Gayle Turner

@gmturnerphd

Philosopher of ed. Studies social and economic determinants of educational outcomes. Professor emeritus, Appalachian State University. Now: back to the PNW where I came from. Stories in books change lives.

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Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Apr 30

And Justice Alito completes that rejection of a multi-racial democracy that embraces all of us.

I argued last year at The Bulwark that the American South never truly took to liberal democracy, resisting the goals of both Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Era. Across the region, a culture of censorship, anti-LGBTQ policies, and draconian law enforcement and prison practices choke the dignity and pluralism that make free, diverse societies truly flourish. Under Trump and the

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Jan 25

I just read the article by @dieworkwear.bsky.social. He concludes with this statement:

"When a domestic agency dresses for war, it risks acting as if it is at war, even with the public. Clothing alone does not determine conduct, but it can help shape a worldview in which violent confrontation is more likely."

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Aug 4

Let Plumpy'Nuts into Gaza and save starving people. Even tiny children can come back from the edge. @wired.com has a great story about RUTF - ready to use therapeutic food. This is food just sitting near Israel's border, not allowed in. tinyurl.com/mr2tukr4

This excerpt from the online Wired article explains why this sort of food must be let into Gaza. The image text reads, "Berbain says plenty of RUTF sachets lie at Israel’s borders. More than 6,000 aid trucks, waiting in Egypt and Jordan, some only miles away from the Gazan border, are loaded with emergency food and medicine. But according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), Israel has denied entry. Authorities have since announced that a daily convoy of 200 aid trucks can enter the strip. “We know how to treat starvation, it’s nothing new, and used in nearly every humanitarian crisis this century,” adds Berbain. “Distributing pasta isn’t enough—you need to cook it, which isn’t feasible for many people. And a diet of just wheat can lead to malnourishment.”

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Jul 8

What could possibly go wrong when child neglect and trauma becomes the basis for profit under capitalism? England leads the way.

The image from a page of text in the Guardian says, "New analysis has shown that the largest four independent fostering agencies are all private equity-backed and now provide almost a quarter (23%) of all fostering places in England, managing 16,365 places."

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Jun 23

A great piece from @jackjenkins.me on OMB director Vought who he quotes regarding Vought's belief that the U.S. is, and should be, a Christian nation - his kind of Christianity too, it seems.

Gif shows text of quotation from Vought that reads, "“We are a Christian nation,” Vought said in a 2022 address to Intercessors for America, a conservative Christian group. “We talk about under God, we are a Christian nation, we were meant to be a Christian nation. We have lost that. That means that, yes, we love religious liberty, but to the extent that we don’t even have Christians that talk about how we’re a Christian nation, something’s wrong there.”

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Jun 21

White Nationalist law student receives FL course's highest honor for arguing that only whites in the US should have freedom and rights. Award represents "viewpoint neutrality." Yet, a course at same school linking race and entrepreneurship can't exist under that title. Gift link shorturl.at/aiwyY

Gif of the NYTimes article paragraphs reads: "Ms. Chatman was struck, in part, by her own experiences at the school in contrast to Mr. Damsky’s award. She had proposed teaching a class during her time there called “Race, Entrepreneurship and Inequality.” But administrators at the law school changed the name to “Entrepreneurship,” she said, before listing it in the course catalog.

She attributed the change to Florida lawmakers’ crackdown on diversity-oriented language and themes in public education, a push that preceded the Trump administration’s broader war on progressive ideology.

“I just find it fascinating that this student can write an article, a series of articles that are essentially manifestoes, and that’s free speech,” Ms. Chatman said, referring to Mr. Damsky, “but my class can’t be called ‘Race, Entrepreneurship and Inequality.’”

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Jun 19

I read @hcrichardson.bsky.social letters most days. But today's hit especially hard. Let's remember on Juneteenth that laws that protect the equal rights of minorities - trans folk, all races, gender, abilities, economic and immigration status - laws protecting minorities do not harm the majority.

