On June 7, the Marysville School Board, community members, and representatives of several human rights groups spent a long evening discussing whether the work of J. Philippe Rushton, a University of Western Ontario professor of psychology, would influence the setting of the board’s goals.
The discussion was sparked by school board member Michael Kundu’s June 3 e-mail, in which he wrote about Rushton’s scientific racism, “I think what is safe to draw from this is that there is a definitive factor played by racial genetics in intellectual achievement, but we, as a society, are striving to offset that foundation by increasing educational and social opportunities to ‘offset’ the racial achievement gap — hence the continued emphasis on EEO programs and so forth.”
Kundu went on to write, “we need to think more about how to best identify and target our slim resources on where they would have the most impact for a broader cohort of students,” and “I hope we’re also not forgetting or neglecting the higher intellect and higher achieving students, since that cohort, arguably, are most likely to enter the career tracks (science, technology, medical research, etc.) that will benefit humankind (including those lower achieving groups) as a whole.”
More recently Kundu has been quoted in news articles saying, “I’ve learned that (Rushton) was definitely racist and used very questionable methods. I would not have brought up his work if I’d known then what I know now.” However, in his e-mail Kundu had written that while Rushton’s work was, “criticized by groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center and other civil rights groups, over time, the unpalatable but scientific accuracy of his theories have become a ‘foundation’ (albeit controversial) for further, spin-off studies,” indicating that he knew Rushton’s work was not universally accepted and that he had done further reading on the subject.
Kundu cannot claim ignorance of Rushton’s scientific racism. As early as 1998 the SPLC has identified Rushton as being involved with Klansmen, neo-Nazis and white supremacists in using questionable methods to say that people of color are genetically inferior to whites and “was once almost prosecuted under Canadian hate crime laws.” Kundu knew of SPLC’s criticism, as he stated in his e-mail, thus he knew of Rushton’s affiliations and methods, yet he still sent the e-mail in support of scientific racism.
But suppose Kundu really did not investigate the criticisms by SPLC and other civil rights groups. Is that any better? For a board member to ignore criticisms of a debunked theory he wishes to use to determine the goals for the education of our children is just as problematic.
The future of our children is at stake; elected officials to whom we entrust their education have a higher standard to maintain when seeking information to inform the decisions they must make. To fail to seek information that is readily available is nonfeasance. To use debunked science to inform one’s decisions on how to close the achievement gap is misfeasance. To use debunked science to deny education to students based on race is malfeasance.
Mr. Kundu should take his own advice given in March this year, “For the sake of our students, who deserve someone evidencing good judgment at the helm of our education system, I hope that (state Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy) Dorn does relinquish his post,” (emphasis added) and resign.
Kinuko Noborikawa is chair of the Snohomish County-based Communities of Color Coalition (www.c3coalition.org, also on Facebook). Her views here reflect those of this all volunteer organization.
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