E Wayne Ross

See clip from documentary film 638 Ways To Kill Castro of Cuban-American Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) “welcoming” the assasination of Castro.

Hmm, she welcomes the assasination of any leader “oppressing the people.” Kinda makes you wonder about how else fits this definition.

The Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog: Richard Dawkins Goes Head to Head With Campus Critics of His Attack on Religion

Richard Dawkins, the University of Oxford biologist, powerful defender of Darwinian evolution, and vehement critic of religion, read from his new book, The God Delusion, last month at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. After the reading, he took questions from the audience. Many of those questions came from students at nearby Liberty University, the Christian institution that was founded by Jerry Falwell.

Some of the proceedings were captured on video by C-Span, and the footage is now available from the YouTube.com.

It was a lively back-and-forth, with most of the audience cheering on Mr. Dawkins as he responds to questions about the origin of morality, the beginning of the universe, and so on. At one point he encourages the Liberty students to transfer to a “proper university.” Mr. Dawkins is also blogging about his book tour.

The resolution below was passed by the College and University Faculty Assembly of National Council for the Social Studies at the annual conference in Washington, DC, November 30 2006. This resoultions draws on numerous sources, including official position statements of the National Council for the Social Studies and the Historians Against the War resolution to be presented at the American Historical Association.

Download pdf version with footnotes here.

Submitted by The Rouge Forum and the following members of NCSS: E. Wayne Ross (University of British Columbia*), Timothy Cashman (University of Texas, El Paso), Rudolfo Chávez Chávez (New Mexico State University), Margaret Smith Crocco (Teachers College, Columbia University), Ron Evans (San Diego State University), Kristi Fragnoli (College of St. Rose), Stephen C. Fleury (Le Moyne College), William Gaudelli (Teachers College, Columbia University), Rich Gibson (Sand Diego State University), Neil O. Houser (University of Oklahoma), David Hursh (University of Rochester), Curry Malott (D’Youville College), Perry M. Marker (Sonoma State University), Valerie Ooka Pang (San Diego State University), Marc Pruyn (New Mexico State University), Cesar Rossatto (University of Texas, El Paso), Alan J. Singer (Hofstra University), Brenda Trofanenko (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), Kevin D. Vinson (University of Arizona)

Rationale: NCSS standards documents and position statements consistently identify citizenship education as the primary purpose of K-12 social studies. These statements argue that concern for the common good and citizen participation in public life are essential to the health of our democratic system. If, as NCSS consistently argues, effective social studies education prepares young people to identify, understand, critically analyze and take action to solve the problems facing our diverse nation in an increasingly interdependent world. Then it is incumbent on social studies educators and their primary professional organization to take actions in the public arena that are consistent with the stated purposes of the profession.

Whereas the National Council for the Social Studies’ National Standards for Social Studies Teachers emphasizes the importance of social studies teachers’ knowledge, capabilities, and dispositions to organize and provide instruction at the appropriate school level for the study of Power, Authority, and Governance ;

And whereas the National Standards for Social Studies Teachers state that “understanding the historical development of structures of power, authority, and governance and their evolving functions in contemporary society, as well as in other parts of the world, is essential the development of civic competence;

And whereas in exploring the theme of “Power, Authority, and Governance” the National Standards for Social Studies Teachers encourage teachers to have “learners confront such questions as: What is power? What is legitimate authority? How are governments created, structured, maintained and change? However can we keep government responsive to its citizens’ needs and interests? How can individual rights be protected within the context of majority rule?” ;

And where as the National Standards for Social Studies Teachers state that teachers should: provide opportunities for learners to examine issues involving the rights, roles, and status of individuals in relation to the general welfare; enable learners to describe the ways nations and organizations respond to forces of unity and diversity affecting order and security; have learners explain conditions, actions, and motivations that contribute to conflict and cooperation within and among nations; help learners to analyze and explain governmental mechanisms to meet the needs and wants of citizens, regulate territory, manage conflict, and establish order and security; challenge learners to apply concepts such as power, role, status, justice, democratic values, and influence to the examination of persistent issues and social problems; and guide learners to explain and evaluate how governments attempt to achieve their states ideals at home and abroad.

