A parent sent a vague email asking for a meeting about "political things" in class.
-
A parent sent a vague email asking for a meeting about "political things" in class. I braced myself for a conversation about me allegedly indoctrinating their child. Instead, much to my surprise, they were seeking help after realizing their child was being red-pilled.
I didn't have a ton of answers for them and still don't. But this is a conversation we need to have.
That's this week's newsletter.
Grappling with Red Pilling
Friday evening, I had the privilege of watching my fifth group of seniors cross the stage in a very boisterous auditorium at the Emirates Palace. They were...
(buttondown.email)
-
@natebowling Scary. I've had students who are just great, lovely young guys just go blank on me because I unwittingly set off one of their triggers from YouTube men's rights videos, and that is it. They stop talking, stop laughing, stop listening, stop coming to office hours, stop reading or writing anything, because a YouTuber told them anyone who suggests rape actually happens is a mind-thieving feminazi. It comes from guys I totally got along great with, thought I had a lot in common with.
-
Yeah, this stuff is way more pernicious and has its claws deeper into millions of boys than any of us realize. I need to schedule a follow-up meeting with the family and share some of the stuff that I've been reading and reviewing since.
-
This is a resource I found useful on misogyny as a gateway to right-wing radicalization, with a young audience in mind: https://www.adl.org/resources/report/when-women-are-enemy-intersection-misogyny-and-white-supremacy Toward the end there are some concrete tips. At least provides evidence neither you nor the parents are making this up.
The week after I assigned the reading, Ben Shapiro spoke on campus and I saw some of that chill you mentioned.
-
@JMMaok @natebowling @carrideen given that the ADL is currently laser focused on the terrifying spectre of (checks) anti-genocide protestors, and not (checks) actual genocide as ruled by The Hague, it may be good to compile some complementary sources.
...
-
@JMMaok @natebowling @carrideen This article in particular ends its recommendations at top-down legalistic policies, but some of the most effective anti-extremism is in cultivating positive belonging for disaffected ppl: men and teen boys have it rough esp with toxic masc, but anti-bigoted sports and other clubs are one of the most effective interventions that exist. Extremists (gangs, terror, racists, fascists) often recruit by being accepting & fraternal to those lacking such things elsewhere.
-
@JMMaok @natebowling @carrideen to wit, few kids have ever resisted drugs because of top-down cringey (and fake) D.A.R.E. but plenty don't *get addicted to hard drugs* because they have positive relationships in their life such that they aren't trying to fill a void to begin with. Fascists say "that pain you feel? It's because feminists/minorities/socialists are holding you back. Join us and reclaim How Things Used To Be." -- get there first w positive diverse relationships & guiding acceptance.
-
@JMMaok @natebowling @carrideen unfortunately this can be stymied by diet-fascist policies that leave our schools segregated, communities shattered, and leadership figures compromised/underfunded/handcuffed. Incidentally, militaries churches and cults also recruit in this same exact way. So I think the #1 thing is to have positive nonjudgmental male role models: real life Mr Rogers, Bob Ross, Steve Burns, even John Cena and The Rock, who can cultivate belonging and gently correct without shame.
-
@JMMaok @natebowling @carrideen it's also easy to get stuck in second wave feminism or liberalism and take superficial things like policing representation or "bad words" as enough. Getting intersectional, historical & justice minded gets us thru: can we understand where people we disagree with are coming from? Can we see that divisiveness, individualism/patriarchy/capitalism/fascism/sexism have common roots & benefit from our alienation? Can we work for justice more than an absence of conflict?
-
@JMMaok @natebowling @carrideen the danger of this is of course that it hits right at the void and the lie that the government or corporation or religion that teachers are working for is exploiting just as much as the extremists are if not moreso. The benefit is that it's the whole truth that resonates with anyone looking for realness. Yes you might have to say that the world is run by assholes but a teen already knows that. They're looking for someone who won't lie or betray them in this mess.
-
@JMMaok @natebowling @carrideen Shapiro, meninists, and Steve Bannon are straight up fascist footsoldiers, modern Goebbels. Centrism and corporate-friendly liberal principles couldn't stand up to Nazis back then and will falter now too. These are the stakes, we have to see all the roots and allure of fascism and be bravely, strategically anti-fascist to build countervailing power to a literal Handmaids Tale outcome. Fortunately indigenous, Black, queer and trans women have many roadmaps for us.
-
@JMMaok @natebowling @carrideen I'm no expert on this topic but as a "literally first Google result" starting point, bell hooks spent a lifetime examining the problem of and solutions to these things, and even goes into the role of teachers specifically. We're not just teaching facts, we're modeling relationships, thinking, the practice of learning, confidence, and most importantly radical acceptance and transformative love:
https://commonslibrary.org/bell-hooks-ideas-for-social-justice/
Black Feminist bell hooks’s Trailblazing Critique of “Imperialist White Supremacist Heteropatriarchy”
We look at the life and legacy of trailblazing Black feminist scholar and activist bell hooks, who died at the age of 69 on Wednesday. We speak with her longtime colleague Beverly Guy-Sheftall, professor of women’s studies at Spelman College, who remembers her as “a person who would sit with young people and community people and students and help them understand this world in which we live, which is full of all kinds of domination.” Working in the tradition of intersectionality and Black radical feminism, hooks’s critiques of “imperialist white supremacist heteropatriarchy” called attention to the interlocking systems of oppression in hopes of eradicating them, Guy-Sheftall says.
Democracy Now! (www.democracynow.org)
-
@JMMaok @natebowling @carrideen a core and obvious takeaway here especially via hooks' citing of Buddhism, is of scapegoating and domination: when we feel upset, it's tempting to blame others instead of looking inwards and taking responsibility for our actions and emotions. That blame can turn into manipulation, control, and violence. And powerful assholes benefit. An American man may blame a Mexican woman for his boss offshoring his job, and the nexus of sexism racism and fascism is realized.
-
@JMMaok @natebowling @carrideen the corollary, that the frustration should fairly be taken out on the boss who left his worker high and dry, and his government-cultivated impotence at doing so (and individualism preventing him from banding together with his colleagues) the real problem, is of course something no authoritarian wants you to connect in the classroom. But you can encourage and model emotional intelligence and boundaries. Authoritarians and incels project their emotions onto others.
-
@JMMaok @natebowling @carrideen beware reductive convenient platitudes, this analysis cuts deep and makes a lot of enemies but unearths truth: the budding incel in your classroom may have an abusive mother, so a platitude about how we need to Believe and Listen to Women may sting and backfire. But he is often looking for a way to end his suffering. Radical lessons & experiencing healthy love can transform hurt lashing out to understanding, growth, and a healthy human who can resist manipulation.