It’s every parent’s favorite time of year—-the back-to-school frenzy has officially kicked off in many states across the U.S. Fresh school supplies, new sneakers, and backpacks stuffed till they almost burst are the norm as children head off to new adventures……and new potential pitfalls.
What are they up to, anyway?
Unless you happen to have a child with exceptional communication skills, it’s unlikely that you’re going to get more than single syllable answers to questions like, “How was your day? Make any friends? What did you learn?”
What did you learn?
The fact is, most parents are blissfully unaware of the content presented to their children. In fact, surveys on parent involvement and curriculum awareness pointed to less than forty percent of us knowing anything about our children and their everyday learning. Blame it on the fact that most of us are stretched too thin or simply that educational standards aren’t on the top ten list of “searched for information’ on Google, we remain in the dark about what is currently going on in American classrooms.
What is critical race theory, anyway?
Simply put, critical race theory is a movement that is taking place in schools, college campuses, universities, and even businesses to reinforce concepts that American government, systems, and economy are all structured in such a way that they encourage systemic racism. Through this reinforcement, White children learn that they have been born with every advantage readily available to them, and that if children happen to be Black, Hispanic, Asian, Hmong, American Indian, or any number of other races, our American systems have been put in place to subdue their chances of success.
Polarizing them right from the get-go…..
With a topic like critical race theory on the books in school, that places your child into one of two categories:
- The “oppressor”—the one who is responsible for holding back others and keeping power and control for himself
- The “oppressed”–anyone who finds himself wanting more opportunity and advantage, with no real way to improve his situation
As we teach our babes to see “differences” rather than commonalities, we polarize classrooms from Kindergarten through high school. These ideas and erroneous beliefs and judgments set the stage for dissension as adults, causing the wide rift in society that we see today.
New concept or old?
Thanks to the ridiculous events that have taken place in this country after the death of George Floyd, many seem to think that critical race theory is a new subject, new propaganda that has been pushed into educational and business systems in late 2020. In reality, this philosophy has been around for nearly forty years, and it has recently taken center stage again as a result of civil unrest and heightening racial tensions. While it may have begun as an attempt to shed some light and encourage healthy scrutiny of racial issues in this country, we have taken a WAYWARD left turn with respect to uniting the people of this country. Before we are forced to rescind our title of “United” states of America, let’s take a look at why critical race theory should not continue to make its way through the ranks of our educational system:
- CRT communicates that racism is present in every aspect of life, every relationship, and every interaction. It begins with the assumption that racism is an ordinary part of life in our society. This assumption and attention on division leads people who take up CRT to look for racismin everything until they find it. Looking for a problem is one surefire way to ensure that you uncover an issue; in schools, it means teaching our children to notice conflict and dissension, rather than commonalities and connections. This will be counterproductive to producing thoughtful citizens who contribute positively as part of a work team, as a contributor to a relationship, and as a member of society.
- CRT teaches that White people only give Black people opportunities and advantages when it benefits them as well. This interest-convergent thesis makes it virtually impossible for anyone with perceived racial privilege to act in integrity because any action they take will be seen as self-serving and self-interested. This encourages a mistrust of the “privileged” by the “non-privileged,” thus exacerbating racial division.
- CRT does not encourage personal freedoms. Critical race theory is not a progressive idea; in fact, it is the antithesis of freedom and personal responsibility, for it exists to agitate and enable radical racial identity politics. As a result, norms are established “for the greater good of the whole,” which results in greater restrictions and less opportunity for the exercising of personal freedoms.
- CRT only treats race issues as “socially constructed groups,” so no individuals benefit from the movement. CRT concepts teach about social groups and identities; there is very little room for individual expression, opinion, and personal experience. We impose social assumptions or stereotypes based on a very vocal few who represent the whole, and as a result of this misrepresentation, we set up systems that aid very few.
- CRT believes that science, evidence and reason are “white” ways of knowing, while storytelling and lived experience are “minority” ways of knowing. This erroneous belief is a horrible assumption, particularly because science is all about objectivity and universality. This line of thinking also discredits personal experiences of white children, while communicating to minority children that their intellectual and academic pursuits are invalid. No wonder they don’t reach for the stars and set goals for themselves; we tell them that they are not capable of these achievements.
- CRT rejects all potential alternatives–such as colorblindness–as forms of racism. The result of attention on issues of race causes children to notice “hidden” issues in nearly every aspect of their education. Their schools, playgrounds, lunchrooms, and favorite activities become stressful places of conflict and division that are a precursor to racial tension in the future.
- CRT philosophies encourage labeling anyone who disagrees with its ideas as “racist” or “white supremacist,” even if those people are minorities themselves. How ridiculous is this? Following this social construct, CRT has already outlined what the core experience of each racial group is. Your effectiveness as a member of the club is judged by your testimonial and how closely it aligns to that group ideal. It is impossible to disagree with CRT without being a betrayer, even if you happen to be Black.
- CRT cannot be resolved. Ever. Its total design objective is to encourage division, dissension, and dissatisfaction. If you are thinking that CRT will help to encourage reflective thinking and unity, you are mistaken, my friend. CRT will soon come to be regarded as a relational black hole. No matter how much you give to its resolution, it cannot be filled–and it will tear apart anything and anyone that gets in too deep.
What will be put in their backpacks this year?
Coming off a couple of difficult years with civil unrest, a failing economy, and COVID madness, we hope to send our children off for days filled with optimism, knowledge, and inspiration. If critical race theory is allowed to infiltrate every content area of the curriculum, we can look forward to more chaos and division, plain and simple. Parents, start asking some questions about what is being taught in the schools. Ask teachers if they really understand the “why” of what they are delivering, and how it will be used to shape a better tomorrow for all. Ask yourself if you want to continue taking a backseat when it comes to your children’s education, or if you want to get involved and proactive about shaping their moral character, thoughts and beliefs about themselves and others.
We can all do better.
Till next time, friends,
~KK
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