And whereas the NCSS position statement on “A Vision of Powerful Teaching and Learning in Social Studies: Building Social Understanding and Civic Efficacy” states that “Social studies teachers need to treat the social world realistically and address its controversial aspects” ;

And whereas NCSS’s statement “Essentials of the Social Studies” notes that concern for the common good and citizen participation in public life are essential to the health of our democratic system ;

And whereas the NCSS position statement “Academic Freedom and the Social Studies Teacher,” states: “A teacher’s academic freedom is his/her right and responsibility to study, investigate, present, interpret, and discuss all the relevant facts and ideas in the field of his/her professional competence. This freedom implies no limitations other than those imposed by generally accepted standards of scholarship. As a professional, the teacher strives to maintain a spirit of free inquiry, open-mindedness, and impartiality in the classroom. As a member of an academic community, however, the teacher is free to present in the field of his or her professional competence his/her own opinions or convictions and with them the premises from which they are derived. ”

And whereas NCSS is an endorser of the American Association of University Professors’ “1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure”;

And whereas the NCSS “Revised Code of Ethics for the Social Studies Profession” states that: “The social studies professional should acknowledge the worth and tentativeness of knowledge. He or she should engage in a continuous search for new knowledge, retaining both the right and the obligation as a student scholar to doubt, to inquire freely, and to raise searching questions” ;

And whereas the “Revised Code of Ethics for the Social Studies Profession” also states “It is the ethical responsibility of social studies professionals to foster the understanding and exercise the rights guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States and of the responsibilities implicit in those rights in an increasingly interdependent world.

And whereas during the war in Iraq and the so-called “war on terror,” the Administration of George W. Bush has violated the above-mentioned standards and principles through the following practices:

• excluding well-recognized foreign scholars;
• condemning as “revisionism” the search for truth about pre-war intelligence;
• re-classifying previously unclassified government documents;
• suspending in certain cases the centuries-old writ of habeas corpus and substituting indefinite administrative detention without specified criminal charges or access to a court of law;
• using interrogation techniques at Guantanamo, Abu-Ghraib, Bagram, and other locations incompatible with respect for the dignity of all persons required by a civilized society.

And whereas “The fundamental values and beliefs taught in social studies are drawn from many sources, but especially from the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution with its Bill of Rights. These beliefs form the basic principles of our democratic constitutional order. They depend on such practices as due process, equal protection, free expression, and civic participation, and they have roots in the concepts of liberty, justice, equality, responsibility, diversity, and privacy.”

Now, therefore, the National Council for the Social Studies urges its members and associated groups through publication of this resolution Social Education, The Social Studies Professional and other appropriate outlets, including the NCSS web site:

1. To take a public stand as citizens on behalf of the values and goals taught in social studies and necessary to the practice of our profession; and

2. To do whatever they can to bring the Iraq war to a speedy conclusion.

Below is an excerpt from a letter my friend Four Arrows (aka Don Jacobs) sent out on this Thanksgiving eve (in the USA).

Here are some facts about this holiday to consider that we tend to ignore at great peril as we allow too similar of events to continue around the world:

The Boston Globe: Race disparities persist in U.S.

Race disparities persist in U.S.
By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press Writer | November 14, 2006

WASHINGTON –Decades after the civil rights movement, racial disparities in income, education and home ownership persist and, by some measurements, are growing.

White households had incomes that were two-thirds higher than blacks and 40 percent higher than Hispanics last year, according to data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau.

White adults were also more likely than black and Hispanic adults to have college degrees and to own their own homes. They were less likely to live in poverty.

“Race is so associated with class in the United States that it may not be direct discrimination, but it still matters indirectly,” said Dalton Conley, a sociology professor at New York University and the author of “Being Black, Living in the Red.”

“It doesn’t mean it’s any less powerful just because it’s indirect,” he said.

