Amazon distributed hundreds of copies of Ibram X. Kendi’s ‘antiracism’ book to a Virginia public school district as part of an effort to promote black authors after initially offering to provide Kindles and other equipment.
The Washington Free Beacon reported that emails between Amazon and Arlington Public Schools shows the company spent $5,000 to distribute hundreds of copies of Kendi’s book “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You.”
Amazon initially reached out to the school district offering to purchase Kindles and other equipment as part of Arlington’s “NeighborGood” program, designed to donate $100,000 to schools and institutions that “empower black voices and serve black communities.” Arron Gregory, director of diversity and inclusion for Arlington Public Schools, however, requested copies of Kendi’s book instead. Amazon then donated more than 500 copies of the book to Wakefield High School and spent an additional $10,000 to have Jason Reynolds, Kendi’s coauthor, speak to students.
More from the Free Beacon:
Asra Nomani, vice president of Parents Defending Education, the watchdog group that obtained the emails through a public records request, called Amazon’s prioritization of “antiracism” efforts during a pandemic “shortsighted” in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon.
“Instead of donating Kindles and hot spots to students in Arlington Public Schools, Amazon chose to spread the controversial ideology of critical race theory,” Nomani said. “The shortsighted decisions during a pandemic, with so many students vulnerable, reflect the national crisis of school districts circumventing parents to indoctrinate students—in this case, with the help of corporate America.”
As the Free Beacon noted, this was one of Amazon’s many Black History Month initiatives, which included scholarships for black students, featuring black-owned businesses on the company’s Launchpad, and promoting black artists on Amazon Prime.
The initiatives were marred, however, after Amazon removed a highly rated documentary about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. That documentary can now be viewed on The Daily Wire.
Amazon’s donation of Kendi’s books came with a study guide that explained the book “debunks the myths of several master narrative themes,” including the idea that “America is a meritocracy” and that “truth and justice (or law and order) should be valued.”
Arlington Public Schools is no stranger to push for so-called antiracism. Last year, teachers were required to join equity training, which taught them to create an “actively antiracist learning environment.”
While that doesn’t sound so bad on its own, an email from Arlington superintendent Francisco Duran to parents following the conviction of Derek Chauvin in the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd made clear the direction the school intended for the training, as the email pointed to left-wing resources from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
While Arlington schools was asking for “antiracism” books, it was also giving in to teachers unions who refused to allow children back into the classroom, even though study after study has shown that schools are safe.
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And it all came to a head at Tuesday’s meeting, which featured high security — state troopers and county sheriff’s deputies — due to death threats against school board members, WRC reported.
What happened?
A huge crowd of parents at the meeting — furious over critical race theory and policies surrounding transgender students — held up signs saying "We the parents stand up" and "Education not indoctrination," the station said, adding that they also chanted and even sang the national anthem.
Image source: WRC-TV video screenshot
Former state Sen. Richard Black said the board got angry and shut down public comment after he blasted members over their controversial policies:
The LCPS shut down the public input after the audience erupted in applause at the end of my speech. Hundreds of pa… https://t.co/3RMID2yLmQ
— Senator Dick Black (@SenRichardBlack) 1624407443.0
Black did not mince words: "You retaliated against Tanner Cross by yanking him from teaching for addressing a public hearing of this board. The judge ordered you to reinstate Mr. Cross because if his comments were not protected speech, then free speech does not exist at all. It’s absurd and immoral for teachers to call boys ‘girls’ and girls ‘boys.’ You’re making teachers lie to students, and even kids know that it’s wrong. This board has a dark history of suppressing free speech. They caught you red-handed with an enemies list to punish opponents of Critical Race Theory. You’re teaching children to hate others because of their skin color, and you’re forcing them to lie about other kids’ gender. I am disgusted by your bigotry and your depravity."
Black’s microphone was cut just before his last words, and the crowd began cheering.
The board unanimously voted to shut down the meeting after repeatedly issuing warnings about decorum and disruptions, WRC said, adding that parents chanted "Shame on you!" and raised their middle fingers.
Nearly 260 people had signed up to speak at the meeting, the station added.
But a school district spokesperson said "the meeting has degenerated" as the board shut it down and ordered people to leave, WRC said.
