Today's P-I has a news article on the swirling controversy over the Seattle School District's bizarre definition of racism and the woman responsible for it, "Director of Equity and Race Relations" Caprice Hollins. The P-I's headline reiterates what I noted yesterday: "School district pulls Web site after examples of racism spark controversy". The original definition of racism is still in the google cache. And the statement that replaces it is just as appallingly un-American and racist as the original:
Our intention is not to ... continue to hold onto unsuccessful concepts such as a melting pot or colorblind mentality.If these people think that a colorblind mentality is somehow inimical to racial equality then they're at odds with an awful lot of people, including the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and his family --
School District spokesman Peter Daniels offered the P-I this nonsensical non-defense of the perverted definition of racism:
"It did not have enough context for people not working on this issue, and it was poorly written," Daniels said. "... It's about institutional racism, particularly in an educational setting. There are particular structures and practices in place that disadvantage other students who are not of the Caucasian or white majority.One wonders where Peter Daniels gets his information that non-whites are inherently disadvantaged in Seattle schools. As I've written many times before, the School District's own data show that the most successful ethnic blocs of students in Seattle public schools are not white, but east Asian.
The School District's initiative on "racism and equity" is itself a bunch of racist trash. At best it's a waste of money promoting an extremist ideology which is untethered from common sense or reality. At worst, it's divisive, destructive and a dangerous distraction from the School District's mission of academic achivement for all students. Dr. Caprice Hollins, the "Director of Equity and Race Relations", who is responsible for this sick garbage has done enough damage and should resign immediately . So too should any school official who thinks any of this idiocy is worth defending.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at June 02, 2006 10:23 AM | Email ThisI can assure you that he would be downright APPALLED at Ms.Hollins' attempt to install victim mentality and divisiveness into the kids and the entire school system. Enough of the madness! This woman has outed herself for what she is, now send her packing!
Posted by: Misty on June 2, 2006 10:43 AMOnly in the upside-down world of a progressive does more racism fix racism.
Posted by: Jeff B. on June 2, 2006 10:52 AMMoronity like that is why my children are NOT in the Seattle Skool system.
Posted by: Doug O. on June 2, 2006 10:58 AMJeff--
Truer words were never spoken.
You are the Bagwhan of Seattle Conservative Thinking!
Is not racist in the Seattle school system.
However teaching that western culture, ecomonic pratices, political systems, is superior is racist.
And they wonder why people with kids are moving to the burbs.
Posted by: JCM on June 2, 2006 11:37 AMHer doctorate is the from the California School of Professional Psychology which is said to have trained about half of all psychologists in California. CSPP has been acquired by "Alliant University" (www.alliant.edu/) and follow the links to academic programs, then psychology, then look for graduate program in clinical psychology and you'll end up on a page with CSPP written all over it. The program focus is "multicultural competence in psychology" and is accredited, says the web site, by the American Psychological Association.
An alleged student survey of views on CSPP is available online at
www.cspprofile.com/prod.html#SURVEY and, ironically, says CSPP is very racist. (Perhaps they have a "future time orientation"?) It is possible that these are selective quotes (they are very negative about CSPP and its programs).
This is all true. However, Caprice Hollins didn't just fall out of the sky, she was hired by a very deliberate process.
She isn't the problem. She's a symptom of the problem, which is the mindset of Seattle Public Schools. That, in turn, is a symptom of the greater problem which is the mindset of the Seattle voter. This would never happen in Bellevue or Tahoma school districts.
Posted by: South County on June 2, 2006 12:22 PMNice handfull of americans of Indian and Chinese ancestry. I'll bet they spend plenty of time planning ahead, as they soar on IQ tests.
I was pulling for the Indian guy, but heck, will have to settle for the girl from NJ.
Posted by: righton on June 2, 2006 12:55 PMMy wife worked at several Universites in California. This Alliant University group was not known for its academic rigor. However they were pretty good about getting student loans and grants.
Posted by: Huey on June 2, 2006 12:57 PMCaprice n. 1 A change of mind: whim. 2. A tendency to change one's mind suddenly or impulsively.
Posted by: K on June 2, 2006 01:16 PM"An outpouring of criticism forced Seattle Public Schools on Thursday to pull a Web site that viewed planning for the future, emphasizing individualism and defining standard English as examples of cultural racism."
You will notice that it dances it's way around the controversy and totally ignores the most objectionable aspect, as indicated in the first sentence of the website:
"Racism:
The systematic subordination of members of targeted racial groups who have relatively little social power in the United States (Blacks, Latino/as, Native Americans, and Asians), by the members of the agent racial group who have relatively more social power (Whites)."
Simple translation: Only whites can be racist.