Home ownership grew among white middle-class families after World War II when access to credit and government programs made buying houses affordable. Black families were largely left out because of discrimination, and the effects are still being felt today, said Lance Freeman, assistant professor of urban planning at Columbia University and author of “There Goes the ‘Hood.”

Home ownership creates wealth, which enables families to live in good neighborhoods with good schools. It also helps families finance college, which leads to better-paying jobs, perpetuating the cycle, Freeman said.

“If your parents own their own home they can leave it to you when they pass on or they can use the equity to help you with a down payment on yours,” Freeman said.

Three-fourths of white households owned their homes in 2005, compared with 46 percent of black households and 48 percent of Hispanic households. Home ownership is near an all-time high in the United States, but racial gaps have increased in the past 25 years.

Black families have also been hurt by the decline of manufacturing jobs — the same jobs that helped propel many white families into the middle class after World War II, said Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP’s Washington office.

Among Hispanics, education, income and home ownership gaps are exacerbated by recent Latin American immigrants. Hispanic immigrants have, on average, lower incomes and education levels than people born in the United States. About 40 percent of U.S. Hispanics are immigrants.

Asian Americans, on average, have higher incomes and education levels than whites. However, they have higher poverty rates and lower home ownership rates.

The Census Bureau released 2005 racial data on incomes, education levels, home ownership rates and poverty rates Tuesday. The data are from the American Community Survey, the bureau’s new annual survey of 3 million households nationwide. The Associated Press compared the figures with census data from 1980, 1990 and 2000.

Among the findings:

–Black adults have narrowed the gap with white adults in earning high school diplomas, but the gap has widened for college degrees. Thirty percent of white adults had at least a bachelor’s degree in 2005, while 17 percent of black adults and 12 percent of Hispanic adults had degrees.

–Forty-nine percent of Asian Americans had at least a bachelor’s degree in 2005.

–The median income for white households was $50,622 last year. It was $30,939 for black households, $36,278 for Hispanic households and $60,367 for Asian households.

–Median income for black households has stayed about 60 percent of the income for white households since 1980. In dollar terms, the gap has grown from $18,123 to $19,683.

–Hispanic households made about 76 percent as much as white households in 1980. In 2005, it was 72 percent.

–The gap in poverty rates has narrowed since 1980, but it remains substantial. The poverty rate for white residents was 8.3 percent on 2005. It was 24.9 percent for black residents, 21.8 percent for Hispanic residents and 11.1 percent for Asian residents.

Thomas Shapiro, professor of law and social policy at Brandeis University, said the “easiest answer” to narrowing racial gaps is to promote home ownership, which would help minority families accumulate wealth.

“The wealth gap is not just a story of merit and achievement, it’s also a story of the historical legacy of race in the United Sates,” said Shapiro, author of “The Hidden Cost of Being African American.”

Shelton, of the NAACP, called for more funding for preschool programs such as Head Start, improving public schools and making college more affordable.

“Income should not be a significant determining factor whether someone should have an opportunity to go to college,” Shelton said.

——

The Boston Globe: Radicalism in the Deaf culture

SINCE LAST MAY, Gallaudet University, the world’s only university designed entirely for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, has been rocked by protests over the selection of a new president.

Jane K. Fernandes was scheduled to take over from I. King Jordan in January. On Oct. 29, after protesters shut down the Washington campus for more than two weeks, the board of trustees revoked Fernandes’s appointment. This fiasco is a striking example of identity politics gone mad.

The Nation‘s Michael McCaughan on the state of seige in Oaxaca:

Que Pasa en Oaxaca?

A virtual state of siege prevails in Oaxaca City where thousands of military police have occupied the central square and surrounding streets, clearing barricades and detaining dozens of opposition activists. The city’s emergency services are idle while banks and schools remain closed and the city center, usually bustling with tourists, has the air of a ghost town. The hub of activity has shifted to the Santo Domingo church where thousands of activists gather daily to swap news, make plans and denounce police brutality.The federal police occupation began on October 28 with an aggressive push toward the Zocalo (town square) which was occupied in June by teachers, students and workers demanding the removal of discredited state governor Ulises Ruiz. The roots of the conflict go back a month earlier when teachers occupied the city square in demand of better pay. This annual protest dates back twenty-six years and the ritual typically ends with a small wage increase being approved. This time, however, Governor Ruiz violently evicted the teachers from the square, provoking a popular uprising.

