Ethnic studies now a graduation requirement in St. Paul schools
MINNEAPOLIS — St. Paul Public Schools is making critical ethnic studies — a course now being piloted at three high schools — a graduation requirement starting with the class of 2025.
The requirement, approved by the school board this month, has counted among its strongest advocates a student advisory board that issued a report on the subject two years ago and members of the Asian community, the district's largest demographic group.
The vote was poignant in its timing — coming at what would have been the end of late board Chair Marny Xiong's term in office. Superintendent Joe Gothard reminded members that Xiong, who died of COVID-19 in 2020, told student leaders when they came forward with recommendations: "I will be your champion."
In its report, the student group cited a 2016 study that showed a ninth grade class piloted by the San Francisco school district — a class covering the histories and struggles of multiple ethnic groups — had improved student attendance, grades and graduation rates.
St. Paul now offers ethnic studies electives specific to individual ethnic groups and to the LGBTQ community — work that will continue. Earlier this year, a district administrator said the intent of the new critical ethnic studies course is for students to explore who they are — not to tell them who they are.
—Star Tribune
Argument over dog leads to deadly shooting, SC sheriff says
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A Midlands man is dead and another is behind bars after an argument about a dog led to gunfire, the Newberry County Sheriff's Office said.
Errick E. Walker was killed Sunday, according to Newberry County Coroner Laura Kneece. The 36-year-old Newberry County resident was shot, Kneece said. An autopsy is scheduled for this week.
At about 2 a.m., deputies responding to a shots fired call found Walker on the ground in the backyard of a residence at 27 Kali St., according to the sheriff's office. That's near S.C. 34 and about 2 miles from Exit 74 on Interstate 26.
Walker had been shot in the chest, the sheriff's office said. Information if he died at the scene or was taken to an area hospital was not available.
Other responding deputies located and detained Jerod Johnathan Blake, according to the sheriff's office.
Blake, 38, and Walker were neighbors in Bill White's Mobile Home Community on Kali Street, the sheriff's office said. The men had argued over an issue about a dog when Blake pulled out a gun and fatally shot Walker, according to the sheriff's office.
No other injuries were reported.
Blake was taken to the Newberry County Detention Center where he was charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, jail records show. Blake remains behind bars after his bond was denied on both charges, according to jail records.
—The State (Columbia, S.C.)
Kansas City marks 2nd deadliest year as homicides pass 156
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The week of Christmas, five people were killed in Kansas City, officially making 2021 the second-deadliest year on record.
Across the entire metro area in the past week, seven people were killed. All but one were shot.
The known victims ranged in age from a juvenile to 46. Across the seven killings, one arrest was immediately made.
The entire metro area has suffered at least 215 homicides this year. In Kansas City alone, 156 people have been killed in 2021. Last year, 182 people across Kansas City became homicide victims. That was the most ever.
The last time Kansas City saw anywhere close to as many homicides as 2020 and 2021 was 2017, when the city recorded 155 killings, including four fatal police shootings.
"This is why I talk public safety so much," Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted on Thursday as the city was on the verge of breaking yet another grim killing record. "My condolences to all those impacted by violent crime. I commit to making sure we never stop trying to make a difference in our City's greatest challenge."
—Kansas City Star
Rep. Greene rants against ‘fake religion’ Kwanzaa
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has denounced Kwanzaa as a “fake religion” just as millions of Black people start to celebrate the weeklong holiday.
The far-right Georgia lawmaker berated the national College Republicans for “pandering and BS” after the GOP group tweeted a seemingly innocuous happy holiday message.
“Stop. It’s a fake religion created by a psychopath,” Greene said. “People are tired of pandering and BS.”
She was apparently deriding Kwanzaa founder Professor Maulana Karenga, who was convicted of felony assault in the 1960s in what he says was a politically motivated prosecution spurred by his involvement in Black nationalist politics.
Greene suggested that the College Republicans should avoid political correctness if it wants to galvanize the conservative base of the GOP.
The College Republicans did not respond to Greene’s criticism about the tweet, which itself misspelled the name of the holiday as “Kwanza.”
Kwanzaaa, which lasts for seven days, is a holiday festival, not a religion as Greene claims.
It was created in 1966 as a way to allow Black people worldwide to celebrate their common African roots.
—New York Daily News
