Many of my frequent readers may not know this, but I have three children. I have a 4-year-old in 4K, a 7-year-old in 2nd grade, and a toddler who is almost 2-years-old. I didn’t grow up in a civic-minded household. The first time I ever spoke to my parents about voting was when I was 18 and voting for the first time. That’s not the life my children are living in now. We talk about age-appropriate issues regularly. Every time we see a man or woman in uniform, be it military or law enforcement, we thank them for their service. I regularly give to a handful of charities in our community and walk my oldest through what we’re giving, what the need is, and why. She doesn’t understand all of it, of course, but she recognizes that we each have a responsibility to be good neighbors in our cities.
My children have all gone with me to vote during every election except this last primary (due to COVID-19). They’ve been to multiple rallies across the nation for topics ranging from school choice to fighting tax increases.
As the school year started several weeks ago, I saw parents sharing assignments their children were bringing home in other states, and I grew both curious and concerned. With the national dialogue being what it is and reports that many of those arrested at protests are young teachers, I decided to write the Head of School (aka principal) of my children’s school to verify that the teachers will not be teaching their ideologies on the topic of race relations. I requested that they stick to age-appropriate factual and historical lessons and discussions. The letter I sent on August 17, 2020, is below with a few non-related notes taken out for clarity. I left all substantive points there.
What I learned in response is that the teachers are given guidance on non-partisan activities during election years, but no, they have not explicitly covered specific areas for teachers to cover the issue of race relations. This is an important distinction.
Since the date of this letter, I’ve had shared with me resources that teachers across the nation are using that are incredibly harmful and partisan. Glenn Beck even did a special titled, “Brainwashed” on the lesson plans being used in NYC.
I also share the grave concerns of parents over The 1619 Project and its curriculum. If you’re not familiar with The 1619 project by the New York Times, you’re missing out. In its introduction, they paint our nation as one full of hatred, intolerance, and racism. They suggest that rather than 1776 the year 1619, the year slaves were brought to America is when our country truly was founded. One woman telling her story had this to say, “So when I was young, that flag outside our home never made sense to me. How could this black man, having seen firsthand the way his country abused black Americans, how it refused to treat us as full citizens, proudly fly its banner? I didn’t understand his patriotism. It deeply embarrassed me.” Imagine a world in which the flag and patriotism embarrass you? Well, we don’t have to do that, do we? Athletes and celebrities are falling all over themselves to disrespect our flag and the men and women who gave their lives for our right to fly it and the freedoms that it represents. In this lesson plan, this is said, “Anti-black racism runs in the very DNA of this country.” Further essays go on to decry capitalism (the title of that piece, “In order to understand the brutality of American capitalism, you have to start on the plantation.”), the police, racism as the reason why we don’t have universal healthcare, and public transit (2 different essays), whites in general at the bottom line.
One essay contains this gem, “The past 10 years of Republican extremism is emblematic. The Tea Party billed itself as a reaction to debt and spending, but a close look shows it was actually a reaction to an ascendant majority of black people, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and liberal white people.” This is the junk they’re teaching our kids! 100 pages of this. I’ve been to hundreds of tea party events, and I can assure you that it was a reaction to big government and had nothing to do with race. Yet they teach this as though it’s factual and undeniable.
Parents, grandparents, friends, we must stop this. We must not let history be rewritten. We must not let today’s story be told by hate-filled liars. Take the letter below and adapt it to your teacher and your principal, and let’s fight this thing together. I’ll be posting a follow up to this, but here’s a starting place. Find out if your children’s schools have guidance.
To the Head of School,
I hope you’re well and preparing for another great, albeit challenging, new academic year.
A parent called me to ask if I had seen the school’s Facebook posts in response to the national discussions on race relations. Ironically, I had already spoken to one parent about them a little over a month ago but got too busy to email you.
Understanding diversity and addressing racial inequality is an essential step for our nation and something I believe we all can work on together. I wanted to take a moment to email you directly about it.
I want to write to make sure that if/when teachers and staff are addressing this incredibly important and timely subject, they are doing so in a way that’s mindful of the ideological diversity of the school. I’m not sure there’s been an official poll but based on the friendships I’ve forged over the last two years, the school skews progressive, but us conservatives to date haven’t been excluded or alienated in any way. That said, there are different ways of approaching this important topic based on individual families and the diverse backgrounds that make our school great.
For instance, I am teaching the children how to be active and engaged members of our community and how to respect others and value the lives of all, how to combat racial injustices in all areas of life, and how to use their voices appropriately to stand up for others. We teach tolerance for differing opinions and inclusion.
We support and agree that black lives matter, but we do not support the Black Lives Matter national organization, which is a political organization with conflicting goals to our fundamental family values.
I am teaching the children that we have many advantages, such as the ability to go to a private school and not a failing school, but we do not use the term white privilege to describe the reason why. Instead, we focus on the barriers that prevent everyone from having equal opportunities, and we give of our time and resources to those not as fortunate.
While these differences in what we believe and how we incorporate them into our lives may seem slight to some, they may be excessive to others. At the end of the day, the end of systemic racism and fairness and equality are a shared goal of everyone I know.
The reason I’m writing is that I want to confirm that teachers will not be teaching their political beliefs or any political beliefs on this or other topics and that rather than it being implied that they have had express direction on where lines need to be drawn for age and developmentally appropriate materials, by grade level, like all other subject material. For the older classes, I don’t want anyone to feel like their voice isn’t heard if it’s in the minority on what’s going on in our nation so long as they can speak and listen from a place of respect.
Is there guidance you can share on what teachers will be doing to address this topic as we come into a year where it may be among the most talked-about subjects?
If you’re not able to get to this message until after school starts or if there’s a better person to direct this question to feel free to pass it along.
As for the Facebook posts, I’d just encourage the communications team to seek balance and impartiality.Apryl Marie
