Dalton Just Can't Get Out of Its Own Way

Dalton and Jim Best

I really thought I was done writing about Dalton, but they just can't seem to get out of their own way.

First, they screwed up in-person classes. Then, there was the meltdown over faculty demands and Critical Race Theory ("antiracism"). Then their head of DEI was made a sacrificial lamb. Then Jim Best, their headmaster, announced he was "leaving" at the end of the year.

This whole beat, the Naked Dollar's covering the private school woke wars, started with the story of Dalton's misadventures back in December. I didn't do it because I care, particularly, about Dalton. I didn't go there, and I don't live in Manhattan. But I do care about education, and Dalton was illustrative of a broader, deeply illiberal, trend towards the politicization of the classroom. 

Dalton was not unique, in other words.

Having said that, it does seem like they go out of their way to be capital of Wokeistan. 

A couple of days ago, an anonymous group called Prep School Accountability paid to have mobile billboards park in front of several Manhattan schools, including Dalton (and Brearley, which I have also chronicled). 

One truck said this:

Another said...

For the record, I have no idea who did this. It's interesting, though, because the battle against K-12 indoctrination doesn't seem as lonely as it did a few months ago. People are stepping up. Mostly anonymously, for reasons that are perfectly understandable, but more and more people are willing to come forward and put their names on the line. Soon, we will have what sociologists call a "preference cascade."

In any case, I knew I could count on the Naked Dollar's old friend Jim Best to give us a response so risible that he make his peers look like mere pretenders. Perhaps Jim's newly acquired occupational freedom has lent him the rhetorical license he craved all along. It's a short note, but there's just so much to unpack.

Here's what Jim wrote just yesterday about the trucks, along with my comments (in bold)...

To the Dalton Community:

This action is antithetical to what Dalton stands for and negatively impacts the welfare of our children and our community members.

Jeez, really? How is that? Apparently because

It attempts to create a climate of intimidation and harassment and evokes some of the worst moments in our nation's history.

We literally just marked the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, where as many as 300 people were killed and 2,000 homes torched. So, moments like that, Jim? Perhaps words like, "Teach our kids how to think, not what to think" evoke My Lai or 9-11 for you? I'm sorry, you are not a serious person.

We took, and will take, necessary steps to ensure the well being of our students, faculty, and staff.

Did any staffers or kids see the signs? Please tell me everyone's alright!

At Dalton, we encourage constructive discourse consistent with our values of creating "a climate of respect in which creativity, curiosity, individual risk-taking, and personal excellence are achieved and can flourish." 

It's true. Dalton loves discourse, just loves it...as long as it's "consistent with their values," which also include telling you you're a racist if you disagree with those values, and if you're white, you'd better "check your privilege," otherwise known as "shut the f*** up."

We continue to listen closely to community members who engage in respectful dialogue and work together to help build an educations environment grounded in empathy and compassion.

This is what all these administrators say. Jane Fried of Brearley, and George Davison of Grace Church said exactly the same thing. And it's such crap. Why do so many "community" members fear going on the record? Because they know there will be repercussions. And as for compassion, does that include telling minority students they are permanently oppressed? That they should live in a state of perpetual grievance? How is that compassionate?

The tactics we saw this morning are neither dignified nor persuasive.

No doubt you said the same about the last year of BLM and Antifa street violence...just kidding. Let's face it Jim, it isn't the method that bothers you, it's the message.

They only redouble our commitment to stand by our mission, our values, and every single member of our community.

Except for those of you who are racists for opposing my agenda, and as soon as I figure out who you are, I will inform Yale.

Jim Best, Head of School

Yom Fox, Interim Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion