Avoiding Overreach As a Leader Based on Legislation

Context: Many institutions elect to implement changes to programming, personnel, curriculum, and offices that is not required by law.  To avoid this, we suggest creating a team consisting of a trusted academic expert from the social sciences and/or humanities, legal counsel, and the president or delegate to examine the language of inquiries and bills.

Language In Bills That Should be Considered by Academics, Leaders, and Counsel

Annotation of NC Bill, which was Built off of 2019 Trump Executive Order, TX, and FL Bills

Highlights indicate language to focus on in terms of refuting the premise of the bills.

• “The concepts listed in this subsection shall not be promoted in State government workplaces or included as part of any State employee training program:”
  
  • One race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex.
    
    • This is not taught in classrooms or trainings.
  • An individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive.
    
    • This is not taught in classrooms or trainings.
  • An individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race or sex.
    
    • This is the opposite of what is taught in classrooms and trainings.
  • An individual's moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex.
    
    • This would make no sense to teach in classrooms or trainings. It’s counter to what we are doing…
  • An individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex.
    
    • Response 1: We all bear responsibility in correcting the oppressions of the present which are predicated on those of the past. This is not limited to any groups of people. But some groups would like to pretend such responsibility is not theirs, and, often those people are those whose ancestors did commit problematic actions. The fact that someone feels bad, it is okay for them to feel badly, but it isn’t great for them to stay in guilt. We want people to act.
    • Response 2: This is not taught in classrooms or trainings; Thinkers like James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Sherman Alexi, etc. tell us that the past is always present, and we must work to reflect and improve on it.
    • Whiteness is a social construct and isn’t meant to focus on someone’s skin color.
  • Any individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress.
    
    • Agreed. But let us not confuse empathy with guilt, anguish, and distress.
    • Teaching and discussion are meant to facilitate learning. We are not teaching students to feel a particular way.
  • A meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist.
    
    • Focus on addressing that we don’t teach that something is “inherent”
  • The United States was created by members of a particular race or sex for the purpose of oppressing members of another race or sex.
    
    • Again, the purpose was not to oppress. But it was an outcome.
  • The United States government should be violently overthrown.
  • Particular character traits, values, moral or ethical codes, privileges, or beliefs should be ascribed to a race or sex or to an individual because of the individual's race or sex.
    
    • Agreed.
  • The rule of law does not exist, but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups.
    
    • Nobody states the rule of law does not exist. Rather, they state it is not innate to any society and is socially constructed. This is an inarguable fact.
  • All Americans are not created equal and are not endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
    
    • We will continue to teach that the social constructs that lead to power and oppression are in no way natural, but man-made. As a result, whatever the Creator is may indeed bestow a semblance of equality that is marred once a human enters into a socially constructed world. But in principle, we agree.
  • Governments should deny to any person within the government's jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.
    
    • Ok, agreed.