Natural State News

Online retailer Amazon's donation of "anti-racist" books to a Virginia school system caught the attention of right-leaning publications last month — and shade from an Arkansas U.S. senator — but only the sound of crickets came from more mainstream and lefty publications.

Amazon, headquartered in Seattle, donated 500-600 copies of Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi's book, "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You," to Arlington Public Schools after the school system's diversity and inclusion director asked for them, according to The Washington Free Beacon. Amazon donated the books to Wakefield High School and also paid $10,000 to have Reynolds address students at the high school.

The school system announced the donation, which totaled $15,000 for the books and Reynold's address, in February, but it otherwise received little attention at the time.

The Washington Free Beacon broke the story on June 22 after obtaining internal Amazon emails about the donation from Asra Nomani, vice president of the watchdog group Parents Defending Education, after she obtained them through a public records request.

Nomani told The Washington Free Beacon that Amazon's prioritization of antiracism efforts during the still-ongoing pandemic was shortsighted, the initial story said.

"Instead of donating Kindles and hot spots to students in Arlington Public Schools, Amazon chose to spread the controversial ideology of critical race theory," Nomani said in The Washington Free Beacon's story. "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."  

The story was picked up the following day by the Federalist, the National Review and The Epoch Times while Fox Business ran its own version on June 24. Smaller right-leaning publications, including Bacon's Rebellion, chimed in on the 25th and after, with Bacon's Rebellion referring to Kendi's book as a "racist, error-filled book by a critical race theorist."

An online search engine turned up no coverage of the story outside of right-leaning publications, weeks after the initial story.

Earlier in June, CNN reported that Kendi "is quickly becoming a household name," noted that his 2019 book, "How to be an Antiracist," is among Amazon's best sellers and reported he was joining Boston University's Center for Antiracist Research, but didn't mention of the reported donation.

After the story broke, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton took to social media to say the Amazon could have found more helpful ways to donate to the Virginia school system than to distribute Kendi's book to high school students.

"Amazon could have donated any sort of helpful education materials," Cotton said in June 22 Facebook post that linked to The Washington Free Beacon's coverage. "Instead, they're promoting racial discrimination — to children."

Amazon reported a net income of $21.33 billion in 2020, almost double the retailer's net income in the previous, largely not-COVID-beleaguered year, according to Statista.

In late September, Amazon reported it surpassed $215 Million in charitable donations to charities and other organizations through its AmazonSmile program.