Academia Embroiled in Woke Controversy: Critical Race Theory and BLM

From the College Board about page:

College Board is a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, College Board was created to expand access to higher education. Today, the membership association is made up of over 6,000 of the world’s leading educational institutions and is dedicated to promoting excellence and equity in education. Each year, College Board helps more than seven million students prepare for a successful transition to college through programs and services in college readiness and college success—including the SAT, the Advanced Placement Program, and BigFuture.

The College Board has recently been the subject of controversy in the news for having removed some portion of Advanced Placement African American Studies courses.

The New York Times reports:

The official course looks different from a previous draft: No more critical race theory, and the study of contemporary topics — like Black Lives Matter — is optional.

After heavy criticism from Gov. Ron DeSantis, the College Board released on Wednesday an official curriculum for its new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies — stripped of much of the subject matter that had angered the governor and other conservatives.

The College Board purged the names of many Black writers and scholars associated with critical race theory, the queer experience and Black feminism. It ushered out some politically fraught topics, like Black Lives Matter, from the formal curriculum.

And it added something new: “Black conservatism” is now offered as an idea for a research project.

I certainly can’t say I agree with everything that was removed, nor have I pored over the material with any great vigor.

Perhaps there are arguments to be made for retaining some of the selected readings which have been removed. Frantz Fanon, whose work has been taken off the list I believe, comes to mind here. I kind of hate admitting it, but I suppose the one area where I tend to agree with the Woke is on emphasizing the harms of Western colonialism. I know from my own personal education that this is not taught enough in school (or at all really).

RELATED: British “Prophet”: Mirza Ghulam Ahmed’s Intense Love for Colonialism

The problem with the Woke, however, is that they are unable to see that their obsession with their own desires has led the government to pander to them, appeasing them while the rest of the world continues to suffer from the US’s imperialist ventures.

In any case, let’s get back to this Advanced Placement controversy. One person whose work was removed was E. Patrick Johnson, the Dean of the School of Communication at Northwestern. In an interview about this, Johnson was asked to tell Advanced Placement high school students why they should learn about ‘black queer studies.’ Please enjoy decoding his response:

A: “…One of the progenitors of what we now think of as black queer studies is James Baldwin, who’s one of the most important thinkers of the 21^st century. To leave someone out of…African American history like James Baldwin is absurd…he was not only a…writer, he was an activist, and he was also queer. And his thinking has shaped…what we now think of as black queer studies. And so you can’t parse out the intellectual history of black studies without these important thinkers so that’s why it’s important for students who are in high school to be exposed to these thinkers and to understand the historical context out of which they emerged, even if they in their time weren’t using the language that we use now, i.e. queer. They were engaged in conversations around sexuality as it pertains to black people and sexuality as question, as a mode of thought, also applies to the period of slavery and thereafter. So, I mean, as black people we are sexual beings, and so that’s why it’s important to understand the role that sexuality plays in the history of black people. If you think about, for instance, the institution of slavery and how sexuality was vital to sustaining that institution in terms of using black women’s bodies as breeders or using black men’s bodies as breeders to maintain slavery as an institution.”

Don’t be fooled by that bit at the end there—no one is denying how traumatic this must have been for slaves, but I don’t think there’s any way you could say that this experience therefore makes black people more ‘sexual.’

His response actually makes me wonder:

Which side of the political spectrum is supposed to be racist again?

Call me crazy—maybe the reason for his inability to articulate why this subject is important is precisely because it’s not important and because it has more to do with academia’s penchant for legitimizing certain sexual desires. Say that out loud too much (or at all) and be prepared to face the consequences.

RELATED: Stop Colonizing Religion with LGBT: #DecolonizeReligion

With this professor’s statement, we can see how promoting homosexuality is now the same as being prejudiced against people with darker skin.

For those who are either new to Islam or struggling with their Iman (faith), this whole issue of being considered a bigot for being against homosexual ‘rights’ can be a big concern.  Accepting that morality and all the rules come from Allah, who knows more than we could ever know as our All-Knowing Creator, is absolutely key. Perhaps it could also help if we were to think about this subject after removing the liberal-world-order glasses that we’ve all been forced to wear.

There’s a beautiful du’a that comes to mind. It has been narrated from Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) that when the Prophet ﷺ performed his dawn prayer, upon making salam he would supplicate:

‏ اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ عِلْمًا نَافِعًا، وَرِزْقًا طَيِّبًا، وَعَمَلاً مُتَقَبَّلاً

“Oh Allah I ask you for beneficial knowledge; good provisions; and accepted deeds.” (Sunan ibn Majah)

This is what is in such great decline these days—beneficial, useful knowledge. People spend thousands of dollars on their children’s education, in many cases for them to be taught things like ‘Queer Studies’ (white, black, orange…doesn’t matter).

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Allah’s Messenger ﷺ would supplicate:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ لاَ يَنْفَعُ وَمِنْ قَلْبٍ لاَ يَخْشَعُ وَمِنْ نَفْسٍ لاَ تَشْبَعُ وَمِنْ دُعَاءٍ لاَ يُسْمَعُ

“O Allah, I seek refuge with You from knowledge that is of no benefit; from a heart that is not humble; from a soul that is not satisfied; and from a supplication that is not heard.” (Sunan al-Nasa’i)

May Allah guide us to seek out useful and beneficial knowledge. Amin.

RELATED: What We as Muslims Can Learn From the 1960s Black Liberation Movement

MuslimSkeptic Needs Your Support!