Jessie Appleby and Bill Blanken: Do California Community Colleges 'Mandate Viewpoint Conformity'?

"Science should have no agenda other than a relentless pursuit of the truth.... With DEI, we're expected to search out racism within science curriculum, and it's just not there," says professor Bill Blanken.

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Jessie Appleby and Bill Blanken: Do California Community Colleges 'Mandate Viewpoint Conformity'?

This is an audio version of The Reason Livestream, which takes place every Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern on Reason's YouTube channel.

The topic this week was a lawsuit challenging California Community Colleges' new diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility—or DEIA—teaching standards, which allegedly "mandate viewpoint conformity" and "compel professors to teach and preach the State's perspective," according to the lawsuit Palsgaard v. Christian, filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE.  

Reason's Zach Weissmuller and Liz Wolfe welcomed FIRE attorney Jessie Appleby and Bill Blanken, a plaintiff in the case and a chemistry professor at Reedley College in California. Blanken says the standards advanced by the state's community college board amount to  "compelled speech" in the classroom and that he will not comply with them.  

We talked about the details of the case, dove into the substance of the proposed changes in the classroom, discussed the origins of the DEIA standards that now pervade academia and the corporate world, and examined FIRE's other case against Florida's Stop WOKE Act, which prohibits exactly the kind of classroom instruction that California's new standards compel.

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Comments

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

"Science should have no agenda other than a relentless pursuit of the truth....

Oh, you sweet summer child...

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Followup question... should Libertarians sit on the sidelines in the culture wars?

[Zeb]

Over the past several years (and I know I'm not alone) I've become more and more convinced that libertarians do have good reason to care/be involved. So much of it is being perpetrated directly by government at this point, that it's become impossible not to for anyone who believes in a limited role for government.

[Overt]

The interesting thing here is that the proper libertarian answer is to vehemently point out that this culture war stuff is only happening because the government is too big.

But the Reasonistas, for whatever reason, are so invested in personality politics that they never do that. Let's just take this whole TG issue in schools. I generally don't care if a parent wants to send their kids to some woke school. I do care that they (and many agents of the state) want MY kids' school to be a woke school. So when DeSantis comes along and tries to prevent that, Reasonistas are there to bitch and moan about DeSantis, but they remain completely silent about the people trying to tell my daughter she is a boy.

The problem is that personality politics drives clicks. Reason knows that if they post a takedown of Trump, or DeSantis or Biden, they will get people from Tribe Red and Tribe Blue sharing and bitching about their article. That means clicks. But if all they care about is clicks, not actual libertarian philosophy, they should just post porn.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

That means clicks. But if all they care about is clicks, not actual libertarian philosophy, they should just post porn.

Bunches of "straight dudes" talking about BDSM?

Check.

[Mother's Lament]

I'd like to defer to Overt on this because he's a more judicious thinker than I am, but I don't know if it's just about clicks.

Most of what the Reasonistas are selling is the bog standard Democrat establishment narrative, and that's a pretty crowded market to compete in. Even their hottest of hot takes are exactly the same as what is published in the NYT, WaPo or Daily Beast.

I think Koch sponsorship plays the biggest role and most Reason articles are now Brown Envelope jobs.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

You figure better Americans wouldn't notice our vestigial bigots and half-educated slack-jaws if the dimensions of government more closely approximated the preferences of anti-government cranks?

[Dillinger]

it’s not left/right anymore it’s over/Unger so in that I’m Unger, no.

[Olivahunter]

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[soldiermedic76]

I think in regards to most of the current culture war zeitgeist libertarians have a far more likely chance of convincing the majority of the right than the left. Abortion may be the major exception but contrary to popular belief by some, abortion is not a clear cut libertarian principle. A perfectly rational argument can be made to the effect that abortion violates the NAP.

[soldiermedic76]

And as for the backlash (such as De Santis's actions referenced in the story) rather than see them for what they are, an attempt to counter the invasiveness of state mandated and company mandated group think, Reason has instead used them to paint the right as authoritarians.

Instead of seeing that populism and libertarianism have many of the same roots (mainly that their proponents feel the individual has been sacrificed for the greater good of those in charge) Reason has decided to denigrate it rather than understand it.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

Understanding things is hard.

[soldiermedic76]

It really is. I even struggle with it at times but I do try.

[DesigNate]

Wait, hold up. Are you saying there’s nuance and layers to everyone’s opinions about the articles and writers here and it’s NOT just a right wing circle jerk?!

That’s it, I’m taking my toys and going home!

(In all seriousness though, you and Overt put my feelings into words much more succinctly. Thank you!)

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Abortion may be the major exception but contrary to popular belief by some, abortion is not a clear cut libertarian principle.

It's not always even a clear left/right issue.

Christopher Hitches-- yes, Christopher Hitches on abortion:

Margaret Thatcher voted . . . for the abortion bill [liberalizing abortion]. I gather that she’s since changed her position on the latter. My own vote would have been, as so often, exactly the reverse of hers.

[...]

