew a huge amount of attention to a concept that was largely ignored before and a lot of people learned from it - that doesn't mean its perfect or that his should be the only voice or that you have to agree with him, but the idea that he is out there to attack and hurt white people as a race is really silly if you look at anything he actually says or writes. I also thought the 1776 project was thought provoking and opened a perspective that many of us had never seen. I truly don't understand why this is so threatening to so many people except that they don't like having to confront the way their own mind has glossed over some ugly truths of our collective past. My heritage is Irish and my husband's is English - do you think teaching our kids about English colonization of Ireland is teaching the kids to hate their Dad? Get a grip

And that St Patrick was enslaved!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school still talks about antiracsim. I wish they would stop.

I know it goes against the racism I teach at home. Parents should control their kids education!

Not sure if you are a troll or a simpleton. Antitacism is a fraudulent and divisive “theory” for white liberals who are at once self-congratulatory and self-hating.

I’m someone who isn’t scared of ideas. I’d say go cower in the corner but you’re more likely to call in a bomb threat.

I’m not scared of ideas. Rather, I think his ideas are not very good, and thus, I find it mildly annoying when they are held up as something we should all embrace.

+1000

Students are NOT learning to critically think or parse OpEds at all if they’re being taught that OpEds are proven facts.

I dont think half the high schools can tell an OpEd from a work of nonfiction any longer.

And whatever happened to Attack the Premises!?! A bunch of faulty premises slapped together to generate a personal theory is NOT what I want in schools.