We haven’t seen much civility in our national public life since early 2016, when Trump started debating and insulting his adversaries. Since then, we have almost become accustomed to rudeness, insults, lies, racism, xenophobia, misogyny, hatred, and fear-mongering, all spouted daily by the President, who enjoys ridiculing and belittling others. These are distressing times for those who expect our national leader to be an exemplary figure who can unify the nation, heal our divisions, and inspire us to work together for the common good. My hope is that we never “normalize” his behavior and attitudes and lack of moral compass.
Our reader “Democracy” offered this comment:
The Republican party is the party of white nationalism and voter suppression. And lies. Lots and lots of lies.
Here’s how the NY Times reported Trump’s last rallies for Republican candidates:
“Trump closed out an us-against-them midterm election campaign that was built on fear, nationalism and racial animosity…his remarks were laced with acerbic attacks on his adversaries — ‘radical,’ ‘left-wing socialists,’ ‘corrupt’…he warned Democrats would invite murderers to come into the United States to kill men, women and children…Describing himself as a ‘nationalist,’ Trump vilified immigrants, both legal and illegal, in racially changed language once considered unacceptable in national politics… Trump’s supporters cheered him on…Led by Barack Obama, Democrats sought to make the vote a test of the nation’s values…’The character of this country is on the ballot,’ Obama said during an appearance on Monday in Virginia on behalf of Senator Tim Kaine…”
Lies. Racism. White Nationalism. More lies. Xenophobia. More lies.
And his supporters “cheered him on.”
I’ll say it again. The focus of public schooling should NOT be on STEM, or ACT and SAT and PSAT tests. or Advanced Placement courses and tests.
It should be on democratic citizenship. It should be one those core values that define the character of democracy: popular sovereignty, equality, justice, freedoms for all citizens, tolerance, and promoting the general welfare of the republic.
We have a long way to go….
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Agreed! we need to listen and hear each other’s stories. We need dialogue, not pedantic rhetoric. My students are engaged with their community as researchers and as healers.
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“I’ll say it again. The focus of public schooling should NOT be on STEM, or ACT and SAT and PSAT tests. or Advanced Placement courses and tests.”
I agree, but would you believe it, these are among the indicators of importance in the Civil Rights Data collection system. There is a new report from Politico about USDE’s Civil Rights Data Collection from every public school (2015-2016). That is one of three data sources, it is clear that the CRDC information is more than a simple data-gathering exercise imposed on states.
Who, for example, has required that all states secure much more detailed information on math, and specific levels and topics in math than for any other subject? There is much less granular information for the sciences, social studies/history. Everything else is put into a vague category of interest: “other academic courses.” There is not an ounce of attention to lessons that prepare students for civic engagement and an informed understanding of their civil rights-or if so, those studies are somewhere in “social studies.”
On what basis did these data analysts decide that a high school with a gazillion AP courses is inherently better for the education of ALL students than one with five or six AP courses? Did the College Board lobby for that idea?
Look at the federal data. It will show that many of the indicators do require information disaggregated by sex, race (a few by color), Learning English Language, and at least one classification of special education students, in some cases three categories for special education. This disaggregation is always connected with test scores and questionable inferences about school and teacher quality. Failures in “gap closing” are the basis for calling the data in this report “Miseducation.”
I also find the title “Miseducation” a conclusion totally divorced from the issue of school funding, the influence of parental wealth and education, the god-awful legacy of NCLB, and now ESSA (NCLB 2.0).
This report is data rich and short on an informed vision of civil rights. It is short on any concern for the role of schools in educating each generation for what life may offer and require of them in a democracy… and well beyond entry into college and/or a career (euphemism for a job).
The whole vision and meme of college and career is a product of a Gates-funded campaign to promote the Common Core fiasco and specific courses as if essential for being “on track for college and/or career.” Informed civic engagement has been of marginal importance for too long.
https://projects.propublica.org/miseducation/
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While your on your AP rant, let me just add this one for you because it just eats at me. I live in a wealthy district outside of DC. We always rank in the US News/World Report for “best schools”. We do have some areas of poverty. AP for all is pushed at the HS level and if a student doesn’t wish to take AP, they just sit and are basically warehoused. Here’s the really bad part. The students in schools with no (or very little) poverty don’t have to pay to take the AP exams. The students who go to Title I schools have to pony up the $90 if they want to take the AP tests……and those kids don’t have the money for that. It’s a win-win for our county….they can boast about all the AP classes that are offered and how so many children enroll and they can also boast about their great scores and their ranking at US News. Only the data from the kids that take the test get to US News and I’m sure not many scores come out of the Title I schools. Smoke and mirrors! My rant for the day…..and I believe this is a civil rights issue that should be addressed.
