California college professor says 'completely fabricated' claims of racism may cost him his job

A California college professor said after he and a group of faculty committed to free speech questioned diversity measures on campus, they were targeted with false allegations of racism that puts his job on the line.

A California college professor is fighting back after he says his job has been threatened due to allegations of racism and hate speech that he said were "completely fabricated."

Tenured Bakersfield College history professor Matthew Garrett said he and other faculty members of a free speech coalition were targeted with false allegations after they asked questions during a campus diversity meeting last October. Shortly afterwards, Garrett received a notice of unprofessional conduct by the administration that claimed he had caused "real harm" to students and said he was being removed from the diversity committee "effective immediately."

In December, vice president of the school district's Board of Trustees John Corkins made headlines after he lashed out at the group during a board meeting saying the "abusive" and "disrespectful" minority of teachers needed to be "culled," and taken "to the slaughterhouse."

Professor Garrett told Fox News Digital he wasn't the only one who had "growing campus frustrations" with the "radical" changes that the district had made in the past few years.

"Many of the faculty quietly tell me thank you for speaking up because we're afraid to do so," he said.

He described how critical race theory and other racial equity initiatives had become popular after Black Lives Matter drew national attention in 2020.

"Our campus has been really radically transformed in the last two years or so. In the last two years we've adopted critical race theory, diversity training, implicit bias training, micro aggression trainings. We've adopted racial quotas and preferences, affirmative action-type behavior, we've adopted racially segregated classes, we've adopted mandated masks, compulsory vaccines, and location tracking software. We've got funding going to propaganda webpages you can track through grants," he said.

Other professors had raised concerns these social equity initiatives were weakening academic standards, he claimed.

"A lot of the faculty are really concerned about the dissolution of rigor," Garrett said, as academic programs were replaced with social programs focused on "inclusivity, [where] everyone passes."

The professor filed a federal lawsuit against the school in 2021 after his job was initially threatened for pushing back against some of these initiatives. His attorney Arthur Willner said his case described a growing problem of intolerance to free speech on college campuses.

"The district's notion that students and faculty members have a right not to be offended, and not to hear ideas that they find disagreeable, somehow trumps the First Amendment rights of everybody else," Willner said.

The lawyer said this hostility to the First Amendment pressured many faculty members with opposing ideas to keep silent for fear of losing their jobs and livelihoods.

Garrett said certain faculty members on board with these left-wing social policies were "colluding" with the administration to target faculty members who questioned them.

He shared how one professor specifically said she did not want a diversity of opinions on her race committee, while another argued free speech was a "conservative ruse."

"So the person doesn't believe conservatives should be able to speak and if they do speak they should be able to be disciplined?" he said, calling these admissions "very disturbing."

Still, the professor said he wasn't going to back down and offered hope to other faculty who may be afraid to stand out.

"None of us want to be unprofessional or disruptive or troublesome. That's not the goal. The goal is to facilitate open discussions and make sure other faculty know they're allowed to ask questions, that they're allowed to question policies they disagree with," he argued.

Garrett said he plans to keep fighting the district but expects them to throw the kitchen sink at him to pressure him into a settlement.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/california-college-professor-completely-fabricated-claims-racism-may-cost-him-his-job

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DeSantis Scores Win Against 'Woke" Public Education, Bans Historically Inaccurate African-American Studies AP Course

Florida Governor and possible 2024 candidate for President Ron DeSantis has done it again. This time Governor DeSantis has axed an allegedly woke African-American advanced placement (AP) course claiming the course violates state law and the content is historically inaccurate.

Via The Blaze:

The Florida Department of Education has rejected an AP African-American studies class, asserting that the course runs afoul of state law and largely “lacks educational value.”

“As presented, the content of this course is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value,” a letter from the Department of Education’s Office of Articulation to College Board Florida Partnership senior director Brian Barnes reads. “In the future, should College Board be willing to come back to the table with lawful, historically accurate content, FDOE will always be willing to reopen the discussion.”

This is exactly why Republicans almost universally admire the Florida Governor.

Many GOP politicians pretend to be conservative but once in office tend to vote with the RINOs.

The Florida Governor however is the real deal and has consistently run his state as a true conservative would, with amazing results.

While this latest action banning an African-American AP class will be met with screams of racism from the left you can bet most of residents of that state will support this latest action.

https://thefederalistpapers.org/us/desantis-scores-win-woke-public-education-bans-historically-inaccurate-african-american-studies-ap-course

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Ireland: Christian teacher who spent 100 days behind bars for refusing to use gender-neutral pronouns is SACKED by his school

Enoch Burke has two weeks to launch an appeal after he was dismissed from his teaching post yesterday, following a chaotic disciplinary hearing.

Mr Burke is entitled to appeal within ten working days after Thursday's 'stage 4' hearing to decide if he should be fired.

The teacher, who spent three months in prison for defying a court order to stay away from his school following a row that started over the preferred pronouns of a transgender pupil, was informed of the decision yesterday.

In a statement, the Burke family declined to comment on whether he would appeal. But they alleged that 'solicitors unlawfully sought to conduct the purported disciplinary hearing' and that the school chairman was absent, which may form the basis of an appeal.

Thursday's hearing was loudly disrupted by Mr Burke and his family, who are evangelical Christians.

Mr Burke was summoned to Wilson's Hospital School in Multyfarnham, Co. Westmeath, yesterday and was informed at 3.30pm in the presence of the board of management chairman John Rogers, and principal Frank Milling that he had been dismissed.

Mr Burke said that his dismissal was based on the 'purported' meeting of the board of management in Mullingar Park Hotel from which Mr Rogers was absent.

The meeting on Thursday heard that Mr Rogers was absent as he had taken ill on Wednesday night. Gardaí had to escort board members from a Mullingar hotel while they were being followed by members of Burke's family after Thursday's hearing.

The decision to dismiss Mr Burke came under stage four of Department of Education and Skills procedures for the suspension or dismissal of teachers. Evidence included a written principal's report and allowing Mr Burke to speak to the board at the Mullingar meeting.

Sanctions open to the board included demotion and dismissal and the board decided, rapidly, to opt for dismissal. Mr Burke had spent 107 days in prison before Christmas for refusing to obey a High Court order to stay away from the school until the hearing took place.

The row originated after Mr Burke first refused to use different pronouns for a student and then loudly remonstrated with the school principal about the pronoun issue during an event to celebrate the school's 260th anniversary.

Yesterday, Mr Rogers was present to tell Mr Burke that the long-running dispute over gender pronouns was over – he was fired from the school just a day after the Mullingar hearing.

On Wednesday, the High Court refused to grant Mr Burke an injunction to prevent the hearing and noted that he did not obey High Court orders to stay away from the school.

He had been suspended on full pay by the school.

Mr Burke was eventually released from Mountjoy Prison on December 21. Upon releasing him Judge Brian O'Moore made it very clear to him that he could be reincarcerated if he showed up at the school again.

Despite the warning, the teacher continued to attend the school, against the school board's wishes, since it reopened after the Christmas holidays on 5 January.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11659743/Christian-teacher-spent-100-days-prison-refusing-use-gender-neutral-pronouns-SACKED.html

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