Letter to Brearly Parents Decrying CRT Indoctrination

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These articles sum up the problem with how CRT teaching is being implemented in a political way in schools:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/black-lives-matter-curriculum-has-unintended-lesson/618501/


https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/should-black-lives-matter-agenda-be-taught-school/618277/

The end of the second article says it best:

And educators should not be neutral as to the question “Should my students be taught what to think, or how to think?” Schools should do the latter. They should promote truth seeking and diversity of thought. They should recognize the imperative in a pluralistic democracy of understanding others’ beliefs and the importance of subjecting one’s own beliefs to scrutiny, given society’s complexity and the fallibility of well-intentioned judgments. And they should understand the folly of treating profound disagreements as if they foreclosed the possibility of cooperation.

Those goals could conceivably be advanced with an improved BLM at School Week of Action curriculum in future years, but they would be easier to achieve if District 65 broadened its focus and dedicated a week to all the contrasting civil-rights approaches taken by other people who believe that Black lives matter.

Students could learn, as they do now, about the activism practiced by Martin Luther King Jr., by the Black Power movement, and by adherents of critical-race-theory traditions. But lessons could also discuss the present-day approaches of Black churches; Barack Obama’s criticism of “wokeness” and his embrace of democratic persuasion; the Black conservatism of Thomas Sowell and Shelby Steele; the aspirational color blindness advocated by Ward Connerly; Barbara and Karen Fields’s critique of “racecraft”; the entrepreneurial successs of Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, and Jay-Z; and many more besides.

In fact, while curricula and teachers will always warrant scrutiny, perhaps the quality of Evanston students’ education during the district’s three Black Lives Matter at School action weeks is best measured by parents asking whether their kids can now accurately explain not only the values and beliefs of Black Lives Matter but also the strongest criticisms of the movement’s approach. Can children describe how it compares with other forms of civil-rights activism, why many anti-racists embrace it, and why other anti-racists partly or wholly reject it? In persuading Evanston educators to adopt a BLM at School curriculum, Black Lives Matter activists did their job. Did the District 65 public schools do theirs?

That’s excellent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all know it was Kamala Harris who cracked down on young black men who had low-level pot possession?

Countless black children were left fatherless.
Yet you put her and racist Joe in the WH.
(Kamala called Joe a racist.)

This is irrelevant. Poke holes at random stuff because you can't address the main issue. Weak sauce.

But what about Hillary Clinton! Hunter Biden! Cardi B!

...they really don’t have much else to offer other than deflection.

[Anonymous]

Yeah it's like the clamoring for evidence that systemic racism exists, and then like 5 different people posted evidence and all of a sudden their attention turns to Kamala Harris. These people aren't grappling with truth or history and aren't going to change their minds. They just want to pretend to listen while they waste your time.

The Atlantic article above is also ridiculous. These people don't really want their kids learning ANY of that stuff, are you kidding? But it's a good distraction over the idea of ONLY learning CRT so let's go! But hey sure, if you want to teach the kids Martin Luther King and Barack Obama and democratic persuasiveness and Jay-Z, I'm not sure you will get what you came for but sure let's go! (PS: Have you been in a class with tweens and teens before? They can see through people like Shelby Steele (remember the title of his 2007 book "A Bound Man: Why We are Excited about Obama and Why He Can't Win"? ha!) and Ward Connerly in a hot minute but eff around and find out).

[Anonymous]

Some can, many cannot. Only if families impart positive values and confidence at home or through positive things (sports, musical instrument, family time, traditions). Plus, what about the 5yos - 12 yos being fed this garbage by teacher? Parents have no idea and kids are also coached to “leave their parents out of it, they don’t understand.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah it's like the clamoring for evidence that systemic racism exists, and then like 5 different people posted evidence and all of a sudden their attention turns to Kamala Harris. These people aren't grappling with truth or history and aren't going to change their minds. They just want to pretend to listen while they waste your time.

The Atlantic article above is also ridiculous. These people don't really want their kids learning ANY of that stuff, are you kidding? But it's a good distraction over the idea of ONLY learning CRT so let's go! But hey sure, if you want to teach the kids Martin Luther King and Barack Obama and democratic persuasiveness and Jay-Z, I'm not sure you will get what you came for but sure let's go! (PS: Have you been in a class with tweens and teens before? They can see through people like Shelby Steele (remember the title of his 2007 book "A Bound Man: Why We are Excited about Obama and Why He Can't Win"? ha!) and Ward Connerly in a hot minute but eff around and find out).

Agree with your first paragraph, disagree with your second. I do want my kids to be taught about white privilege and the centuries-long struggle for equality. That should include the variety of approaches that have been tried (many with some success), and being realistic about where we are now in relation to back then, both the improvements and the shortcomings. But I am very skeptical of CRT, and the race-shaming that comes with it. CRT warps the worldview into an obsession with race that can never be eased, making meaningful progress impossible, and I fear it will absolutely harm black and white children as they try to carry that worldview into adulthood. And it is a major problem that any questioning of CRT theory and the (lack of) data that supports its usefulness will invite immediate punishment by social media mobs, schools and employers (who all fear social media mobs), and untrue accusations of racism. This is not an appropriate basis for injecting CRT into the curriculum of school kids, nor is it the appropriate way to handle inquiries from kids or parents about the theory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh sure, just tell kids that everyone can pick themselves up by their bootstraps, even all black people, because look at Oprah, right? And we should ABSOLUTELY give CRT and Ward Conerly (black racism denier and Trump supporter) equal time. That totally makes sense. I mean, there are good people on both sides, right?