Talk about burying the lede. The writer, Deberah Carlton Harrell, is spinning this in a way that amounts to damage control.
Yep, and only lefties who have been schooled in lilly white private schools believes that is true. There was far more overt racism by black people in my (public) high school.
Posted by: Palouse on June 2, 2006 01:45 PMHow much ya wanna bet that Deberah Calton Harrell (note the hyphenated last name) at least minored in Women Studies in college.
I'm surprised more people don't make the connection. "Social Justice" is the principal theme of Women Studies. In their stange world, white males are patriarchal brutes that oppress everyone else. It's incredibly paranoid, and advocates top-to-bottom social reconstructionism, regardless of the cost, regardless of the Constitution. Most people in government around here have been indoctrinated with this insane stuff.
You want to find the pure form of the thinking that Hollins carried into SPS? Go check out the curriculum in the UW Women Studies department.
Posted by: BananaLand on June 2, 2006 02:03 PMThen, they should remind their employees that quoting long passages directly from someone else's work without indicating that the words belong to that someone else is not nice. Merely citing a "source" is not the same as letting people know that you have copied, not paraphrased or summarized in your own words what someone else wrote.
Posted by: Micajah on June 2, 2006 03:03 PMHere is some additional information on Dr. Hollins:
She is apparently adjunct faculty at Mars Hill Graduate School up in Bothell. Mars Hill apparently "offers programs in four major areas:
* Counseling
* Theology & the Church
* Spiritual Direction
* Domestic Violence." (see for details.)
Here is her info as posted at MHGS:
----
Caprice Hollins, Psy.D.
B.A. Seattle University
M.A. California School of Professional Psychology
Psy.D. California School of Professional Psychology
(from )
----
So, she has a BA in...something...from Seattle U (a famous stronghold of progressive thought and culture), and then the MA and PsyD from that odd California school which may or may not be an accredited university. As a PsyD, I imagine there was no dissertation required, as there would probably be for a PhD.
But anyway--she apparently has two incomes--one from Mars Hill Graduate School, and one courtesy of Seattle Taxpayers. I wonder what her taxpayer salary is? Anybody find that, since it should be public record?
Posted by: pseudotsuga on June 2, 2006 04:15 PMI have no kids but am a Seattle taxpayer and am concerned about how much hard-earned money is being spent/squandered by people with bizarre agendas.
Posted by: Bob on June 2, 2006 04:25 PMYes, there is. Here is their central website:
http://www.horsesass.org/
Posted by: Erik on June 2, 2006 04:40 PMThis woman gives the appearance she is out of control and operates without oversight. Her own words documented in this video http://tinyurl.com/efpox leaves one questioning whether or not she is using her public position to deal with her own inner feelings.
The "retraction" bearing her name as signator is as distasteful as her other efforts - her generally known efforts. One should question what else lurks beneath any other projects she has been or is presently responsible for.
Kudos to "Adam's Dad" and Mr. Shrakansky. I believe that without their efforts this matter would have been yet another dose of pap dispensed upon caring local residents by those abusing their power and responsibility within the varied entities operating as a "government" within Seattle.
Hollins, and those responsible for oversight of her (if there is any), must be held accountable.
here are the goals:
The Goals of Seattle’s Race and Social Justice Initiative are:
· Assessing the impact of race on our organizational culture, policies, practices and procedures.
· Creating an organization free of institutionalized racism.
· Transforming our business practices by aligning our personnel and contracting activities with our race and social justice goals.
· Reducing racial disproportion in education, public safety, economic development, citizen engagement, public health and environment by increasing the relevance of City programs and services to our multi-cultural citizenry.
the definitions are the most offensive, here they are:
Race:
A Social Construct created by Europeans to advance the belief that white people are genetically superior(1). People attach significance to the concept of race and consider it a real and important division of humanity. As long as people believe that differences in selected physical traits are meaningful, they will act on those beliefs, thereby affecting their interrelations with others(2).
Biological Construct: Race is a population of humans classified on the basis of certain hereditary characteristics that differentiate them from other groups. Races are pigeonholes for categorizing human physical types(3).
Disproportionality:
When any group is represented in a phenomena in larger or smaller numbers than their representation in the general population. (e.g., Although 72% of drug users in the US are white/15% black, African Americans are arrested on drug charges at five times the rate of whites.)
Racism:
Principles and practices that lead naturally and inevitably to the differential treatment of members of various ethnic groups(4).
A system of advantage for white people
The systematic oppression of people of color
A belief in the supremacy of white people and the institutional power to enforce that belief
These are the references for the definitions:
1 Mismeasure of Man, Gould
2 Race and Ethnic Relations, Marger
3 Race and Ethnic Relations, Marger
4 Race and Ethnic Relations, Marger
You should read the reference material, it is something.
