Commentary

In Oregon, a bastion of leftist thought, the Department of Education is promoting a course titled, “A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction: Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction.”  No joke.

“White supremacy culture infiltrates math classrooms in every day teacher actions,” according to the course description. “Coupled with the beliefs that underlie these actions, they perpetuate educational harm on Black, Latinx and multilingual students, denying them full access to the world of mathematics.”

We are led to believe that “the concept of mathematics being purely objective is unequivocally false, and teaching it is even much less so, upholding the idea that there are always right and wrong answers perpetuate objectivity as well as fear of open conflict.

“If we want to dismantle racism, then we must build a movement for economic justice.”  And if we argue that point, we will be labeled as “racist.” 

THAT DIDN’T TAKE LONG, even though President Biden’s executive order addresses a “whole of government initiative” in federal departments and agencies.  He has directed Susan Rice, his domestic policy advisor, to help address racial equity.

“We have a chance now to give the marginalized, the demonized, the isolated, and the oppressed (who are these people?) a full share of the American dream,” said Biden.  “We have the chance to rip the roots of systemic racism out of this country.”

I am reminded of a Tweet by columnist Jon Gabriel recently recalled by PJ Media: “My favorite part about the Obama era is all the racial healing.”

Hoover Institution fellow, Shelby Steele, said, “when people start to talk about systemic racism built into the system, what they’re really doing is expanding the territory of entitlement.

“It’s a corruption, because the truth of the matter is, blacks have never been less oppressed than they are today.  Opportunity is around every corner.  Activists in this case rarely make time for self-reflection.” – Shelby Steele

“The phrase – systemic racism -incoherently describes a society that is so little racist that no one can respectably advocate racism,” noted Harvard professor Harvey Mansfield recently.  “The paradox of a racist society without racists.”

One has to wonder how systemic racism became an issue when USA Today finds it necessary to publish a story on it, and begins its lead paragraph with, “is there even such a thing as systemic racism,” citing that “the idea makes no sense.”

                                                 Nothing New Here

Along with the left’s practice of taking the minority vote for granted, they have been telling us that protecting the integrity of the vote with voter-IDs is simply out of the question because minorities are too ignorant to obtain one.  Thus, they would be disenfranchised.  Insulting.

Biden’s climate advisor Gina McCarthy would have us believe that minorities, more than others, are victims of climate change.  Bogus.

Last week, Elvia Diaz, the lightweight opinion writer with the left-leaning Arizona Republic, wrote, “Just as suspected, white people in Arizona are disproportionately snatching up the Covid-19 vaccine, though minorities are hit hardest with the novel coronavirus.” 

To which, Craig Pratt of Tempe, Arizona responded in a letter to the editor saying, “on advice from the Center for Disease Control, prioritizing health care workers, first responders and educators … ‘newsflash’… health care workers, first responders and teachers are disproportionately white.

“Making up phony racial injustices out of thin air using cherry-picked statistics does nothing to grow awareness, nor does it change hearts and minds,” Pratt added.

“Equity” is in and “Equality” is Out

Remember when the left spouted the need for “equality?”  “’Equity’ has now come to mean the functional opposite of ‘equality’,” according to the New York Post.

“Equality means the equal treatment of all citizens; equal protection under the law.  Equity means treating Americans unequally to ensure that outcomes are equalized.  The word “equity,” according to the Post, appears in the executive order, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, while the word “equality” does not appear at all.

Now we are going to see how the Biden administration interprets the meaning of “fair” and “just,” because “equity” is now to mean consistent and systematic fair, just and impartial treatment of individuals, the Post reports.

“Equality” differs from “equity” in that it relates more to sameness and equal distribution, notes Merriam-Webster.  In society, equal treatment does not always produce an equitable result.

Frankly, I see the word switch as unnecessary wordsmithing, that I doubt Biden could explain.

                       May God continue to bless the United States of America.