January 30, 2023

"Declaring Emergencies and Banning ‘Latinx’: First Acts for 9 New Governors."

A NYT article by Maggie Astor. 

From the list of Democrats:
Wes Moore... the first Black governor of Maryland... issued an executive order to establish the Maryland Department of Service and Civic Innovation. One thing it could oversee would be a program he suggested to let high school graduates do a paid year of community service....
Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania/Through an executive order, Governor Shapiro opened the vast majority of jobs in the state government — 92 percent of them — to people without four-year college degrees.

From the list of Republicans: 

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Arkansas Governor Sanders banned the word “Latinx,” a gender-neutral alternative to Latina or Latino, from state documents, calling it “ethnically insensitive and pejorative.” (The term’s increasing usage has been a subject of right-wing mockery, but most Hispanic Americans reject it and the broader debate over it does not fall solely along liberal-conservative lines.) She also signed an executive order forbidding public schools to teach critical race theory, an academic concept that is not generally taught before college but that conservatives often use as shorthand for a wide range of teaching about racial injustice....

I'm impressed that the NYT writer was relatively fair and accurate about what it means to "teach critical race theory." The left approach to talking about this issue tends to be to stop after noting that the theory isn't taught to grade schoolers. Yes, you could go into way more detail about what part of the "a wide range of teaching about racial injustice" poses a problem for conservatives, but — speaking of shorthand — this is shorthand. Good enough. 

44 comments:

Mr. Majestyk said...

I hate the editorializing whenever the MSM describes the policies of Republican politicians.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Who came up with the word "Latinx"?

Probably a white women... of the progressive persuasion.

Sebastian said...

""a wide range of teaching about racial injustice" poses a problem for conservatives"

If the wide range disparages the US as such, pretends to explain black disadvantage as a consequence of racism, and ignores the emancipation and (Loury's) development narratives, that poses a problem for conservatives. But a narrower range of teaching about racial justice, showing the historic outrages committed by Democrats, the role of Republicans in vanquishing the worst racial oppression, the unique way the U.S. overcame slavery, the relative advantages blacks have had in the U.S. compared to black populations anywhere else does not pose a problem for conservatives.

hawkeyedjb said...

One presumes that lawyers, doctors and engineers will still need degrees to work for the state of Pennsylvania, but for the vast majority of occupations it may not make sense. I see that a "Liquor Enforcement Officer Trainee" is paid about $80-90,000 per annum. Nice salary, and I don't see what college degree would fit that job. My experience as an underage drinker probably makes me a good candidate.

rhhardin said...

High schools aren't universities, so there's no presumption that anything can be said that the speaker thinks is true. They're paid to teach what they're paid to teach or they're gone. If it's government paying, then there are viewpoint restrictions with regard to religion and probably other things.

Mike Sylwester said...

What would Maggie Astor say if Governor Huckabee had banned the expression "the Latinx"?

0_0 said...

So the teachers bragging about how they are teaching CRT in violation of rules against it are not teaching CRT?

Patrick said...

Of those you mentioned, Shapiro had the best idea. Seems it would also benefit Republicans to do that - make college degrees less valuable and by generating more conversation about why they are required for so many jobs.

Breezy said...

These are all good ideas and represent real-time adjustments based on poor results in our recent past.

The highlighted shorthanded comment is not fair nor accurate, though.

hawkeyedjb said...

I wish more governors would take on occupational licensing. The absurdities are myriad - like hundreds of hours of "training" to learn to blow-dry hair. But such efforts would have to confront the power of the incumbents in the licensed jobs, and that gets into campaign donations and the political power of trade schools.

Mr Wibble said...

Seems it would also benefit Republicans to do that - make college degrees less valuable and by generating more conversation about why they are required for so many jobs.

Many on the right have been arguing for that very thing for years. The problem is that the GOP establishment seems to either not care, or they are actively hostile because they like the credentialism as a means of gatekeeping.

Iman said...

Anytime you can hear a Democrat Governor regale all with his/her/it/shim’s/their plans or priorities and said plans don’t include spending the state into bankruptcy, it’s a relief.

At least until they do. It’s their nature.

Yancey Ward said...

Shapiro's main idea as stated is to be supported, in my opinion. However, he really doesn't go far enough- he should also get rid of the promotion/degree ladder, too. Too many bureaucracies give promotions simply based on the garnering of another degree, often paid for by the bureaucracy itself in both corporate and government systems. However, I am quite certain that Shapiro's intent is to remove both the educational bar and the quality/merit bar at the same time. In other words, Pennyslvania's government is about to become not only only less credentialed, but also less competent.

alfromchgo said...

Maryland: indentured servitude with a helping of indoctrination?

