If the District was to eliminate all identity-based curricula and phrase all of its priorities in terms of lifting up kids who come from low-income households, they would be helping the same population and have a strong legal argument that they are complying with the law even if the feds target the District. I cringe when I read Trump's executive orders. But I also cringe when I read the details of Deemar's complaint. And as far as DEI training for teachers, it's a waste of resources. There is no good evidence that such interventions achieve positive results. Elementary/middle schools must focus on their core mission of teaching the kids academic skills and knowledge that they will need for high school and beyond. If parents want, they can send their kids to private Hebrew School, Sunday School, or Social Justice School on the weekends.
Yeah, the professional development is strongly lacking in evidence that it works. Evanston has been doing Courageous Conversations / Beyond Diversity since 2007 in one form or another, and have yet to see any meaningful results.
I couldn’t agree more with all that you’ve said, Svetlana. I’ll note that the added bonus of focusing on socioeconomics is that such a focus will uplift a more diverse group of vulnerable kids and families. It is a more inclusive approach which “should” resonate in this town of all places. I always found the “you’re the wrong color brown” and the “sit down and wait your turn” to be truly horrific responses (ones all too common in the D65 parents/guardians page) when common sense things like this were brought up over the past 4+ years.
Thank you for being so involved in all of the issues facing us. I also subscribe to senior Democratic Strategist Simon Rosenberg's Hopium Chronicles on Substack. Simon has been doing this for 34 years. He lives in DC, where the atmosphere must be so thick with stress.
At his motivation, we call our Senators each morning. Trying to reach Durbin and Duckworth is very challenging. Their staff has stopped sending weekly updates and no one ever replies to our emails or phone calls. Then we send emails through their contact forms. We were following up with snail mail but there's no time for that now. We've called about all the unqualified, and truly facsist appointments the convicted and sentenced felon has made at the direction of musk and vance. Of course Senators phones are blanketed every single work day. The town halls around the country, both in person and virtual, are widely attended.
Then we contact our State Attorneys General. Kwame Raoul has been involved in all of the multi-state lawsuits that have been filed. This is really important. I believe there are more than 60 lawsuits with temporary restraining orders now (See Joyce Vance Civil Discourse on Substack for a detailed explanation of TRO's) So now there needs to be a multi-state lawsuit filed to protect the Department of Education. They are bombarded us with these unconstitutional executive orders every single day. But we cannot go into a fetal position and give up. We must fight back.
We cannot obey in advance. Or at all. I just read today about an elementary school at Fort Campbell in KY that is taking every book off the shelves that even references slavery or civil rights. That is the the slippery slope we're talking about. This is terrifying.
Honestly we as a community are rich enough (and united enough politically) to say 🖕 to the Trump Administration if it came down to things like this. It may soon be time to put our money where our mouths are.
1) In a way, isn't this giving them what they want? Let some of what they'd deem "liberal elite" communities go out-of-pocket to retain DEI policies/programs AND the programs that currently receive federal funding? Meanwhile, many of the ones who don't have that financial power comply, and the ones who don't just white-knuckle it hoping they don't get targeted? Let's not forget that advancements in AI can enable extensive, swift analysis for compliance audits, even as human personnel reductions impact the overall enforcement of this mandate.
2) Having the reserves on hand to weather the storm for a few years is the major underlying issue with our recent fiscal mismanagement. We've discussed the prospect of a referendum in other posts here, but we could have had one on the ballot this spring just as you posted about a little over a month ago. And yet, ZERO deliberations about it, at least in public. Considering the phased SDRP included ~$15M in Phase III reductions, it's pretty shocking this wasn't considered. Any counter-argument around affordability concerns should have been discussed publicly by the same group of people who rubber-stamped the maximum annual tax levy increase request as usual.
I’d rather be the guy who takes local heat for re-apportioning $10mil within the district to support homeless and special ed students than the guy who caves to this version of the federal government.
I think so too and honestly it’s not even clear to me if they’ve been getting reimbursed properly the last few years anyway. Lots of those big special ed transport expenses are in theory, reimbursable. but it’s just too hard for me to audit this via foia
When we talk about why families really left D65, no one wants to admit that the equity curriculums were at least part of the reason. If they admitted that publicly they could lose their job or be the subject of ridicule.
