Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism

We are thrilled to announce FAIR’s 🆕 Executive Director, Monica Harris! Harris is an activist, author, and attorney with an extensive background in legal affairs, business, and—most importantly—living and breathing our #ProHuman mission. She brings with her more than twenty years of leadership and experience in the media industry, with past executive roles at Walt Disney Television, NBCUniversal Media, and Viacom Media Networks. Following her two decades in Hollywood, Harris moved from Southern California to Montana where she operates a law firm primarily working with entertainment-related clients. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Princeton and Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, where she served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review with then-future President Barack Obama. As a result of the positive, unifying, and compassionate message she has espoused through her TED Talks and her book The Illusion of Division, Harris joined FAIR’s Board of Advisors in July of 2022. And for those very same reasons, along with her experience, unflappable spirit, can-do attitude, and magnetic presence, she is the perfect person to lead our organization into its future as an independent 501(c)3! Monica will work closely with FAIR staff, advisors, and the Board of Directors to further our organization's mission through the grassroots chapter network, legal advocacy, FAIR in Education, #FAIRinMedicine, #FAIRintheArts, and our unique #ProHuman approach to cultural depolarization. We believe our values of fairness, understanding, and humanity, courage, curiosity, and compassion are needed more now than ever before. With Monica Harris at the helm, we are incredibly optimistic about FAIR’s future. We hope you’ll consider supporting us as we move into this exciting new phase! 💙 https://lnkd.in/ghsj586d

NEW EPISODE ➡ Advocacy in Action at UVA; Fidelity to Individual Psychotherapy Patients in a Time of Ideological Extremism; You’re Only For Free Speech If You Defend It For People You Hate; Religious Liberty and the Human Good; Don’t Expand DEI. Dismantle It; and more! https://lnkd.in/gVZnU7v2

NEW FAIR RESOURCE! Teaching About Identity: Lessons From Around the World Pt. 2 ➡️ The Chinese Cultural Revolution https://lnkd.in/gukT-K-t This installment focuses on the Cultural Revolution, a program of Mao Zedong designed to "refresh" Chinese culture and eliminate elements of the culture that he deemed to be backward, bourgeois, feudal, or otherwise counter-revolutionary. Mao wanted to dispense with what became known as the "Four Olds": Old Ideas, Old Culture, Old Customs, and Old Habits (or "Habits of Mind"). To help attack these institutions, ideas, and artifacts, Mao called upon the country's youth (symbolic of the "new" to rise up against and destroy anything perceived to be part of the Four Olds: this included books, art, architecture, religious edifices, music, and even traditional modes of education seen as too bourgeois, Western, or Confucian. The results were bloody, with estimated death tolls anywhere from 750,000 to 7.7 million. FULL PDF AVAILABLE HERE: https://lnkd.in/gnjKgf6p FAIR's Teaching About Identity project explores twentieth century contexts in which teachers made grave mistakes in teaching about identity—mistakes that at the time seemed scientific, unifying, correct, and culturally necessary—but ultimately laid the foundation for inter-group hatred. https://lnkd.in/gcp58k_F What can we learn from history about how school environments have impacted racially, ethnically, or politically divided societies? Using 1930s Germany, 1960s China, and 1980s-90s Rwanda as case studies, teachers learn about education in times and places where identity has been a divisive factor and work together to draw insights for building unity in classrooms today. Please contact educators@fairforall.org for more information.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the FAIR Artist Directory! ✨ https://lnkd.in/g_KUVy53 This directory will serve as a resource for #fairinthearts members to discover like-minded peers aligned with a common mission to advance freedom, excellence, and humanity in the arts. It will facilitate opportunities for professional collaboration and support between fellow FAIR artists. In order to be listed on the directory, applicants must be members of FAIR in the Arts (fairinthearts.org) and have completed a meeting with a member of the FAIR Arts team or can provide a reference. The application surveys applicants for how they intend to use the Artist Directory. Applications to join the first round of the FAIR Artist Directory will be open through Friday, May 31st. We can’t wait to hear from you! For additional information, please refer to the FAIR Artist Directory FAQ on the website linked below or email arts@fairforall.org.

