chapotraphouse
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Settlers: The Mythology Of The White Proletariat from Mayflower to Modern - J. Sakai 
A uniquely important book in the canon of the North American revolutionary left and anticolonial movements, Settlers was first published in the 1980s. Written by activists with decades of experience organizing in grassroots anticapitalist struggles against white supremacy, the book established itself as an essential reference point for revolutionary nationalists and dissident currents within the Marxist-Leninist and anarchist movements. Always controversial within the establishment left, Settlers uncovers centuries of collaboration between capitalism and white workers and their organizations, as well as their neocolonial allies, showing how the United States was designed from the ground up as a parasitic and genocidal entity. As recounted in painful detail by J. Sakai, the United States has been built on the theft of Indigenous lands and of Afrikan labor, on the robbery of the northern third of Mexico, the colonization of Puerto Rico, and the expropriation of the Asian working class, with each of these crimes being accompanied by violence.
The counter-revolution of 1776: slave resistance and the origins of the United States of America - Gerald Horne 
In this trailblazing book, Gerald Horne complements his earlier celebrated Negro Comrades of the Crown, by showing that in the prelude to 1776, the abolition of slavery seemed all but inevitable in London, delighting Africans as much as it outraged slaveholders, and sparking the colonial revolt. In the prelude to 1776, more and more Africans were joining the British military, and anti-slavery sentiments were deepening throughout Britain. And in the Caribbean, rebellious Africans were chasing Europeans to the mainland. Unlike their counterparts in London, the European colonists overwhelmingly associated enslaved Africans with subversion and hostility to the status quo. For European colonists, the major threat to security in North America was a foreign invasion combined with an insurrection of the enslaved. And as 1776 approached, London-imposed abolition throughout the colonies was a very real and threatening possibility--a possibility the founding fathers feared could bring the slave rebellions of Jamaica and Antigua to the thirteen colonies. To forestall it, they went to war. The so-called Revolutionary War, Horne writes, was in large part a counter-revolution, a conservative movement that the founding fathers fought in order to preserve their liberty to enslave others--and which today takes the form of a racialized conservatism and a persistent racism targeting the descendants of the enslaved. The Counter-Revolution of 1776 drives us to a radical new understanding of the traditional heroic creation myth of the United States.
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US Private Gifted school teaching 6th graders about Machiavelli sounds like a total hell hole
(hexbear.net)
Stumbled on this story. The idea of teaching 12 year olds about "leadership" via Machiavelli gives me the willies.
The coverage I found seems to be very hyperbolic. On the other hand, it seems to me that if you got rid of all the exaggerations, this is still probably some kind of fucked up situation. I am quite ready to believe the community around this school has plenty of nazi-sympathy. It is alleging that schoolchildren were calling all jews "baby killers" because of the genocide in Gaza. It also appears somehow these children have conflated the concepts of being jewish and being israeli, which is a mainstream opinion promoted by the states of Israel and USA among others. This conflation is of course hostile when it is directed at jewish kids. Which is maybe a reason to avoid such conflations...
I read a few different articles covering the situation and I think the most info is found in this one: Posh Virginia private school that allegedly praised Hitler expelled three Jewish students who faced antisemitic bullying: complaint
full text
Posh Virginia private school that allegedly praised Hitler expelled three Jewish students who faced antisemitic bullying: complaint
A Northern Virginia private school celebrated as one of the best in the country allegedly expelled three Jewish siblings who endured relentless antisemitic harassment in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel — all while their community celebrated Hitler as a “strong historical leader.”
The Brandeis Center filed the complaint on behalf of the children’s parents, Brian Vazquez and Ashok Roy, against the Nysmith School for the Gifted, a K-8 academy located just an hour outside of Washington, DC, and its headmaster, Kenneth Nysmith.
The complaint asserts that the couple’s 11-year-old daughter faced a “campaign of ostracizing” led by a handful of “popular students” on the sole basis that she is Jewish during the 2024-2025 school year.
The students, in an apparent gross misunderstanding of the conflict, cruelly taunted the girl for the death of her uncle, telling her they were glad he “died in the October 7th attack,” according to the complaint.
Her uncle died years earlier with no relation to the terror attack.
Some students mocked her for being “Israeli” and dubbed Jews as “baby killers,” unabashedly saying that “they deserve to die because of what is happening in Gaza,” the complaint stated.
Others doubled down and insisted that “everyone at the school is against Jews and Israel, which is why they hate you,” according to the complaint.
One middle school social studies project tasked the students to sketch a child-sized drawing including “six traits of a leader” following their studies of Niccolo Machiavelli’s “The Prince,” according to an email from the Nysmith School.