When one of my children was at the JEH preschool (for 3-5 yr olds) they spent a week learning about what the colors of of the pride flag mean, with no mention throughout the school year of our country’s official flag and what it stands for. Teachers read them books about boys who want to be mermaids, and they learned the definition of gay, lesbian, straight, etc. I think this is crossing a line for many parents.
When another one of my children was in 3rd grade, I reviewed the content of what was to be taught during the equity curriculum weeks. BLM week included learning about the song Brown Skin Girl with slides of the lyrics and a picture of a black female with her top open showing cleavage from the top to the bottom of her breasts (I would attach my screenshots of those slides from the D65 website if I could). The lyrics included lines such as “Tonight I might fall in love dependin’ on how you hold me. I’m glad that I’m calmin’ down, can’t let no one come control me. Keep dancin’ and call it love. She fightin’ but fallin’ slowly.” Fine song if you’re an adult but I wouldn’t promote it to children. And there was the logo that says “counselors not cops”. I wonder how that made the children of police officers feel? Again, the district is crossing a line. Let parents handle identity and politics, and let the district focus on academic education instead of trying to shove their agendas down our throats.
I could go on and on about the equity slides I’ve seen on the district 65 website over the past 4 years. I don’t think they’re worth losing federal funding for. We should be promoting a spirit of treating people with respect and dignity simply because they are humans, and not because they are a part of this group or that group. I’m looking for school board candidates who say they are willing to do away with these types of lessons in school and clean up our students’ curriculums. Let’s do what we need to do to keep our federal funding.
There's so much stuff like this, where "equity" was the justification for hiring a friend or someone getting paid to do activist work. This guy we paid $35k to do equity work was a convicted felon for drunk driving too much and the District hired him to offer programs offsite on the weekends!
I think some of that has already gone away - It's not clear to me if they're doing the "equity weeks" this February but it seems like they're not. They've even scaled back some of the crazier affinity group things related to the Beyond Diversity training. I haven't heard about privilege walks for instance since like 2022.
I just think that this is a local issue we can solve on our own (we have elections in a month) and don't need the federal government to come in and smash. We don't need to throw the baby out with the bathwater here.
I'd like some insight on how D65 will be able to build a new $40M school, repair the other schools, and keep the lights on with an additional $10M annual hole in the budget. They were already almost at bankruptcy/insolvency. I just can't see this math working.
The new school will come in under $48 million, of which we'll be paying $3.25m as lease payments for the next 17 years. That's a serious burden unless D65. Maybe they can find a way to get money from the 5th ward TIF after the City sells off City Hall (I'm researching this) but otherwise it's $3.25m per year.
The reserves are gone now and there is $0 for the other buildings and I don't see any way to fund that without a referendum. Maybe some Board candidates have better ideas but I don't have any.
We don't even know if they'll be able to make the cuts that the Board approved via the SDRP. Lots of unknowns, especially with transportation costs.
6% of the budget or about $9-10 million bucks. Most of it is designated for specific uses like homeless kids (McKinney Vento) or special education (IDEA)
If we keep our ears open, we can hear them blaming "DEI" for all the world's ills. The ghouls in DC were blaming DEI for the plane crash at Reagan while there were still bodies in the Potomac River. Yes, we should 100% decide to take them seriously.
Practically, I don’t think it’s even possible to comply with this policy because it lacks any statutory basis - it’s just something the feds made up. Even if D65 tried to eliminate all its equity programs, the Trump administration could just come back with a newly invented reason we failed their test. It’s a negotiation with bad actors.
Sure but you have an administration (petty king) that has shown a willingness to defy court orders. You can say it's statutory all you want but at the end of the day, they can just not cut checks. This is still theoretical now, while stuff works through the courts, but you've got Trump tweeting "He who saves his country does not violate any Law" - so much for those statutes!
Sadly, I don't think you are. I hope the courts have the courage to issue orders and then send US Marshall's in to jail big shots in the Trump Admin when they don't comply.
I needed a trigger warning on this one, Tom. I’m digging in my ancestry.com profile, looking for some foreign relative who will take us in. I’ve got some 4th cousins in Sweden- I’ll start there first. I do like meatballs and IKEA.
these are all the DEI policies D65 has listed on their website right now - I think this should be the qualifying factor for who loses money. Most schools openly boast about these sort of policies
For one, the PTA Equity Project and PTAs generally are a private organization, receive no federal funding, and are not funded or run by the taxpayers. They can do whatever they want, so throw that out.