Tell us this man has nothing to offer young intellectuals:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah it's like the clamoring for evidence that systemic racism exists, and then like 5 different people posted evidence and all of a sudden their attention turns to Kamala Harris. These people aren't grappling with truth or history and aren't going to change their minds. They just want to pretend to listen while they waste your time.

The Atlantic article above is also ridiculous. These people don't really want their kids learning ANY of that stuff, are you kidding? But it's a good distraction over the idea of ONLY learning CRT so let's go! But hey sure, if you want to teach the kids Martin Luther King and Barack Obama and democratic persuasiveness and Jay-Z, I'm not sure you will get what you came for but sure let's go! (PS: Have you been in a class with tweens and teens before? They can see through people like Shelby Steele (remember the title of his 2007 book "A Bound Man: Why We are Excited about Obama and Why He Can't Win"? ha!) and Ward Connerly in a hot minute but eff around and find out).

I do want my kids to learn this stuff but I want them to be taught it at the appropriate age so it means something and I want them to be able to learn and discuss the pros and cons of different theories and approaches. My problem is that the way this stuff is taught is creating an entire generation of kids who have been told at a young age that black kids can't get ahead. Don't you think this will contribute to kids believing that blacks can't be successful? It feels like the opposite of what we want to accomplish. I do think systemic racism exists and there are a lot more barriers for black kids to overcome but I don't ever assume a black kid or adult is more or less privileged than me based on their skin color. That ignores the realities of class.

If you read the first Atlantic article, a black mother discusses this exact issue. She explains her dislike of how her children are being taught about white supremacy and white privilege:

Mboyayi: But when we got here in 2018, within the first year, my children were being taught about white supremacy and white privilege and that all white people were rich and racist. My son and daughter came home like, What is this?"

Friedersdorf: What was the problem with those lessons, beyond your children not liking them?

Mboyayi: My children have always been so proud of who they are. Then all of a sudden they started to question themselves because of what they were taught after arriving here. My son has wanted to be a lawyer since he was 11. Then one day he came home and told me, “But Mommy, there are these systems put in place that prevent Black people from accomplishing anything.” That’s what they’re teaching Black kids: that all of this time for the past 400 years, this is what [white people have] done to you and your people. The narrative is, “You can’t get ahead.”

Of course I want my children to know about slavery and Jim Crow. But I want it to be balanced out with the rest of the truth. They’re not taught about Black people who accomplished things in spite of white supremacy; or about the Black people today who got ahead, built things, achieved things; and those who had opportunities that their ancestors fought for.

Friedersdorf: Tell me more about the narrative you want to challenge.

Mboyayi: One day my daughter told me she was taught that all white people are privileged and part of a system of white supremacy. My son said the same thing. So I reached out to my daughter’s teacher to find out what exactly was being taught. It was pretty much like she said: that all white people were part of this system of white supremacy, and that all white people, because of the color of their skin, had privilege. I said, “But that's not true.” And the teacher said, “Well, what do you mean?”

I have traveled a lot. My father was a university professor and taught in both the United States and Paris, France. And when I visited, I saw white people in public housing. I’ve been to Belgium and Switzerland and seen very poor white people. I’ve visited other parts of Europe. I lived in Canada for 10 years. There are poor white people in Canada as well. I’m not saying systemic racism doesn’t exist, but class exists too, and I don’t believe that all white people have privilege. That white person who’s living in the Appalachian Mountains, who has no means or prospect of changing their situation—do they, too, have privilege? Compared to me and my kids?

I’ve spent a lot of time in Central Africa because my dad is from the Congo. And some of the propaganda that’s being spread right now here in Evanston is similar to some of the divisiveness that took place in Rwanda before the massacre. I’m not saying that is what’s going to happen here, but when you start labeling people in a negative manner based on their race or ethnic group, this leads to division and destruction, not finding common ground and positive solutions.

Friedersdorf: Not all white people are racist, but some are. How should schools handle that?

Mboyayi: I am aware that there are parents who are very negative and teach negative things to their children. And if a child does have a thought that is negative, you correct them, but in a positive manner. You don’t have to correct them by browbeating everyone and making them ashamed of who they are and telling them that because of how they look, they’re innately bad.

If I were white—which I don’t want to be because I love the skin I’m in—I’d be angry if I learned my child was being labeled a racist or a white supremacist or the fruit of white supremacy.

[Anonymous]

It's so nice that all of us can come to DCUM to debate this controversial issue in plain language, with no fear.

Because we're all ANONYMOUS.

Now how can we ensure that our kids will learn to develop (and stand up for) their own beliefs?

[Anonymous]

If Mboyayi runs for office, I'll vote for her.

