In this episode, I sit down with Rhyen Staley, a former teacher and coach, turned researcher with Parents Defending Ed. to discuss his findings about ethnic studies, or more specifically “Liberated Ethnic Studies,” which is not your mom or dad’s “Multicultural” education at all.
Sadly, it, like so many allegedly “must-have,” DEI-focused curricula, is just another way for activists to infuse the K12 curriculum with Marxist ideology.
Rhyen explains how the concept of “Radical Love,” from Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, takes the word “love” itself, and turns it upside down, and inside out. With this concept, Freire takes the traditional Marxist dogma that self-sacrifice is an obligation, and connects it to liberation. Therefore, it is impossible to “love” unless you are fighting for the liberation of “marginalized people.” The problem is, his definition of “liberation,” as Rhyan explains, simply means “free from all traditional norms and societal expectations,” especially those we value (even treasure) from the Western Enlightenment.
Rhyen has written about this himself on his Substack in his article entitled The NEA, Ethnic Studies, and Socialism, and I highly recommend reading his full report too as a companion to this show.
My goal is to help Rhyen, and others like him, disseminate this information to people who may still be stuck on CRT (or what James Lindsay more accurately calls ‘Race Marxism’), because ultimately we have to realize how intentional the effort is to subvert, and rewrite our cultural mores and values, for the purpose of (quite literally), rewriting (or eliminating altogether) our Constitutional principles.
You can follow Rhyen on Twitter @DunedainRanger9
Here on Substack at The Reconnaissance
Also check out past interviews with Rhyen on The Reason We Learn about What Your Kids are Not Learning in School, and The Lessons We Teach When We Don’t Discipline in Schools.
2:21 Acknowledging the contributions of the Jewish Community.
4:22 In there own words: what is “Liberated Ethnic Studies?”
6:58 Translating the vocabulary of Marxist Educators.
10:40 Paulo Freire’s “Radical Love.”
17:11 Why the word “Groomer” is accurate.
22:00 Challenging “hegemony,” and redefining “normalcy.”
32:45 Ascent of the “Freirians.”
46:00 Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Freire and Fromm.
58:00 How reality gets labeled “conspiracy.”
1:20:00 “Submit, or else…” The religious overtones of Liberation Ethnic Studies.
1:35:25 Real world application: analyzing “The Slap” through a Freirian lens.
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Ethnic Studies: A Trojan Horse for Marxism