Arlington Schools Hire Race-Baiting Diversity Consultant

Posted by Hans Bader

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The school system in my county, Arlington, Virginia, certainly knows how to waste taxpayers’ money. Like several school districts, they’ve hired an infamous race-baiting “diversity consultant,” Glenn Singleton, whose racist theories drew criticism from four Supreme Court justices this year in the landmark court case of Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1.

As I noted earlier, Glenn Singleton of Pacific Educational Group has gotten rich promoting racism, racial division, and scapegoating in the schools. School systems hire him for hundreds of thousands of dollars to stereotype and scapegoat people based on their race under the guise of “diversity training.”

In 2002, the Seattle Schools hired him to “educate” their students and staff about racism. Singleton promotes the crudest imaginable racial stereotypes, such as claiming that “’white talk’ is ‘verbal, impersonal, intellectual’ and ‘task-oriented,’ while ‘color commentary’ is ‘nonverbal, personal, emotional’ and ‘process-oriented.’” He incessantly complains about “the ubiquity of white privilege and racism.” To illustrate how white people should behave, he points to an ashamed, self-hating white teacher who said that “although I often try to seek counsel of colleagues of color, it is inevitable that times arise where it’s only after the fact that one of them points out some flaw in my reasoning. The flaws are often the result of my ingrained Whiteness and my own blindness to its perpetual presence.”

Under Singleton’s influence, the Seattle Schools defined “individualism” as a form of “cultural racism,” said that only whites can be racist, and claimed that planning ahead (”future time orientation”) is a white characteristic that it is racist to expect minorities to exhibit.

In June 2007, the Supreme Court struck down the Seattle Schools’ use of race in student assignment, and 4 of the 9 justices cited Seattle’s wacky, Singleton-influenced, definitions of racism in the course of their opinions. Justice Thomas, for example, cited those definitions in footnote 30 of his opinion to explain why the courts should not defer to school districts when they use race. Likewise, Chief Justice Roberts cited those definitions in footnote 14 of his opinion for the Court.

(In most cases, as in the Seattle case itself, the courts had upheld the use of race in student assignment based on the concept of “deference” to school officials. In a number of other cases, though, the lower courts struck down the use of race in student assignment as being too extreme. One such case involved the Arlington County schools, which were barred from using race by the federal courts in Tuttle v. Arlington County Public Schools (1999)).

Despite greatly embarrassing the Seattle School District, which hired him, Singleton continues to be hired by school superintendents to preach his weird message of racism and scapegoating. For example, a Colorado school district gave Singleton a “six-figure consulting contract.” Singleton has received hundreds of thousands of dollars to barrage captive audiences with racism and hate. Yet he thinks he’s oppressed and the victim of “racial marginalization.”

If Singleton inflicts his racist insults on a captive audience of teachers at a training seminar, they may well have a Section 1981 or Section 1983 claim against him for racial harassment. As cases such as Markham v. White (1999) and Ascolese v. SEPTA (1996) show, the amount of repeated abuse required for a hostile training environment claim by a public employee is much lower than for a hostile work environment claim, where isolated racist remarks are not actionable.

Moreover, he may be subject to individual liability for aiding and abetting discrimination under 42 U.S.C. 1981. Contrary to Singleton’s racist belief, racism is not a white monopoly, as the federal appeals courts have recognized in holding institutions liable for harassing or mistreating their white employees. See, e.g., Bowen v. Missouri Department of Social Services (2002) (racial harassment of white employee by black co-worker); Taxman v. Board of Education (1996) (school board liable for termination of white teacher).

Arlington County and Singleton should keep in mind that “diversity” training seminars that denigrate people based on their race or gender can give rise to successful harassment lawsuits, such as Hartman v. Pena (1995), which allowed a white male to sue for sexual harassment over an insulting gender-awareness seminar, and Robinson v. Reed (1978), which allowed a woman to sue for invasive questions in a race-relations seminar.

Singleton’s bizarre racial theories have been criticized by many commentators, such as Rocky Mountain News editor Vincent Carroll; legal commentator John Rosenberg; education writer Joanne Jacobs; and legal commentator Walter Olson (creator of the world’s first law blog, the widely-read Overlawyered), among many others. Yet he continues to profit from the ignorance of the school officials, who hire him and give him a platform in which to promote racial division and racism in the schools.

