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I will be joined by author and professor, Jacob Mackey to discuss the pros and cons of a new form of microggression sensitivity training coming to a college ...

Liberals spread misleading information, too.

This essay discusses Cecilia Heyes’ groundbreaking new book Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking. Heyes’ point of departure is the claim that current theories of cultural evolution fail adequately to make a place for the mind. Heyes

Scratch beneath the surface and it’s clear Gen Z are often conscientious and tolerant.

Why does social justice, especially the kind that drives many contemporary DEI initiatives, seem so nonsensical? Why do law students at a prestigious school seem unaware of the First Amendment? Why do student activists and college administrators seem to think that

In many social justice circles, especially ones dedicated to racial justice, individualism is considered a negative quality. Those who embrace this idea typically see it as a denial of group identity as well as our essential interdependence. But group identification devoid of true individualism...

Black Americans have been used as means to an end throughout our nation’s history. - Erec Smith - Start a free trial today for full access.

Rhetoric, or the ability to discern the available means of persuasion in a given case, can be an aid to abundance. If people don’t know how to talk to certain people or groups, especially those who differ from themselves, they miss out on social moments, good conversations and professional or...

The specter of harm has been a salient presence in the American culture wars, especially when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Harm, loosely defined, has been the raison d’etre for many social justice demands

Has this ever happened to you? You proudly embrace your individuality and freedom of speech, but you work in an environment in which people who neither know you nor agree with your viewpoints are responsible for representing you solely because they look like you. The world treats these “...

An emancipatory revolution. What is unique about America is that it formulated an ideological repudiation of oppression and became the first society ever to foster an organized and principled movement for the abolition of slavery.

Years ago, I wrote an essay like Eduardo's that chronicled my social rejection for the crime of inauthentic blackness. In that essay, I made an argument comparable to Eduardo's: Thanks to this rejection, I had resolved to forego racial labels; instead, I argued for a radical individualism based...

Throughout most of the history of Western civilization, rhetoric was seen as one of the primary subjects of the liberal arts. After more than century of decline, the study of rhetoric is making a comeback. This is good news, since to combat political polarization, we can all benefit from the...

Last week, a friend, colleague, and co‐​Founder of Free Black Thought was ousted from her position at Foothills‐​De Anza Community College in California. Dr. Tabia Lee’s transgression: asking questions about DEI initiatives, fighting for viewpoint diversity, and upholding classical liberal...

CWIC Media: I have been following Erec Smith for at least the last couple of years. Erec resigned as a 'Diversity Officer" once he saw the dangers of how this industry is framing the work and the vocabulary. He gives us some inside baseball on DEI

FAIR Perspectives: In this episode, we speak with Dr. Erec Smith. We discuss his field of rhetoric, what led him to it, African-American Vernacular English versus Standard English, the implications of what activists call "linguistic justice

Growing up, I was often accused of being "white." My taste for Led Zeppelin and Queen over Puff Daddy and Busta Rhymes was called "white." My appetite for reading was called "white." Even my wardrobe, which failed to reflect the norms of late 90s hip-hop culture, was "white." It was intended as...

All big companies now require "DEI" training for employees, but studies say that often BACKFIRES. How is that possible? Erec Smith, a former DEI trainer, now a Professor of Rhetoric at York College, tells me: "It seems to be making people less likely to interact with people who are unlike them...

In this online forum, Tabia Lee and Erec Smith will discuss their experiences and theorizations about being black academics who embrace classical liberal values in academic spaces that seem to grow increasingly hostile to such views, especially from people of color.

On this inaugural episode of The Free Black Thought Podcast, host Connie Morgan and FBT President Erec Smith discuss Erec’s origin story, the importance of rhetoric, and what the anti-racist movement gets wrong.

The apparent goal of contemporary anti-racism activism — which is not the activism of the civil-rights era — is not to end racism but to perpetuate it.

Edited by Matthew Abraham and Erec Smith. © 2013 by Parlor Press. 243 pages. Provides the first comprehensive treatment of why Obama's rhetorical strategies were so effective during the 2008 presidential campaign, during the first four years of his presidency, and once again during the 2012...

Part of the Creative Writing Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Educational Psychology Commons, English Language and Literature

Recently, the University of North Carolina voted to “ban” the requirement of politically charged prompts, like diversity statements, from any considerations for admission, hiring, promotion, and tenure. Such statements were deemed “compelled speech” and therefore antithetical to intellectual...