After a Jewish lawmaker's impassioned speech, Wyoming's conservative legislature rejects CRT ban

[Behind the Aegis]

After a Jewish lawmaker’s impassioned speech, Wyoming’s conservative legislature rejects critical race theory ban

It seemed a slam dunk: The popular conservative cause of banning “critical race theory” in schools, being taken up for a vote in one of the country’s most lopsidedly conservative legislatures.

Then a Democrat, one of just seven in the 60-member Wyoming legislature, stood up Thursday and said he could not support the bill because he was Jewish.

“In this bill, page 9, line 19 states, ‘The teaching of history must be neutral, without judgment,'” state Rep. Andy Schwartz said during debate. “Now, how can that be possible? If I were a Native American, I doubt I could accept the neutral, judgment-free approach about the relocation, the decimation of the Indigenous population. If I were a Black American, I doubt I could accept a neutral, judgment-free approach on the enslavement of millions of Americans.

“But I’m Jewish, and I cannot accept a neutral judgment-free approach on the murder of 6 million Jews in World War Two.”

more...

[elias7]

1. 'A Jewish man who refuses to learn about the holocaust in a neutral manner'

Great news, though with opposition like the statement by one of his fellow reps, it does seem amazing what we’re up against. One state at a time, I guess…

[2naSalit]

2. That's pretty amazing, really...

That they even listened to him in the first place.

[Delphinus]

14. Isn't it?

I'm trying to think if we have any Jewish elected officials here in Indiana that might take that on in the same way.

And at the same time, I'm flummoxed by the fact it had to come to this. They are not listening, then, to women, indigenous, black, brown, and yellow.

[2naSalit]

16. My personal speculation on this...

Is that Wyoming is high in LDS population and they somehow consider themselves some lost tribe of Jews so their taking his claims to heart may be based on that.

[PatSeg]

3. K&R

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Neutral History strips morality from human judgment

It makes war as good as peace, death as good as life, violence as good as calm. WTF? Ain't no Christian values or any moral values in that view of the past.

[erronis]

5. Agree. War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength

The slogans of the Ministry Of Truth are the same as those of the current repuglicons.

[ewagner]

9. Bravo! Well stated. n/t

[secondwind]

6. K&R

[Hav]

7. Bravo

It's so snowflaky and it minimizes atrocities of the past to demand that there shouldn't be any judgment on them.
History can and should be uncomfortable at times if it helps to prevent making the same mistakes again. For example, that is one of the reasons why the Nazi era and Holocaust play such an important part in the education for children in Germany over several school years.

[Lonestarblue]

8. Another phrase from the full article struck me.

Opponents of CRT say that they are preventing the “corrosive effects of teaching racial equity.” Racial equity would seem to me to be a desirable goal, but Republicans clearly see racial equity as teaching that other races are equal to white people and thus they are not superior. Yeah—that’s why it needs to be taught. Duh.

Teachers need to turn these laws on their heads by curriculum plans to parents saying that the settlement of the West will not be taught because it would make Native American students uncomfortable to learn about the genocide of their people. Likewise, the building of the transcontinental railroad will not be taught because the descendants of the Chinese laborers imported to help build it would feel discomfort yo learn of their work conditions. And then of course it cannot be taught that Texas fought to separate from Mexico because of slavery. The history of the Underground Railroad cannot be taught because if white masters were so benevolent, why were the slaves risking their lives to run from them? That those masters were evil might make a few snowflake kids uncomfortable.

We can’t teach the Vietnam War because descendants of those who escaped Vietnam, especially from villages burned by the US Army, would feel uncomfortable.

Many aspects of our history should make students uncomfortable. They make me uncomfortable. We really need the message that these laws are nothing more than white supremacy being taught as history.

[LastDemocratInSC]

10. And given that white supremacy has caused so much misery

and calamity and death in this nation and around the world, not teaching about its effects allows it to fester and propagate further. It's not a neutral approach.

[maxsolomon]

22. I wonder how many of the legislators proposing these laws have been in Anti-Racism workshops?

Believe me, you feel mighty uncomfortable when you realize you're part of systemic Racism. I was just in my 4th such training, and you get pretty distressing realizations.

But I've never felt that way reading or being taught any History. It's not a threat for history to show Slavery is bad, Prejudice is bad. Its a morally obvious fact.

[sop]

27. I don't think CRT bans are intended to protect victims of historical atrocities from discomfort,

rather they're to protect the perpetrators from being forced to confront their own responsibility.

