Education Week recently published a report called "Hate in Schools," a shameless hit piece on President Trump and his supporters.

The article begins:

Three swastikas were scrawled on the note found in the girls' restroom, along with a homophobic comment and a declaration: "I Love Trump."

Found inside the backpack of a Latina student, a note that said: Go back to Mexico.

Two other hate-filled incidents – invoking Donald Trump's name and using swastikas – were also reported that same day.

The school: Council Rock High in this mostly white, affluent Philadelphia suburb.

The day: Nov. 9, 2016, the day after the election of President Trump.

Notice that the hate-incidents described in the opening mention Trump's name – not once, but three times.  Why?  Because Trump is a hateful racist who inspires hate.

Several paragraphs later, the article states:

The hate-fueled incidents at Council Rock in the wake of the divisive 2016 presidential election, and the school's rocky path to addressing them, are not unusual.

Concerns about a rise in hate crimes and bias incidents have surged since the campaign and election of President Trump, who has frequently used coarse language and racist rhetoric when describing immigrants, people of color, and women.  In schools, similar worries are echoed by some students, parents, and educators who suggest that Trump's influence has emboldened some children, teenagers, and even school employees to openly espouse hateful views.

Never mind the fact that Trump hasn't used racist rhetoric when describing immigrants and people of color; rather, his statements have been purposefully repackaged and misrepresented by the media.  For example, CNN wrote this headline in April of this year: "Trump Basically Called Mexicans Rapists Again."  When you read the article, Trump simply speaks about a merit-based immigration system over a lottery-based system. 

In the article Trump is quoted as saying:

With us, it's a lottery system – pick them out – a lottery system.  You can imagine what those countries put into the system.  They're not putting their good ones.

And remember my opening remarks at Trump Tower, when I opened.  Everybody said, 'Oh, he was so tough,' and I used the word 'rape.'  And yesterday, it came out where, this journey coming up, women are raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before.  They don't want to mention that.

So we have to change our laws.  And the Democrats, what they're doing is just – it's insanity.  I don't – nobody understands what's going on.

Trump's not calling Mexicans rapists.  He's explaining that there are some rapists among Mexicans, just like any population, and that if we were to use a lottery system for immigration, there's a chance the Mexican government would dump its undesirables into that system, and as a result, America would end up notwith hardworking, law-abiding immigrants, but with some criminals. 

The article continues, giving examples of hate speech:

The most common words were: "the n-word," various versions of "build the wall" and "go back to [insert foreign country name here, usually Mexico]."  The most common hate symbol: swastikas.

Build the wall is hate speech?  Really?  A policy that the majority of Americans agree with?  A policy aimed at securing America's border in order to make the country safer and the issue of immigration less complicated?  I wonder if Education Week realizes that Addison Barnes, a senior at Liberty High School in Portland, Oregon, recently settled a lawsuit for $25,000 when he was sent home from school for wearing a T-shirt promoting a border wall.  It's called freedom of speech, not hate speech.

"But is it fair to lay all the blame on the words and actions of President Trump for the vitriol spewed in schools?" the Education Week article asks, in a laughable attempt to remain objective.  At this point in the article, the damage has already been done, and giving the reader a generic "opposing view" is pathetic.  By the end of the piece, the crosshairs are back on Trump.

Marialis Vasquez, who graduated from her New Jersey high school in 2017, said a white male teacher told her and her classmates that he agreed with Donald Trump that Mexicans are bad for the country, calling them "pigs" and "lazy" the day after the election in 2016.

Education Week's "Hate in Schools" is interested only in "hate" that fits its politics, and the magazine's research leaves much to be desired.  Partnering with a media collaborative group called ProPublica, its documentation of hate is limited.  According to ProPublica's website: 

Hate crimes and bias incidents are a national problem, but there's no reliable data on their nature or prevalence.  We're collecting and verifying reports, building a database of tips for use by journalists, researchers and civil-rights organizations.

This special report doesn't include any hate speech in schools aimed at police officers or the children of police officers, or the hate speech espoused by the Black Lives Matter organization, which teaches that Western white society is at war with black people.  Such rhetoric has sparked a number of racial incidents in schools and resulted in the killing of a half-dozen police officers right before the 2016 election.

What about the hateful concept of "white privilege" and "implicit bias," the ideas that all white people get special, unearned treatment, and that all whites are inherently racist and harbor racial prejudices, even if they are not aware of them?  The Education Week article doesn't consider this "hate."

The piece states:

"We really start off with the understanding that everyone has bias, and it doesn't make you a racist," said Allen Smith, the Denver district's chief of culture, equity, and leadership, who is black.  "This conversation does not need to be about blame, shame, or judgment, which does ease the tension a little bit, and gives permission for people to talk."

He brought in Jennifer Harvey, a professor of ethics and religion at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, to speak to students and district employees about institutional racism and white privilege.  Harvey said the term "white privilege" is often off-putting, but she believes the concept behind it is true – that people who are white have had major advantages, over people of color in how American society functions.

There you have it.  Trump is a hateful racist who inspires hate, and all white people have privilege and are institutionally racist. Bravo, Education Week. 

Christopher Paslay is a Philadelphia public schoolteacher.  Like his Facebook page "Philly Teachers for Trump" (@phillyteachersfortrump).