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11/20/2007 @ 5:12 pm | Constitutional & Legal, Personal Liberty, Sanctimony | Comments

25 Responses to “Arlington Schools Hire Race-Baiting Diversity Consultant”

  1. Posted by: OpenMarket.org » Thanksgiving Is Racially Insensitive, School District Says - 11/27/2007

    […] white characteristic that is racist to expect minorities to exhibit.  Those claims were mocked in Supreme Court opinions.  The Seattle Schools now tell parents that Thanksgiving is a “time of mourning” […]

  2. Posted by: Exporting Racism to Canada | OpenMarket.org - 12/03/2007

    […] we described the antics of Glenn Singleton, the San Francisco “diversity” trainer who is paid […]

  3. Posted by: Doug Hubbard - 12/05/2007

    You site one case but my guess is that it happens thousands of times and it is the rule rather than the exception. White people, and, in particular, white males, are the most discriminated against class in the U.S. Someone should look into the pre-schools in the U.S. This is where there is heavy indoctrination of the children into the notion that whites are racists and that minorities can do no wrong. It must change or the U.S. is destined for decline and fall.

  4. Posted by: nick - 12/05/2007

    Forcing citizens to pay for their own subjugation, and other forms of government racketeering, is now commonplace for one reason only:

    CANDY ASSED CONSERVATIVES infest positions of authority and DO NOTHING WHATSOEVER to stop it.

    Thus the trend is assured. Get used to it.

  5. Posted by: New Paltz Journal » Blog Archive » Speaking of cascades… - 12/05/2007

    […] a cascade of “Diversity” BS: In 2002, the Seattle Schools hired [Glenn Singleton] to “educate” […]

  6. Posted by: BLACK VELVET BRUCE LI : Whitey Is A Bad Guy In Arlington - 12/05/2007

    […] For the rest of this excellent expose, click here. […]

  7. Posted by: ed - 12/05/2007

    Good Lord- when will allllllllll these 1960’s era burnout hippies end up in old folks homes? And let America get back to real business.

    Go away Burnouts.

  8. Posted by: The Glittering Eye » Blog Archive » A Good Crop - 12/06/2007

    […] second post on the list is a well done one on a specific player in the racial sensitivity […]

  9. Posted by: Speak English - 12/07/2007

    Instead of spending money on this fraud, why don’t the school districts teach the black children how to speak proper english.

    This would advance their self-esteem and level the playing field more than anything.

    Education far outweighs bullshit p.c. rhetoric.

  10. Posted by: David - 12/07/2007

    and while they are teaching them to speak english, they should teach them how to be on time, how to plan, and how to develop “future time orientation”. After all, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese people are minorities from ethnically very pure societies and they don’t seem to have a problem integrating in to American culture, learning to speak english, being on time, and generally planning a successful life. I guess that is what the racist “future time orientation” can do for you. It also happens to be an enabler of The American Dream, technology, engineering, and all those nice modern conveniences we come to accept. But, that is probably racist also.

  11. Posted by: An auspicious debut at the Watcher’s Council « Bookworm Room - 12/08/2007

    […] Arlington Schools Hire Race-Baiting Diversity Consultant OpenMarket.org […]

  12. Posted by: Jim Trebowski - 12/10/2007

    White males are the most discriminated against class in America? As a succesfull white male, you could have fooled me. I dont suppose any of you have proof or figures to back you up, do you? If you are so against racism, stop whining, stop using racism to fight back, and do something about it.

  13. Posted by: Giles Small - 12/11/2007

    I can ssee why divesity is send the USA down the toilet. Its happerning here in England

  14. Posted by: Bob Ward - 12/12/2007

    The reason school officials keep hiring race=baiters like Singleton is that the education establishment basically agrees with what he says.

  15. Posted by: Glenn Singleton’s Racism and the Arlington Public Schools | OpenMarket.org - 12/12/2007

    […] “diversity” consultant Glenn Singleton, who is hired by school officials, like the Arlington, Virginia schools, despite his long record of promoting offensive racial stereotypes, such as […]

  16. Posted by: Andrew MacPherson - 12/13/2007

    If scheduling and time promptness are racist white concepts, perhaps these school districts should be more….sensitive and accommodating to him and be late and dismissive about payment. Though I’m sure he wouldn’t see it that way!