CRT opponents argue they don't want their children to feel guilty for evil perpetrated by their own ancestors, claiming they are not responsible for these past injustices. While it's true that being the child of a monster doesn’t make you a monster, perpetuating the monstrosity does. The only way to prevent history from repeating is to teach it all, even the uncomfortable parts.

[mrsadm]

11. This is such a great thing...

I wish the same impassioned speech could be said at every meeting in every state -- and hopefully with the same results!

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Quite Surprised

Pleasantly so.
I wouldn't have expected Wyoming to take this step.

[bullwinkle428]

13. My question - will there be one legislator as courageous as Rep. Schwartz in

every one of these red states considering similar bills? I sincerely hope so.

[JudyM]

18. That, or give Rep. Schwartz a national podium. If he's a compelling speaker, we can certainly use

his gifts on the national stage. Something got through.

[crickets]

15. Well done, Rep. Andy Schwartz. Thank you. K&R

[keithbvadu2]

17. When both sides have to be taught

https://crooksandliars.com/2021/10/texas-southlake-teachers-holocaust

TX Teachers Ordered To Teach The GOOD Things About The Holocaust Too!

An offshoot of the CRT law in Texas

-----------------

What good things?

Remember Trump's supporters marching in Charlottesville threatening Jews with reminders of the ovens.

[electric_blue68]

28. The GOOD???!!! things about the Holocaust? Yikes! 😔

[LetMyPeopleVote]

19. Thank you for posting this

This is from the article cited in OP

One of Schwartz’s Democratic colleagues suggested on Twitter that his speech moved votes against the bill.

“The House just defeated a bill that would have banned critical race theory in schools after a powerful speech by Representative Schwartz, a Jewish man who refuses to learn about the Holocaust in a neutral manner,” Rep. Karlee Provenza said.

Conservatives nationwide are seeking to ban “critical race theory,” once a term legal scholars used to define the structural effects of racism, and now an ill-defined cudgel aimed at what its opponents say are the corrosive effects of teaching racial equity. The contradiction between its banning and advancing Holocaust education — something many Republicans and conservatives favor — has played out in multiple state legislatures. Additionally, educators in multiple places have been told that the Holocaust, like other topics, must be presented in a neutral manner.

[wryter2000]

20. I'm surprised they listened to him

More Republicans with a conscience than I thought existed.

[keithbvadu2]

21. from today's toons - erasing history?

[Behind the Aegis]

23. Well if that cartoon doesn't sum it up perfectly!

Good find!

[world wide wally]

24. Why do Nazis keep referring to everyone who opposes them as "Nazis"?

[Behind the Aegis]

25. Projectionism

[GB_RN]

26. Glad To See That Some Of These Clowns Could Be Shamed...

There is NO neutral view of the Holocaust, the enslavement of Blacks in the US, the slaughter and continual marginalization of Native Americans, etc. If you aren't horrified by these lessons, there's something wrong with you. If you're afraid of these lessons being taught from the proper, historical (judgmental) perspective, then you're likely one of the people who'd have participated in those atrocities at the time.

[electric_blue68]

29. Yeah, really.

[orleans]

30. good for those who voted to reject the crt ban

the last sentence in the article says:

Additionally, educators in multiple places have been told that the Holocaust, like other topics, must be presented in a neutral manner.

this really struck me--how the hell is anyone supposed to do that?
(a "neutral manner?" really? like educators should remove their heart first then give it a try? what absolute insanity!)

[mountain grammy]

31. I read this early this morning

and thought about it all day. Thank you for posting. This is an important story. That Wyoming republicans can actually think for themselves. Good on them.

and a big thank you to Rep. Andy Schwartz.

[ancianita]

32. It's called morality politics, not identity politics.

There is no ideological substitute for morality politics.

[Qutzupalotl]

33. Yes. Morality politics unites.

Identity politics divides, splinters, and ultimately shrinks your base.

I hope Democrats will get more comfortable speaking in moral terms. If you think something is wrong, say so. You'll be surprised at how many will agree.

[AZProgressive]

35. Even if you point out something is wrong

They will dismiss it as “identity politics” for example if you point out racism or misogyny. I’m a Bernie supporter but railing against “identity politics” was common especially in the primary against Hillary Clinton.

To me “identity politics” is a confusing term especially when used by a leftist. I remember a right winger define it and she was very clear in what she meant and it was very racist.

