“I hadn’t the slightest clue what my privilege of being a white man had brought me… I learned to see my life through a racial lens.” That’s what one Portland student took away from a new controversial course in “Critical Race Theory.”
Dateline Wednesday March 19, 2014 – Portland Oregon: Portland Public Schools teachers participated in a training session where a controversial new curriculum including “Critical Race Theory,” is explained. The curriculum is currently implemented in three charter schools at the K-5, middle school and high school level. The curriculum is expected to be rolled out to all schools in the Portland Public School System: thus the training.
According to Wikipedia, Critical Race Theory or CRT:
“CRT recognizes that racism is engrained in the fabric and system of the American society. The individual racist need not exist to note that institutional racism is pervasive in the dominant culture. This is the analytical lens that CRT uses in examining existing power structures. CRT identifies that these power structures are based on white privilege and white supremacy, which perpetuates the marginalization of people of color.[3]”
In this Part I, we provide excepts from presentations by Principal Carl Reinhold. In one excerpt Reinhold appears to be somewhat apologetic for the school’s entrepreneurial business course actually teaching kids to make money. “”We’d like to think we stay away from focusing on businesses for profit…” explains Reinhold. A few statistics are provided for the school including the fact that 52% of the students receive “free” or subsidized lunches, and that on any given day one-in-five students are absent for class.
“Critical Race Theory” teacher Jessica Mallare then takes over. She explains:
“We went back on forth on this with my former Principal on this name. She wanted it to be ‘American Studies for College Prep Purposes.’ I was really attached to ‘Critical Race Theory’ or ‘Critical Race Studies,'” explains Mallare.
Mallare goes on to state there is no text book, so she has full autonomy to create the curriculum as she sees fit. She explains that she and Principal Reinhold would like to move the curriculum to younger members of the student population. “Carl and I both believe firmly that if we can start younger it just opens so many more doors …”
Her curriculum includes “Racial Identity Models,” “The Dominant White Culture,” and “Institutionalized Racism” in the United States.
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Glenn Singleton’s PEG has been in our schools in Lawrence, Kan., for several years now. Few parents have an idea want CRT is, how much the school district has spend on no-bid contracts with PEG, or that PEG is eve in our schools. I have written about it here:
http://www.chapter19.us/crt.html
“Critical Theory” is neo-Marxist thinking. “Critical Race Theory” is based on Critical Theory. This principal and teacher are teaching Marxist theory, selling the socialist concept of “social justice” through the politically correct lens or racism.
For generations they have substituted Marx’s theory of class struggle with race struggle. All of this is but an effort to indoctrinate youth, starting now with elementary children.
These “educators” have no understanding or appreciation of how free economic markets within liberty-centered democracies have done more to uplift humanity than any other governmental system in all of history.
These are very misguided people. And their actions are turning the clock back four hundred years or more. They are blind and choose not to see.
Wow you have to be my top commenter thank you for commenting. I agree, and it is very difficult to sit in these meetings and listen to this garbage and not say something. There is an article in the Portland Tribune which describes a meeting held in the school gymnasium back in 2012. They had all the white teachers get on one side of the auditorium, and all the black teachers get on the other. Then they had the white teachers line up in order of white privilege. Really? I can’t imagine anything more racist than that. It’s disgusting and I am amazed that the teachers put up with it.
BTW, the term equity is originally defined in the context of fairness under the rule of law constrained by principles of liberty. In finance it is refers to fair allocation of property rights as equity or ownership within a business.
Socialist educators here are twisting the term “equity” to be consistent with the socialist concept of “social justice”. Ultimately the thrust is to allocate income, wealth and legitimate power not according to merit, innovation, value delivered or democratic elections, but according to some statist, authoritarian rule that will distribute wealth. This is but another form of the tyranny against which Americans have successfully fought before, during and after colonial times.
And who decides what fair is? That was the major point that was impressed upon me in my High School economics class. Milton Friedman in “Free to Choose” really stresses that point. Adam Smith describes the “invisible hand” that guides us in the Capitalist system, and from my experience, while it’s not perfect, it’s the best that reality has to offer. Thanks for your erudite comment.