  17. Posted by: Robert Lyon - 12/13/2007

    As a life-long resident of Arlington County, (65 yrs and counting), I was disturbed but not supprised, with the Singleton hiring. It unfortunately is business as usual in this liberal bastion of the Commonwealth of VA, where there continues to be NO Republican representation on either the County Board, or on the School Board, (or any other elected position for that matter). The libs know exactly what they are getting with Singleton, and it’s a damned shame.

  18. Posted by: chuck Matthews - 12/22/2007

    There is money in unempowerment. In the guise of self-flaggelation and the quest for utopia, these dangerous people are making a fortune. What do they care if they promote and implement a not-on-you-own economy which gives those-who-never-had-a-chance an expanded government largesse funded by hard working tax payers? They’ve already got their money and by expanding government’s role in weak American’s lives they’ve made themselves employable and electable.

  19. Posted by: Diversity Training Backfires | OpenMarket.org - 12/26/2007

    […] Superintendents in places like Arlington, Virginia hire him to give their staffs mandatory “diversity” training.  The Arlington Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Robert G. Smith, admitted to me that Singleton’s racial theories were “provocative,” but defended his hiring as a way of addressing the minority achievement gap.  That makes absolutely no sense, since Singleton’s racial theories reinforce the idea that studying is “acting white,” a terrible notion that fosters the minority achievement gap.  If any white teacher or school administrator repeats what Singleton claims about minorities not being “intellectual,” he and the school system that employs him will be publicly denounced as a racist, and people will say that the school system itself is to blame for fostering such racist ideas because it hired Singleton to promote them.  (California Superintendent Jack O’Connell, a white liberal, was recently embarrassed, and called racist, after he repeated a belief that Glenn Singleton shared with him: that black people are loud.  Singleton also embarrassed the Seattle Schools in a landmark Supreme Court case). […]

  20. Posted by: Faye - 12/30/2007

    All this man and his ilk are doing, is teaching black children to always focus on their race, and use it continually to get through life by maintaining a victim mentality and to foster bitterness toward whites. It is the exact opposite of what we should be doing which is ignore one’s color altogether. Liberals want poor blacks to depend on the government throughout their entire lives so they never grow. Black people are not children - they certainly don’t need idiots like Singleton setting them back a hundred years. And thinking Americans in general are steadily growing sick and tired of left wing brainwashing and outright lies. Public School Systems around the country are festering with liberal indoctrination, and it must be stopped. Parents find themselves having to de-program their children on a daily basis because they cannot afford to send their kids to private schools, all the while paying school taxes for the damage. Parents need to take back control of their children’s education and lobby for school choice.

  21. Posted by: Reginald - 01/01/2008

    I think Mr. Singleton looks a little fruity. Mr. Singleton never comments on how Asians and other nationalities/ethnicities also “plan ahead”. Only that it’s racist to expect Blacks to… Well then, the whole world is racist!

    Please. Stop blaming and using “hate Whitey” as a scapegoat.

  22. Posted by: Fenria - 01/01/2008

    Neato! I wonder if I can make a huge six figure salary for spouting complete and utter nonsense as long as it’s of the loony leftist liberal persuasion.

  23. Posted by: Jakealope - 01/01/2008

    What he is saying basically is that blacks are incapable of abstract thinking or planning ahead or even having a racist bent, so they are less than the human race. Calling him anti-intellectual is an understatement. His is a stupid, dishonest, hypocritical race baiter who does quite well exploiting white guilt for cash.

  24. Posted by: Ulfur Engil - 01/01/2008

    This is precisely the sort that actually engages in predatory behaviour in order to fulfill his/her own financial agenda.

    People like this Singleton will provoke ‘White Guilt’ in order to turn a profit. He is no different than any of the filth from the Southern Poverty Law Centre, or from the Anti-Defamation League. They will seek out those who they know will have been mislead on the realities of race, and will then hypnotise them into giving out their attention and money.

    They are con men, just like your Nigerian email scammers, or your Amway salesmen.

  25. Posted by: Lori - 01/01/2008

    what utter nonsense, are the parents going to stand up against this hateful crap ot what? I would refuse to let my kid attend this idiots sessions!

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