A group of parents and grandparents in Rocky River, Ohio recently gave a series of stunning speeches to their school board, rebuking the infiltration of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and gender theory in schools. “What these ideologies are really creating is a nation of angry mob justice protestors, instead of successful producers,” said one defiant resident in a statement that summarized many of his peers’ sentiments. “You in whom we’ve put our trust to instruct our children in math science, and history are instead indoctrinating our children with radical political ideology and rhetoric adopted from Karl Marx,” said another resident. “These programs are aimed at turning our students against their parents.”
As the video of the school board meeting (below) shows, Larry, resident of 27 years, called out the sneaky nature of radical propaganda in schools. Speaking about a proposed diversity program called “JEDI,” Larry states:
The twisted language of CRT is propagated throughout the JEDI program. The only difference is the slight change in the name and language to disguise it and make it less offensive in order to gain acceptance by parents and the community at large… Equity sounds non-threatening and is easily confused with the principle of equality. Equality, as enshrined in our Declaration of Independence, is explicitly rejected by CRT backers that regard it as a cover for white supremacy and oppression. Equity promotes equality of outcome, not equality of opportunity. Equity strives to segregate individuals by identity, particularly race, rather than ability, desire, and achievement… What these ideologies are really creating is a nation of angry mob justice protestors, instead of successful producers.
Anne Robbins, a 40-year Rocky River resident, gave the board an impressively succinct lesson about Critical Race Theory:
To be clear, the words diversity and inclusion do not necessarily mean what people think they mean. Everyone would agree that diversity and inclusion are valuable and important, but the devil is in the details. If you tell our 9th graders at Rocky River High School, that society is made of two separate groups, a dominant and subordinate group, and the dominant group controls the subordinate group because of unearned privilege, you are teaching Critical Race Theory. Furthermore, if you identify the dominant group as the white middle class, you are teaching Critical Race Theory. And I want to stop with the sugar coated buzzwords, and call them “oppressors” and “victims.” If you teach 9th graders that every person, including themselves, has to be understood in terms of a special social group, you’re teaching them to see the world through a lens of group identity, be it race, socioeconomic status, gender, or ethnicity. Group-think creates conflict that pits one group of students against another. It’s a poisonous worldview. It denies the individual the content of their character and the merit of their work. We are the freest country in the world. Everyone, blacks, latinos, women, LGBTQ, all minorities have equal opportunity under the law to achieve their dreams. Why don’t we teach that and inspire our students to that? Let’s teach students to overcome obstacles…Please stop teaching the dangerous politics of group identity, the parents and taxpayers of Rocky River see right through it.
Another woman (not named in the video), pushed back against gender theory:
Rocky River schools have failed to specifically inform you of the gender ideology and sexual constructs in the curriculum currently being taught to your children…Instead they use manipulation, coercion, and public shaming exercises as means to indoctrinate our children with their personal belief system. This is unacceptable…The diversity instructors have been silencing your parental voice, driving a wedge between you and your child, all in the deceptive name of diversity and inclusion. Your role as an influential presence in your child’s life has not been honored or revered. Scientific data is ignored. You are ignored. Do the research. Look at the study from Brown University entitled Parent reports of adolescents and young adults perceived to show signs of rapid onset gender dysphoria. Read the findings of Abigail Shrier who holds degrees from Columbia University, Oxford, and Yale Law School. There is a tremendous game of deception going on in our classrooms and our children are losing their innocence, their ability to trust parents, and the freedom of being a child.
Finally, Emily Lyman, a Rocky River resident of 53 years, called out the Marxist origins of the “diversity” and “inclusion” ideology:
I’ve seen lots of changes in our time, but nothing is great to me or more shocking than to learn that our young people are being corrupted by the Marxist curriculum in our schools. I call it Marxism because the very people who promote these programs are self proclaimed Marxists and Communists, and they’re determined to replace our democratic republic. You in whom we’ve put our trust to instruct our children in math science, and history are instead indoctrinating our children with radical political ideology and rhetoric adopted from Karl Marx. These programs are aimed at turning our students against their parents. They’re being taught to be ashamed of the United States, and that it’s good to kneel during the national anthem. This works against the students self-worth and identity by undermining their confidence. They can’t speak their mind against such ideas for fear of retribution. Transgenderism and sexuality are not subjects for the classroom or library story hours, and mathematics is not racist, as some have claimed. In continuing this effort by the radical propaganda to dumb down our society in favor of emotional learning, you are helping to extinguish individual freedoms. And I say shame on you for not taking a stand against this Communist agenda.
These three citizens are far from alone. As I reported earlier this week, parents in the nearby Beachwood, Ohio district had similarly successful showing, as have parents in Virginia and dozens of other states. The movement has inspired bipartisan groups, including FAIR, as well as widespread backlash among parents in both public and private schools.
Are parents speaking up at your school board? Contact me at [email protected] or on IG @georgiamaehowe
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.