I don't think anyone should lose funding due to having an equity policy on their website. It's just words on a website and lots of districts boast about bullshit. You, of all people, should sympathize that folks shouldn't be punished for speech.
The question from the OCR is, is there any damage to students from specific policies? The SLF people say yes and the 2021 Trump Administration seemed to agree - and it derives from the Beyond Diversity Training. I'm personally a skeptic that teacher professional development somehow violates the law which pertains to students.
Of course the funny thing is that D65's boasting about "equity" is largely bullshit and isolated to wasteful symbolic gestures (Foster School) and gutting things like advanced math and reading specialists. The "equity lens" has also justified unnecessary expenses like Horton's security detail. (Remember when he blamed his car getting broken into on the Deemer lawsuit, even though the lawsuit was filed a week after the car window incident?)
Stay tuned, I'm working on a follow up to this piece that discusses this.
I think the iron is hot to rethink how we talk about equity. For instance, it's debateable if the "equity lens" is even ethical or legal for a fiduciary, like the Board. Not that they ever actually use it for anything (ask Bessie Rhodes how the equity lens works). There's been so much BS and I think it's time to say "this approach hasn't worked" and try something different.
We should have a school district that people of color want to send their kids to, not because we're screaming equity as loud as we can, but because we have a good ass school district.
OMG. It is time to rethink use of the word equity! It got us Horton. You can get anything you want (to quote Alice’s Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie) just use that famous word
In the year of our lord 2025, "don't discriminate against people" is apparently a deep insight on the left. This may be related to your recent electoral performance.
1:30 school district philosophy - “an enviorment that supports equity for students”
2:240 Board Policy Development - The district will apply the Racial Equity Impact Assessment toll prior to policy recommendations for board adoption
2:120 Board Member Development - 4. Each Board Member Must Complete Beyond Diversity and Seeking Educational Equity Diversity (seed) Training
7:10 Equal Educational Opportunities - Sex Equity
7:12 Racial and Educational Equity - District 65 recognizes that excellence requires a commitment to equity…..the purpose of this policy is, in accordance with the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Racial and Educational Equity Statement. *This section has equity and definitions all over it too long to list here or it would be spam
7:14 Inclusion Policy - 3. Make Decisions with a Equity Lens
How Diversity Equity & Inclusion damage children in public schools is detailed in this recent executive order titled Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling.
Section 1 - Purpose and Policy describes how it harms students.
Section 2 - Definitions- and it subsections expand in detail
This is just blathering nonsense and has not been my family's experience.
"In recent years, however, parents have witnessed schools indoctrinate their children in radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight. Such an environment operates as an echo chamber, in which students are forced to accept these ideologies without question or critical examination. In many cases, innocent children are compelled to adopt identities as either victims or oppressors solely based on their skin color and other immutable characteristics. "
Having your feelings hurt is not harm. Turns out you guys are the snowflakes!
If the District was to eliminate all identity-based curricula and phrase all of its priorities in terms of lifting up kids who come from low-income households, they would be helping the same population and have a strong legal argument that they are complying with the law even if the feds target the District. I cringe when I read Trump's executive orders. But I also cringe when I read the details of Deemar's complaint. And as far as DEI training for teachers, it's a waste of resources. There is no good evidence that such interventions achieve positive results. Elementary/middle schools must focus on their core mission of teaching the kids academic skills and knowledge that they will need for high school and beyond. If parents want, they can send their kids to private Hebrew School, Sunday School, or Social Justice School on the weekends.
Yeah, the professional development is strongly lacking in evidence that it works. Evanston has been doing Courageous Conversations / Beyond Diversity since 2007 in one form or another, and have yet to see any meaningful results.
I couldn’t agree more with all that you’ve said, Svetlana. I’ll note that the added bonus of focusing on socioeconomics is that such a focus will uplift a more diverse group of vulnerable kids and families. It is a more inclusive approach which “should” resonate in this town of all places. I always found the “you’re the wrong color brown” and the “sit down and wait your turn” to be truly horrific responses (ones all too common in the D65 parents/guardians page) when common sense things like this were brought up over the past 4+ years.
