March 11, 2020 Issue, Page 4 of 10

Page Text

Page 4 The Elk City News, Elk City, Oklahoma Wednesday, March 11, 2020 Opinion Page ‘Settled’ science often becomes propaganda “ElkCituNews By Jonathan Small cerned by the State Board of Oklahoma schools, so why In the famed 1925 Scopes Education’s approval of new stress the word “evolution” of Creation, recently told an Oklahoma audience that Serving Western Oklahoma since 1901 “monkey” trial in Tennes- science standards that ex- in standards? raising people out of grind- see, defense attorney Clar- plicitly reference evolution Today, racist attacks rely ing poverty in third-world The meaning ence Darrow told the court and climate change. The new less on Darwinian theory, countries requires “access to it was witnessing “as brazen standards could produce less but one doesn’t have to abundant, affordable, reliant and as bold an attempt to de- valid instruction than class- search long to find examples stroy learning as was ever room indoctrination. of the theory being used to energy.” But global-warm- of Super made in the Middle Ages, Darwinian evolution re- bash Christians or other peo- ing advocates often argue and the only difference is we mains controversial today ple of faith in the classroom. for elimination of affordable have not provided that they not because people are “an- The thin line between sci- fossil fuels that can free mil- shall be burned at the stake.” ti-science,” but because the ence and political propagan- lions from disease and death. What learning was Dar- Tuesday theory has been used to justi- da is also obvious with in- Political extremism row defending? Access to a fy institutional racism, gov- clusion of “climate change” doesn’t belong in public textbook that taught children ernment-mandated eugenics, in academic _ standards. schools, but Oklahoma’s that Darwinian evolution and other forms of state- While associated lessons new science standards may proved there are “five races sanctioned prejudice. When may focus on carbon diox- By Robert C. Koehler or varieties of man” and the people insist man descended ide emissions and estimated creak open that door, which A gush of corporate relief fills the airwaves as Super “highest race type of all” is from monkeys, they’re often impact on climate, they too is why parents should be giv- Tuesday becomes history. A progressive wave was not “the Caucasians, represented quick to say certain people often devolve into unhinged en greater school choice than electorally visible as the Democratic status quo consoli- by the civilized white inhab- are more closely related to attacks on farming and oil- a building assigned based dated itself behind Joe Biden and won 10 states. itants of Europe and Amer- monkeys than others, as the field jobs—in other words, on geography, not quality. I was feeling a lot more hope when Super Tuesday be- ica.” No surprise, the text- Scopes trial illustrated. most of Oklahoma’s econo- Those who insist extremism book author relegated blacks Granted, state education my. If you doubt it, note the can’t enter the classroom are gan than I’m feeling a day later, so the need right now is to the bottom tier. officials downplayed Dar- rhetoric of Swedish teenager to regroup. ignoring an important aspect As a black man with four winian evolution even as and climate-change activist of education: the lessons of Freelance writer and organizer Kate Aronoff, speaking daughters, example they stressed explicit refer- Greta Thunberg. this on a panel of observers at Democracy Now! as the elec- shows why I am so skepti- ences to evolution. Essen- Even worse, —_climate- history. tion results unfolded, made an important point in this re- cal when political activists tially, they suggested schools change activism literally en- Jonathan Small serves as gard: “The Democratic establishment is going against the claim “settled science” jus- will teach genetics and spe- dangers lives. Calvin Beis- president of the Oklahoma future... . There is no normal anymore!” tifies their viewpoints, and cies modification. But those ner, founder of the Cornwall Council of Public Affairs The national and global order is unhinging, via climate why I am among those con- topics are already covered in Alliance for the Stewardship (www.ocpathink.org). change and endless war, the rise of authoritarianism, the We still face an incarceration enormous flow of refugees, the continued (insane threat) existence of nuclear weapons, coronavirus, the raging fires and melting polar ice — and so much more. Bernie Sanders is the candidate who addresses these matters with the most courage and clarity, and as Super Tuesday approached it appeared that maybe .. . maybe .. . a significant major- ity of the electorate understood this and would cast their crisis, so it’s time to act votes for salvaging and reshaping the future. Now I’m not By Damita Price you to sign the petition and and their families as they the court for relief. as certain, even though Sanders did reasonably well, win- Life without parole. support State Question 805. have harmed me. As it stands, prosecutors That was the future I Oklahoma has the second- Sentence enhancements have the sole discretion to ning California along with Colorado, Utah and Vermont, faced when I was arrested highest imprisonment rate not only delay access to crit- and finishing second to Biden in the other states. The two- increase a sentence for near- on drug-related charges in in the country and has had ical services for those with person race continues. 