Penn State has been under scrutiny over its internal ‘Strategic Plan Update’ which contains sweeping anti-racism agendas, including a commitment to “recruit, retain, teach and research according to antiracist principles’ and adopt an ‘antiracist critical pedagogy.” The plan to expand employment opportunities for underrepresented candidates has prompted objections over its possible unconstitutionality in light of Supreme Court precedent. However, a tape is now circulating that raises concerns about the use of its mandatory REPL course, which stands for “Race and the Equal Protection of the Laws.”
The REPL course is described in Penn State publications:
“REPL, a required course for all first-year Penn State Dickinson Law students, invokes critical theory and critical pedagogy, aiming to transform how students see their place and role in an imperfect and still-evolving democracy. The class began in fall 2020, months after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis prompted the Penn State Dickinson Law faculty to pass two unanimous resolutions. The first condemned violence against people of color. The second adopted an antiracist approach to legal education, leading to the creation of REPL.”
Penn State Dickinson Law Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law Danielle M. Conway has stated:
“Through REPL, many law students are being exposed for the first time to the structure that supports the nation’s constitutional democracy. REPL allows us to teach that through the lens of enslavement and racism, systemic challenges that have existed since the beginning of our society. We use critical pedagogy to analyze how a governing system founded on a pledge of democratic ideals produces systemic inequity when legal, social, economic, and civil obstacles limit liberty for those othered in society.”
Aaron Sibarium of the Free Beacon posted the secret audio tape from one of the classes. I have repeatedly reached out to Penn State for a response or a statement on the authenticity of the tape. The school has not replied.
The tape purportedly captures the words of Associate Dean Jeffrey Dodge and Professor Emily Spottswood. Also featured is Shaakirrah Sanders, who was described as “the first associate Dean of anti-racism and critical pedagogy in the country.”
Dean Dodge is allegedly shown saying that “We are taking action to disrupt and dismantle systems that racialize, subordinate, and oppress. We … want to acknowledge the reality of systemic racism … as a foundation for this course.”
Professor Spottswood explains to the students that this is “not elective, not optional because this is not a way to be a good lawyer.” She explains that, to be a lawyer, you must combat racism as laid out in REPL.
They also hear from Georgetown University Law Professor Paul Butler, who tells them that the existential threat remains “white supremacy … and patriarchy” and the need to “eradicate” them.
Critics have objected that the lectures sound more like indoctrination than education. Rather than allowing students to elect to take such a course, the law school requires them to complete the course as a condition for graduation.
It is common (and commendable) for incoming law students to be addressed about our profession’s commitment to fighting discrimination in all forms. I have given such speeches to incoming students. Many of us also incorporate material that explores discrimination in legal doctrine and practice.
What is different is that this is a mandatory course that tells students that they must accept certain antiracism precepts to be lawyers. This course appears similar to many offered as electives at other law schools. However, at Penn State it is mandatory.
While hopefully everyone opposes discrimination and oppression, many students (and lawyers) may not agree with the sweeping statements about the dominance or hold of white supremacy or patriarchy over our legal system.
This does not mean that combating prejudice should not be a priority or emphasized in law school. Rather, the REPL course has been criticized as an example of the activist and orthodox culture in higher education.
Here is the article with the audiotape.
Jonathan Turley Faces Heckling at NYU Law School
While the NYU incident was not accompanied by a formal disciplinary action, it reflects the polarized reception Turley has received in certain academic circles. Supporters see him as a staunch defender of free expression, while critics accuse him of promoting intolerable speech and contributing to a hostile campus climate.
Let’s see. We have Article ll people determine to remove DEI root and branch. We have Article lll removing racial gerrymanders from the Voting Rights Act. We have Texas and other states looking to find law school accreditation without perceived ABA liberal bias. If you were a Penn State Dickinson Law, wouldn’t you see the smart play to be teach REPL as a concept to be understood unshackled to being believed?
REPL = replacement theory
This college course is designed to ethnically cleanse the freshman class of whites who won’t drink the Kool-Aid, having already been filtered by reverse-racist admission requirements. I’ll give DEI this much: it’s thorough.