"Members of a community group that want the town’s integrity commissioner to investigate the circumstances around the firing of NOTL’s chief librarian were taken aback Monday to learn they will not be allowed to address town council. The group promoting library neutrality — the idea that libraries carry a wide range of material representing many viewpoints — was informed by the town clerk’s department that their pitch to speak to council on May 14 doesn’t meet the rules and policies for delegations...Tony Powell, one of the members of the library neutrality group, said he was “flabbergasted” by the news. The group has compiled more than 750 names on an online petition [https://lnkd.in/gGEuanmA] protesting the NOTL Public Library board’s firing of CEO and chief librarian Cathy Simpson after she wrote an opinion piece in The Lake Report in February marking Freedom to Read Week [https://lnkd.in/gJ_edKqQ]. The petition says the library failed 'to follow its own policies for protecting library neutrality and viewpoint diversity, and its attempts to ban books or change policies to restrict access to information.' Simpson cited viewpoints of the U.S.-based Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR), which has been labelled by some as a tool of the far right in the United States. FAIR executive director Monica Harris refuted those claims and said accusations of the group being far right are misinformed. [https://lnkd.in/gcJeCXAw]... Powell said libraries “should be a bastion of free expression and a forum for various viewpoints.” As well, they need to “aspire to neutrality and collect materials that may be unpopular and even offensive to some members of the community.” Coun. Wendy Cheropita said she is in favour of council hearing from the group, which she called 'passionate' and 'polite, not aggressive'...'They just want to make sure that council is aware of how residents feel about this. And I think that’s important,' she said in an interview Tuesday. With the amount of support the group has garnered, 'You cannot deny them. Residents ultimately pay for library costs,' she said." https://lnkd.in/ge8RWnxU Join fellow community members who believe in free speech, diversity of thought, and neutrality for the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library. Petition: https://lnkd.in/gGEuanmA

#FAIRintheArts Fellow Clifton Duncan performs in Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus at the Red Bull Theater THIS WEEKEND, May 11th & 12th, in NYC! 🎭 Tickets available here: https://lnkd.in/g4AdG-vt

Q: Will my daughter be forced to room with a male? A: Under this #TitleIX Rule, overnight accommodations that do not constitute “housing arrangements” (so, overnight stays for a senior class camp-out, or for an athletic team’s away-game weekend, etc.) must accommodate students based on “gender identity,” so even if a cabin or hotel room is labeled “single-sex” or “girls-only,” males must be allowed into such rooms based on a “gender identity” claim. Schools (mostly colleges and universities) that provide living or housing units can still exclude males from women-only housing – although the current Education Department recommends that schools choose not to do this. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gCfV-x_H

#FAIRinMedicine's Interim Executive Director, Nikki Johnson, MD, joins Connie Morgan for Free Black Thought to discuss what's wrong with the way we do healthcare today and how to fix it! https://lnkd.in/gmx6kdsG

"The only constitutional and moral approach is to establish a single, color-blind standard applicable to all individuals, regardless of their background. Any policies which, by definition, subordinate the individual to the group and suppress our speech will harm our nation in the long run and exacerbate, rather than resolve, racial and ethnic prejudice." Coming from two sides of the political spectrum, Christopher F. Rufo and Jenin Younes write about why they agree that the new Antisemitism Awareness Act is "profoundly misguided." The Free Press https://lnkd.in/gTGqS2FC

“Universities which require scholars to ‘demonstrate’ their ‘commitment’ to #DEI can easily invite ideological screening, as well as potentially unlawful viewpoint discrimination. Many groups thus oppose the diversity statements on the grounds of academic freedom and free expression.” MIT president Sally Kornbluth: “We can build an inclusive environment in many ways, but compelled statements impinge on freedom of expression, and they don’t work.” - John D. Sailer reports for UnHerd https://lnkd.in/grcWarAc FAIR commends MIT for this decision, which will uphold academic freedom and promote true diversity! A promising step in the right direction for higher education. We hope that all universities will follow their example. #BeFAIR