Another data point in the 'Critical Race Theory' debate, which has become an umbrella term that describes woke indoctrination of children in schools. This latest controversy comes from Minnesota, where a fourth grader told her local school board about an uncomfortable 'equity survey' she and her classmates were required to fill out, with a teacher allegedly telling confused students that they were not to share any details or questions with their parents.
The UK Daily Mail has details:
A class of fourth graders in Minnesota were given an equity survey about race and gender, but were allegedly told by a teacher not to tell their parents about the questions that they were asked even if they didn't understand them. The survey was conducted at Riverview intermediate school in the Sartell-St. Stephen School District in Minnesota by the Equity Alliance of Minnesota, and comes amid a national debate on how to teach history and current events specifically focusing on matters of race. Student Hayley Yasgar addressed a school board on July 19 and told them she felt 'very nervous and uncomfortable' when her teacher instructed her not to talk to her mother about the survey. She also says she was not permitted to skip any questions even if she didn't understand them, in a video of the meeting posted by Alpha News.
One question said: 'Do you currently identify yourself as female, male, transgender (transgender people have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from their assigned sex. For example, they were born male but now identify as female), or something else?' A young boy in Hayley's class asked the teacher if his mom could explain the question to him. The teacher denied the student's request telling him that he could not ask his mother and that the class was not to repeat the questions to their parents. Hayley spoke to the school board to let them know 'how uncomfortable and nervous' this made her as she explained that her 'mom always tells [her] she can tell her anything but also tells her she can trust [her] teachers too.' She said that 'being told to hide this from [her] mom made [her] feel very uncomfortable like [she] was doing something wrong.'
There's a strong case to be made that any survey asking nine-year-olds about their race and sexual or gender identities is extremely inappropriate in the first place (the student's mother says parents were notified that an 'equity survey' was taking place, but details were scant). If, in fact, teachers instructed students -- some of whom were understandably confused by trans-related questions, for instance -- not to discuss the matter with their parents, that is an outrage, and there should be consequences. Based on the way this episode is being presented, it is inexcusable. If there's a less pernicious explanation, I'd love to hear it. Here is the whistleblower student relaying her story to the board earlier this month:
And here is the girl and her mother appearing on Fox & Friends:
The survey was apparently part of an "equity audit" being performed by something called Equity Alliance MN, whose website is filled with 'progressive' jargon and offers student programming, including "Kindergarten readiness camps." There are good reasons why parents -- and not just politically conservative parents -- are growing increasingly concerned about what their children's minds are being filled with in school. There are also good reasons why more families are pulling out of public schools altogether. Here's one anecdote from northern Virginia, where the education wars have grown intense, on issues ranging from school closures, to renaming buildings, to erasing merit-based admission metrics:
Fairfax County schools are sending emails to parents looking for students because their enrollment numbers are so low they’re threatening teacher positions. Many families not coming back. As we warned. https://t.co/AJYOIAh2VL
— Rory Cooper (@rorycooper) July 26, 2021
Leftists simultaneously argue that CRT isn't being taught in schools and amounts to a right-wing panic, but also that CRT precepts are good and important and should be taught more. Others have noticed this contradiction:
The proponents of CRT vacillate between saying it doesn’t truly exist and saying it is absolutely essential to education because our kids can’t know our history without it https://t.co/4RHkWq7hgg
— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) July 26, 2021
Back to the Daily Mail story, with some additional context:
America's largest teachers' union has publicly endorsed the teaching of critical race theory in schools, wants to hire staff to 'fight back' against those who oppose CRT, and has called for an October 14 rally to be held in honor of George Floyd's birthday. The National Educator's Association recently approved a resolution to promote critical race theory through its existing channels, work to 'fight back' against opponents of the practice...The resolution reads that the NEA will 'provide an already-created, in-depth, study that critiques empire, white supremacy, anti-Blackness, anti-Indigeneity, racism, patriarchy, cisheteropatriarchy, capitalism, ableism, anthropocentrism (human centered points of view) and other forms of power and oppression at the intersections of our society.'
This stuff isn't a right-wing fever dream. It's real. I'll leave you with this conversation:
.@kmele: Most Americans Hate Race Essentialismhttps://t.co/zN4RNnp0uw
— The Guy Benson Show (@GuyBensonShow) July 26, 2021