Screen grab of Heather Cox Richardson's Juneteenth Letter From an America. Text reads: But throughout our history, those determined to preserve a government that discriminates between Americans according to race, gender, religion, ability, and so on, have embraced the idea that true democracy means reducing the power of the federal government and centering the power of the state governments, where voters—registered according to state laws—can choose the policies they prefer…even if they are discriminatory. They have also insisted, as former Confederates did in the late 1860s, that any laws protecting the equal rights of minorities discriminate against the white majority.

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Jun 15

Don't you think if there were around 2000 protesters marching in little ole West Jefferson, NC, heart of U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx's territory, there just might be millions of Americans gathered for #NoKings, @washingtonpost.com? @indivisible.org Yet you right "thousands" across America. Bad math.

Rally speaker with leg tattoo speaking on stage at High Country Indivisible No Kings rally. Seniors in chairs seating in front.

From behind, man with sign "since 1776 no crowns no thrones", another sign "Make America Green Again," and "Preserve Our National Parks and Lands." Ashe County Cheese business sign. Lighter crowd at end of the march.

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Jun 14

Saw this great @theonion.com T-shirt and smart sign at the #NoKings march and rally in West Jefferson, NC, heart of U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx's gerrymandered territory. A turn out of about 2k people in a western NC county, Ashe, home to about 27k people. Lots of hope here for a better future.

At a No Kings march a man whose face has been blurred to protect his identity wears an Onion T-shirt in far western NC. T-shirt reads "Supreme Court Overturns 'Right v. Wrong.'" His sign reads, "Pro Constitution: I can't believe I need a sign for this."

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· May 30

As Congress gets ready to pass the GENIUS act, read @pkrugman.bsky.social on how dangerous this is. It could be a set up for a run on US government dept.

That is, why not just use dollars instead of tokens that are supposedly backed by dollars?

The answer to that question is that the ownership and disposition of stablecoins, unlike the ownership and distribution of bank deposits, is anonymous. This is a highly valuable feature for those who want to engage in money laundering, extortion, purchase of illegal drugs, and so on. In other words, the only economic reason for stablecoins is to facilitate criminal activity.

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Mar 29

Still down.

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Mar 19

Well worth reading. By a scholar of Jewish Studies confronting the difficulties of teaching his subject in these times.

“ Not only does this separate Jews from other groups with which we might stand in solidarity, but it makes it impossible to educate students about the actual forms that antisemitism today takes. Imagine, for example, trying to teach about the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the deadliest anti-Jewish violence in American history, but being banned from teaching about the shooter’s well-documented hatred of immigrants, which he linked to his hatred of Jews, whom he blamed for bringing immigrants into the United States. The mere thought of teaching about antisemitism this way is absurd, and yet this is precisely what the Trump administration’s policy of allowing us to teach our students about antisemitism but banning education about xenophobia and anti-immigrant hatred would accomplish. By making Jews his personal pet minority—his court Jews, so to speak—Trump is making it impossible for us to link antisemitism to other forms of bigotry, and thereby to understand it in its real historical context.”

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Mar 17

I was particularly struck by the importance of this paragraph.

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Mar 14

In her March 14, 2025 letter, @hcrichardson.bsky.social wrote what's in the image below. Q: What percentage of the country gets one third of the country's income now? The top 1% holds more than one third of the *wealth*, according to the World Economic Forum as of April of 2022. How about income?

But the stock market crisis of 1929 came from structural imbalances in the nation that created a weak economy in which about 5% of the country received about one third of the nation’s income. What really jumps out today is that, in contrast to 1929, the national economy is strong—or was just a month ago. In fact, before Trump took office, it was the strongest of any economically developed country in the world.

Gayle Turner@gmturnerphd· Feb 17

Another great newsletter from Heather Cox Richardson. I think I know my US history. But not like she does! And in these times I need the knowledge and perspective she brings. open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...