Workers and students united to shut down government offices and seized local radio and television stations. The state government ground to a halt and Ruiz has gone into hiding, communicating through paid announcements in the press.

“The conflict in Oaxaca is almost over,” announced Ruiz on Friday–confirmation, if it was necessary, that his hiding place must be a long way from Oaxaca.

The opposition formed the Oaxaca People’s Popular Assembly (APPO), which comprises 200 organizations drawn from 600 villages and towns across the state, all determined to stand firm until Ruiz has left office and with him the federal security forces.

The APPO is a temporary alliance of activists ranging from moderates with links to the ruling party to radicals calling for armed struggle to overthrow the state. In conversation with APPO members this week there was consensus that the time had come to replace traditional political parties with community-based governing assemblies, in keeping with indigenous tradition.

On the eve of the police occupation the teacher’s union signed a wage agreement and agreed to go back to work. The push to topple Ruiz would have continued but the core of the resistance movement was effectively neutralized. On that same day, however, government officials opened fire on a group of protestors, killing US citizen Brad Will and raising the profile of the dispute internationally.

Under pressure to resolve the impasse, President Fox dispatched police with orders to retake the square and dismantle barricades around the city. Mexico’s congress simultaneously pushed for the resignation of Ruiz, to ease tensions. However the plan backfired as Ruiz refused to step down and appears determined to hang on until the bitter end.

The governor represents the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled Mexico from 1929 until 2000, combining populism with repression. In recent years the PRI has seen its power base eroded around the country, but Oaxaca, where the party has governed uninterruptedly for seventy-seven years, remains a significant fiefdom.

The situation is further complicated by the upcoming handover of presidential power to Felipe Calderón on December 1. Calderón’s National Action Party (PAN) needs PRI support to govern effectively in congress and legitimize its candidate’s feeble electoral victory. It is believed that Ruiz has demanded the PAN support him in return for PRI cooperation in the coming months.

Meanwhile, the military police have failed to crush the resistance movement. Indeed it is the federal police themselves who now look surrounded and isolated as they camp out in the square. In a dynamic new tactic protestors surge toward the square, chanting slogans and testing defenses at different entry points.

According to internal security documents, the police mission comprises three phases; the retaking of the square and clearing of all major barricades; the seizure of occupied radio and TV stations; and a final phase in which arrest warrants would be served on 200 APPO members and a major clampdown imposed to dampen resistance efforts.

The square was retaken last weekend in a day of violence which saw three people killed, dozens more injured and at least fifty people detained. The APPO militants abandoned barricades rather than clash with heavily armed police, but for every dismantled barricade three more appeared at significant intersections across the city.

On Thursday police engaged in running battles with protestors outside the university campus, where several people were snatched by police and taken by helicopter to a nearby airbase. The local police have also set up a “safe house” opposite a soft drink warehouse, where neighbors have reported cries of torture from “ghost” detainees yet to be formally charged or processed through the courts. There are now seventy-nine prisoners and thirty-seven “disappeared” citizens, sparking a desperate search by concerned relatives.

The authorities believed that by clearing the square, a potent symbol of APPO power, the movement would lose its focus. However, the repression has only multiplied the resistance as students shut down university faculties across Mexico and Zapatista rebels closed down the Panamerican Highway near Guatemala. Radio Universidad, playing a vital role in coordinating APPO activities, has been broadcasting hundreds of declarations of support from around the world.

By the end of the week President Fox had declared that he was leaving the Oaxaca conflict to his successor, Felipe Calderón. At a meeting with stockbrokers this week, Calderón outlined his future strategy for guaranteeing security around the country; “Will it be easy?” he reflected, “No…this is a problem which will take time, money and very probably it will cost more lives. “