I'd like to take a moment to chat about this line, "...compared with their better-educated peers they will suffer a poverty of language and cultural reference" - MG, WSJ

First, a few questions... who is "they"? Presumably, students educated in classrooms dedicated to #DisruptTexts (?)

This is in comparison to... (?)

In what was does regularly accessing "the canon" make a person "better educated?"

Is there concern that without these "cultural references" drilled into a child's head they will be unable to engage in discourse?

Also, THANK YOU for acknowledging that the canon is a "cultural reference" now, I'd like to take that a bit further... whose "cultural reference" is it exactly?

Are we (educators) to assume that the Western/white-constructed canon is THE reference for education in the US?

I'd also love to chat "poverty of language" - who exactly is devoid of language?

Certainly not my emerging multi-lingual learners for whom the Western/white-constructed canon holds few (if any) mirrors (Dr. Bishop).

... and she couldn't possibly have been speaking of students who seamlessly move between dialects: https://www.ted.com/talks/jamila_lyiscott_3_ways_to_speak_english/up-next?language=en

One of the cringiest moments in Nice White Parents (I think) came when a prospective donor reveled about the benefits of students learning another language to a multi-lingual parent/committee member:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/podcasts/nice-white-parents-serial.html

Clint Smith explains this idea brilliantly when talking about schools choosing money over student dignity:

When (mostly) white folx assume there is one "high culture" THEY remove potential for learning from the young people in our care & erase the funds of knowledge (Yasso) from our students and families.

NOT ONLY is there great value in bringing beautiful contemporary texts to our students BUT ALSO to assume #DisruptTexts is about "banning books" is a grotesque misreading of the movement started by four brilliant WOC.

Why wouldn't we (everybody?) aim for an expansive view of lit

... except to double-down on protection of "the canon" (a thing that needs no protecting) and ensure white-centered curriculum.

Finally-ish (maybe?) the white author referenced in this opinion piece took direct aim at one of the #DisruptTexts founders, therefore making personal her misguided critique of a movement she acknowledged misunderstanding.

When I get into a defensive stance, my incredible friend & mentor Shadiin Garcia often asks, "what are you protecting?"

In this case, I might ask whether it's worth protecting "the canon" over the reading lives & humanity of our young people.