BUMBLE BEE said...

What comes after CRT? Can't let that rage go to waste.

wildswan said...

Dem Plan: "One thing it could oversee would be a program he suggested to let high school graduates do a paid year of community service"

This would be a year of working on Dem campaigns. A year of working in prolife would never qualify. So, no, not a good idea, just good words to hide a bad idea.

Michael K said...

When even Democrats recognize that a college "education" has no merit for job qualification, colleges should start paying attention. I do agree that this includes a rejection of merit in hiring, though.

Darkisland said...

Good.

L****x should be banned everywhere. It is nothing less than an attempt at cultural genocide on the part of the person using it. When it is used, it should be elided similar to the way we treat n****r, s**c or p**k c**p

People using it, even ironically should always be called out as racist.

John Henry

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

CRT isn't about teaching the history of slavery... it's about keeping everyone in a state of anger and rage and segregation between skin color and race.
It's perpetual Soviet rage indoctrination.

Kate said...

The Dem govs sound like they're attempting to solve real world problems. The Rep sounds like show and grievance. Is that from the slant of the article or Althouse's selections?

I fear the GOP only learned how to fight back from Trump without learning how to also innovate.

Joe Smith said...

Maryland...yeah!, another government department.

Go, government!

MadTownGuy said...

"I'm impressed that the NYT writer was relatively fair and accurate about what it means to "teach critical race theory." The left approach to talking about this issue tends to be to stop after noting that the theory isn't taught to grade schoolers."

Not fair, not accurate. Here in PA, the curriculum summary doesn't say "critical race theory", but in the text it addresses systemic racism which is a tenet of CRT. And anecdotally, parents who caught what the teachers were saying during remote learning heard and saw CRT being taught. So yes, it absolutely is being taught, and their claim that it isn't being taught is a lie

MadTownGuy said...

How can the state of PA hire new employees who haven't received a proper college indoctrination? Oh, the horror!

MadTownGuy said...

More PA news from our wonderful new governor: no more battle reenactments in the state. Besides Gettysburg, there's a facility not far from us for reenactments of the Great War a/k/a WWI. Regulators gonna regulate.

Matt said...

I dislike the word ‘Latinx’ but as a first act as governor it’s odd. As if she was voted in by voters to stop an evolving language. Sure, officially the term won’t be used but I think it ups the ante for other governors to now push for its use.

Also, yes, conservatives definitely confuse the teaching of racial injustice with CRT. If you teach history without racial injustice then you’re teaching mythology. It’s baked into American history. Let’s acknowledge that. It doesn’t mean teaching hatred for white slave owners who became presidents but it does mean grabbling with the complexity of history. Kids can handle it.

n.n said...

LatinX embraces the transhumane model to deny sex and sex-correlated gender.

Critical Racists' Theory (CRT) presumes diversity [dogma] (i.e. color judgment, class-based bigotry that has been established through progressive policy under DIE (Diversity,Inequity,Exclusion) and celebrated in liberal society to deny individual dignity, individual conscience, intrinsic value, and normalize color blocs (e.g. "people of color"), color quotas, and affirmative discrimination.

n.n said...

let high school graduates do a paid year of community service

Religious emolument in lieu of charity and covert compensation for progressive prices and availability through shared responsibility.

Real American said...

It's not fair at all unless "racial injustice" isn't the loaded term that it is. Most people would agree that slavery and segregation constitute forms of "racial injustice" but CRT begins with the premises that America and all white people are racist and every single racial disparity today is a result of white racism. It is assumed and thus never needs to be proven. To question it at all is racist!

CRT teaches that white people today ought to feel guilty for the actions of every bad white person ever and that black people (who need not do that) today are oppressed and nothing can ever change that - every single facet of our lives is controlled by white racism, and that we must radically transform society to make up for the past, which can never change, and thus whatever we do will never be enough. It's fucking garbage.

Pretending that conservatives' problem with CRT is that it "teaches history" is more leftist bullshit. CRT is leftist propaganda. A fair journalistic treatment would, at least, use the word "alleged" or "what leftists claim is" before "racial injustice." A more fair treatment would refer to it as an "anti-white conspiracy theory" rather than merely an "academic theory."

It's not as if we're all talking about the same thing here. "Racial injustice" as a generic term necessarily includes compelled DEI training, racial quotas, and affirmative action programs that discriminate by race, but there's no way in hell that's what's being referenced. The objection to CRT isn't that public schools have classes called CRT - that's another strawman. It's that CRT is a theory of race that is infused into the curriculum, including math and hard sciences. It's brainwashing, not teaching, and the media could do a minimum amount of homework to accurately describe it but won't b/c they're partisan hacks.

n.n said...