Nobody on the left can avoid noticing that the so-called “prolife” forces are overwhelmingly female and from income groups that traditionally voted Democratic. Yet this simple rebellion by what one might dare to term humble people has been written off as reactionary by people who can’t or won’t see the essential dignity of the right-to-life position. . . .

. . . once you allow that the occupant of the womb is even potentially a life, it cuts athwart any glib invocation of “the woman’s right to choose.” If the unborn is a candidate member of the next generation, it means that it is society’s responsibility. I used to argue that if this is denied, you might as well permit abortion in the third trimester. I wasn’t as surprised as perhaps I ought to have been when some feminists—only some, and partly to annoy—said yes to that. They at least were prepared to accept their own logic, and say that the unborn is nobody’s business but theirs. That is a very reactionary and selfish position, and it stems from this original evasion about the fetus being “merely” an appendage. . .

[soldiermedic76]

For the most part he is principled, even if I disagree with him often, he is consistent. I can respect that.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

He said unborn instead of fetus. Nobody ever did that before Dobbs. Oh wait...

[JFree]

There isn’t a single ‘libertarian’ here of your ilk – ie hell yeah lets get right into the middle of culture war stuff – who is even attempting to convince/persuade anybody of anything re those issues.

You all are the most INTOLERANT people re those issues on your side of that culture war and your only function among people on that side (let’s call them conservatives or traditionalists) is to make sure they don’t waver or falter or begin to accept different perspectives or treat people as human. Equivalent to internal troops at the rear whose function is to prevent others from retreating by shooting them in the back.

As for trying to convince/persuade the ‘other side’ (let’s call them spawns of a Satanic progtard), none of you have ever posted a damn thing that indicates you even want to associate with them or want them to be within 1000 miles of you. They are painted as cartoons. I’ve heard no evidence that any of you have ever been involved in anything where you both would be at the same table. More than anything, it sounds more like repetition of a narrative that you all heard from Fox/etc.

So when/where/to whom is the convincing you are talking about? Hell even in your comment you decide immediately that the only real libertarian position is against abortion and choice/privacy has nothing to do with anything. Or at minimum, that you certainly won’t even mention any other libertarian perspective in an audience that you believe is predominantly against abortion.

[Minadin]

As always, nothing but projection from the left.

[JFree]

I eagerly await your first post that tries to persuade someone on either the left or right towards a position with which they disagree.

Rather than just the usual tribal bobblehead.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Strategically but reluctantly.

[TheReEncogitationer]

Suavez qui peut (French for: "Save whom you can.") So, yeah, chip in to help victims of tyranny where possible...but also hunker down, try not to get any on you, and be ready to re-build on the ruins.

[Marshal]

Be serious. We all know the most important action for libertarians is framing any advocacy for freedom by the right is a "culture war".

[Brandybuck]

Answer: If it's cultural, then yes sit on the sidelines. If it's political then libertarians have an answer: No initiation of force.

In the case of community colleges, the core problem is that these are government colleges. Even if we accept them as legitimate, they must still be as neutral in outlook as possible.

A fully private college can teach whatever the fuck it wants. But community colleges are not. Privatize them I say! But that ain't gonna happen, so in the meantime keep all the damned politics out.

Saying "culture war" is just a shibboleth. It's signaling.

[Beezard]

Except there is a cultural revolution going on that has concrete political ramifications. This response seems like the Reasonoid problem in general, where they can’t even bring themselves to even verbally suggest an illiberal neo-commie culture in every institution is a threat at all.

That’s biggest complaint since about 2017 or so about Reason and blue pilled libertarianis. In stead of saying “I can totally see why you think this is happening and why want to do something about it, but here is why I’m leery of your strategy to solve it”- you get gaslighting, deflection, accusations of “baselessness”, etc.

What sort of libertarianism is there going to if every institution is socialist?

[IamNotEvil]

Physics is racist by nature.

Why else would it hide it's dark matter?

[JohnZ]

Maffs be all rayciss an shit........

[Longtobefree]

"Science should have no agenda other than a relentless pursuit of the truth.... With DEI, we're expected to search out racism within science curriculum, and it's just not there,"

Well, if you can't find the racism, you need to relentless some more until you do.

[ducksalad]

““Science should have no agenda other than a relentless pursuit of the truth.”

One of those soaring beautiful sentiments that isn’t to be taken literally.

We don’t teach kids basic science or math because they’re going to do relentless truth seeking. We teach it mainly because depending on their career they might need the knowledge and skills to get some job done, and that job isn’t going to be relentless truth seeking either.

Of course science needs to be honest and unbiased. But the agenda is to learn something useful or at least interesting.

[TJJ2000]

More ?blessings? from Commie-Education.

How much more communism does this nation ?need? ?
Or maybe it fought a Revolutionary war to escape EXACTLY that.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Here at Misfit Central, a discussion with a professor described by his students (at Rate My Professor) in this manner:

Blanken was ONLY passionate & enthusiastic when he was using lectures for his political rants and complaining about his taxes

He is close to being socially inept, mainly due to his ego that he seems to think he's entitled to. Interestingly, most of the faculty know he has a chip on his should for several reasons.

