Dropped lesson after backlash from parents
A third grade teacher at a California public school forced students to learn about “power and privilege” as part of a classroom exercise.
The students at R.I. Meyerholz Elementary School also had to create an “identity map” with traits such as race and religion. The teacher then required students to “circle the identities that hold power and privilege,” according to a report from City Journal contributing editor Christopher Rufo.
The unnamed public school teacher read from a book called “This Book Is Antiracist” that discusses how people can become committed anti-racists and how to identify privilege.
“[A] white, cisgender man, who is able-bodied, heterosexual, considered handsome and speaks English has more privilege than a Black transgender woman,” the book said.
However, the school dropped the lesson after an Asian-American parent at the school organized opposition to the exercise. Asian-American students are a majority of the Silicon Valley public school.
SCOOP: A Cupertino elementary school forces third-graders to deconstruct their racial and sexual identities, then rank themselves according to their “power and privilege.”
I've obtained exclusive whistleblower documents from inside the classroom. They will shock you. 🧵
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) January 13, 2021
The parent said the lesson is “racist” according to Rufo. The parent “rallied a group of a half dozen families to protest the school’s intersectionality curriculum,” according to Rufo. “The group met with the school principal and demanded an end to the racially divisive instruction. After a tense meeting, the administration agreed to suspend the program.”
A parent also told Rufo that the lesson reminded her of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
“[It divides society between] the oppressor and the oppressed, and since these identities are inborn characteristics people cannot change, the only way to change it is via violent revolution,” the parent said, according to Rufo. “Growing up in China, I had learned it many times. The outcome is the family will be ripped apart; husband hates wife, children hate parents. I think it is already happening here.”
The lesson may have broader implications for the direction of the school, according to the article.
“At Meyerholz Elementary, the Asian-American families are on high alert for critical race theory in the classroom,” the article said. “Since their initial victory, they have begun to consider campaigning against the school board.”
IMAGE: CDC/Unsplash
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