Clueless in Seattle: Cultural Racism Defined

The Seattle Public School District put out a mind-boggling definition of "cultural racism" seeking to promote a multicultural agenda. Yes, this effort was engendered by an aptly-named political commissar named Caprice Hollins, Psy D.[sic] who is Director of "Equity and Race Relations" of the Seattle School System.

Cultural Racism:

Those aspects of society that overtly and covertly attribute value and normality to white people and Whiteness, and devalue, stereotype, and label people of color as "other", different, less than, or render them invisible. Examples of these norms include defining white skin tones as nude or flesh colored, having a future time orientation, emphasizing individualism as opposed to a more collective ideology, defining one form of English as standard, and identifying only Whites as great writers or composers.

Ace Schoolteacher Betsy Newmark has the appropriate reaction:

See, only white people can be racist so every definition centers around them.

What is having a "future time orientation?" Is that implying that only white people plan ahead, meet deadlines, save for retirement? The mind boggles.

And why is individualism racist? Why do we need a "more collective ideology?" Do they know anything about American history? Or is that too racist for them? Do they have any idea of the ideals on which this country was founded? Or would that be racist because those were white men? Collective ideology is not the foundation of our country.

And why is English no longer have a standard form? Can you imagine what this means for their curriculum in English in Seattle? Can teachers correct students' grammar anymore? Are spelling rules just a construct of the white overclass?

One of Caprice's sentences may demonstrate why she is dead-set against grammar:

It is our hope that we can explore the work of leading scholars in the areas of race and social justice issues to help us understand the dynamics and realities of how racism permeate [sic] throughout our society and use their knowledge to help us create meaningful change.

Orwell said somewhere that the rapidly-advancing decadence of our age derives from the debasement of language. If you link to Betsy and the other commentators, such as Volokh, we have more than debasement of language to worry about.

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