My “cancellation” by a conservative pundit, NPA’s Stop Donating project, & Social Justice at a private school in Oregon

On today’s Substack: 1) Matt Walsh cancels me, 2) We launch our Stop Donating project! and 3) Social Justice comes to an elite private school in Oregon

Matt Walsh

On his podcast a few months ago, conservative commentator Matt Walsh proclaimed that I was “cancelled”.

I’m not quite sure exactly what this means, but I decided to ignore it as a juvenile stunt. Recently, however, Matt’s been at it again, “canceling,” among others, my friends from Triggernometry, Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin. 

While I’m quite busy, there’s only so much nonsense I can take. Here’s what I have to say to you, Matt:

Matt, I’d like to have a conversation with you about the claims you made in your video that referenced my tweet. You strike me as someone who’s not afraid of a spirited conversation, so I will make that possible for you. Let me know when you’re available and we’ll make that happen.

The ball is in your court, Matt. 

Stop Donating

My nonprofit, National Progress Alliance, has just launched our Stop Donating to your alma mater project! 

We’ve started with nine colleges and universities that are among the worst free speech offenders according to the non-partisan Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and College Pulse. We’ll likely add more offenders as events unfold. 

This should be the easiest ask ever. Instead of asking you for money, we’re asking that you stop giving money away! Why? Because the universities from which you graduated are not the same institutions now as they were when you left. And when you give them money, you’re helping to perpetuate a dangerous, divisive ideology—wokism. You can help eradicate this problem by not contributing to your alma mater!  

Social Justice at an Elite Private School

A friend of mine sends his two children to an elite and very expensive private school in Oregon. Over lunch yesterday, he told me about an incident that occurred and shared a letter he drafted as a response. I told him that I thought he’d taken the wrong direction with his letter, in which he argued that if individuals steal something they should be held responsible regardless of their race. I offered another response that he could edit and put in his own voice. 

The first letter below was sent out by the principal of the school. (I’ve redacted identifying names.) The letter that follows is my suggested response. Enjoy! 

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February 17, 2023

Dear XXX Community,

I am writing to address an incident that took place on campus several weeks ago, and to reiterate our school’s commitment to equity and inclusion. I apologize for not communicating sooner, and appreciate your patience while we have taken steps to listen and act. I want to thank those involved for their willingness to speak openly and candidly with us. It is through difficult moments like these that I believe we can continue to work toward becoming a more equitable and inclusive community.

For the last several months, we have seen a marked increase in food being taken from REDACTED without being paid for. To address this issue, Middle and Upper School students were reminded of our school’s values and expectations during community meetings, and teachers were asked to keep an eye on student behaviors while in REDACTED at lunchtime. In subsequent weeks, several Middle School students of different racial identities were caught taking food and were spoken to and/or given consequences.

More recently, in mid-January, two Middle School employees separately approached two students of color in REDACTED to ask whether they had paid for their food items. The employees believed they had reason to inquire based on their observations and on the school directive. The students denied taking anything beyond what was paid for, with one student demonstrating that their pockets were empty, and no further inquiry was done. However, both students felt they were targeted because of their identity, and being questioned in front of others was especially painful for them. The students left REDACTED, and at the same time, the employees left REDACTED to return to other supervisory responsibilities. The students believed they were being followed and watched. Later, the students returned to one of the employees involved in the incident to discuss the impact of this and other painful experiences as students of color at REDACTED. It is important to note that accounts of what occurred differ; what is described here are the details that are consistent across accounts.

Following this incident, we met with the employees and students and placed the employees on leave, our protocol when a more formal review is being conducted. We met again with the students and several of their friends, the two employees, and the parents of the two students and parents of those friends. Based on our findings, the employees were returned to their roles, and we are working with them, as well as the larger REDACTED community of educators, to understand the impact on the students and families and to provide all employees with the skills they need to reflect upon their own potential biases and to manage dynamic situations that may require their intervention.