This is how cults work. In college, I once went to a transcendental meditation (TM) talk. They claimed TM made it possible for one to levitate. They called it “hopping,” which only made it stranger. At the time, I wasn’t even sure what they meant by “hopping,” but I now realize it was intended to be absurd. Anybody who accepted the absurdity was a perfect candidate for a cult. Years later, it finally occurred to me that mentally vulnerable people were exactly who they were looking for. The rest of us could be discarded.
Unfortunately, a sweet, young coed behind me appeared to believe every word. You could hear the open vulnerability in her voice… or maybe she was just a shill to con the rest of us. I’ll probably never know the rest of that story.
Liberalism has been reduced to a cult run by DEI witchdoctors.
We should be very dubious about political goals stated in the negative voice — “anti-racism” being a current example.
Why? Because, thinking and speaking about what you OPPOSE exempts you from having to define what would be better — how to define it, pursue it, contribute personally toward it, and measure it.
Causes stated in an “anti” lexicon appeal to BLAMING rather than taking responsibility. It is the refuge of the peanut gallery. It is steeped in passive aggressive misanthropy.
Contrast the negative thought pattern taught in Penn State’s REPL course to a positive, proactive vision:
A Post-racial Meritocracy
“A post-racial meritocracy is the end-goal America has been struggling to achieve the past 250 years. We’ve come very far, but the question for the present is “What are the next round of improvements toward that goal?” Post-racial meritocracy is a society envisioned by Dr. MLK Jr, where advancement to positions of increasing trust and responsibility are decided by judgments of preparedness, responsibility-taking, trustworthiness, and honesty — where an individual’s racial / ethnic heritage is overlooked as inconsequential.
In the 2020s and ’30s, the emphasis wants to be on raising children to succeed and thrive in such a post-racial meritocracy. Here, we can learn from cognitive science about every human being’s inborn social instinct called “self-similarity preference” (Wynn and Mahajan, 1990s research with infants). Infants and children have to learn to disregard those innate “us vs. them” signals as “noise”, and learn to distrust impulses based upon them. The best way is to immerse the infant / toddler in a post-racial social environment where s/he sees adults of differing racial appearances ignoring those signals as irrelevant. At the same time, the infant should be witnessing adults making judgments about one another based on behavior, demonstrable capabilities, goodwill and character vs. distrustful, conniving, hurtful behaviors.
Therefore, conscious effort to more fully integrate social networks and neighborhoods — but with unflinching determination to uphold high standards of behavior — is the next step. In other words, we next need to put post-racial decisionmaking based on merit into every corner of life, and to be unflinching and unapologetic in our allegiance to merit-based judgments. This calls on every child and adult to put aside stereotyping mental shortcuts (also an instinct that gets in the way), and reach out to the individual to discover their potential and current capabilities.
It means purging all sources of bogus information either telling a child, or implying it, that his/her race/ethnicity is an important signal. It especially means coming down hard on anyone expressing low expectations based on race, whether parent, teacher, social scientist or politician. Race hustlers (activists) should be gently mocked for undermining the very goal they claim to espouse.
Our laws were corrected 60 years ago, but the remaining work comes down to better understanding and overcoming some inborn social instincts that get in the way of a post-racial meritocracy. These are not fodder for group indoctrination sessions, but rather for quiet introspection, and private conversations between parent and child about how to be liked, trusted, rewarded for effort, and loved by others.
This is the work ahead stated positively.”
The demand for racism exceeds its supply.
The left peddles blatant lies as part of its effort to replace a nation of freedom, free markets, and private property, with a Maoist communist system that will kill millions and drive hundreds of millions into grinding poverty, as long as they are the “more equal” authoritarians at the top.
The Left ruins everything it touches. Leftists are mentally deranged monsters.
Entries from the DEI/leftist dictionary:
Anti-racism means racism
Saving democracy means killing democracy
Gender affirming care means sexually mutilating children
Progressive means reversing actual progress
Reproductive health means killing a fetus so you don’t reproduce
A pattern emerges. Live not by lies.