1995. Thanks to two previ- the highest female imprison- substance use disorders or ly any offense if the person Part of what I had hoped would happen on Super Tues- ous drug possession charges ment rate for nearly three de- mental health conditions, but has ever been convicted of day was that media analysis of the election would have to on my record, I became the cades, sending nearly twice also punish people for their a crime in the past, even transcend its horse-race reductionism and begin facing and first woman in Oklahoma to as many women to prison condition. These people do for minor drug or property focusing on real issues, simply because real issues seemed receive life without parole per capita as the national av- not need more time added to crimes. to be what mattered to voters. The practice of categoriz- under the old “three strikes” erage. their prison sentences. They Support State Question ing voters into abstract clumps, based on their ethnicity, law. Our state’s use of sentence need recovery, they need income, education level or whatever, is excruciatingly te- Mistakes brought on by enhancements is one of the treatment, they need sup- 805 by signing the petition to put it on the 2020 ballot. dious, e.g.: “The surge in turnout in Virginia was a fune- years of struggling to pay my main reasons we continue port. tion in part of suburban white voters coming to the polls son’s medical bills meant Ito lead in these categories. Fortunately, there’s light. Voting “yes” on SQ 805 is a to support Biden,” the Washington Post informed us in the suddenly faced a lifetime I have seen my community Oklahoma has come a long chance to make your voice wake of Super Tuesday: without my family, friends members with years, de- way. From State Question heard. Together, we can re- . . . Sanders’s argument for his electability in Novem- and community. cades or even life in prison 780 to the recent historic unite families, reduce the ber is predicated on the idea that he will spur a surge in The tide turned when my stacked on top of their pris- commutations, things are imprisonment rate and help sentence was commuted by on sentences for crimes they getting better. And there’s turnout, particularly among young voters and the working former Gov. Mary Fallin, were convicted of in the more support from voters Oklahomans reach their full class. Again looking at Virginia, whites without a college and since then, I’ve been do- past. And I personally know than ever before. Now is the potential. degree turned out more heavily in 2020 than in 2016, ac- ing the hard work of recon- the impact time in prison can time for action. For contin- Damita Price is a criminal cording to preliminary exit polls — and Biden beat Sand- necting with my family and have on a person and their ued progress. justice reform activist and ers by 15 points. About half the electorate was voters with- rebuilding my life outside of family. That’s why I support State formerly incarcerated indi- out a degree, up from 2016, and Biden beat Sanders by a prison. Oklahoma has made Compared to other states, Question 805, a common- vidual. She was sentenced to 2-to-1 margin, a wider gap than Clinton enjoyed four years significant progress reform- Oklahomans spend nearly sense reform that will end life without parole under the ago. ing its criminal legal system 70% longer in prison for the use of sentence enhance- old “three strikes” law and And on and on and on. But how did Biden do among in recent years, but I still see property crimes and 79% ments for nonviolent of- white voters who couldn’t find their car keys that morning and feel the effects of our in- longer for drug crimes. fenses and allow people who had her sentence commuted (and started college but just didn’t finish it)? After reading carceration crisis every day. These long sentences con- have already received an by former Gov. Mary Fallin an endless amount of such categorizations, it starts to seem That’s why I want to urge tinue to harm Oklahomans extreme sentence to petition in 2017. as though a voter’s abstract grouping is a determining fac- Animal rights groups choose tor in how he or she votes: Attention, members! Whites Without a College Degree, or WWCD, officially supports Joe Biden. We urge 62 percent of you to cast your ballot accordingly. Here’s another category the media chooses not to use: Voters who waited absurdly long hours in line to cast their ballots, or even would-be voters who were unable to vote. coronavirus over your safety T wonder how Sanders did among these categories? By Matthew R. Bailey ing with mice to see how threats like COVID-19 de- closely approximate human As Salon reported on March 3: Top U.S. health officials they respond after being in- pend on animal models be- patients with HIV. Animal Texas has closed 750 polling locations since 2012, the recently delivered a sober- fected with the coronavirus. cause they provide the clos- research yielded AZT, the Leadership Conference Education Fund, a civil rights ing message: Americans Researchers have modified est approximation of how a breakthrough HIV/AIDS group, reported last year. The state had one polling place must prepare for the in- the mice’s genetic code to potential therapy will oper- drug cocktail approved by for every 4,000 residents in 2012, but that number rose to evitable spread of the coro- mimic a human’s immune ate in the human body. the FDA in 1987. 