He's very abstract in lectures & will not go out of his way to help you.I asked for help he told me to look in the internet for the answer. He gets angry at students who receive financial aid & makes fun of them. he saids that it's his tax $$ he pays.

A chemistry professor. Community college chemistry professor.

And a star at the leading site for on-the-spectrum, antisocial, disaffected malcontents.

[JFree]

Apparently 'political rants and taxes' ARE part of chemistry.

[GKHoff]

Years ago my nephew complained about how his English Literature professor ranted at the beginning of every class about the Republican president then in office. I suggested he keep a record of the time his professor spent ranting and not teaching, then ask for a refund at semester's end. I don't think he did that.

There are more leftist professors by far who waste paid for class time with political rants than on the other side.

[JohnZ]

Science was and always has been about searching for the truth. If it wasn't people would still believe the earth is flat and the sun and all the stars revolve around it. Of course we all know at one time it was considered heresy to believe otherwise. One risked persecution by the representatives of God.
Now, we have a different religion, that of the religion of woke and like the repressive religion of the past, this latest religion can be just as oppressive and dangerous as the previous one.
Utter such heresies such as a man cannot become a woman or a woman cannot become a man and see what happens to you.
Canada is leading the way in such religious oppression as they are now threatening to burn Dr. Jordan Peterson at the proverbial stake for the awful sin of heresy.
Mandated speech is just as horrific as outlawing free speech.
The back lash from all this is coming.

[JFree]

I have no idea what DEI stuff is actually supposed to be in those 'standards'. But the following

With DEI, we're expected to search out racism within science curriculum, and it's just not there," says professor Bill Blanken.

is just mindblowingly stupid and evil as fuck.

The biology textbook used and challenged in the Scopes trial - has passages like:
At the present time there exist upon the earth five races or varieties of man, each very different from the other in instincts, social customs, and, to an extent, in structure. These are the Ethiopian or negro type, originating in Africa; the Malay or brown race, from the islands of the Pacific; The American Indian; the Mongolian or yellow race, including the natives of China, Japan, and the Eskimos; and finally, the highest type of all, the caucasians, represented by the civilized white inhabitants of Europe and America.

So on the one hand, we have evolution and scientific racism and on the other creationism and Biblical racism (descendants of Ham). And if you don't think scientific racism persists today among white supremacists/bigots - well wait a few minutes and one of them will show up to comment here.

On the meeker (and probably DEI origins based), I did 'search out racism in chemistry'. By typing 'racism in chemistry' into duckduckgo. I'm sure that's way beyond what this professor is capable of. Every single point raised in every single article linked to may be bogus. IDK. But what this 'professor' is asserting is that ALL such discussion is strictly off-limits and verboten in his classes because 'racism doesn't exist in chemistry'.

[Minadin]

That text book was written almost 100 years ago, and the Scopes trial itself was nearly 100 years ago. Also, it's a biology textbook. That's where you're going for proof of racism in modern day chemistry?

[JFree]

A DEI statement (the ones I've seen) are not some Maoist struggle session. They are boilerplate text about how students will be treated and how the academic discipline treats different people/subjects.

None of the duckduckgo links are more than 10 years old. The prof is transparently too fucking lazy to search for anything so instead wants to play victim. As do you.

[Beezard]

What do you think Equity means? It’s appears as boiler plate because it they’re pawning it off as Equality. That’s totally how it’s being peddled at my workplace and at my wife’s middle school. What’s not going to be boiler plate are the actual policies and the introduction of Diversity officers.

[Oafish]

No idea of the DEI standards? Here you go!

https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/palsgaard-v-christian-california-community-colleges-deia-rules

[John Smith]

That's because Bill is misrepresenting what equity-based pedagogy is and how it is being implemented. He's simply lying. I work in the same district, read the same emails, and go through the same training and evaluation process. I mean, he seriously wants the audience to believe that he's not even allowed to say the names of WHITE scientists. It's pure fantasy.

[John Smith]

As a white, male instructor in Bill’s district who is currently going through the tenure process, I can say that Bill is arguing with a dystopian strawman and does not reflect the process or district culture that I’ve experienced over the past 10 years. I doubt Reason cares about perspectives that differ from Bill and FIRE’s narrative, but so many questions were raised in this stream that were left unanswered. For instance, when asked why DEI is being used, Jessie (who isn’t an academic or administrator) had no answer. The answer is that, unlike the student-deficit model that has historically been used (and places all blame on students for not succeeding), equity-minded pedagogy involves research-based strategies that hold instructors and institutions accountable for student success. We use it because it works. Sure it’s a little extra work to make sure students feel welcomed, but if Bill actually thinks science is the pursuit of truth, then surely research-based pedagogy would interest him. But judging from public statements by former students, he simply doesn’t care to help ensure student success. He comes across, professionally, as disengaged and lazy.