Critical Racist's Theory (CRT) teaches racial injustice under the Twilight faith, Pro-Choice ethical religion, liberal ideology, directed by mortal gods and experts in the not so novel modern model.

Diversity of individuals, minority of one. #HateLovesAbortion

gilbar said...

Here's a Serious Question..
Does Anyone know ANYONE that is
Hispanic..
Latino..
Spanish..
Mexican..
Puerto Rican..
South American..
i don't, Latin..
That WANT'S to be called L*****x?
for that matter..
Does Anyone know ANYONE that is
Hispanic..
Latino..
Spanish..
Mexican..
Puerto Rican..
South American..
i don't, Latin..
That Isn't OFFENDED, to be called L*****x?

I don't. Of course, i only closely know Two hispanic sorta people
1) Maria, a worker at the Biowarfare labs in Ames
2) Leah, a cosmetologist in Casper.

If you asked Maria what she is; she'd say a Harley rider. If you asked her where she's from;
she'd proudly say Puerto Rico,, and that she is an AMERICAN.

If you asked Leah what she is; She'd say she's Wyomingite. If you asked her where she's from;
she proudly say Wyoming, and that she's a Gun Owner*

Gun Owner* yeah, Leah owns a Harley TOO, but i don't think it's as important to her as her gun collections

Freeman Hunt said...

"The term’s increasing usage has been a subject of right-wing mockery, *but* most Hispanic Americans reject it and the broader debate over it does not fall solely along liberal-conservative lines."

Shouldn't that "but" be "and?"

Freeman Hunt said...

"a wide range of teaching about racial injustice"

I disagree that it's good enough even for shorthand. Conservatives don't object to teaching about actual racial injustice. It's the theoretical, unfalsifiable claims of CRT that they object to.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Enh, the real problem with "Latinx" is that it isn't just an assault on a word, but on a language -- many languages, in fact. People who use "Latinx" are essentially saying that any language with gendered nouns is illegitimate. Which is most of them, with English the biggest exception. "American [or maybe Brit] Exceptionalism"?

Freeman Hunt said...

I live in a town that's about 40% Hispanic. Using the word "Latinx" is equivalent to saying, "I don't know any Hispanic people."

Darkisland said...

Not me, Gilbar.

And 90% of the people I speak with most days are Puerto Rican. And we generally speak Spanish. Except wife, kids and grandkids. They speak Spanish everywhere else, we speak mostly English to keep them bilingual.

John Henry

Doug said...

Good move, Shapiro. Devaluing college degrees (as he has just done) means the higher education bubble will burst that much sooner. Can't wait to see all the thumbsuckers with gender studies degrees weep bitter tears when their "degree programs" disappear.

Milwaukie guy said...

My two besty Hispanic buddies, a Mexican and a Puerto Rican, are incensed about Latinx, denying the masculino and feminino. Cultural imperialism by Anglos! Is it pronounced like the x in Xavier or the one in Xochimilco? They blame white university women.

Funny, my PhD 3/4-Euro BIPOC daughter uses Latinx, even though she is muy fluido in the lingo.

Milwaukie Guy
[now in the WVa panhandle]

PM said...

Latinx is just another 're-education' demand.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Milwaukie guy (are you in OR? The WI one is of course "Milwaukee"),

I've always presumed that it was "Latin-equis." That's how a Spanish-speaker would most likely deal with it. But since the people advocating this are seldom actual speakers of Spanish, for them it's probably "La-TEEN-ecks."

Milwaukie guy said...

Was in Milwaukie, Peoples Republic of Oregon, until 3 weeks ago. We say our spelling is better Algonquin.

Seamus said...

Who came up with the word "Latinx"?

Some pendejx.

Leora said...

Sarah Sanders is the first women governor of Arkansas but we couldn't mention that.

Bunkypotatohead said...

Two years ago I left MD for AR and it seems I traded up, governor wise.

Sabinal said...

two words missing - accreditation upcreep

THAT is why some of the most basic jobs required degrees. When you have lots of people with lots of basic knowledge and few jobs HR picks the best ones. Changing the requirement won't change anything. That $90,000 job is not going to Sam fresh from high school. More likely it will go to Shapiro's friends with degrees. The opening of jobs without a degree is just a cover and a conservative form of virtue signaling. Nothing is going to change.

also, a lot of you really don't care about the jobs/degree connection because of employment. Many of you think that fewer college degree=less liberals. YOU and your kids will have degrees because of "reasons"

and don't give me that BS about $100,000 plumbers and electricians. I live in the real working-class world. Unless you own the business and have been working since 20 you are not going to see 100k. If you make $50,000 you're doing great.