7,700 residents by 2018. The Guardian's analysis found navirus within the United system. They hope to use The interaction between a Despite the medical prog- that the overwhelming majority of closures came in areas States. So far in the U.S., 11 antibodies the mice generate promising vaccine or treat- ress animal research has that saw the largest increase in black and Latino residents. people have died. The vi- following infection to de- ment and a living organism enabled, some activists are The 50 counties that saw the highest growth in black tus has claimed the lives of velop an effective treatment. is too complex to replicate trying to restrict its use by and Latino population had 542 polling sites close between more than 3,200 people and Meanwhile, the National in a petri dish or computer arguing that it’s inhumane. 2012 and 2018, while the 50 counties with the lowest black infected over 95,000 world- Institutes of Health is inves- simulation. For this work, But animal research is tightly and Latino population growth saw just 34 closures. The wide. tigating whether an existing there’s simply no substitute regulated by the federal gov- Fortunately, the world’s antiviral drug, “remdesivir” for a live animal model. closures came despite the population in the top 50 counties top medical researchers are might work against COV- That’s why animal re- ernment. Just like in hospi- rising by 2.5 million while the 50 counties that had just 34 tals, researchers are required working on a vaccine for the ID-19. Originally developed search is the basis for so to use appropriate anesthetic closures saw their population fall by 13,000. coronavirus, or COVID-19. using rhesus macaques, rem- many medical advances, in- Fascinatingly, Texas is a state Sanders was predicted and analgesic drugs to en- That vaccine is poised to desivir is effective against cluding vaccines for measles sure animals don’t experi- to win but didn’t. Could it be that the other candidate re- be the product of animal Nipah virus, Ebola, and and polio as well as life-sav- ence pain. Those responsible ceived help beyond merely the consolidation of centrists? research. It’s a case study “MERS,” another coronavi- ing diabetes drugs. The issue of voter suppression is a Pandora’s box across for overseeing research must in how crucial animal re- rus strain that has killed over Consider the progress much of the country that the mainstream media usually search is to improving pub- 800 people since first emerg- against HIV/AIDS. A few certify that use of animals is chooses not to open. lic health. ing in 2012. decades ago, the virus killed necessary. Even then, scien- All of which intensifies my sense of frustration and Two researchers at the The initial results have more people between the tists are required to use as uncertainty. “Is there a progressive wave reshaping the University of Wisconsin- been promising. A 35-year- ages of 25 and 44 than any few as possible. Democratic Party?” Intercept writer Lee Fang asked at the Madison just announced that old American coronavirus other disease in a number Yet according to a Pew they'll “test medical coun- patient recently used Wash- of communities nationwide. survey, slightly less than half Democracy Now! panel Tuesday night. “We don’t know of Americans -- 46 percent yet.” termeasures such as vac- ington’s “compassionate An HIV diagnosis was ef- cines and therapeutics” in use” laws, whichfectively a death sentence. allow -- favor animal research. But I believe there is, even when it seems invisible. And Once animal research yields so do millions of Americans — millions of global citizens nonhuman primates. They critically ill patients to ac- No more. Powerful drug hope to discover how much cess unlicensed drugs, to cocktails have rendered a treatment for the coronavi- — working for change on so many levels, including politi of the coronavirus enters the gain access to remdesivir. HIV/AIDS a_ manageable rus, perhaps the remainder cally. We are not yet the nation we are struggling to be- body, where it infects the He quickly recovered, but disease. Those medicines will change their minds. come, but the Sanders campaign, however it fares in 2020, lungs, and how immune sys- it’s too early to definitively were developed using ma- Matthew R. Bailey is pres- is helping to shape that future. It’s doing so one voter at a tems respond to it. attribute his recovery to the caque monkeys and “human- ident of the Foundation for time, whether or not their vote is counted. Scientists at New York- drug. ized mice” genetically modi- Biomedical Research. This Robert Koehler, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is an award- based biotechnology com- Researchers working on fied to have compromised piece originally ran in the winning Chicago journalist and editor. pany Regeneron are work- vaccines or treatments for immune systems that more Detroit News.