One more: antifascist means fascist.
Bastiat’s “The Law” really nails what is missing here. He talks about law in its pure form, as organized force to protect each person’s life, liberty, and property, not as a tool to engineer social outcomes for one group or another. The moment you steer the law out of that neutral lane to favor this race today or that race tomorrow, you are using it to harm people who have done nothing wrong. That is true whether you are writing admissions rules, drawing districts, or designing courses like this one.
If putting the law back in neutral means a district that was built on race‑based rules gets unwound, then so be it. You fix the rules, not the scoreboard. Like water, representation should find its own path under colorblind rules. You keep the law in that middle lane, no racial tests, no special treatment, and then you let the culture and the voters catch up.
Bastiat’s answer was simple. Keep the law to its proper purpose and stop trying to remake the world with it, because every overcorrection just throws a different set of innocent people into the ditch.
It’s all they got…💩
I am glad that my children did not take on a 4 year college program, 20 years ago. They learned more about reality and dealing with individuals by working in the different fields they chose. They, like me, took classes that would help without an intended degree. All are doing fine professionally. They did not have the indoctrination, they did not have the big words to impress, they did not have deal with people that think they are better than you. They know how to deal with individuals on an even basis and know when one is full of BS and to walk away. I give my Kudos to those that take the alternate path and succeed.
If you want to end the practice of racism, stop building entire courses around racism and start teaching the law. Teach equal rights and the equal application of the law to every person, and it really does not need to get more complicated than that. That is the only “lens” a law school should be using, not an ideological lens that replaces one set of categories and grievances with another.
OLLY,
What you are describing is common sense. Something higher education is lacking as of late.
Everyone needs to be aware that the George Floyd incident in Minneapolis was a fraud! If you look at the various recordings of the incident, you plainly see that Ofc. Chauvin does NOT have his knee on Floyd’s neck! Some officers are even doing that hold on people to prove to them that it could not have harmed Floyd. Autopsy results prove that Floyd had multiple serious health issues & he died of heart failure. The officers had called paramedics for Floyd when they arrested him, but the crowd that had formed caused a delay in the medics getting to him. There’s also solid evidence that “official” autopsy results were faked. The entire thing was staged because local DFlers WANTED that riot for their own political purposes!
Withe hypocrisy as described above, Penn State, the ‘Sanctuary City for Pa*dophiles’ permanently establishes the policy of total disregard of child sexual abuse and pedophilia.
Activities as hideous and vile were committed at Penn State for 20+ years and nothing was ever done…
Penn State has operated the ugliest, most wretched scheme ever devised- football gods (now we now as devils) operating a 501(c)(3) for the sole purpose of grooming innocent boys for brutal raping by wealthy donors and high ranking university officials.
So when caught, what did Penn State do? Hire Louis Freeh, pay pocket change as a fine, and continue their hideous activities!
Penn State paid their pervert president Rambo Spanier $3 million in exchange for his silence as to the names of the wealthy donors who paid for their hideous and sickening activities through Pe*dophile State. Ped State continues to traffick in sex crimes, yet no one cares and no federal investigation occurs.
Nothing happened in ‘Hapless Valley’ without the knowledge and approval of JoePed. JoePed’s home phone number was listed in the White Pages and through Directory Assistance. Why? When the Deputy Sheriff in Backwater County, Ohio discovered Penn State’s first string running back on top of a fourteen year old in the back seat of a Chevy Impala, calling Joe and forgetting the incident resulted in a pair of good seats to the Notre Dame or Ohio State game, or a Penn State scholarship to the Deputy’s child.
Penn State’s ‘sanction’ was nothing more than a whitewash. Pedophile State paid Graham Spanier $3 million for his silence regarding the wealthy donors who received young boys groomed by Sandusky, Paterno, AD Curley, President Spanier, and Senior VP Schulze. Federal prosecutors should have investigated the pit of perverts, not Louis Freeh. Pedophile State was let off easy, and the world knows it.
