Original sin is a religious concept and therefore incompatible with modern teaching on race. In the end, kids are smarter than we give them credit for and they're perfectly capable of looking at their neighborhoods and seeing how segregated they are, and make some guesses on their own as to why that might be. What conclusions do they rea…
Original sin is a religious concept and therefore incompatible with modern teaching on race. In the end, kids are smarter than we give them credit for and they're perfectly capable of looking at their neighborhoods and seeing how segregated they are, and make some guesses on their own as to why that might be. What conclusions do they reach on their own? Should we address these conclusions in school or pretend there's nothing to see? I think we do our children a grave disservice if we keep pretending that everybody has an equal chance to make a living. They can see the difference between good schools and bad schools, good jobs and crappy jobs, neighborhoods where police are friendly and neighborhoods where they have their guns drawn. They are the ones asking for change. The question is how we adults will respond.
And who says that is what they are taught in school? The fact that Critical Race Theory isn’t being taught in school should cause enough concern to find out what is actually being said in schools. You are being lied to by the ones who created CRT as an existential threat to white kids. Why do you believe it?
Reading a letter to my local paper regarding this, I took your tack in the comments, believing that simply teaching history in a clear eyed manner was being cast as teaching CRT. She replied in the comments. Her concern began when she attended a parents Equity, Inclusiveness session via Zoom, and was stunned at what she was hearing. She looked farther into it. The district hired consultants to teach teachers "Teaching History Through the Lens of CRT." I hate to be proven wrong, but in the is case I was. It i not true that no elementary schools are teaching CRT. That is not to say how many more are, if any.
Two thoughts - We need to know more, especially because there is a well-funded and coordinated campaign across the country to vilify any teaching about race in America. Is the letter writer known to you? Could she be making this up? Who organized this parents Equity, inclusiveness via Zoom? What district? Did you verify with the district? Who were the consultants and what were their qualifications? How many? Who chose that consultant? Is this part of the stated curriculum?
Secondly - There is a difference between teaching through the lens of a theory and teaching the theory. Not just a quibble especially in younger grades. What was taught? Was it used in actual classrooms?
A letter writer in a newspaper speaking vaguely about a parents Zoom meeting needs verification in these fraught times. I’m sure you have heard about Moms for Liberty, the Koch-funded group that has been targeting school board meetings and using dark money to campaign for election to the school boards - many successfully. They have made school boards political.
I looked into the letter writer. Not a crackpot; also not a hysterical letter. The district was Oak Grove, Santa Ross California. The consultancy, which apparently has other clients in in the county, is On the Margins, When all of this happened, I went to their website and found a resources pull-down menu, which, when I searched for "CRT," contained seven references to CRT and some pretty objectional (to me) language: White people have been "hoarding" the good jobs" was one example. When I went back today to get you a link, however, I couldn't find that particular page. It's possible that it was cleaned up a bit due to negative publicity. Looking at the rest of their web page, there is a lot that is just fine, and some available presentations that definitely would not be good for kids--though I don't know If they are presented to kids. As to what teachers actually taught, "through a CRT lens," I don't know.
Thank you for checking it out. I agree that “hoarding” jobs sounds negative but when you think about what happens in the real world, there is job discrimination that prefers white people, particularly in the higher-paying jobs, the same as some men discriminate against women in hiring. It’s why there are noticeably fewer Black people and women on boards and in the C Suite.
I’m a second wave feminist and I know that women of colour were not proportionally represented in the feminist movement until women of colour educated us. The same has to happen with people of colour and white people. There is an historical imbalance that must be changed. I believe our children need to know this. We do have to stop hoarding jobs. It won’t happen on its own. I don’t think anyone wants to teach white children to feel guilty about their race. I do think white children need to be educated about the historical imbalance of opportunity and resources between the races. There will be bumps on the road but we must work to improve what is happening now. We also need to resist concerted attempts to stop teaching this understanding.
Part of the history that needs to be taught is The Emancipation Proclamation , the desegregation of the US military, the Civll Right Act of 1964, Affirmative Action, all of which are progress for POC. At this point, all of the inequities to which you refer are illegal, and the laws provide for enforcement--EEOC--in recognition that there's work to be done. I still don't see what advantage there is in abandoning the language of anti-discrimination for that of White privilege. Do proponents believe that White people are not also taken advantage of by the power structure?
