Their minds are open.
Let's keep it that way.
Welcome to THINC Foundation’s newsletter! Releasing semi-monthly, it contains our views on key developments in Liberated Ethnic Studies (LES) in K-12 schools as well as relevant news articles and timely calls to action.
When Identity Politics Hijacks the K-12 Classroom
By Mitch Siegler, Founder
Our K-12 schools are increasingly teaching children that group identity matters more than individual character. Students are told that what defines them most is not their effort, curiosity, or choices, but their race, ethnicity, or other immutable traits.
The immediate consequences have been devastating to student morale and the ability to think critically, independently, and expansively.
Students from certain backgrounds are told they are “privileged” or “oppressors” and taught to feel guilt and shame for things they did not do and cannot control. Meanwhile, those labeled “oppressed” are encouraged to view themselves solely as victims of a system that is intentionally stacked against them. Instead of being empowered to overcome obstacles through hard work and resilience, they are instructed – both explicitly and implicitly – that striving doesn’t matter, because the game is rigged.
How could this not result in negative emotions such as envy, resentment, and rage? And how could it not lead to a less cohesive society, more political polarization, a less capable workforce and a less dynamic economy?
Turning our schools into incubators of ideology erodes the foundations of both personal achievement and a healthy society. It divides students into arbitrary categories and undermines kids’ belief in their own agency – the cornerstones of learning and responsible citizenship in a democratic republic.
The antidote is simple but profound: an education that treats every student as a unique individual of equal worth and potential, not as a member of a monolithic ethnic or racial bloc. Teach history honestly and seek to spark lively debate and curious conversations, but always with a view toward our shared humanity. Remind children that they are not defined by broader groups they may belong to by dint of their birth, but by their character and the choices they make throughout their lives.
This is the only way forward for a healthy and free society. Identity politics is a regression to tribalism, which is precisely what we do not want, and cannot afford, to cultivate in the United States of America.
Liberated Ethnic Studies (LES) Activists in Their Own Words
We talk a lot about the LES movement’s extreme positions, but what does that look like in practice? Take a look at these quotes from prominent LES leaders.
“Teacher unions have a duty to condemn the genocide our government is facilitating in Gaza and take every action possible to stop it…All life is cheapened and placed at risk because the leaders of the United States and Israel are committing a genocide — in public. But when we challenge this and insist that Palestinian lives matter — in our classrooms and beyond — we are building a future where the lives of all children and oppressed people are valued and treasured over the profit and power of a few.”
- The editors of Rethinking Schools, a nonprofit publisher and advocacy organization “dedicated to sustaining and strengthening public education through social justice teaching and education activism” and a coordinator of the Zinn Education Project
“The CEA believes that capitalism inherently exploits children, public schools, land, labor, and resources. Capitalism is in opposition to fully addressing systemic racism (the school to prison pipeline), climate change, patriarchy (gender and LGBTQ disparities), education inequality, and income inequality.”
- Resolution adopted in 2023 by the Colorado Education Association, the largest union of educators in the state
“Across eras of war, oppression, and struggle for civil and human rights, courageous teachers and schools have refused to let society look away. We are living through such a moment now. Our responsibility is not only to transmit knowledge to our students each day, but to insist on the power, magic, & dignity of learning itself, especially when it is being denied so brutally to children, families, and educators in Gaza. To that end, FEA stands in solidarity with Palestinian students, families, and educators.”
- Carley Stavis, Fremont (California) Unified High School District Teachers’ Union President
THINC in the News
“In Elite University Towns, Progressive Ideology Spreads From Campuses to K–12 Schools”, Aaron Gifford, Epoch Times
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THINC Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is qualified to receive tax-deductible donations.