Jerry Sandusky founded the ‘Second Mile’ charity in the late 1980’s for the sole purpose of finding and grooming innocent boys for Penn State high ranking administrators and wealthy donors. Pedophile State’s Board of Trustees knew, approved, and funded the hideous activities.
JoePa is forever JoePed.
JoePerv should be posthumously registered as a sex offender.
But…but…but…do they discuss in that course the sustaining “contributions” of SPLC to ultra-right groups?
Noone
1. Create DEI dean.
2. Wash hands of all DEI policy, give dean carte blanche to do and say whatever he/she wants.
This seems to be what happens whenever a position is created like DEI VP in a corporation or DEI dean or school superintendent. It gives the president or CEO cover and empowers someone whose entire purpose is not the health of the school or company but the imposition of a controlling and destructive ethic.
‘antiracist critical pedagogy.”
The thoroughly collectivist Left would have us believe that to sanitize and peddle bank robbery, just dub it “anti-bank robbery.”
Nice, I’m going to have to remember that one Sam! ☺️
Yes 😉
Another example of a “captive” audience and they have to pay for it too.
“The first condemned violence against people of color.”
Shouldn’t they condemn violence against anyone and everyone?
Who is enslaved today in America?
So what “systems that racialize, subordinate, and oppress.” are they dismantling?
But…but…but… what of those illegal migrants arriving to such a systemically oppressive and racist country? Do they know what awaits them? ***sarcasm off***
Noone
The current definition of racism in academia and virtually all institutions is very narrow in which groups are seen as oppressed and which are deemed oppressors. It also takes into account political orientation in practice. For certain groups, discrimination is permitted and encouraged. What they refer to pedagogy is not a search for truth, but really ideological indoctrination in disguise.
The current definition of racism in the DOJ is that the only people being discriminated against are white people and the Civil Rights Division is solely focused on fighting reverse racism. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court and State Legislatures are eliminating Black Democrats from Congress in hopes they can match the House Republicans that will have zero Black members after the midterms.
DEI was never anything more than an attempt to level the playing field which is why racists want it eliminated.
Why does the SPLC support white supremacists?
Racism and representation:
voting members in the House 435
number of black voting members 61
% of voting house back members 14%
You mean like Steve Cohen, a WHITE Democrat, losing his seat in TN to a BLACK Republican? That is exactly what is happening with the new map in TN.
You mean like voting for Spanberger, a WHITE woman, over Winsome Sears, a BLACK Republican? That is what your side did.
You mean like picking Joe Biden over Kamala Harris in the year of our Lord George Floyd, 2020? That is what your team did.
Watch as your side votes against Rep Donalds, a BLACK man, running for governor in FL in order to vote for a WHITE candidate.
Enigma, you and your dems are hypocrites.
I’ve watched you and others repeat the lie that Steve Cohen is being replaced by a Black Republican. While it’s true that Cohen’s seat was eliminated via redistricting. There are no Black Republicans running for Congress anywhere in the state. He will not be replaced by a Black Republican. Now that you know this, I don’t expect a correction, but your silence would be appreciated.
DEI was never anything more than an attempt to level the playing field which is why racists want it eliminated.
=====
Oh brother….. 🙀
If you actually believe the garbage you just spewed out, you are Koo Koo for Coco Puffs 😿😿😿
An anti-racism course is needed because America is full of racists i.e., MAGA.
lol
I am choosing to read this as sarcasm. Otherwise it may be the dumbest thing on the internet today.
I will therefore choose to read as sarcasm and view it as clever.
The SPLC financially supports racism.
As soon as we quit talking about slavery the sooner blacks will normalize. They don’t need that ball and chain anymore.
“As soon as we quit talking about slavery the sooner blacks will normalize. They don’t need that ball and chain anymore.”
I’m going to use this in a story I’m working on. The working title is:
“When Did Enslavement End? 1865?-See Black Codes, 1877?-See Jim Crow, 1965? See Supreme Court, Mass-Incarceration-See Never”
“When Did Enslavement End? 1865?-See Black Codes and Democrats, 1877?-See Jim Crow and Democrats”
Why is there “mass incarceration” of Black men? Oh I don’t know, let’s take a look at the FBI statistics for an answer.
