The all-white school board voted 5-2 to stop offering Black history and literature courses.
The all-white school board voted 5-2 to stop offering Black history and literature courses.
A Missouri school board that previously voted to rescind an anti-discrimination resolution has voted in favor of removing elective Black history and literature classes.
The seven-member Francis Howell School Board voted 5-2 Thursday night to stop offering Black History and Black Literature courses, which had been offered at the district’s three high schools since 2021, KSDK reported. All seven members of the board are white.
“Our students really wanted these electives,” Harry Harris, whose son is a student in the district, said during the board meeting. “Our families really wanted them and our teachers really wanted them. It’s important. It’s been great.”
In July, the conservative-led board revoked an anti-racism resolution that had been passed in 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd.
I got $5 betting Francis Howell Families has a common conservative donor with Moms For Liberty.
I like how they revoked an anti-racism:
The resolution, which made a pledge to “speak firmly against any racism, discrimination, and senseless violence against people regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, immigration status, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or ability,” was removed from school buildings.
Francis Howell Families is a champion and benefactor for racism, discrimination, and especially senseless violence against everyone for any and every reason. If that weren't true, why would they revoke the resolution?
A mission statement is a statement of purpose. Their mission statement is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". That has not changed
"Don't be evil" was their motto. It was replaced with "Do the right thing", and "Don't be evil" was moved to the last line of the Code of Conduct.
I'm reminded of a guy I knew (who wasn't even white!) that had a sort of "racism is over" attitude. I was like, "Ok, let's look at one very specific part of racism in the US. Do you know what redlining is?" He did not. I explained it, and generational wealth transfer. Then he was like, "Oh. Yeah, I guess that would still have an effect today." Made a big crack in his world view with one twenty minute talk.
Of course conservative shitheads don't want this stuff taught. They don't want that kind of eye opening happening all over the place.
Unfortunately what gets considered as "The South" is actually anywhere in the country more than ~30 minutes outside of any Metropolitan area. It's not North VS South, it's urban v rural, and Big Ag dropped a fuck load of money a long time ago to ensure land votes harder than people.
As someone who somewhat recently moved to California, it was shocking to see how conservative anywhere outside of urban areas is. Like California is seen as this haven of progressiveness, but that's only because we have two of the biggest cities in the country.
The political and military leadership of the Confederacy should have been executed, the statehood of traitor states should have been stripped, and the whole region placed under martial law with military governors appointed. That's how Reconstruction should have went. I don't think there was ever the will to do that to "fellow Americans" though. Especially on behalf of people that, at the time, were still largely considered "less than," even in the Union.
It's a bummer. This is the district I went to high school in, and it was a fantastic district while I was there. It had its issues but I got a great education.
It's truly depressing to see this kind of mentality take hold in my community. Sadly I live in a different school district now so I couldn't have even voted against these board members, but I definitely had to vote down my fair share of people just like them in my local district.
Man you just really hate to see it. I hope this inspires a reaction that will ultimately oust these people before they can do irreparable damage.
I'm with you, it's really disappointing seeing it get this bad. It feels like Missouri has been trying it's hardest to catch up to Texas and Florida, in fighting the culture war. Example: one of the Republican candidates for governor wants to get rid of the state's department of education.
Growing up in Indiana, they didn't teach black history, and I turned out just fine except for not knowing about Jim Crow or the Tuskegee syphilis experiment or redlining or the Tulsa race massacre or Ruby Bridges, or lynching, or Malcolm X or the Black Panther movement or the MOVE bombing or...