The website for New York City’s Dalton School features a page devoted to its “Commitment to Anti-Racism.” And that page, in turn, logs that effort in a detailed “Anti-Racism Progress Report.”
But that isn’t enough for teachers at the posh K-12 academy, where yearly tuition is $54,180.
They have published an anti-racist manifesto that has rightly invited outrage and ridicule, not only because of its bold plan to brainwash students and parents, but also because of its ridiculous programmatic and hiring demands that will cost the school millions.
The list of demands conjures the worst tropes of “anti-racist” hooey to justify an apparent reordering the school’s mission. Catering to the demand of “anti-racist” demagogues, the teachers would turn the school into a re-education camp and a private welfare agency.
Education will be a sideline.
School administrators, of course, deny the eight-page demand letter is anything of the kind.
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The Demands
The Naked Dollar blog published a story about the list last week, then reproduced the letter in full.
After giving the definition of “institutional” and “structural” racism, the letter explains why dealing with them must be Dalton’s top priority. And, they say, the school must focus on its “Black community:”
It’s important to note that the language in this document focuses primarily on the Black community at Dalton. While we acknowledge that white supremacy harms all people of color, we believe that anti-Blackness must be understood as distinct from “racism” writ large. In this moment, our collective anti-racist efforts must center Black people and their needs. Nonetheless, we believe that many of the proposals outlined below could be extended to consider indigenous and native people; people from other underrepresented racial and ethnic identities; people from working-class backgrounds; people with disabilities; the queer community; non-binary, genderqueer, and gender nonconforming people; etc.
The teachers want Dalton to eliminate courses in which blacks don’t perform as well as whites, Asians, and Hispanics, and see to it that “anti-racist pedagogy” guides an overhaul of the curriculum so that every course at the school includes an “anti-racist” message.
And so Dalton must do the following, the letter says:
• Institute a divisional requirement for courses that explicitly center Black liberation and challenges to white supremacy.…
• All other existing course content and departmental work … should undergo an audit to ensure that content is guided by Dalton’s commitment to anti-racist education and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• In the same way that subjects such as English, art, physical education, and mathematics have been embedded within the Dalton experience, so too should coursework that is explicitly anti-racist. No Dalton student should graduate without taking classes that center race, identity, difference, and social justice.…
Review all of our content and pedagogy across all divisions. While we acknowledge that diversifying curriculum is not a solution in and of itself, centering Black experiences, scholars, authors, and primary sources can be part of a broader strategy to align our classrooms with our stated values.
As well, teachers and other staff must “produce individual public anti-racism statements … to describe the specific ways they have adapted their practices and curriculum to align with Dalton’s commitment to anti-racist education.”
Welfare Agency
All this is quite an undertaking, but the teachers know just how to get it done: hire 12 diversity officers, and add a headshrinker “in every division with a specialization on psychological issues affecting ‘ethnic minority populations.’”
The school, which boasts an endowment of more than $100 million, must also pay off the student-loan debt of new black staff members and teachers, and set up “mandatory parent orientation that is aligned with our … commitment to anti-racism.”
And Dalton must create what would amount to a private welfare agency for public-school students if the school does not meet the teachers’ target for black enrollment and employment, the letter says:
If Dalton is unable to diversify … the school should make a financial commitment to institutions that serve a student body more closely representative of New York City, and contribute 50¢ of every dollar raised via any form of fundraising to the NYC Fund for Public Schools.
The teachers demand a nearly 800-percent increase in time allowed for parental leave: “Rather than 6 weeks of paid leave and 6 weeks of unpaid leave, Dalton should follow the lead of companies like Netflix and offer a full year of paid leave for new parents.”
Responding the Naked Dollar blog’s account, Head of School Jim Best called the letter a “thought starter … on how to achieve Dalton’s commitment to becoming an anti-racist institution in the wake of George Floyd’s tragic death”:
While the blog refers to these ideas as “faculty demands,” that is not true. The document … was never presented to, nor considered by, the administration, and we do not stand behind all of the concepts shared or actions proscribed.
Maybe, but Naked Dollar blogger Scott Johnston explained the real import of the letter.
“This isn’t just Dalton, but one of the most extreme examples,” he told the New York Post. “There’s a ritualistic self-abasement these private schools feel they have to subject themselves to.”