I trust Barbara Smith’s definition and she endorsed Bernie despite all the leftists railing against “identity politics”.

Barbara Smith reveals the true meaning of Identity politics.

If you want to know the real definition of identity politics, don’t expect to get it from a bad leftist podcast, a right-wing reactionary, or opportunists who believe that it’s another way of saying “representation.” Instead, ask the black feminists of the Combahee River Collective who coined the phrase in the 1970s to articulate a specific political ideology.

In a recent New Yorker column, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor did just that, talking to Barbara Smith, a C.R.C. member who also founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press and became a city council member in Albany, New York, about the continued relevance of the C.R.C. and black feminist socialism.

Taylor asked Smith what identity politics meant to the C.R.C., and her response reveals just how much the phrase has morphed beyond its initial objective.

Smith told me, “By ‘identity politics,’ we meant simply this: we have a right as Black women in the nineteen-seventies to formulate our own political agendas.” She went on, “We don’t have to leave out the fact that we are women, we do not have to leave out the fact that we are Black. We don’t have to do white feminism, we don’t have to do patriarchal Black nationalism—we don’t have to do those things. We can obviously create a politics that is absolutely aligned with our own experiences as Black women—in other words, with our identities. That’s what we meant by ‘identity politics,’ that we have a right. And, trust me, very few people agreed that we did have that right in the nineteen-seventies. So we asserted it anyway.”

https://jezebel.com/barbara-smith-shares-the-real-meaning-of-identity-polit-1844443249

What is weird especially after the 2 primaries is people who weren’t Bernie supporters suddenly rail against “identity politics” ever since he was eliminated.

[ancianita]

36. Dismiss their stupid "identity politics" term. Rewrite their script.

Tell them they are making crap up, that identity politics was part of the Lee Atwater Southern Strategy as part of Republican politics back in the 90's -- it's been the Republican politics of personal attack and character assassination for decades. Decades.

INFORM them that you practice "morality politics."

End the weirdness. Clear up the muddled history about this label and remember --

Every single positive change of language coming from the right got forced upon it by the Left. But when people forget who started phrases like "identity politics" and "defund the police," it takes a while; with persistance, Democrats end up framing the political issues better and longer than Republicans do.

[Qutzupalotl]

38. The right and middle see our focus on identity

and don't see a place for themselves, so they gravitate to the “white” party. That's what I meant about shrinking your base; even if unintentional, it can drive people away who don't fit in a particular bucket. On the other hand, morality is broadly appealing across all demographic groups.

Thank you for the informative post. But I think if we have to go back 50 years to get a good definition, the term is probably too loaded now. For the record, I supported Bernie in 2016 because I liked his policy goals. I supported Biden in 2020 because we could not risk defeat.

[AZProgressive]

39. It is hard to say where many Bernie supporters were

As far as right left middle. I would say the ones that complained about identity politics leaned right wing on social issues but almost all were progressive on economic issues but they often missed that there is racism in economics. Redlining is a great example of this.

I do know there has been a white backlash to this country ever since Obama is elected and this is where their feelings so this where losing power and not having a place feelings come from. The left often stands up to bigoted attacks from the right wing which are frequent. The Republicans platform is basically white grievance identity politics but that is rarely acknowledged outside of here when identity politics conversations come up.

I think Sanders would have won because he appealed to wide section from black feminists like Barbara Smith to Joe Rogan. He could appeal to the high school educated population in ways other Democrats can not. Also young voters and Hispanics would have carried him over the edge in the general elections which he did well with those demographics in the primary.

Anyways I often ran into brick walls because I don’t think the constant complaining of identity politics from Bernie supporters helped him. I think it was more effective strategy to show how the candidate is better on issues such as racism, misogyny, etc

[soldierant]

34. Can we clone him? Or at the very least send him on a tour

of 50 State Legislatures to speak?

Not that all 50 would need him as desperately as Wyoming, but it wouldn't hurt.

[peggysue2]

37. That must have been some speech!

Because the majority of Republican held legislatures are simply rubber-stamping these ridiculous anti-CRT bills despite calls to refrain from outlawing something that isn't even taught in high schools. Maybe it's the insertion of specifics that made these lawmakers blink. Or perhaps, Andy Schwartz was surprisingly able to penetrate the GOP's Hive Mind on the issue.

Whatever he said or the way he said it should be looked at carefully, line by line. Because he pricked the shield of indecency on the matter.