You should read my article, here’s a preview:
THE PRACTICES IN FLORIDA THAT DRIVE MASS INCARCERATION OF BLACK PEOPLE
1. Over‑policing of Black neighborhoods
Florida law enforcement agencies — especially sheriff’s offices — use:
High‑intensity patrols in historically Black neighborhoods
Pretextual traffic stops (broken taillight, “failure to maintain lane,” window tint)
Stop‑and‑frisk–style encounters without formal policy
Aggressive drug enforcement in areas with lower drug use but higher visibility
This produces disproportionate arrest funnels, even when crime rates are equal or lower.
2. Florida’s “broad discretion” charging system
State attorneys in Florida have enormous charging power:
Overcharging to force plea deals
Stacking charges (especially drug, resisting, and obstruction charges)
Using “resisting without violence” as a catch‑all charge
Enhancing misdemeanors to felonies based on prior convictions
Black defendants are more likely to be charged with felonies for the same conduct.
3. Mandatory minimums & harsh sentencing laws
Florida’s sentencing structure includes:
10‑20‑Life (still used in modified form)
Habitual felony offender enhancements
Drug trafficking minimums triggered by weight, not intent
No parole (abolished in 1983)
Black Floridians receive longer sentences for the same crimes, especially drug and property offenses.
4. Cash bail and pretrial detention
Florida’s bail system:
Sets high cash bonds even for low‑level offenses
Allows judges wide discretion
Keeps people jailed for inability to pay, not risk
Black defendants are more likely to be detained pretrial, which increases guilty pleas and harsher outcomes.
5. Policing of poverty
Florida criminalizes everyday survival:
Driving with suspended license (often due to unpaid fees)
Failure to pay court fines
Loitering & prowling
Trespass laws used against unhoused people
Open container & disorderly conduct
These laws disproportionately target Black Floridians and create endless arrest cycles.
6. School‑to‑prison pipeline
Florida has:
One of the highest school arrest rates in the country
School resource officers who arrest children for classroom behavior
Zero‑tolerance policies that disproportionately affect Black students
Black children in Florida are 3–4x more likely to be arrested at school.
7. Probation traps
Florida probation is notoriously punitive:
Technical violations (missed appointment, curfew, fees) lead to jail
High supervision fees
No grace period for unemployment or housing instability
Black probationers are violated at higher rates, feeding reincarceration.
8. Use of incarcerated labor
Florida still uses:
Inmate road crews
Agricultural labor
Forestry and disaster cleanup
County jail work squads
These systems:
Provide free or nearly free labor
Incentivize high incarceration rates
Disproportionately exploit Black prisoners
This is the direct descendant of convict leasing, which Florida used aggressively until the 1920s.
9. Felony disenfranchisement & permanent punishment
Even after release:
Fines and fees block restoration of voting rights
Background checks limit housing and employment
Driver’s license suspensions trap people in cycles of arrest
Black Floridians are disproportionately disenfranchised, which reduces political pressure to reform the system.
10. Stand Your Ground & racialized self‑defense
Florida’s SYG law:
Is applied unequally
More likely to justify white shooters
More likely to convict Black defendants claiming self‑defense
This contributes to racialized criminalization and harsher outcomes for Black defendants.
THE THROUGH‑LINE
Florida’s system is not accidental. It is the modern continuation of:
Slave patrol logic
Black Codes
Convict leasing
Jim Crow policing
Chain gangs
“Tough on crime” politics
Mass incarceration economics
Each layer reinforces the next.
Its okay enigmain…..you can rest now.
ok
I’m going to use this in a story I’m working on…
===
Awesome, I love to read good FICTION. And trust me, it’s all you have.
Be done shortly, the official title is: The Last Time I Saw a Slave Was Yesterday
Here you are. Please point out the fiction.
https://williamspivey.substack.com/p/the-last-time-i-saw-a-slave-was-yesterday
Anti-racism is racist.
Orwell would agree. This school’s doublespeak sounds like something out of 1984.