More from the station:
One man was "acting disorderly and displayed aggressive behavior towards another attendee," the sheriff’s office said in a statement. A deputy intervened and the man continued to be disorderly. Deputies tried to take him into custody and he resisted arrest, the sheriff’s office said. The man, whose name was not immediately released, was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Another man received a summons for trespassing after school officials asked those in attendance to clear the room, the sheriff’s office said.
A third person received a minor injury, officials said, without releasing details.
Image source: WRC-TV video screenshot
What did a pair of parents have to say?
A pair of parents told Fox News that fewer than half of those registered to speak actually got a chance to do so, and they both ripped the board.
Amy Jahr told the cable network that it was a "school board meeting on steroids."
"[They were] silencing us every time you tried to speak," she told Fox News. "You try to write emails, they don’t answer us. It erupted, and emotions were high tonight, for sure."
Ian Prior added to the cable network that leftists will not prevail.
"They can keep trying, they can keep busing people in or holding rallies outside, but we are not going to stop," he noted to Fox News. "This is the wokest school board in America, and it’s also is the worst school board in America, and we are not going to stop until we get a seat at the table."
What did the board chair have to say?
School Board Chair Brenda Sheridan afterward told WRC the board stands with LGBTQ students during Pride Month and will continue to work to make schools equitable.
"We will not back down from fighting for the rights of our students and continuing our focus on equity," she added to the station. "We will continue to work toward making Virginia, specifically Loudoun, the best place to raise a family."
Sheridan also called for a halt to "politically motivated antics" and said "loud voices aiming to make our schools a political battleground will not silence the work for our students," WRC said.
The district has denied repeatedly that critical race theory is being taught in its schools, WJLA-TV reported.
Transgender parent speaks out
Transgender parent Cris Candice Tuck has attended several meetings, WJLA noted.
"At the end of the day, we’re very hopeful that the school board is going to continue to do what’s right for our students, protect transgender students," Tuck said.
Image source: WRC-TV video screenshot
Tuck in an interview with WRC also seemed disturbed by parents’ "violent" behavior at the meeting, saying "they were standing on chairs and throwing things, and we had to go in and … escort" attendees from the meeting room.
WJLA said the board is set to reconvene Aug. 10 regarding issues discussed Tuesday.
On June 22 the Loudoun County School Board voted on policies regarding the treatment of transgender students and critical race theory — achool board meeting that drew crowds of concerned parents on one hand and left-wing activists on the other. All along the medians and sidewalks there were different flags and signs advocating each side’s message. The far-left group had posters and yard signs that read “gay rights are human rights,” while the opposing side’s read “Loudoun County’s Worst Nightmare: Educated Parents.”
Many different organizations gathered in adjacent parking lots, including Family Foundation of Virginia, Virginia Education Association, The Radiance Foundation and members of Glenn Youngkin’s campaign team. There were tents set up for both sides and obvious tension between the two, although the real action didn’t occur until the meeting came to an end.
The protesters gathered around 2:15pm, with doors opening around 3:30pm. The meeting only lasted until around 5:50pm before the board voted to shut down the meeting and police declared an "unlawful assembly." A few of the frustrated parents were even arrested.
The individuals advocating against Critical Race Theory and allowing children to pick their genders had American flags set up around their tents and played the National Anthem while waiting for the meeting to begin. They also invited speakers including Fairfax county lawyer Cathy Ruse, the executive director of Fight for Our Schools, Ian Prior, and co-founder of The Radiance Foundation, Ryan Bomberger.
Ruse spoke at the opening of the rally and called out the school board for using “taxpayer money to indoctrinate children.” She emphasized that “my children are worth fighting for harder than they fight to destroy them.”
Prior told Laura Ingraham during an interview that he believes many of the left-wing protestors were brought in on busses.
They can keep trying, they can keep bussing people in or holding rallies outside, but we are not going to stop. This is the wokest school board in America, and it’s also is the worst school board in America, and we are not going to stop until we get a seat at the table.