Thank you for being so involved in all of the issues facing us. I also subscribe to senior Democratic Strategist Simon Rosenberg's Hopium Chronicles on Substack. Simon has been doing this for 34 years. He lives in DC, where the atmosphere must be so thick with stress.
At his motivation, we call our Senators each morning. Trying to reach Durbin and Duckworth is very challenging. Their staff has stopped sending weekly updates and no one ever replies to our emails or phone calls. Then we send emails through their contact forms. We were following up with snail mail but there's no time for that now. We've called about all the unqualified, and truly facsist appointments the convicted and sentenced felon has made at the direction of musk and vance. Of course Senators phones are blanketed every single work day. The town halls around the country, both in person and virtual, are widely attended.
Then we contact our State Attorneys General. Kwame Raoul has been involved in all of the multi-state lawsuits that have been filed. This is really important. I believe there are more than 60 lawsuits with temporary restraining orders now (See Joyce Vance Civil Discourse on Substack for a detailed explanation of TRO's) So now there needs to be a multi-state lawsuit filed to protect the Department of Education. They are bombarded us with these unconstitutional executive orders every single day. But we cannot go into a fetal position and give up. We must fight back.
We cannot obey in advance. Or at all. I just read today about an elementary school at Fort Campbell in KY that is taking every book off the shelves that even references slavery or civil rights. That is the the slippery slope we're talking about. This is terrifying.
Honestly we as a community are rich enough (and united enough politically) to say 🖕 to the Trump Administration if it came down to things like this. It may soon be time to put our money where our mouths are.
Yes we are, but a couple of things:
1) In a way, isn't this giving them what they want? Let some of what they'd deem "liberal elite" communities go out-of-pocket to retain DEI policies/programs AND the programs that currently receive federal funding? Meanwhile, many of the ones who don't have that financial power comply, and the ones who don't just white-knuckle it hoping they don't get targeted? Let's not forget that advancements in AI can enable extensive, swift analysis for compliance audits, even as human personnel reductions impact the overall enforcement of this mandate.
2) Having the reserves on hand to weather the storm for a few years is the major underlying issue with our recent fiscal mismanagement. We've discussed the prospect of a referendum in other posts here, but we could have had one on the ballot this spring just as you posted about a little over a month ago. And yet, ZERO deliberations about it, at least in public. Considering the phased SDRP included ~$15M in Phase III reductions, it's pretty shocking this wasn't considered. Any counter-argument around affordability concerns should have been discussed publicly by the same group of people who rubber-stamped the maximum annual tax levy increase request as usual.
I was thinking the same thing about Williamsburg VA.
That is bizarre. It's a federally-run school. (https://clarksvillenow.com/local/books-mentioning-slavery-civil-rights-removed-from-shelves-at-fort-campbell-schools/) I suppose the employees are fearful. It will be a great learning experience for the students.
Good analysis. They are going all the way with this.
I’d rather be the guy who takes local heat for re-apportioning $10mil within the district to support homeless and special ed students than the guy who caves to this version of the federal government.
It seems likely that you'd be able to find funds to do this. District 65 spends $24,786/student (https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/illinois/districts/evanston-ccsd-65-115668) compared to much lower state and national averages (which include high schools) (https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics)
I think so too and honestly it’s not even clear to me if they’ve been getting reimbursed properly the last few years anyway. Lots of those big special ed transport expenses are in theory, reimbursable. but it’s just too hard for me to audit this via foia
When we talk about why families really left D65, no one wants to admit that the equity curriculums were at least part of the reason. If they admitted that publicly they could lose their job or be the subject of ridicule.
When one of my children was at the JEH preschool (for 3-5 yr olds) they spent a week learning about what the colors of of the pride flag mean, with no mention throughout the school year of our country’s official flag and what it stands for. Teachers read them books about boys who want to be mermaids, and they learned the definition of gay, lesbian, straight, etc. I think this is crossing a line for many parents.
