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The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is being urged to skip an academic retreat as watchdog organization North American Values Institute (NAVI) raises “serious concerns” about one of the event’s workshop leaders.
The University at Buffalo’s Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education, directed by Dr. LaGarrett King, is hosting the Social Studies Curriculum Coordinators Retreat next month, where Ismael Jimenez will co-facilitate a workshop. Jimenez, who serves as the Director of Social Studies Curriculum for the School District of Philadelphia, has drawn criticism over his controversial curriculum initiatives, ties to activist groups and anti-Israel comments.
Retreat materials posted on the University at Buffalo’s website state that one of the event’s featured sessions is a “Reconstruction & Freedmen’s Bureau workshop (with NMAAHC).”
“At a time of rising antisemitism, the Smithsonian should not lend its name, staff, or institutional credibility to a K–12 curriculum retreat that is co-facilitated by an educator with this record. By participating, the Smithsonian risks legitimizing the use of Black history education as a vehicle for political, antisemitic, and anti-Israel activism,” NAVI’s letter read.
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The North American Values Institute is urging the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture to back out of an education retreat over a controversial workshop leader. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
In response to Digital’s request for comment, Jimenez said he viewed the retreat as an opportunity to engage with fellow educators.
“I have always believed that education requires a certain degree of humility. None of us arrives at a complete understanding of the world, and part of the work of being an educator is remaining open to learning, reflection, and growth,” Jimenez told Digital.
“That is why I agreed to facilitate at the Social Studies Curriculum Coordinators Retreat. I welcome opportunities to be in conversation with educators who are thinking deeply about their work and the responsibilities we have to the young people we serve,” he added.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture is being urged to back out of an education conference featuring a controversial workshop leader. (Al Drago/Getty Images)
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Jimenez did not specifically address NAVI’s criticism of his comments on Israel or concerns about his record.
In its letter to NMAAHC, NAVI noted that Jimenez’s curriculum drew scrutiny for its political bias. The organization has previously sounded the alarm over the controversial curriculum and produced a document covering it. In the document, NAVI said that in “every unit—on voting, economics, and financial literacy, it “steers students toward activism rather than critical inquiry.” The group described the curriculum as a “one-sided, ideologically driven view of American society.” NAVI said that the curriculum failed to present alternative perspectives.
Among the examples cited by NAVI were lessons asking students how they will use “antiracism & intersectionality as lenses” throughout the course. The curriculum also includes economic exercises focused on wealth inequality and reparations, as well as a year-end project in which students were directed to connect with community issues and develop civic action plans.
However, NAVI’s concerns about Jimenez go beyond the curriculum he built. The organization also pointed to Jimenez’s public comments about Israel, including an instance in which he referred to the country as a “terrorist state.”
The Canary Mission, a watchdog organization that creates profiles of individuals who it deems to be antisemitic or anti-Israel, has tracked and compiled Jimenez’s rhetoric about Israel. The website has a screenshot of a Facebook post it claims that Jimenez uploaded, which says “Israel is a terrorist state # yeahisaidit.” The Canary Mission’s profile of Jimenez also includes a 2014 Facebook post that he allegedly wrote in which he refers to Israel as “the racist apartheid theocracy terrorist sponsoring state called Israel.”
The organization also has posts allegedly made by Jimenez that include praise for convicted cop killer Assata Shakur and the claim that “all American presidents always used immunity for perpetuating systemic racism.”
The North American Values Institute is one of several organizations who have expressed concerns about Ismael Jimenez’s rhetoric about Israel. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Last year, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia published an open letter to Jimenez and the School District of Philadelphia, expressing its concerns about a video in which the educator “appears to rationalize the Hamas-led massacre of Israeli civilians on Oct. 7.”
“Mr. Jimenez, do you believe the 350+ young people – many of them peace activists – murdered at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7 deserved their fate? Do you justify the kidnapping of civilians, including elderly Holocaust Survivors and foreign nationals, who were taken simply for being present?,” the federation wrote.
“This is not about silencing dissent. It is about drawing a moral line,” the letter, which was co-sponsored by other Jewish groups, read.
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NAVI also noted in its letter that Jimenez co-founded the Racial Justice Organizing Committee (RJOC), an educator organization within the School District of Philadelphia. The watchdog group cited the organization’s involvement in anti-Israel activism as another reason it believes the Smithsonian should not participate in the retreat.
When outlining its concerns about Jimenez, NAVI also pointed to his role on the board of the W.E.B. Du Bois Movement School for Abolition and Reconstruction. The movement describes itself as “a political education program for aspiring revolutionaries and movement leaders from those communities most impacted by poverty, policing, and mass incarceration.”
NAVI has argued that Jimenez’s record raises questions about whether he should help train educators responsible for shaping curriculum.
“These concerns go directly to the question of whether Mr. Jimenez should be training educators to shape K-12 curriculum,” the organization wrote.
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In its letter, NAVI called on the Smithsonian to withdraw its workshop and any institutional support for the retreat, clarify that it does not back “politicized approaches” to K-12 education and review internal procedures for participation in third-party educator trainings. The organization also urged the Smithsonian to “ensure that federal resources are not used to legitimize activists or organizations associated with antisemitism, ideological extremism, or those who rationalize terrorism.”
“The Smithsonian’s educational mission depends on public trust. That trust is undermined when a federal cultural institution lends its credibility to a K–12 curriculum event shaped by an activist with a record of anti-Israel extremism and antisemitism,” the letter read.
Digital reached out to the NMAAHC and Dr. King for comment.