Original sin is a religious concept and therefore incompatible with modern teaching on race. In the end, kids are smarter than we give them credit for and they're perfectly capable of looking at their neighborhoods and seeing how segregated they are, and make some guesses on their own as to why that might be. What conclusions do they reach on their own? Should we address these conclusions in school or pretend there's nothing to see? I think we do our children a grave disservice if we keep pretending that everybody has an equal chance to make a living. They can see the difference between good schools and bad schools, good jobs and crappy jobs, neighborhoods where police are friendly and neighborhoods where they have their guns drawn. They are the ones asking for change. The question is how we adults will respond.
I don't oppose teaching history as it was. I oppose first graders being told there is a kind of evil lurking in them because of their color.
And who says that is what they are taught in school? The fact that Critical Race Theory isn’t being taught in school should cause enough concern to find out what is actually being said in schools. You are being lied to by the ones who created CRT as an existential threat to white kids. Why do you believe it?
Reading a letter to my local paper regarding this, I took your tack in the comments, believing that simply teaching history in a clear eyed manner was being cast as teaching CRT. She replied in the comments. Her concern began when she attended a parents Equity, Inclusiveness session via Zoom, and was stunned at what she was hearing. She looked farther into it. The district hired consultants to teach teachers "Teaching History Through the Lens of CRT." I hate to be proven wrong, but in the is case I was. It i not true that no elementary schools are teaching CRT. That is not to say how many more are, if any.
Two thoughts - We need to know more, especially because there is a well-funded and coordinated campaign across the country to vilify any teaching about race in America. Is the letter writer known to you? Could she be making this up? Who organized this parents Equity, inclusiveness via Zoom? What district? Did you verify with the district? Who were the consultants and what were their qualifications? How many? Who chose that consultant? Is this part of the stated curriculum?
Secondly - There is a difference between teaching through the lens of a theory and teaching the theory. Not just a quibble especially in younger grades. What was taught? Was it used in actual classrooms?
A letter writer in a newspaper speaking vaguely about a parents Zoom meeting needs verification in these fraught times. I’m sure you have heard about Moms for Liberty, the Koch-funded group that has been targeting school board meetings and using dark money to campaign for election to the school boards - many successfully. They have made school boards political.
I looked into the letter writer. Not a crackpot; also not a hysterical letter. The district was Oak Grove, Santa Ross California. The consultancy, which apparently has other clients in in the county, is On the Margins, When all of this happened, I went to their website and found a resources pull-down menu, which, when I searched for "CRT," contained seven references to CRT and some pretty objectional (to me) language: White people have been "hoarding" the good jobs" was one example. When I went back today to get you a link, however, I couldn't find that particular page. It's possible that it was cleaned up a bit due to negative publicity. Looking at the rest of their web page, there is a lot that is just fine, and some available presentations that definitely would not be good for kids--though I don't know If they are presented to kids. As to what teachers actually taught, "through a CRT lens," I don't know.
Thank you for checking it out. I agree that “hoarding” jobs sounds negative but when you think about what happens in the real world, there is job discrimination that prefers white people, particularly in the higher-paying jobs, the same as some men discriminate against women in hiring. It’s why there are noticeably fewer Black people and women on boards and in the C Suite.
I’m a second wave feminist and I know that women of colour were not proportionally represented in the feminist movement until women of colour educated us. The same has to happen with people of colour and white people. There is an historical imbalance that must be changed. I believe our children need to know this. We do have to stop hoarding jobs. It won’t happen on its own. I don’t think anyone wants to teach white children to feel guilty about their race. I do think white children need to be educated about the historical imbalance of opportunity and resources between the races. There will be bumps on the road but we must work to improve what is happening now. We also need to resist concerted attempts to stop teaching this understanding.
Part of the history that needs to be taught is The Emancipation Proclamation , the desegregation of the US military, the Civll Right Act of 1964, Affirmative Action, all of which are progress for POC. At this point, all of the inequities to which you refer are illegal, and the laws provide for enforcement--EEOC--in recognition that there's work to be done. I still don't see what advantage there is in abandoning the language of anti-discrimination for that of White privilege. Do proponents believe that White people are not also taken advantage of by the power structure?