Posted by: hookr23 on June 2, 2006 09:04 PMA major cause of that racism, Hollins said, is the lesson children get early in life to not acknowledge differences -- don't stare, and don't ask why someone looks or acts different than you.
"There's no discussion around that, so our children grow up to learn that we don't talk about it. We don't talk about anything that is different," she said.
"So then we don't know how to talk about it. There are all these words out there, like 'racist' or 'bigot,' that people are afraid that someone might aim at them: 'I'm not going to say anything in case someone calls me a racist.' "
Can't really disagree with her last comment.
However, the definition on the Web site seems to be more interested in assigning blame on whites in a rather abstract way, rather than focusing on the educational woes that afflict the district. That seems counterproductive and not pragmatic. As a bi-racial person, I've witnessed racial stereotyping and bigotry by people of all colors, so I agree with previous posts that no one has a monopoly on racism. (By the way, according the P-I story Hollins is of mixed race background, her mother is white)
Individuality is not racist. Having a future time orientation, whatever the hell that means, is not racist.
There's plenty of other historical examples of racism that are rooted in fact not diversity hyperbole.
It's historical fact that black slavery and the mantra of Manifest Destiny were rooted in the belief that whites were superior to blacks and Native Americans. They were there to be exploited or removed because they were inconveniently in the way. Some whites, emphasis on some, clearly benefitted economically from racism. Free-market capitalism is great when it's truly about free markets. American history unfortunately is rife with examples of when discriminatory policies were enacted to specifically preventing minority groups from competing from whites. Frankly, I don't think that's good for anybody. How could Babe Ruth believe he was the best hitter of his time when Josh Gibson, who hit more than 900 home runs in the Negro Leagues, wasn't allowed to play in the big leagues because of the color line?
I believe class is a bigger issue than race in 2006, regardless of a kid's race. Poor white kids and poor minority kids in rural and urban districts lag behind suburban kids because they don't have the advantages the other kids have at home. Still, that and using racism as an excuse, doesn't let the schools off the hook. The Seattle Public Schools need leadership that's been lacking since John Stanford died to deal with the achievement gap.
Posted by: AD on June 3, 2006 12:38 AMCaprice Hollins is a pure unadulterated racist. She should be fired immediately, but her superiors are just as arrogant, venal, and mindfully destructive. Still, more people than not see through this bitch and her insanity.
More power to home schoolers and their efforts to ensure the future of our society. Who knows if it will be enough?
Posted by: Amused by liberals on June 3, 2006 10:09 PMYou would be quite correct and quite right.
Posted by: Amused by liberals on June 5, 2006 11:27 AMlike a broad spectrum antibiotic, used on all, and used continuously, diversity 'cures' will build 'resistant bugs' who are fed-up with the treated non-illness;
Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on June 6, 2006 10:25 AMOn one hand, Dr. Hollins and her ilk would have us acknowledge that the values of mainstream (White) American culture should not to be regarded as superior or any more normal than the values of minority cultures within America. I'm down with that; let's not make judgements about each other's cultures and value systems (axiologies). White is an ethinicity just like every other and not some neutral or default condition making everything else a deviation.
But, on the other hand, Dr. Hollins is all twisted up over the academic achievement gap and the discipline gap in Seattle Public Schools (and everywhere else in America).
This strikes me as a contradiction. If a culture doesn't value education or civil behavior as much as mainstream American culture does, we aren't supposed to make a value judgement about that. But when the members of those cultures don't show lower performance in standardized measures of academic achievement and higher discipline rates Dr. Hollins, and those who think as she does, can see no conclusion other than the existence of a racist system.
Why can't they conclude that these kids don't achieve as much or behave as orderly in school because they aren't as motivated to do so, they aren't supported or encouraged at home to do so, and all because their culture - a culture that is just as valid as any other - doesn't prize academic achievement and orderly behavior as much as mainstream American culture does? That's a much more obvious conclusion isn't it?
The primary determinant of a student's academic achievement is the active involvement in the student's education by an adult in the student's home. If you want to close the academic achievement gap in students you have to close the education support gap in families. But some families just don't value and respect education as much as others.
How can she say that all cultures are equally good, but be so angry about the natural outcome of some cultures? How can she not recognize the academic achievement gap as an artifact of cultural influences?
There are other cultures that prize education more highly than mainstream American culture. This is why Spectrum and APP are full of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Jewish students. Their academic achievement is a product of their culture.
There are other groups of students that have markedly lower discipline rates than Whites, why aren't we asking what we're doing right with them instead of always asking what we're doing wrong with African-American students?
