Black Lives Don’t Matter to the Teachers Unions
These are the words of Adrian Norman, yet another member of a Black conservative movement in America that is reaching a tipping point.
Published in Newsweek last month, and available on his website, Norman argues that if the teachers unions really cared about Black students, they would support school choice. What are they afraid of? He writes:
“You’d be hard-pressed to traverse the United States and find a public school teacher who does not support the Black Lives Matter movement. Recently, many of those teachers have come under fire for classroom instruction that includes what’s colloquially being termed, “critical race theory” (CRT).
It’s easy to understand the sentiment: Educators feel a sense of duty and responsibility to discuss the effects of racism with youth during those students’ formative years in order to try to impact culture. They might even enthusiastically tell you they’re doing it because they care deeply about black lives. And those efforts are supported by teachers unions that are working to implement CRT nationwide.
Yet, as debate and controversy heat up over CRT being taught in schools, the entire issue seems moot. Because, no matter how much race-based history is added to curricula, teachers unions remain stalwart opponents of the one concrete policy initiative that would all but guarantee greater success for black students: school choice.
We have data from around the country demonstrating the advancement made by black students when their parents are able to send them to schools of their choice.”
Black conservatives, as evidenced by the 60 individuals we’ve compiled profiles for in Winston84’s directory, are a diverse group ideologically and in their backgrounds and circumstances. Some, like Adrian Norman, are public intellectuals with access to national platforms like Newsweek to promote their message. Others, like the comedic Hodge Twins, remain alive and well on social media despite shadow bans and threats of deplatforming.
Across America, conservatives of color are becoming too numerous and too assertive to ignore. Ironically, it was Trump populism that aroused and enthused this movement. Trump’s supposed racism, an accusation without an basis in fact, did not scare away, but rather attracted both long-time conservatives of color, along with countless newcomers. This breakthrough cannot be stopped, and has just begun to be felt in American politics.
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