The leftist group in support of the proposed policies had gay and trans-pride flags scattered across the parking lot and grassy areas. Protesters could be seen with rainbow masks and most were wearing purple clothing (which they use to represent fluidity between genders). While talking to some of the crowd about where they were from it became obvious that very few of them actually had students in the school system. One Loudoun County public school alumni explained that he did not have any children but he was there because “pronouns make all the difference” and recognizing someone’s “identity” could “save their life.”
There was even a bus displaying the message “Recall Beth Barts,” a left-wing school board member. When the bus pulled up, one of the trans advocates began screaming “I love Beth” at the top of her lungs. When no one joined her she quickly stopped.
Loudoun County was obviously not expecting the parents to have so many supporters, if the lefties made up the majority you can bet the meeting wouldn’t have been forced to end so soon.
Some journalists live in an alternate universe where, despite the facts and daily evidence, they continue to deny the truth of a corrupt liberal media. You can’t escape this arrogant talking point, not even while shopping at Costco. CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell appeared on the cover of the June Costco Connection, the free magazine for Costco members.
Turning reality upside down, O’Donnell falsely insisted, “We are a fact-based, neutral broadcast that relies on the support and trust of our audience, no matter their political beliefs or ideology.” Later she boasted that her goal is to “be the most trusted woman in news.”
Huffing at, presumably, Fox News, the journalist derided:
Some channels out there are interested in affirmation. We’re interested in information. My job is to make sure that people trust that I’m a fair journalist. I may ask tough questions, but they are fair questions.
O’Donnell is anything but “fair,” “neutral” and “fact-based.” Here’s a few of her attacks on conservatives and Republicans from the MRC archives: She lobbied Chuck Schumer to “stop” Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court
“We know that if Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed, this will shift the balance of power on the Supreme Court for decades to come. Republicans control the majority. Is there anything you can do to stop this nomination?”
— Co-anchor Norah O’Donnell’s question to Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer as aired on CBS This Morning, July 10, 2018.
Here’s how she talked to Marco Rubio in 2013:
“Senator, you have been called ‘the Republican savior.’ Yesterday, you voted against the Violence Against Women Act. You’ve opposed repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ You opposed universal background checks for gun buyers. You’ve yet to introduce a bill on immigration reform. Is that the future of the Republican Party?”
— Co-host Norah O’Donnell to Marco Rubio on CBS This Morning, February 13, 2013.
Here’s how she gushed over “Uncle Joe” Biden:
“He’s [Joe Biden] really talking about the core values of this nation are at stake. I mean, he comes with a wealth of background and to take him on are what, essentially are issues like character….But apart from these [endorsements], this is Uncle Joe. You know? Regular Joe from Scranton, Pennsylvania and the rust belt states and the white working class voters that Democrats lost in the last election.”
— Co-host Norah O’Donnell on CBS This Morning, April 25, 2019.
“You always remember the person….that comes to your family member or friend’s funeral or calls you. And that’s what a lot of people say about Joe Biden, is that he’s that first person who calls and shows up at a family member’s funeral.”
— Co-host Norah O’Donnell on CBS This Morning, April 4, 2019.
Fair? Neutral? We don’t know what world Norah O’Donnell lives in, but it’s not the reality of America in 2021.
See below to read a partial transcript from the June Costco Connection issue. Click "expand" to read more.
Costco Connection: We are bombarded from so many different, and oftentimes unverified, media sources and sites. What role do you see yourself playing?
Norah O’Donnell: I think this makes CBS Evening News more important than ever. We are a fact-based, neutral broadcast that relies on the support and trust of our audience, no matter their political beliefs or ideology. That’s why everyone from Congressman Steve Scalise, who is one of the most conservative members in the U.S. House of Representatives, to President Joe Biden, has done interviews with me.
Some channels out there are interested in affirmation. We’re interested in information. My job is to make sure that people trust that I’m a fair journalist. I may ask tough questions, but they are fair questions.
CC How do you gain the public’s trust when so many out there seem distrustful of the mainstream media in general?
NO Well, one of the things I think we have to be careful about is remembering that the media is a vast landscape, right? We are broadcast journalists, which is a segment of the media. I think labeling the entire media as one thing is probably not fair to all the different members that make up larger media. Those of us that are on broadcast networks have a certain responsibility, which is to keep to the facts. This is why so many people still trust broadcast news.