When another one of my children was in 3rd grade, I reviewed the content of what was to be taught during the equity curriculum weeks. BLM week included learning about the song Brown Skin Girl with slides of the lyrics and a picture of a black female with her top open showing cleavage from the top to the bottom of her breasts (I would attach my screenshots of those slides from the D65 website if I could). The lyrics included lines such as “Tonight I might fall in love dependin’ on how you hold me. I’m glad that I’m calmin’ down, can’t let no one come control me. Keep dancin’ and call it love. She fightin’ but fallin’ slowly.” Fine song if you’re an adult but I wouldn’t promote it to children. And there was the logo that says “counselors not cops”. I wonder how that made the children of police officers feel? Again, the district is crossing a line. Let parents handle identity and politics, and let the district focus on academic education instead of trying to shove their agendas down our throats.
I could go on and on about the equity slides I’ve seen on the district 65 website over the past 4 years. I don’t think they’re worth losing federal funding for. We should be promoting a spirit of treating people with respect and dignity simply because they are humans, and not because they are a part of this group or that group. I’m looking for school board candidates who say they are willing to do away with these types of lessons in school and clean up our students’ curriculums. Let’s do what we need to do to keep our federal funding.
Yes, I'm not saying the equity stuff was effective or good. I think a lot of it was totally nuts, consider this case:
https://www.foiagras.com/p/district-65-consultant-who-skipped
Read the weird stuff we paid him to do on page 20 of the PDF:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zNnGYJFky1iaJ2mJsv9huf53Pr99JcXo/view
There's so much stuff like this, where "equity" was the justification for hiring a friend or someone getting paid to do activist work. This guy we paid $35k to do equity work was a convicted felon for drunk driving too much and the District hired him to offer programs offsite on the weekends!
I think some of that has already gone away - It's not clear to me if they're doing the "equity weeks" this February but it seems like they're not. They've even scaled back some of the crazier affinity group things related to the Beyond Diversity training. I haven't heard about privilege walks for instance since like 2022.
I just think that this is a local issue we can solve on our own (we have elections in a month) and don't need the federal government to come in and smash. We don't need to throw the baby out with the bathwater here.
I'd like some insight on how D65 will be able to build a new $40M school, repair the other schools, and keep the lights on with an additional $10M annual hole in the budget. They were already almost at bankruptcy/insolvency. I just can't see this math working.
The math is not good.
The new school will come in under $48 million, of which we'll be paying $3.25m as lease payments for the next 17 years. That's a serious burden unless D65. Maybe they can find a way to get money from the 5th ward TIF after the City sells off City Hall (I'm researching this) but otherwise it's $3.25m per year.
The reserves are gone now and there is $0 for the other buildings and I don't see any way to fund that without a referendum. Maybe some Board candidates have better ideas but I don't have any.
We don't even know if they'll be able to make the cuts that the Board approved via the SDRP. Lots of unknowns, especially with transportation costs.
Scary stuff. I don’t think you are being overly dramatic. A classic case of "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time."
Any idea of how much of D65 funding comes from the federal government?
6% of the budget or about $9-10 million bucks. Most of it is designated for specific uses like homeless kids (McKinney Vento) or special education (IDEA)
If we keep our ears open, we can hear them blaming "DEI" for all the world's ills. The ghouls in DC were blaming DEI for the plane crash at Reagan while there were still bodies in the Potomac River. Yes, we should 100% decide to take them seriously.
Practically, I don’t think it’s even possible to comply with this policy because it lacks any statutory basis - it’s just something the feds made up. Even if D65 tried to eliminate all its equity programs, the Trump administration could just come back with a newly invented reason we failed their test. It’s a negotiation with bad actors.
Sure but you have an administration (petty king) that has shown a willingness to defy court orders. You can say it's statutory all you want but at the end of the day, they can just not cut checks. This is still theoretical now, while stuff works through the courts, but you've got Trump tweeting "He who saves his country does not violate any Law" - so much for those statutes!
Yes, exactly. That’s what I was trying to say, though not as clearly as you!
I hope I'm wrong on this
Sadly, I don't think you are. I hope the courts have the courage to issue orders and then send US Marshall's in to jail big shots in the Trump Admin when they don't comply.
I needed a trigger warning on this one, Tom. I’m digging in my ancestry.com profile, looking for some foreign relative who will take us in. I’ve got some 4th cousins in Sweden- I’ll start there first. I do like meatballs and IKEA.
