Prof slams Florida for its approval of PragerU videos in classrooms, says org 'loves gaslighting Black people'
University of Kansas professor Nicholas Mitchell, authored an op-ed for MSNBC criticizing the educational system in Florida and arguing that PragerU 'loves gaslighting Black people about racism.'
The Florida State Department of Education approved PragerU as an educational vendor for the state, which means that teachers would be allowed to use supplemental instructional content if permitted by their local school district.
Nicholas Mitchell, assistant professor of curriculum studies at the University of Kansas, recently authored an op-ed for MSNBC criticizing the educational system in Florida and arguing that PragerU “loves gaslighting Black people about racism.”
[RELATED: Professor draws comparisons between Jim Crow, Holocaust and treatment of trans youth]
On July 24, the Florida State Department of Education confirmed to local news outlets that it had approved PragerU as an educational vendor for the state, which means that teachers would be allowed to use the organization’s supplemental instructional content if permitted by their local school district. Curriculum materials such as textbooks would still have to be approved by and meet the standards of the Florida Department of Education.
Mitchell wrote that “the recent release of Florida’s problematic African American history standards give us reason to be skeptical” about the approval, which he claimed was likely “to be controversial.”
He went on to cite two videos made by PragerU, including one of The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro discussing “intersectionality,” and another of author Taleeb Starkes talking about “The Top Five Issues Facing Black Americans.”
“His description of intersectionality does not line up with intersectional literature, which says that because people occupy multiple identities simultaneously, they can experience multiple forms of discrimination.” Mitchell said, referring to Shapiro calling intersectionality a form of “identity politics” akin to a “hierarchy of oppression.”
Academics have noted the fluidity of the definitions of “intersectionality” and its categories.
Sociologist Kathy Davis has asserted that its “lack of clear-cut definition or even specific parameters has enabled it to be drawn upon in nearly any context of inquiry,” while Darren Hutchinson, Chief Diversity Officer at Emory School of Law has argued that “the meanings of these identity categories are, instead, contextual and shifting.”
Mitchell went on to argue that Starkes’s argument was “racial conservatism,” that “totalizes Black culture as either producing victims or victors,” and “fits nicely with Florida’s problematic new African American history standards…. [that says] Black people benefited from slavery and can at least be partially blamed for white mobs massacring them.”
Mitchell went on to criticize Florida’s decision to list economist Thomas Sowell as a political figure who “shaped the modern civil rights effort.”
“Sowell, who’s had a prolific career as a scholar of economics, is famous for his intense, repetitious and often historically suspect criticisms of Black culture,” he said, “most specifically for decrying victimhood mentality in the Black community.”
“What is the impact of a hidden curriculum that teaches Black children that calling out racism and other ill-treatment they may be subjected to means they’re embracing victimhood?” Mitchell continued. “The feeling that they should suffer in silence.”
Campus Reform has previously reported that Mitchell drew a comparison between the treatment of trans youth, the Holocaust, and Jim Crow laws in a presentation.
Courses Mitchell teaches include “Exploring Genders and Sexualities in Curriculum,” and “Critical Pedagogy.” His work focuses on “anti-bigotry” and “issues of diversity.”
Campus Reform has reached out to Mitchell and the Florida Department of Education for comment, and this article will be updated accordingly.