[Anonymous]

Good riddance to this family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These articles sum up the problem with how CRT teaching is being implemented in a political way in schools:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/black-lives-matter-curriculum-has-unintended-lesson/618501/


https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/should-black-lives-matter-agenda-be-taught-school/618277/

The end of the second article says it best:

And educators should not be neutral as to the question “Should my students be taught what to think, or how to think?” Schools should do the latter. They should promote truth seeking and diversity of thought. They should recognize the imperative in a pluralistic democracy of understanding others’ beliefs and the importance of subjecting one’s own beliefs to scrutiny, given society’s complexity and the fallibility of well-intentioned judgments. And they should understand the folly of treating profound disagreements as if they foreclosed the possibility of cooperation.

Those goals could conceivably be advanced with an improved BLM at School Week of Action curriculum in future years, but they would be easier to achieve if District 65 broadened its focus and dedicated a week to all the contrasting civil-rights approaches taken by other people who believe that Black lives matter.

Students could learn, as they do now, about the activism practiced by Martin Luther King Jr., by the Black Power movement, and by adherents of critical-race-theory traditions. But lessons could also discuss the present-day approaches of Black churches; Barack Obama’s criticism of “wokeness” and his embrace of democratic persuasion; the Black conservatism of Thomas Sowell and Shelby Steele; the aspirational color blindness advocated by Ward Connerly; Barbara and Karen Fields’s critique of “racecraft”; the entrepreneurial successs of Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, and Jay-Z; and many more besides.

In fact, while curricula and teachers will always warrant scrutiny, perhaps the quality of Evanston students’ education during the district’s three Black Lives Matter at School action weeks is best measured by parents asking whether their kids can now accurately explain not only the values and beliefs of Black Lives Matter but also the strongest criticisms of the movement’s approach. Can children describe how it compares with other forms of civil-rights activism, why many anti-racists embrace it, and why other anti-racists partly or wholly reject it? In persuading Evanston educators to adopt a BLM at School curriculum, Black Lives Matter activists did their job. Did the District 65 public schools do theirs?

This argument is getting ahead of itself. The fact of the matter is that we have too many people who are debating, still, to this day, whether or not racism is acceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These articles sum up the problem with how CRT teaching is being implemented in a political way in schools:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/black-lives-matter-curriculum-has-unintended-lesson/618501/


https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/should-black-lives-matter-agenda-be-taught-school/618277/

The end of the second article says it best:

And educators should not be neutral as to the question “Should my students be taught what to think, or how to think?” Schools should do the latter. They should promote truth seeking and diversity of thought. They should recognize the imperative in a pluralistic democracy of understanding others’ beliefs and the importance of subjecting one’s own beliefs to scrutiny, given society’s complexity and the fallibility of well-intentioned judgments. And they should understand the folly of treating profound disagreements as if they foreclosed the possibility of cooperation.

Those goals could conceivably be advanced with an improved BLM at School Week of Action curriculum in future years, but they would be easier to achieve if District 65 broadened its focus and dedicated a week to all the contrasting civil-rights approaches taken by other people who believe that Black lives matter.

Students could learn, as they do now, about the activism practiced by Martin Luther King Jr., by the Black Power movement, and by adherents of critical-race-theory traditions. But lessons could also discuss the present-day approaches of Black churches; Barack Obama’s criticism of “wokeness” and his embrace of democratic persuasion; the Black conservatism of Thomas Sowell and Shelby Steele; the aspirational color blindness advocated by Ward Connerly; Barbara and Karen Fields’s critique of “racecraft”; the entrepreneurial successs of Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, and Jay-Z; and many more besides.

In fact, while curricula and teachers will always warrant scrutiny, perhaps the quality of Evanston students’ education during the district’s three Black Lives Matter at School action weeks is best measured by parents asking whether their kids can now accurately explain not only the values and beliefs of Black Lives Matter but also the strongest criticisms of the movement’s approach. Can children describe how it compares with other forms of civil-rights activism, why many anti-racists embrace it, and why other anti-racists partly or wholly reject it? In persuading Evanston educators to adopt a BLM at School curriculum, Black Lives Matter activists did their job. Did the District 65 public schools do theirs?

This argument is getting ahead of itself. The fact of the matter is that we have too many people who are debating, still, to this day, whether or not racism is acceptable.

No, this argument is not getting ahead of itself. CRT is getting ahead of itself. Of course racism is not acceptable. Some people will never learn this, but the ones that will learn that racism is unacceptable should be taught in a way that is not alienating, does not unnecessarily ratchet up animosity and shame between races, and exposes them to a variety of approaches and paths to further the cause of racial equity. Does CRT do those things? And if not, why are schools using it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's so nice that all of us can come to DCUM to debate this controversial issue in plain language, with no fear.

Because we're all ANONYMOUS.

Now how can we ensure that our kids will learn to develop (and stand up for) their own beliefs?

Excellent question.

Real void in the Wash Dc market for secular non-political, non Identity Politics school options.

[jsteele]

Posters in this forum are completely incapable of discussing anything related to race without it going off the rails. The racists fucks out there should find another forum. You are ruining this one.