Parents Gain Ground on Critical Race Theory Fight

A school board in Temecula, California successfully banned the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) this month following the election of several pro-parent candidates to the board. 

Critical Race Theory is a controversial teaching method that categorizes people (and students) into ‘oppressors’ and ‘oppressed’ based on race. Key tenets of CRT outlawed by the ban include:

• Race is a social construct and does not biologically exist.
• Since white people control society, only white people have the capacity to be racist.
• Society’s recognition of hard work and meritocracy is racist/sexist.
• The scientific method is inherently sexist/racist. 
• Racism is embedded in America’s culture, society, and laws and is not simply a product of individuals’ behaviors and attitudes.

Temecula’s decision is part of a nationwide revolt against Democrats’ efforts to insert political indoctrination into school curricula. 

As I wrote last week (click here to read), Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has spearheaded the revolt with laws banning the teaching of CRT, preventing primary school teachers from introducing LGBTQ topics to students, and requiring all books in school libraries be free from pornographic and other harmful content.

“Parents, always remember this: if you are not teaching your kids, someone else is,” says Joe Komrosky, a parent who was recently elected to the Temecula school board. “You want to make sure what is being taught to them is actually good, safe, and correct.” 

In many cases, changes to curricula are made only after parents have the courage to speak up.

African American mother Gabs Clark sued a charter school in Las Vegas last year after her son was refused a diploma because he chose not to complete assignments for a mandatory course that aimed “to help students ‘unlearn’ what they know about the world, and what their parents have taught them to believe, and instead adopt a new worldview that ‘fights back’ against ‘oppressive’ social structures such as family, religion, and racial, sexual, and gender identities.”

According to the lawsuit, students were asked to reveal their race, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities “in order for the teacher and other students to know who needs the most ‘unlearning.’” Such requirements violate the rights granted to students by the First Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Civil Rights Act.

“This teacher is blatantly justifying racism against white people thereby putting my son in emotional, psychological, and physical danger,” argues Clark. “This is not ok.” With green eyes and blonde hair, Clark’s son is the only white-passing individual in the class. 

In Virginia, the state Attorney General is investigating 13 schools over claims that merit recognition is being withheld from top-scoring students in the name of equity. “They have a maniacal focus on equal outcomes for all students at all costs,” laments Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R).

In some cases, parents were unaware their children qualified as “commended students” until a year or more after the fact – at which point they could no longer use that information to apply for scholarships. One Virginia mother who called her school to ask why she wasn’t informed until mid-November that her child qualified as a “commended student” was told by a student services director: “They did not want to notify the qualified students because they were scared the other students would get their feelings hurt.”*

In Rhode Island, concerned mother Nicole Solas filed more than 150 public records requests in an attempt to learn more about the information being taught to her daughter after a teacher informed her that “they don’t call children ‘boys’ and ‘girls'” at school in order to “embed the values of gender identity into the classroom at every grade.” 

Her daughter was in kindergarten. 

Solas ended up suing the school district after her requests were denied and after she was banned entry to a supposedly-public meeting held by the local Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Advisory Board. 

“When you treat parents like adversaries, they will respond like adversaries,” explains Solas. “When schools don’t listen to parents, they’ll have to listen to lawsuits. With enough lawsuits brought by parents, public schools will learn that egregious abuses of power have real consequences. This is beyond a culture war now. It’s a constitutional war. And that war will be won in the courtroom. Lawyer up, parents.”

Thanks to people like Solas, some states are now requiring schools to post curricula online to improve transparency. 

“We were promised a colorblind vision, but now we are told colorblindness is a trait of white supremacy,” laments Tiffany Justice, who co-founded the nonprofit parents’ rights group Moms for Liberty in 2021. “Moms are mad and we can see through this nonsense.” 

*Quote from Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt

Sources: 

Parents revolted against critical race theory. Here’s how they won

Las Vegas charter school sued for curriculum covering race, identity
‘Parents not welcome’: Rhode Island Mom Sues School District Over Secret Meetings