Amazon reportedly bought hundreds of copies of Ibram X. Kendi’s so-called “antiracist” books, which will be distributed to high school students in Arlington, Virginia. The Masters of the Universe also paid Kendi’s coauthor $10,000 to speak to students.
Amazon spent $5,000 on copies of Kendi’s book, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, which will be distributed to Virginia public school students as part of a program to promote black authors, according to emails between Amazon and school district officials, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
The emails show that Amazon employees had reached out to Arlington Public Schools as part of “NeighborGood,” a program to donate $100,000 to schools and other institutions that “empower black voices and serve black communities.”
While the tech giant initially offered to buy Kindles or other equipment, Arlington Public Schools Director of Diversity and Inclusion Arron Gregory responded by requesting copies of Kendi’s book, reports the Washington Free Beacon.
Amazon reportedly donated between 500 and 600 copies of the book to Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, and paid another $10,000 to have Kendi’s co-author, Jason Reynolds, address students.
“Instead of donating Kindles and hot spots to students in Arlington Public Schools, Amazon chose to spread the controversial ideology of critical race theory,” said Asra Nomani, vice president of Parents Defending Education — the group that obtained the emails through a public records request — in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon.
“The shortsighted decisions during a pandemic, with so many students vulnerable, reflect the national crisis of school districts circumventing parents to indoctrinate students — in this case, with the help of corporate America,” Nomani added.
Amazon buying Kendi’s book for Virginia students comes after the tech giant fell under scrutiny for bizarrely removing a critically acclaimed and popular documentary on the only black Supreme Court justice, Clarence Thomas, during Black History Month.
Amazon public relations manager Justin Grayson oversaw the donation of Kendi’s book, which came with a study guide, to Wakefield High School, reports the Washington Free Beacon.
The guide reportedly explains how Stamped “debunks the myths of several master narrative themes,” including the notion that “America is a meritocracy” and that “truth and justice (or law and order) should be valued.”
Kendi’s woke and so-called “antiracist” books have also infiltrated the U.S. military.
Last week, the Navy’s top military officer Adm. Michael Gilday defended putting Kendi’s book How to Be an Anti-Racist on the Navy’s list of recommended reads for sailors, telling lawmakers that sailors need to understand themselves.
On Tuesday, Gilday would not say whether he believes capitalism is racist after Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) asked him during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing if he agreed with the book’s primary assumptions, including that capitalism is racist.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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