I write in my personal capacity. I read with interest each of the Dec. 19 opinion piece by Karen Rubin entitled, “Why Schools, Libraries are Battlefields in Culture Wars,” and, as well, the reply by David Golub “It is TIME to replace Diversity Equity and Inclusion” dated, Dec. 28.
Golub picks up on the shortcomings in Rubin’s characterizations of DEI as a simplistic system of binaries, i.e., haves-have vs. have-nots, people of color vs Caucasians, capitalists vs altruists, and Republicans vs Democratics.
Yet, Golub, too, may be too pat in his readiness to jettison DEI to the detriment of individuals who rely on it still, despite the so-called neutral meritocracy to which he aspires.
I believe present realities in 2024 are more complex than either Rubin or Golub let on.
Lived experiences and diversities are surely more layered and complex than race alone. They include gender, gender identity, sexuality, ethnicity, neurodiversity, ability, disability, religion, socioeconomic strata, and more. Indeed, many individuals embody multiple diversities.
However well-intentioned, DEI did not originally contemplate AAPI lives any more than the Jew lives Golub references.
Race as a scientific construct has been debunked. Yet, the history of racism and bigotries is more entrenched than Golub acknowledges.
Recently, as Golub states, SCOTUS overturned precedent, finding race-conscious college admissions policies to be unconstitutional violations of the 14th Amendment.
In this confusing and destabilizing epoch, trying to track legitimate race consciousness to implement DEI policies, while also, aspiring to race unconsciousness in admissions, will continue to challenge individuals, employers, and universities.
Urgently though, Golub, also, references the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel and the alarming rise of antisemitism here in New York and America since, as the war has ensued.
Golub notes that Jewish students and educators are not contemplated by DEI. Golub is correct.
As antisemitism continues to spike, one wonders why Governor Hochul has not yet directed New York’s P-12 schools to follow President Biden and the Office of Civil Rights Nov. 7 order to affirmatively combat antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Hochul’s constituents include the largest population of Jews outside the state of Israel. Yet it took her until the third week of December for her to direct New York colleges to implement the Nov. 7 directive.
Even as I write, Hochul has still not directed P-12 schools to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia, per POTUS and the Office of Civil Rights. Why?
The New York State Education Department has certainly previously opined on DEI via policy multiple statements, including expressing its selective outrage in support of multiple historically marginalized groups, including African-American, Asian-American and LBGTQ+.
Don’t Jewish and Muslim students and educators facing alarming antisemitism and Islamophobia, hailing from historically and currently marginalized minorities, merit NYSED’s selective outrage, too?
Rather, since Oct. 11, the New York State Education Department has equivocated, issuing only generic statements about “hate” without addressing antisemitism, Islamophobia, or Hamas terrorism. Generic denouncements of hate are just that: generic.
Even NYSED support of Jewish educators appears noncommittal.
In November, when a Jewish public school teacher at work was chased into a locked room by an illegal mob of rioting teens screaming antisemitic taunts, a New York Chancellor of Education, David Banks, was quoted in the press saying, he “needed to look at both sides.”
The chancellor did not even defend the Jewish teacher chased by antisemites. Why? What sides did the Chancellor need to see?
Jews are Americans in a persecuted minority protected by the Constitution and Title VI, too. Shouldn’t this, at least, be obvious to Gov. Hochul?
When will she direct P-12 schools to address antisemitism, Islamophobia and to initiate a robust civics curriculum against terrorism?
Golub’s take on Dr. King’s promissory note metaphor in the oft-quoted “I Have a Dream Speech” is well-taken: we owe it to the next generation not to bounce America’s check on fairness and equality.
Unfortunately, reconciling law and policy to account for the multiplicity of our diverse, inequitable, and excluded lived experiences may continue to take a very long time.
Rebecca Sassouni
Great Neck
Once again Sassouni manages to “all lives matter” the alarming rise in antisemitism by diluting it with constant references to Islamophobia, almost as if to make this a far right wing hate issue when in reality it’s Jews that historically have been and currently are the target of exploding levels of hate crime. It’s evident that Sassouni was just patronizing parents when she retracted a statement citing to CAIR just a couple of weeks ago. This woman couldn’t be less qualified and more tone deaf than she is to comment on this issue. She should stick to other progressive issues and DEI.
I have no idea what you are referring to. Governor Hochul has been extremely active in addressing anti-Semitism, Islamaphobia in NYS, especially on college campuses and in schools. The “directive” you are referring to I would imagine would come from the Department of Education and the Regents. This seems like a really unfounded slam against Hochul. As to whether my column on DEI also embraced empathy and tolerance for religious and cultural differences, you would think that it is a given, though the attacks on DEI (“woke”) in the form of banning books, speech and the like have been directed most prominently based on race and LGBTQ.