Sunday Reads – Dec. 19, 2021
Things that divide. Things that conquer. We have them all: Spaceport Camden, how we teach children about tough topics and facing our world, when partisan political cells divide, understanding misinformation and how to smother it.
Spaceport drama adds a new chapter
This week, a grassroots effort to stop Camden County from buying land for its Spaceport Camden site ended up in court. A group submitted signatures representing 10% of the county’s citizens on a petition requesting a referendum on the purchase. The effort to develop a spaceport on a polluted industrial site has had detractors from Day One for several reasons — the flight path over homes and Cumberland Island National Seashore, the property’s environmental risks and the $11 million in county money spent on the plan, to name a few.
The Friday court hearing requested an injunction on the land purchase until the matter of the referendum, allowed by the Georgia Constitution, could be sorted out. In the meantime, all parties are waiting for a much-delayed decision on an operating license by the Federal Aviation Administration. The next due date is Monday. No matter how that lands, a letter from the FAA to the Department of the Interior reminds everyone that there is another round of hurdles: “If the license is approved it would not authorize a single launch.”
Finding unity in a nasty split
We’ve learned a lot more about the partisan battles in the state Republican Party between the group supporting former President Trump’s vendetta against those who won’t support his continuous efforts to throw shade on Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results and those who are focused on moving ahead.
A majority of GOP members of the state legislature, including the full Coastal Georgia delegation, has openly vowed support to Gov. Brian Kemp’s re-election campaign, and 29 state senators quietly sent a hand-signed letter to gubernatorial candidate David Perdue requesting that he not challenge Kemp next year. Perdue, a resident of Sea Island, is running with Trump’s endorsement and goal of beating Kemp, who Trump believes should’ve illegally stopped certification of the state’s official vote totals. The letter was made public this week in reporting by Axios Atlanta. Former U.S. Sen. Perdue responded by calling them “career politicians.'”
Another Trump-endorsed candidate had a bumpy week, as well. Former University of Georgia football great Herschel Walker had to answer after his campaign continued to push out credentials that included a college degree from UGA. Walker never graduated, but the stories that he did proliferate in biography and fundraiser literature. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein explains the situation and response in a Friday story.
Carter introduces race education legislation
Coastal Georgia’s elected voice to the U.S. House of Representatives, Buddy Carter, introduced the “For the Parents Act” and announced it in a press release on Wednesday. The text of the bill does not mention parents except in the title, but it does propose to withhold federal spending on public schools that don’t ban the teaching of “critical race theory, and the usage of any teaching methodology or curriculum that promotes or causes a racial divide or lack of equality…” It also would require schools and faculty members to be reported for breaking that rule or speaking out against it.
It’s not a new idea. Eight states have already passed similar legislation. In June, Georgia’s state school board passed a resolution that says teachers should not teach that slavery and racism “are anything other than deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to, the authentic founding principles of the United States, which include liberty and equality.”
In a story this week from the nonprofit education journalism organization Chalkbeat, teachers describe the challenges it presents in the classroom when it comes to teaching American history and systems. While many say it hasn’t yet caused large waves in the affected states, teachers say they have to rethink their approaches to regular lessons with discussions of the effects and roots of the Civil War, enslavement, economic expansion in the early 1800s and current events, including the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. “A lot of that chilling won’t happen as overtly as cancelled courses,” said Luke Amphlett, a high school social studies teacher in San Antonio. “The real chilling effect is something that’s so much harder to measure because it’s those daily decisions made by educators in the classroom.”
Your second cup: Truth is a slow burn.
By now we’ve all heard the quote “A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots.” Usually repeated as a quote from Mark Twain or Winston Churchill, its real attribution is unknown, but the sentiment is commonly accepted as a sadly human condition. Two weeks ago, the Savannah Council of World Affairs hosted Dr. Thomas Patterson, who presented data to prove it. He’s an expert on information, real and fake, and how we consume it in a democracy. In his presentation “How America Lost Its Mind,” Patterson discussed the effects on citizens as information sources have fragmented, grown new branches and shifted to various profitable niches to create the fire hose of information that spews constantly from all angles. It turns out that well-crafted disinformation and misinformation — “fake news” — grabs attention 6 times faster than the real stuff. However, if people have access to and have consumed reliable, factual information, they are much less likely to be derailed by misinformation. So, we have to learn how to discern what’s real and determine what’s not. In a piece this week in USAToday, we were reminded that a 2016 survey by the Stanford History Education group found less than one-third of Advanced Placement students could identify a biased Tweet as slanted. To quote the great Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Teach your children well.
Critical analysis of information is a topic near and dear to The Current, and Patterson’s presentation touches many reasons we exist at all: To present factual, credible information about Coastal Georgia issues so you can make crucial choices and question misinformation when you see it. So please, settle in and listen to his 45-minute presentation to the group about the undermining effects of misinformation on democracy, political polarization, and public health. The bottom line: We all — individually, as citizens and members of the media — have a role in the solutions. Here’s the link to the YouTube presentation — you can listen to the audio, watch and listen or use closed captioning but it’s worth your time.
We wish you a very happy and peaceful holiday season.
This newsletter will be taking a short break over the next week or so.
If you are traveling, be safe: Here’s a link to check for Covid hot spots across the country by county. Take care of yourself and loved ones. Next year looks like fun and we’ll be ready to tackle it with you!
Enjoy!
Spaceport referendum races against property purchase
Petitioners want a referendum on Spaceport Camden before the more than $10 million project continues.
Coastal Georgia’s state delegation picks Kemp, party unity
Georgia’s state Republicans are quietly lining up behind Gov. Brian Kemp in his re-election primary battle against David Perdue.
David Perdue’s launched his campaign on claims about Georgia elections. Here’s why they’re false
Perdue has repeated false claims that Democrat Stacey Abrams controlled Georgia’s elections system, implied that “irregularities” marred the thrice-counted presidential election and said he would have ignored state law requiring him to certify election results if he had been governor in 2020.
Not getting into it: How critical race theory laws are cutting short classroom conversations
Plenty of teachers say they haven’t changed their approach, and there is little evidence that these laws have led to wholesale curriculum overhauls. But in several states with new legislation, teachers say the ambiguity of the laws, plus new scrutiny from parents and administrators, are together chipping away at discussions of racism and inequality.
Fear, homelessness over holidays: Georgia rental aid plan remains dysfunctional
Georgia Department of Community Affairs program awaits response from the U.S. Treasury Department on its proposal to fix its lagging distribution system and avoid losing millions in federal funding.
More Georgia Secretary of State’s office officials interviewed by Jan. 6 committee
The meeting with more figures in Georgia’s election orbit comes after Raffensperger sat for four hours with investigators two weeks ago to discuss his Jan. 2 phone call with the former president just days before a dual U.S. Senate runoff that would decide control of the chamber.
Support non-partisan, solutions-based investigative journalism without bias, fear or favor on issues affecting Savannah and Coastal Georgia.
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