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HOW @RutgersU IS ACTIVELY HARMING THEIR MARGINALIZED STUDENTS: A THREAD. Link (end) tells of a "decolonization" effort at Rutgers that will de-emphasize correct grammar in student work, "in solidarity with Black Lives Matter." Others have commented eloquently on the racism 1/9
inherent in this move--the soft bigotry of low expectations. I'm going to talk practicalities. I grew up in a non-accredited, few-real-teachers church basement "school," the kind of place in the rural South run by churches who are terrified that their kids might learn about 2/x
"evil-lution." It was a substandard education in nearly every respect. Certainly in science (no labs, no evolution) and maths (first heard the word 'logarithm' in Calculus 1 when we got to logarithmic differentiation). In English, I got very lucky. A retired teacher who had 3/x
come to faith late in life taught us English. She was rigorous and exacting. She made us diagram sentences. She made us read the best Christian fiction she could find and do close readings. She made us write, and she told us bluntly we would have to earn the right to break 4/x
any rule by following it with grace and clarity for a long time first. Everything I wrote for her came back with so much red ink that it looked like she had bled on it. She taught me for five years. As a result of her caring enough to hold me to high standards, an enormous 5/x
number of doors have opened for me. My essay got me into college despite no accredited diploma. My writing on medium gets a lot of views with a high read-through percentage. I have 11,000 followers on Twitter. I have been able to access help and resources toward overcoming a 6/x
difficult past, almost entirely because I can write fluently and send appropriate, easy-to-read emails. Her diligence in making sure I was fluent in written English has prevented me from suffering the usual language challenges of a serious hearing problem. I owe her a debt 7/x
that I can never repay. What the marginalized students of @rutgersu is more, not less, help to improve their writing. In the name of sensitivity and solidarity, Rutgers is *crippling* their prospects. It is morally unconscionable. In the name of justice, they must reconsider. 8/x