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LisaM, so you’re either in Montgomery County, MD, or in Fairfax, Arlington or Loudoun in Virginia.
All of these school districts hype AP. Parents want those courses, and so do students. Administrators and teachers think AP is better than sliced pizza (it isn’t). And they all believe this because “selective” colleges also demand AP, and SAT scores.
I’ll say this again too. Until educators break with their bonds to the College Board, not much will change.
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@democracy…I live in Howard Co (one over from Montgomery). You are correct. The dirtiest part of the whole deal is that they don’t want the “poor” kids to take the test because they know the scores won’t rate, so they charge them to take the test. Those parents can’t afford to pay for AP tests and still put food on the table. They want the rich kids taking the tests and offer it to them for free. And I will add that our areas of poverty have more brown skinned and Spanish speaking kids. I would think that this is a civil rights issue. It disgusts me! My other rant is about JROTC and how that program has been used to allow the wealthier kids living in a “poor school” zone to attend a HS in a wealthier (whiter) school zone. It’s disgusting to live in this place…and our county motto is “Choose Civility”.
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Avi:
This is excellent. I am so glad to read this and to know that you will write a thoughtful column.
Sincerely,
David
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Not much to add to Democracy’s usual relevance and accuracy. One minor quibble. Republicans are no longer the party of “Lots and lots of lies.” It’s now all lies.
I’m also starting to think that the focus on civility might be misplaced. It’s a horse-and-cart thing (or chicken-and-egg, if you prefer). Competence, knowledge and effort to understand our diverse, often painful history and our constitution lead to civility, not the other way around. At least that’s what I think. Civic virtue leads to civility, not the other way around. As we have repeated many, many times here, that means restoring civic education and the study of government at the center of public education, not the edges or even not at all.
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I’ve been “pushing back” against GRIT. We don’t need GRITTY people. One could make the case that rump is gritty. He uses others and LIES all the time so that he can get his way.
Just TODAY, I had to speak with parents about this NEW WORD being used by the DEFORMERS (GRIT) to describe what kids should be like. When the parents stopped and thought about the word GRIT, they didn’t like it too. This phenomenon happened to me 3 times today. And I didn’t bring up the word GRIT; THE PARENTS did, because they ARE CONCERNED, and rightfully so. BTW, 2 were strangers. I guess I should have told these strangers that I was a bartender. I met these two strangers while setting up a new cell phone at the store, because mine “KEELED over” yesterday.
This “mouthing” of what the DEFORMERS want is ridiculous. When following the $$$$$, it is obvious that the deformers only care about heir pocketbooks and making sure that the citizenry knows only enough to follow orders rather than question and think for themselves.
Hitler…
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/adolf-hitler-donald-trump-mein-kampf-bluffed-way-to-power-nazi-leader-germany-fuhrer-us-president-a7568506.html
Lastly, I have been noticing a lot of ERRORS in books these DAZE. I guess outsourcing the editorial work to the cheapest labor is good for business, but certainly NOT good for the intelligence of this country.
“Uh, Houston, WE HAVE a PROBLEM.”
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The person who helped me with transferring data from one cell to another told me that he is thinking about having his daughter tested. She is ONLY 3. Person said daughter is smart. I told him, “Don’t waste your daughter’s time with being tested.” and then provided reasons. Then I suggested what might he do rather than testing his 3 year old daughter. I hope this parent GETS IT. Overachieving parents often KILL OFF the love of learning for their children.
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Civility? How do you have civility with Trump in office and with a radicalized far right wing/libertarian party otherwise known as the GOP? Sure, let’s be civil with a rabid slathering pit bull that’s ready to rip your arms out of their sockets. Obama tried civility and had his SCOTUS nominee and many of his lower court picks put on permanent delay. Civility is a two way street or should be.
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Thanks, Joe. My patience is at an end and I’m beginning to accept Lloyd’s arguments that violence may be a logical tactic. Winning the House pales to losing the Senate. Time to rethink what we have to do as citizen soldiers. At least I will unless we can break up this nation into separate nations. I’m sick and tired of being held hostage by reactionaries in Texas, the rest of the South and the Midwest.
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And in my adopted state of Ohio. Time to figure out where to go next. Wish I had the means to get out of this country. The time for the peaceful transition of power will soon come to an end.
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Greg-
Sympathies to both of us and other similar citizens who have had to face the reality that the state and nation have a far larger number of voters who like pay-to-play governors and, who want a President who is a bully that they think champions them, than we imagined.