We acknowledge the racial harm this incident created for these two students and their families and deeply apologize for its impact on them. Our value of inclusion calls on us to do all we can to ensure every child feels a sense of belonging and dignity in our school. If any individual in our community causes unintentional harm to someone else, we, as a learning organization, will seek ownership, accountability, repair, and restoration.

I am grateful to the many parents of color with whom we have met for helping us to see that, in addition to naming the injury in this situation, we need to more fully recognize and understand the cumulative impact of microaggressions or racial incidents students experience over the years. We see how our systems and structures require further work to better support our community and to fulfill our vision of being equitable and inclusive for all. To that end, we are taking (or accelerating) the following steps, based on suggestions from our families and our teachers, and from our assessment of institutional needs:

• Creating identity-based support groups in each division to address systemic obstacles to belonging

• Intentionally adding “circle work” in the Middle and Upper Schools to foster listening and talking skills that enable students to engage in conversations that build and maintain relationships, even when focused on conflict

• Ensuring we have the schedule and adults in place to support student-inspired affinity groups in all divisions

• Creating opportunities for students who share identities to meet in cross-divisional groups

• Continuing monthly and weekly employee equity training, informed by what we have learned in this process, focusing on classroom systems and practices, student intervention strategies, identity awareness, and more

• Revising systems to better track, assemble, and communicate up through the grades reports of identity-based issues of any kind

• Revisiting REDACTED layout, supervision procedures, and food offerings

As we reflect, take these steps, and prioritize student wellbeing, I also want to emphasize my deep faith in and support for all of our wonderful teachers. Every day, teachers observe, assess, guide, and encourage students to be the best learners and community members they can be. This is hard and complex work that our teachers want to do well, and we have an obligation to ensure they are equipped to support our increasingly diverse community.

Thank you for reading this update, and for joining us in the shared effort to ensure all children feel known and valued at REDACTED. I am committed to moving toward a vision of equity and inclusion for all, and very much appreciate your partnership. To that end, we will schedule a Zoom meeting for you join and share your thoughts with us. Our hope would be for an open, constructive conversation with myself, REDACTED, and REDACTED. We will publish the link and time in the parent and guardian newsletters soon.

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Here's a draft of the letter I suggested:

Dear REDACTED, 

As a parent of REDACTED, it is with profound disappointment and a heavy heart that I have been placed in a situation where I am compelled to write this letter in response to the recent racist incident at REDACTED.  

With regard your February 17 email: To term the trauma that was inflicted on these students a “microgression” is a macro-aggression and a profound misunderstanding of the problem. Moreover, to gloss over the actual problem—white supremacy and systemic racism at REDACTED—by paying lip service to terms like “belonging,” “equity,” and “inclusion,” and thinking these core rots can be cured by having weekly equity meetings and “circle work,” lends specious credence to the idea that systemic issues plaguing our campus are being meaningfully addressed. They are not. 

An actual equity-based solution would encourage the redistribution of goods and services from the privileged to those individuals whose ancestors suffered from historical oppression. The goal, of course, would be a system that created equal outcomes while addressing past injustices (hunger, slavery, colonialism). In this case, students of color and those from marginalized communities could take, free of charge and in quantities they’d like, food and any other item from REDACTED. This, however, would be insufficient as it would not address extant disparities from students of privilege. In the latter case, white students would put their lunches on the table and Black students could take what they want, while throwing half of the remaining food into the trash. 

Independent of identifying two students of color for “stealing” (note the irony that REDACTED rests on land stolen from the Coquille Indian Tribe), or of any equity-based solutions that result, if you genuinely seek contrition then you would be the “quit” in “eQUITy” and resign as the Head of REDACTED. You should make your position available to members of our community who live in perpetual fear of the police and other interlocking systems of oppression because of the color of their skin. As it stands, REDACTED, you are not the antiracist educator and ally you claim to be. You are a white heterosexual male, inherently seeking to preserve your privilege. This recent fiasco and your failed attempt at posturing, demonstrates your white fragility and actively places our entire community at risk, furthering feelings of being unsafe that are routinely experienced by our most vulnerable members.