North Carolina’s largest school district is encouraging teachers to ignore white parent’s concerns about “critical race theory” curriculum because “white parent’s children are benefiting from the system.”
The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS), which serves the greater Raleigh area, held an equity training that taught teachers and staff how to include “critical race theory” — the theory that America is irredeemably rooted in racism — into the classroom.
According to training materials obtained by reporter A.P. Dillon, the WCPSS equity training conference began with a “land acknowledgment.” This forces teachers to recognize that they are working and teaching on stolen Native American land.
At one point in the training, the district insinuated that white parents are a barrier to social justice because their children benefit from the system.
“What do we do with parents push back? White parent’s children are benefitting from the system,” the training reads. “They are perceiving that they are going to lose something. Fear of loss. Hard to let go of power/privilege.”
Another part of the training tells teachers to not let parents “deter” them from teaching social justice issues.
“You can’t let parents deter you from the work – mission statement (preparing students for the real world) – some students learn within school about the real world due to not learning at home about diversity (LGBTQ, race, etc.).”
The equity training provided breakout sessions for employees to learn about topics such as “whiteness” in educational spaces, affinity groups, the “prison pipeline,” and “microaggressions” in the workspace. One seminar was called “racial mapping of Raleigh.”
Schools across the nation tend to hide that they are teaching critical race theory to children for fear of retribution — WCPSS did no such thing. The training passed out a graphic that explicitly explained how critical race theory can be applied in the school setting.
The handout read:
Applying [Critical Race Theory] In The Classroom:
Authentic caring – Holding high expectations as well as providing a high level of care, concern, and support to all students in need.
Reframing Responsibility – Relentless focus on adults not children as the target for change with the indicators in the student outcomes.
Institutional Nurturing – Individuals caring is not enough. The institution must function in a race-responsive way toward equity.
Culturally Responsive – Adjusting teaching to responding to the cultural needs and learning styles of each student.
Another handout identified characteristics that are considered “dominant white cultural values and habits.” Examples included being transactional, showing emotional restraint, being efficient, self-sufficiency, being competitive, and having winners and losers.
According to City Journal, WCPSS’ Office of Equity Affairs has a $1 million budget. The school uses this budget to host trainings as well as invest in curriculum development.
The district emphasized five “essential learning” elements which include having “courageous conversations” about race, becoming “color-conscious” instead of race-neutral, developing identities for all affinity groups, promoting a “culturally relevant pedagogy,” and examining power and privilege.