Places within a whole that once strived for a cooperative spirit of the common good, reduced by oligarchs to divided fiefdoms mocked by all, as hollow. A shout out to their powerful, moneyed representatives, Bill Gates, Charles and David Koch, Alice Walton, John Arnold, ….
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Hey, Joe. I never really said that we need “civility.” What I said – clearly – is that we need an emphasis on democratic citizenship because we have a party and a Liar-in-Chief who do not believe in the core values of the republic. They try as hard as they can to suppress voting. They are xenophobic and racist and misogynist. They know little about American history. They represent the oligarchs (and Russia), not “We, the People.”
And I don’t mind calling them out for what they are. Clueless. Ignorant. Modern day Know-Nothings. Liars. Cheaters.
That kind of “civility” — telling the truth — got me banned from commenting at one news station in the Charlottesville, Virginia area, which has become a haven of sorts for Neo-Nazis, Confederate sympathizers (who invariably call Robert E. Lee a “great man” and say the Civil War was NOT fought over slavery), and white nationalists who think Trump is the second coming of you-know-who.
An emphasis on democratic citizenship does not mean abandoning truth-telling. It requires it.
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I could be wrong here, but it seems to me we have been paving the way for incivility at the presidential level for decades. ‘Blue’ comedians in clubs led to widely popular radio shock jocks of the ’80’s. They– post Fairness Doctrine repeal– led to the political version in late ’80’s, pioneered by Limbaugh. Cable TV made room for all of them. The old big-3 networks found an expression for sensational offensiveness with Springer et al, and expanded with race-to-the-bottom reality TV series.
All of this has inured the populace to extremes of crudeness, coarseness & profanity in the media. By itself that could be seen as relatively harmless– but it brings with it an encouragement to view insult and offense as entertainment. And eventually, angry vitriol is taken with a grain of salt, seen as calculated for effect, not to be taken literally.
For this paradigm to bleed into political campaigns seems inevitable.
GregB said, “Civic virtue leads to civility, not the other way around.” What started in mass culture of the ’70’s as younger generation bucking against elders’ hypocrisy– a sort of George Carlin bad-words rebellion– has morphed into combative communication whose aim is to bulldoze opposition, the very opposite of concern for others that is at the heart of civic virtue.
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Many of us only became aware of Gab, the social media used by the synagogue murderer, after his arrest.
The SPLC warns us about a group founded in 2016 called Identity Evropa which recruits college-age, White men. Identity Evropa’s symbol, is a futuristic looking triangle with 3 lines that converge within the triangle. The symbol is, colored in a teal blue. Their posters feature classic European sculptures. The slogans include, “Protect your heritage”, Serve your people” and, they echo Trump, “Secure the border, Secure our future”, “No regret. We apologize for nothing” and, “Let’s become great again”. Reportedly, the Charlottesville rally where Heather Heyer was killed had links to Identity Evropa.
Conservative Robert Mercer funded the divisive Breitbart and Steve Bannon.
IMO, democracy and inclusion are ill served by conservative groups. Their presence on campuses should be rejected. The college-focused Turning Point USA gets its funding from conservative Christian activist, Foster Freiss.
Recently, Daily Kos described incidents of White supremacy (nationwide a 77% increase this year) at Michigan State and the University of Virginia. Commenters to Daily Kos’ article added UMD, Iowa State and NYU. The 5 campuses have both Turning Point USA and Federalist Society chapters on campus. Judicial Watch has been linked to the Federalist Society and, to the Koch-funded Heritage Foundation. Recently, after media exposure, the Heritage Foundation shut down its program for students/law clerks which promised new joiners, they would have wealthy backers in return for loyalty oaths to Heritage. Theocracy Watch posted a training manual attributed to the founder of Heritage, Paul Weyrich, which should alarm all Americans
BTW- SPLC described the founder of Identity Evropa as attending a private Christian school and having fundamentalist parents.
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Linda,
“democracy and inclusion are ill served by conservative groups”because they don’t believe in them. At all.
The Republican party is the party of white nationalism, of Russia, of oligarchs, of racism and xenophobia, of misogyny, of voter suppression, and of rampant and serial lying. They are what they are, and what they are is anything but democratic.
They are a clear and present danger to the republic.
And that’s the truth.
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democracy,
The Heritage Foundation, Federalist Society, Turning Point USA and Bill Gates’ stretch into all things education are indistinguishable from the oligarchy. Their activities weaken the U.S.among other nations, destabilize the nation within, and rob Americans of the “united” that made the country a beacon of hope and land of opportunity.
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