The Frankenstein amalgam included weaponry associated with rulers from Machiavelli’s time and a tie typically worn by modern-day businessmen or politicians.
The drawing’s face, though, depicted a man’s face with Adolf Hitler’s unmistakable toothbrush mustache and slicked-back hair.
Vazquez and Roy reported the repeated incidents to Nysmith, who promised to take action. Weeks passed and no changes were made, according to the complaint.
If anything, all change moved swiftly away from protecting Vazquez and Roy’s daughter as the school soon thereafter cancelled its annual talk hosting a Holocaust survivor to speak with the student body about antisemitism.
Vazquez and Roy had one final meeting with Nysmith on March 11 to address how the harassment escalated ever since the school hung up a Palestinian flag in the school gym mere days after nixing the Holocaust talk.
The Palestine flag hung alongside dozens of others for different countries, including Israel. The parents didn’t take any issue with the Palestine flag being displayed, but were concerned that some students were using it to bolster their claims that “nobody likes [Jewish people],” the complaint stated.
Nysmith, having seemingly run out of patience, abruptly told the couple that their daughter should “toughen up,” the complaint stated.
Two days later, the parents received an email from the school notifying them of their children’s expulsion, effective immediately in spite of their consistent involvement with the community and exemplary grades.
“A healthy partnership is required to help guide and nurture young children through tumultuous times and complex current events. I do not see a path forward without trust, understanding, and cooperation. In our meeting, I felt very clearly that you do not think Nysmith is the right school for your family,” Nysmith wrote.
Vazquez and Roy never anticipated the expulsion and had already paid tuition for the following academic year, the complaint said.
Nysmith’s email noted that the family would receive a check in the mail within two weeks for all fees paid that year and for the following year. It is unclear if the check was ever sent.
“Through [the Nysmith School’s] actions, the administration sent a clear message: bullying is acceptable, as long as it’s against Jewish families. We must all emulate the strength of these parents and their children and stand up to anti-Semitism and its perpetrators, as difficult as it may be,” Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center, wrote in a statement.
The complaint is seeking compensatory damages for a slew of costs such as the children’s online courses and the inclusion of annual antisemitism training for the Nysmith school community.
Nysmith rejected the allegations and asserted that the information circulating online is not complete in an email he forwarded in response to a message seeking comment from The Post, in which he also claimed he was “not aware of any legal action involving the school.”
As far as I can tell, the above image is what constitutes "praising hitler". It's the highest res picture I could find but unfortunately can't make out the writing which would probably help to understand just what these kids were thinking. It does look like a wacky hitler. Somehow at least 1 kid got the idea that hitler was a good "leader" and between the various adults who were teaching the class, emailing the newsletter etc, none of them thought better of this.
Text of actual complaint Vazquez-and-Roy-v.-Nysmith-School.-Virginia-Attorney-General-Office-of-Civil-Rights_Redacted-1.pdf, specifically the parts which relate to the above image:
excerpted text
On March 13, 2025, Complainants Brian Vazquez and Ashok Roy’s three Jewish children were expelled from the Nysmith School for the Gifted because they complained about the school’s unwillingness to respond to anti-Semitic harassment of their 11-year-old daughter. The school had allowed anti-Semitism to take root in her class—in, for example, this picture of a social studies class project depicting the attributes of a “strong historical leader”:
[photo as above]
That photo, featuring the unmistakable face of Adolf Hitler, was shared with the entire school community. It was followed by a pattern of persistent and severe anti-Semitic harassment of Complainants’ young daughter.
...
B. Nysmith School Permitted an Environment That Is Hostile to Jews.
Sadly, however, Nysmith School allowed an environment hostile to Jewish students to take root and flourish. For example, in October 2024, Complainants’ daughter’s social studies class included a section on strong historical leaders. At the conclusion of the section, the teacher had the class collaborate on a project – creating a large drawing of a composite “strong historical leader” featuring the attributes of strong leaders the class had studied. Mr. Vazquez and Dr. Roy learned of the project only after they received the Nysmith School’s regular email inviting the community to view the latest photos of class activities on the school’s shared drive. It included the photo featuring the unmistakable face of Adolf Hitler.
Mr. Vazquez and Dr. Roy were understandably disturbed that a sixth-grade history project appeared to glamorize Adolf Hitler – and that the school would share that image with the entire community. But rather than rushing to complain to Mr. Nysmith, they first discreetly spoke to other parents and carefully considered whether to complain. After considering the matter, Mr. Vazquez and Dr. Roy decided not to take action. They mistakenly assumed it was an isolated instance of poor judgment by a single teacher.
Maybe I shouldn't be posting drama from some 12 year olds.
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