Walter Cronkite famously said that "journalism is what we need to make democracy work." I do believe that an informed electorate is at the heart of a functioning democracy. Journalism is in the service of an informed electorate, and that’s what we do on the CBS Evening News. We hold people in business, science, politics, and those who have enormous amounts of power, accountable. That’s why we do investigative pieces, exposing either corruption or abuse, and at the same time, we do stories that highlight the good things people do.
I sit in the chair once held by Cronkite, who was the most trusted man in news. I hope to be the most trusted woman in news.
Overnight it was reported that in Georgia a ‘box’ of ballots was unsealed and opened up by the Secretary of State’s office in Georgia. This was after district judge ordered Raffensperger to not touch the ballots in Fulton County :
After several Fulton County, Ga., poll monitors testified last year that boxes of mail-in ballots for Joe Biden looked liked they’d been run through a photocopy machine, state investigators quietly broke the seal on one suspicious box and inspected the hundreds of votes it contained for signs of fraud, RealClearInvestigations has learned exclusively.
On Wedesday morning radio host John Fredericks joined Steve Bannon on The War Room to discuss this explosive development.
John Fredericks accused Secretary of State Raffensperger of breaking the law!
John Fredericks: Allegedly, they sent someone in against the judge’s order to unseal a batch of ballots that was in Susie Voyle’s affidavits. To go check on them to see if what she was saying was accurate… This is a violation of law. That’s got to be looked into. When did they go there? How many did they look at? What law did they break?… They called in Susie Voyles and tried to intimidate her. They tried repeatedly to get her to recant her statement. She said I can’t recant my statement, it’s a signed affidavit. If I recant my statement I break the law… What she said was true.
NEW YORK — If there was a growing mental health crisis before 2020, a new study finds the coronavirus pandemic may have sent it spiraling out of control. Half of Americans feel they lost complete control of their lives during the last year.
A survey of 2,000 people reveals 47 percent feel helpless, while 44 percent say they hit their lowest emotional point within the last year. Since last March, Americans report struggling more with anxiety (42%), depression (37%), and loneliness (31%) than ever before.
Loudoun County is in the news again with its last school board meeting of the year on Tuesday. Elicia Brand, a Loudoun County parent, forwarded to UncoverDC a whistleblower document and the phone number of a local candidate for Congress, Paul Lott, who is also fighting a similar battle in Prince William County.
Brand plans to present to the school board both the whistleblower documents and the text from a recent partisan (Democrat) House bill, HB1904, filed in January in Virginia. The bill seems to be slipping Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the schools via “cultural competency training.” Parents in the county have been fighting for months to ban CRT from the curriculum. Brand and the other parents had no idea the law was passed in February.
Cultural competency training is usually code for CRT training. Specifically, the language for the training was added to a current statute, “Standard 5—Quality of Classroom Instruction and Education Leadership.” The training is required at least every two years.
Amendment to Statute
Lott explained that instead of using straight curriculum and materials to implement CRT, the schools are training the teachers to be purveyors of the attitudes and mindset of the CRT curriculum—“and not calling it CRT.”
Alarmingly, the training is required to obtain licensure or renew licensure. Several teachers have sent anonymous emails indicating not only are they required to participate, but they face tremendous peer pressure and backlash if they dare question the training framework. A teacher who does not cooperate with the training will see it reflected in their yearly evaluation. It is a top-down mandate to think and teach from a particular point of view that is then associated with penalties for not towing the party line.
HB1904 licensure requirements/cultural literacyCultural Literacy Training for Teachers/Prince William County
UncoverDC spoke with Paul Lott, who is currently running for Congress in Virginia. The bio on his website indicates he is no stranger to racism and the attendant barriers:
Paul Lott For Congress
“My parents were part of the Great Migration of Black Americans who came North in the 1950s to find better jobs and make a future outside of the South. They met, married, and had eight children together. I lived in the Deep South and Midwest from the 1960s to the late 1970s. I lived racism. I know what racism looks like. And, what pains America today is not caused by racism, systemic or otherwise. So, the question is, what evidence is there that poor race relations are preventing school systems from delivering education, and how can introducing aspects of Critical Race Theory, or other race-based ideologies, enable children to learn better? School systems need to justify their actions by showing that race is a significant factor in determining education quality for Black and minority students.”
