USCCR’s REPORT ON MATERNAL MORTALITY:  In its report released this week, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights tries to make the case that racial disparities in maternal mortality are caused by racism.  As one of my colleagues put it, “Black women are treated differently in the maternity ward than others in terms of being listened to, and recognized as custodians of their own care, and advocates of their own care.”  In my dissenting statement, I point out that Hispanic and Asian mothers have lower rates of maternal mortality than white mothers.  Make of that what you will.

HOT, HOT, HOT!:  The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has released its report on racial disparities in maternal mortality.  The report claims, among other things, that (1) mothers today are 50% more likely to die in childbirth than their mothers were a generation ago; (2) racism is a root cause.  My dissent shows why neither claim is makes sense. 

Maternal mortality is a fashionable topic on the Left.  Here in San Diego County, there was recently a billboard/poster campaign to alert African-American mothers that they were more likely than white mothers to die in child birth “because of racism.”  Go figure.

RECALL & INITIATIVE BALLOTS WERE A PROGRESSIVE ERA REFORM:  But now that California is a One Party Empire, you can expect Democrats to curtail the system.

EVEN IDAHO:  No state is red enough for its state universities to escape the critical social justice movement.  It’s everywhere.

AS A LONG-TIME RESIDENT OF BOTH STATES, NO ONE IS BETTER QUALIFIED TO DO SO:  Mark Pulliam reviews Kenneth P. Miller’s Texas vs. California: A History of Their Struggle for the Future of America. 

YES, I KNOW.  IT WAS A RIDICULOUS CLAIM.  EVEN THE WASHINGTON POST KNEW IT:  “Education Department Claim about Student Misconduct Rates Was Wrong.”

BILL McGURN:  The Real Structural Racism:  Is it OK that black eighth graders aren’t proficient in math and reading?

PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT FOR MEN IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS?:  It won’t solve the problem any more than it did for black students.  (Here’s my take on the issue from a few years back.)

MINDING THE CAMPUS:  Wenyuan Wu gives the L.A. Times an appropriate dressing down:  “The Culture War Against the Little Man.”

WILFRED REILLY:  “Testing the Tests for Racism.”

OF COURSE:  Cambridge U. to add signs contextualizing the “whiteness” its Roman and Greek statues.

RICHARD HANANIA:  The roots of wokeness lie in civil rights law.

(I missed this essay when it came out a couple of months ago.  But Hanania is right.  I am working on an essay that discusses how the Civil Rights Act of 1991, because it made Title VII lawsuits, especially harassment lawsuits, financially rewarding for the the first time, helped create our present Age of Wokeness.)

UH OH:  The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is apparently being sued for “illegally refusing to comply with the Freedom of Information Act.”   The plaintiff is seeking documents that arguably could relate to President Biden’s nomination of Catherine Lhamon to be Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights.  The Commission has allegedly been uncooperative.

(No, the lawsuit is not against me.  Alas, I’m not exactly in charge at the Commission.  I’m just one of eight commissioners.)

KENNY XU AT THE MARTIN CENTER:  “Asian Americans Debunk Critical Race Theory.”

Kenny’s book, An Inconvenient Minority, can be found here.

BUT VERY SMART PEOPLE HAVE ASSURED US THIS ISN’T HAPPENING:  Cars selling for more than their sticker price. 

IT HASN’T REALLY BEEN ALL THAT PRIVATE:  Privately, the Beltway Establishment Has Never Respected Biden.

CONGRESS HAS ANOTHER STUPID IDEA:  A bipartisan effort to eliminate the special wage program will throw Down Syndrome workers out of their jobs.  Why isn’t that obvious?

I wrote about this for the Commission on Civil Rights last year.  The parents of these workers were overwhelmingly against ending the special sub-minimum wage.  That should tell you something.

GEORGE LEEF ON ALL THE FOOLISHNESS COMING OUT OF LAW SCHOOLS:  “Progressivism Surges Through America’s Law Schools.”

NATURE ABHORS A VACUUM:  News from Afghanistan. Lots of it.  I’m not sure why anyone is surprised.

THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO IS “JOIN[ING] THE NATIONWIDE EFFORT TO DECONSTRUCT ANTI-BLACKNESS [AND] DISMANTLE WHITE SUPREMACY”:  I received this invitation yesterday from my employer:

HUMC 294: Black Lives Matter: Interdisciplinary Perspectives Course

Course Description: Faculty across all academic units are invited to participate as instructors in an interdisciplinary 5-week class about the movement for Black lives. Drawing upon the expertise of scholars from the humanities, arts and architecture, business, engineering, education, and the social sciences, this course will consider this historical moment of social and political change. All USD faculty are encouraged to apply.

Heeding the call of the #BlackLivesMatter movement and global network, this course joins the nationwide effort to deconstruct anti-Blackness, dismantle white supremacy, center Black resistance, and build solidarity movements that support the wellness and self-determination of Black communities. The collaborative and team-taught course will not only contextualize the complex histories of Black people in the US but also center Black wisdom, joy, and antiracist praxis. It is our intention to reorient canon to recognize Black contribution; to learn about Black networks across the world and throughout history; and to imagine futures that support Black excellence. Students will be exposed to a range of interdisciplinary analyses of the movement for Black lives and engaged in critical, transformative reflection.

…

Compensation: Each faculty participant will receive a $600 stipend. 

Could a course description be any clearer that it is about inculcating and supporting a fringe ideology? The course description literally states that the course is part of a “nationwide effort to deconstruct anti-Blackness [and] dismantle white supremacy.” The problem is that you couldn’t find a white supremacist in these parts if your life depended on it.  These folks are barking mad.

The suggested topics for the sessions include “Black internationalism,” “Labor and U.S. Racial Capitalism,” “Black Epistemologies and Education,” “Environmental Racism,” “Black and Womanist Theology,” “Anti-Blackness in Science and Technology,” and lots more.  It’s hard not to wince while reading through all the neo-Marxist jargon.

By the way, as a result of the pandemic, the University of San Diego is so strapped for cash that it initially stopped paying into the retirement accounts of its faculty and staff.  At this point, it has re-evaluated and is paying 50% of the retirement benefits it used to pay. In effect, everyone, down to the lowliest assistant gardener, has received a pay cut. And guess who is harmed the most? The lower you are on the pay scale, the more it hurts when it comes time to retire and your nest egg is insufficient.  Recently the law school announced that under its new “fiscally prudent” policy, faculty and staff will even have to bring “their own coffee mugs, cutlery, dishware and condiments (i.e. coffee pods, tea bags, sweetener/creamer, etc.).” But never fear: There is plenty of money—ridiculous sums—to hire someone into the newly created position of Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. And there is plenty money for faculty stipends to “join the nationwide effort to deconstruct anti-blackness [and] dismantle white supremacy.”

I wonder when boards of trustees, parents and donors are going to get wise to the foolishness on college campuses these days. While I’m not what you’d call optimistic, I’m not willing to give up the fight.  I’ve been told I have an abnormally long attention span ….

MICHAEL BARONE:  “The first test of government is to provide a stable order in which people can live their lives. California’s liberal Democrats seem to be flunking that test.”

SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY WANTS AN EQUITY-BASED “HONORS” PROGRAM FOR ITS “BIPOC” STUDENTS:  There’s a good chance that whatever it comes up with will violate Proposition 209. 

I MISSED THIS STORY ABOUT BARBARA BOXER GETTING ROBBED WHEN IT HAPPENED: I guess that’s the point: It’s easy to miss a story the media aren’t interested in telling you about. But these days it’s getting harder and harder to avoid stories about rising crime  (Yes, perceptions of newsworthiness tend to be corrupted by a political usefulness bias … I bet you’re not surprised.)

PARKING TICKETS ARE RACIST: Or something like that.  (A favorite progressive theme these days is that the enforcement of fines and fees is “criminalizing poverty.”  I would have a bit more sympathy for that position if progressives didn’t oppose all efforts to prevent bad behavior—from executions on down to reprimands from the teacher.)

GO, JUDGE HO!:  “Judge Defends Equal Justice Against Tide of Critical Race Theory, Disparate Impact.”

(For a primer on just how ghastly disparate impact liability is and how it got started in the law, try my article here.)