Five Steps ACL Can Take Now To Show They Are Operating In Good Faith
The American Classical League has released several performative statements related to anti-racism and social justice. There are concrete steps the organization can take right now to show that this latest statement is sincere.
ACL released a do-over statement today about racism and white supremacy. Unlike their previous statements, they have taken some ownership of their failures and provided a road-map for a brighter future. This moment could be a pivotal one for the field. Or, it could be another empty PR moment.
Perhaps the most truthful line of this statement was “It is the duty of ACL members to combat and condemn the racist views that have been perpetuated and tolerated by ACL.” This admission was encouraging and marks a big change from previous statements.
If ACL is operating in good faith, there are steps they must take right now. ACL needs to align their values and actions to the words in their most recent statement. It cannot be business as usual. As ACL take these action steps, they should inform both members and the wider Classics community via internal and public communications, so they can start to rebuild trust in the organization.
By June 12: Publicly correct and apologize for factual errors in the October 31 statement about slave auctions
The October 31, 2019 statement about slave auctions contained factual inaccuracies that need to be corrected, especially if they are referenced as a point of progress in a letter signaling change. This sentence is inaccurate: “NJCL recognized the resemblance of (Rent-A-Roman) to slave auctions and has not offered this activity for a long time.”
ACL’s most recent statement provided a link to a separate statement from November 26 that included this same information. Since ACL linked to this statement in their most recent statement, it is important that they prioritize honesty in all communications by making these important factual corrections.
ACL began to call slave auctions “Rent-a-Roman” in 1990 after Indiana University of Pennsylvania did not allow them to hold that event on their campus as a part of the NJCL 1989 national convention. “Rent-a-Roman” allowed them to continue holding these slave auctions on college campuses during a period of time when fraternities had enough sense to ban them and colleges were alert to the dangers of such events. (You can find documentation about the name change in this article.)
These events were also held under the JCL brand as late as 2019. State JCL newsletters included write-ups about slave auctions as late as 2018. “They had not been held in a very long time” is misleading as well.
It is impossible to rebuild trust without truthful communication. This correction will establish a new pattern that prioritizes values over image.
By June 15: Eliminate access to and use of the song and creed immediately by taking them off the NJCL website and prohibiting the use of the song and creed at the NJCL virtual convention.
In October 2019, I asked of NJCL would remove the song and creed from their website while they went through existing structures and procedures to eliminate their use. The song and creed are still accessible.
The statement about the song and creed should:
- Condemn NCJL’s misappropriation of ancient Greece and Rome to support white supremacy in the guise of education.
- Acknowledge the song and creed are symptoms of a larger problem and signal an intent to interrogate NJCL’s harmful reception of Classics more generally so that the organization does not continue to support white supremacy through a white supremacist-oriented mission/purpose.
- Condemn the Purpose section in their Constitution and provide a timeline (not to exceed three months) for removing the white supremacist rhetoric in that document. (The most problematic part is that the purpose of the organization is to “pattern our citizenship in respect to family, school, and nation after the best examples of the classical civilizations.”)
- Prohibit the use of the song and the creed at this summer’s virtual convention and any other events held under the JCL brand.
By June 15: Cancel the couples costume contest and problematic oratory contests. Screen skits for this year’s event.
Gender-binary categories based on stereotypes are problematic to the extent that the Supreme Court has weighed in on this practice in other contexts. Any statement on that should include an apology for this practice. And, specific to the virtual NJCL convention this year:
- Cancel the Pygmalion and Galatea costume contest and provide information about its harm to stakeholders.
- Cancel the “boys’” Ars Amatoria dramatic oration and provide information about its harm to stakeholders.
3. Apologize for assigning “girls” a passage from Alice and Wonderland and provide information about its harm for stakeholders.
4. Cancel the oration for the Level 1/2 and 1 category. Now is not the time for students to perform an oversimplified passage that promotes toxic nationalism. Members of the dominant culture killing “hidden enemies” is an irresponsible theme, especially given what this kind of worldview has resulted in recently. (For more on this particular theme, see this article.)
5. Screen all skits and videos for content/messaging that perpetuates elitism, racism, and injustice. For example, a person dressed in orange pretending to be an “ex-con” for laughs should not be broadcast to sponsors and members as it was in recent years. I am not linking to this video here since it involves students, but it is essential not to amplify content that is traumatizing for marginalized students and dangerous for dominant-culture students.
6. Signal an intent to come up with standards for skits and other content presented at NJCL events.
By June 15: Condemn ability tracking in Latin and clarify interpretation of ACL-published data related to SAT scores
1. This statement should include an apology for ACL’s messaging that positions Latin as a pre-collegiate course, a practice that has led to Latin joining a larger segregatory structure. This statement should not include racist myths about intelligence or rhetoric that legitimizes tracking based on perceived ability. Instead, it should acknowledge that students are placed into advanced tracks at an early age because of factors unrelated to intelligence/potential and that marketing Latin as a collegiate course has restricted access to Classics. In their statement, ACL should cite information about this topic ethically. (For more information on ability tracking and segregation, see in this article and its bibliography).
2. ACL should also clarify that because of selection bias it is not possible to assume a cause-and-effect relationship between Latin and SAT scores.
By June 15: Signal intent to send out a one-pager to teachers on how to talk to students about white supremacy in the American Classical League and, more generally, the use of Classics to legitimize white supremacy in other areas of our society.
This statement should be thorough and accurate and distributed by July 15. It should be sent out again in September and publicized in a prominent location on the websites of the ACL and all ACL affiliates. Since many children and teachers have normalized the ways ACL and its affiliates have supported white supremacy, it is important to provide materials to counter this 100-year narrative.
ACL can start to rebuild trust in their organization by immediately taking action aligned with their statement from today. If they believe what they wrote, there should be immediate, tangible, measurable actions related to upcoming events and common practices within the field. It would be a relief for many stakeholders if we could begin to build on positive momentum from ACL.
