by Steve Levy
Long Island’s representative on the state Board of Regents, Roger Tilles, deserves credit for speaking out against antisemitism in our schools. He wants our schools to teach the horrors of the Holocaust to a greater extent, and have the Regents show what they’re going to do to combat this rash of antisemitism that has surfaced since the October 7 massacre of Israelis at the hands of Hamas. https://www.newsday.com/opinion/the-point/roger-tilles-hate-holocaust-long-island-education-o7kc32fw
But before we pat Tilles too much on the back, it cannot be ignored that he has sat by silently while far leftists have taken over the school system throughout New York, and have been pushing a curriculum of indoctrination through critical race and gender theories. https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/new-york-curriculum-critical-race-theory-another-name
Many behind the movement are outright Marxists who want to teach the younger generation that America is a horrible place that was based on patriarchy, sexism, homophobia, and all the other negative terms thrown around these days by the Woke left.
Many of us warned that there would be dire consequences to programming our children to believe that white students are inherently racist, while black students are helpless victims.
We warned that the head of the American Library Association, a self-described Marxist, was pushing an agenda to flood school libraries with indoctrinating materials. https://www.foxnews.com/media/marxist-lesbian-american-library-association-head-says-conservative-book-bans-attacks-children
An appointee representing the Long Island region, Tilles has been a standard liberal voice on the board.
The debate over the teaching of CRT has rocked many parents throughout the nation, and Long Island is no exception. Last November, angry moms and dads congregated at the Great Neck School Board in Nassau County, agitated over lessons being taught in the 11th grade Regents English class. One lesson included the following quote: “White people benefit from this system, intentionally or unintentionally, which makes us all (technically) racist…”
According to The IslandNow publication, the president of Great Neck North High School’s Student Organization, Sahar Tartak, claimed last year her advisers demanded she sign off on a check from student government funds for a systemic racism presentation by a Long Island-based group aimed at promoting racial equality. When Tartak — the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor — was unsure about the details, she refused and was accused of being a racist. https://theislandnow.com/great-neck-residents-object-to-teaching-on-racism-and-white-fragility/
Tilles was quick to jump up and deny that CRT was being taught. Stop getting your knickers in a knot, was the cavalier Tilles reaction to furious parents. You were simply misinformed. This was not CRT, as you’ve been wrongly persuaded by the conspiracy theory sect. No, this was a very healthy “diversity, equity and inclusion” lesson. https://www.newsday.com/opinion/roger-tilles-great-neck-crt-1.50475257
It appears Tilles is playing the same cynical game employed by teachers’ unions and the more radical activists that, if the lesson veers one iota from CRT playbook, it can’t be labeled CRT, and, thus, it’s nothing to worry about. But an analysis of what is actually being taught should be frightening to parents and it shows that their worries are justified.
Rather than blasting these racist lessons to the high heavens, Tilles, in a defensive posture, stated: “The Regents emphasize that diversity should be valued in all aspects of education, including curriculum and hiring because it’s crucial to a good education, and fundamental to how we treat each other.”
In other words, give a wink and a nod to insidious CRT that teaches children to file everyone into two camps: the exploited and the exploiters. And now, as we saw this month, our younger generation is classifying Jews as being the “colonialist oppressors.” It shouldn’t surprise Tilles. His failure to stand up against CRT when it first surfaced helped lead to this poisonous hatred within our youth.
So good for Tilles in speaking out against Jew hatred. Now perhaps he can put his voting power where his mouth is and work to defund the CRT he allowed in our schools. Perhaps then our youth will stop judging people by their religion or the color of their skin and instead look at the content of their character.
Steve Levy is President of Common Sense Strategies, a political consulting firm. He served as Suffolk County Executive, as a NYS Assemblyman, and host of “The Steve Levy Radio Show.” He is the author of “Solutions to America’s Problems” and “Bias in the Media.” www.SteveLevy.info, Twitter @SteveLevyNY, steve@commonsensestrategies.com