The greatest discipline disparity is between boys and girls. Why doesn't Dr. Hollins conclude that this is a direct result of sexism against boys by a predominantly female school district staff that sees non-girl behavior as deviant, dangerous, and in need of correction?
I don't mind the idea of moving people away from enthnocentrism, but let's accept and celebrate the differences between cultures and not flagellate ourselves (well, whip the White people) over the differences in student performance that are the natural and direct result of these differences.
Posted by: Charlie Mas on June 6, 2006 10:57 AMCharlie Mas--excellent points; stop blaming others and 'the system' if your culture doesn't police itself and expect excellence from its own members; no one is forcing kids to play videos or cut school; clean your own house first;
Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on June 6, 2006 11:29 AMRegarding our American culture as superior, and more normal than the values of minority cultures within America is essential to our children’s success because pretending otherwise is a lie. Minorities are minorities because their culture is inferior and less normal because the majority of any culture defines its norms. Pretending otherwise is silly nonsense. Most importantly, white American Culture is one thing, children's racial identities are quite another. If we wish to continue to be a free society, we must make the very judgments about culture that Hollins repudiates.
Diversity is a social weakness, and unanimity strength. Caprice Hollins blurs children's recognition of moral distinctions to promote selective racism. Cultures are not equal and some are better than others. The best culture in the world is the American culture and that is why people from all around the world flock here to become part if it.
Caprice Hollins wants to separate children, bring them all down to a lowest common denominator by neutralizing consciousness of the best of our cultural heritages in favor of radical equalitarian relativism. Even if she is successful, she will fail, but do a lot of damage in the process.
Whether Hollins has actually earned a doctorate from CSPP remains questionable. PsyD programs do require a dissertation (sometimes called a doctoral project). I could not find any dissertation on the school's dissertation database written by someone with the last name Hollins.
Posted by: endymionspilos on June 7, 2006 11:37 AMWhat website that calls the school racist?
Posted by: Amused by liberals on June 8, 2006 11:35 AMThanks very much for your very interesting comments.
Please use your reasoning capacity. It is unfortunate for your sake that you are so fond of Dr. Caprice Hollins. She is trying to make a difference in our youth, by teaching them retaliatory racism of the kind you demonstrate when you say ”If people don't think that we have racism, they're are probably white.” When she teaches you to easily conclude something like this without thinking, do you call that non-biased equity? Gathering all surrounding inferences, it is obvious that you are fond of Dr. Caprice Hollins because she gives you license to openly practice racism and call it equality. While fitting ideas to justify passions may be viscerally satisfying, it creates nothing praiseworthy. In fact she would do a much better service for everyone by tutoring your basic grammar.
As you say ”To really have such strong oppinions [sic] on something you have such little knoweldge [sic] about, seems childish” and your pathetic example of early indoctrinated hatred and stupidity is excellent evidence of the end product of Dr. Caprice Hollins’ efforts. As the Seattle School District director of equity and race relations, Hollins is teaching you to hate “white people” because of a pre-judgment that they are more racially biased than you. You are probably far from stupid, but your unthinking loyalty reflects the superficiality of undue influence.
Only if the human hearts of black and white are inherently different, can whites in general possibly be racist and blacks not. If whites are automatically inherently racist, what about Hollins? Is she using minorities to assuage her irrevocable white guilt? Doubtful. If in the alternative, people's racism and bigotry is learned from others, and Hollins somehow rose above this learning, what is she doing by teaching you to retaliate in kind by adopting -- in reverse -- that racism and bigotry which she supposedly rose above? If Hollins tells you to "even the score" for what she perceives as white racism, how much value does her teaching really have applied to everyone? Will you embrace Hollins' words and their literal meanings, or your own true reasoning ability?
Dr. Caprice Hollins’ refuses to explain her racist bigotry beyond those statements she already openly makes, and nothing is ambiguous about her ideas. She chooses to mollify everyone with meaningless edu-crat platitudes and non-apology apology gibberish, but no one is denying her space to breathe, they simply don't want her to teach hatred to schoolchildren. Nevertheless, Hollins is no doubt (by her own words alone) denying white children the space to breathe comfortably in the Seattle school envoronment by teaching that they alone are guilty of biased hatred. In truth, all of us -- black and -- white are tempted by the very same human frailties.
M-M-S, I am truly sorry for your plight; you are taken in by Dr. Caprice Hollins racism and bigotry and she has done you a disservice. No matter how much you learn from Hollins and other liberals like her to hate me because I may be white, I will recognize that your hatred and ignorance are a product of the efforts of Caprice Hollins.
Caprice Hollins has no business teaching anyone, she should be fired, and her license to teach permanently revoked.