Lott is concerned about the law, set to go into effect this coming school year. He disagrees with laws that mandate teacher training or curricula that focus on CRT. He says it promotes “division” instead of addressing what he believes to be the real problem—”systemic illiteracy.”
The rollout of the law this summer prompted a “Care Lead Facilitator” teacher to contact Lott via email. Care Lead Facilitators are charged with disseminating material associated with the equity training and then, according to Lott, “retraining the framework of the way teachers think.”
The Care Lead told Lott that the training is a work-around to quietly insert Critical Race Theory in the schools without directly introducing the materials and books associated with it—possibly a sneaky way to avoid conflict cropping up at school board meetings all over the country.
Lott paraphrased the conversation with the teacher. The schools are training teachers in the concept of racism and “then using it against them to squash opposition…anyone questioning the prescribed definition of racism in a training session is immediately attacked and intimidated.” In other words, no discussion or the free exchange of ideas is allowed in the training. An excerpt of the email from the teacher is quoted below:
“I can tell you many in (Prince William County School District) PWCS don’t agree with this. We hate going to meetings where we are pitted against each other to talk about this. Many of the administration with principals don’t want to push this training on staff, particularly after the brutal year of teaching virtual and hybrid.
Featured below are just some of the documents forwarded by the Care Lead Facilitator that are now being used in the “Cultural Proficiency and Culturally Responsive Instruction” sessions for teaching staff in the Prince William Schools. The Level 1 “Onboarding” training is captured below:
Level 1 Equity Training/Onboarding/Prince William School DistrictLevel 1 Equity Training/Onboarding/Prince William School District/p. 2Level 1 Equity Training/Onboarding/Prince William School District/p. 3
It is difficult to conclude from the above documents that CRT will not be taught in some way, shape, or form in the schools there. Words like equity, institutional racism, Euro-centrism, gender identity are all words associated with the doctrine of the Critical Race Theory movement. Phrases like “racist beliefs and structures are pervasive in all aspects of our lives” are classic CRT speak.
It is not CRT but it really is/Loudoun County
Lott also explained that the state education website—Virginia is for Learners—headlines racism as its top priority for the public schools there. Their Equity Resources page is just one of several devoted to concepts associated with CRT.
Virginia is for Learners/State Website
The June 22 LCPS School Board Meeting
Those who attended Tuesday’s Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) school board meeting were spirited and, at times, quick-tempered. Both local parents and outside groups showed up in droves—259 attendees. Loudoun County school board member Beth Barts, who has previously organized activities to counter the parents protesting CRT, helped organize transportation designed to bus in outside groups to show up at the board meeting and a rally run by Ian Prior’sFight For Schools group on Tuesday afternoon. Her call to action was retweeted and led to this donation website.
Early in the meeting, Brand sent UncoverDC a video as the school board meeting was in progress. Apparently, transgender parents spoke first, and according to Brand, “A pro trans parent started with hate speech slamming people who are Christian. The room erupted. The Board walked out and would not call Hate speech.” Eventually, after a 5-minute recess, the board returned.
Brand and others were upset because of the double standard. On one hand, proponents of CRT were allowed to name call without repercussions, but if a parent from the Anti-CRT movement spoke disrespectfully, they were reprimanded or shut down.
However, toward the end of the public comment session, Brand sent UncoverDC another video. The footage below shows parents protesting the fact that the board members closed public comment, shut down the meeting, and then left. The parents who remained first loudly chanted, “Shame on You,” and then proceeded to sing the National Anthem—some are heard voicing a wish to be unified as “one united people.”
At least two people were arrested.
2 parents protesting against CRT and a transgender policy have just been arrested after a Loudoun County, Virginia school board meeting was declared an unlawful assembly. pic.twitter.com/0lKhZYG7Pw
— Pembrokeshire-Patriot (@DarrenEdmundso1) June 23, 2021
Image source: WRC-TV video screenshot
Image source: WRC-TV video screenshot
Image source: WRC-TV video screenshot
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