I've got my passport ready to go and updated, take me with you
these are all the DEI policies D65 has listed on their website right now - I think this should be the qualifying factor for who loses money. Most schools openly boast about these sort of policies
https://www.district65.net/about/commitment-to-equity/d65-equity-policy
https://www.district65.net/about/commitment-to-equity
https://www.district65.net/about/commitment-to-equity/racial-educational-equity-statement
https://ptaequityproject.com/
https://www.district65.net/about/commitment-to-equity/deib-framework
For one, the PTA Equity Project and PTAs generally are a private organization, receive no federal funding, and are not funded or run by the taxpayers. They can do whatever they want, so throw that out.
I don't think anyone should lose funding due to having an equity policy on their website. It's just words on a website and lots of districts boast about bullshit. You, of all people, should sympathize that folks shouldn't be punished for speech.
The question from the OCR is, is there any damage to students from specific policies? The SLF people say yes and the 2021 Trump Administration seemed to agree - and it derives from the Beyond Diversity Training. I'm personally a skeptic that teacher professional development somehow violates the law which pertains to students.
Of course the funny thing is that D65's boasting about "equity" is largely bullshit and isolated to wasteful symbolic gestures (Foster School) and gutting things like advanced math and reading specialists. The "equity lens" has also justified unnecessary expenses like Horton's security detail. (Remember when he blamed his car getting broken into on the Deemer lawsuit, even though the lawsuit was filed a week after the car window incident?)
So now we have Trump's BS vs. D 65's BS. Great.
Stay tuned, I'm working on a follow up to this piece that discusses this.
I think the iron is hot to rethink how we talk about equity. For instance, it's debateable if the "equity lens" is even ethical or legal for a fiduciary, like the Board. Not that they ever actually use it for anything (ask Bessie Rhodes how the equity lens works). There's been so much BS and I think it's time to say "this approach hasn't worked" and try something different.
We should have a school district that people of color want to send their kids to, not because we're screaming equity as loud as we can, but because we have a good ass school district.
OMG. It is time to rethink use of the word equity! It got us Horton. You can get anything you want (to quote Alice’s Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie) just use that famous word
Yes, equity policies are racial discrimination and illegal. You should lose funding if you’re in violation of the law.
Yes, training teachers to discriminate based on race is bad and shouldn’t be paid for.
This is such basic stuff.
Thanks anonymous for your deep insight
In the year of our lord 2025, "don't discriminate against people" is apparently a deep insight on the left. This may be related to your recent electoral performance.
At least you can admit that it's discrimination because you say it is, not because there was actually genuine harm (besides your sensitive feelings)
So to be clear you:
1) Discriminate against certain races (this is easy enough to prove mathematically and has been proven in court cases).
2) Advocate the teaching of discrimination to children and their educators.
From the district board policies page: https://www.boardpolicyonline.com/?b=evanston/skokie_65
1:30 school district philosophy - “an enviorment that supports equity for students”
2:240 Board Policy Development - The district will apply the Racial Equity Impact Assessment toll prior to policy recommendations for board adoption
2:120 Board Member Development - 4. Each Board Member Must Complete Beyond Diversity and Seeking Educational Equity Diversity (seed) Training
7:10 Equal Educational Opportunities - Sex Equity
7:12 Racial and Educational Equity - District 65 recognizes that excellence requires a commitment to equity…..the purpose of this policy is, in accordance with the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Racial and Educational Equity Statement. *This section has equity and definitions all over it too long to list here or it would be spam
7:14 Inclusion Policy - 3. Make Decisions with a Equity Lens
Ok? You didn’t answer my question: what are the damages to students?
How Diversity Equity & Inclusion damage children in public schools is detailed in this recent executive order titled Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling.
Section 1 - Purpose and Policy describes how it harms students.
Section 2 - Definitions- and it subsections expand in detail
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-indoctrination-in-k-12-schooling/
This is just blathering nonsense and has not been my family's experience.
"In recent years, however, parents have witnessed schools indoctrinate their children in radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight. Such an environment operates as an echo chamber, in which students are forced to accept these ideologies without question or critical examination. In many cases, innocent children are compelled to adopt identities as either victims or oppressors solely based on their skin color and other immutable characteristics. "
Having your feelings hurt is not harm. Turns out you guys are the snowflakes!