Some parents have real concerns about anti-white bigotry they see from Ky teachers

Recently Nikki Brown published an op-ed on CRT that parrots tropes which stagnate a conversation sorely needing to advance to the broader culture war. Brown argues that Republicans have internalized misinformation and don’t know what CRT is. Here she is guilty of a pedantry that blinds her to what should be observed: The phrase CRT has been co-opted by the right as a euphemism for far left, anti-white bigotry or “wokeness” projected onto children by activist teachers.

Whether or not one classifies this as CRT standard, it is undeniable that a subset of teachers not only hold problematic views but think it’s a moral imperative to impart them to children. When conservatives bemoan “CRT” they are colloquially referring to this particular racial conflict framing, that pits white people against everyone else, being passed on to students as a function of their public education.

Brown goes on to repeat that “Critical Race Theory is not taught in Kentucky public schools.” But consider the disconnect between standard and colloquial terminology. You might think that someone defending CRT as merely X, Y & Z but not what others informally observe and refer to, would join Republicans in condemning the latter, pervasive and bigoted positions that have come to be the center of debate, but you would be wrong. CRT guardians never know what the big deal is, as though parents make up whole cloth what they see and what their child is exposed to. I’ll share some examples that cut to the heart of it.

CRT doesn’t exists in Kentucky public schools but I can go to Calloway County and find teachers that get on their personal social media accounts to announce “white, cis men should sit this one out,” and that white Kentuckians are “inherently racist.”

I can go to Knox County and find teachers that say it is the “responsibility of white Americans” to “do better,” “check their privilege,” and that “old white men should step aside.”

But CRT doesn’t exist.

I can go to Fayette County social media accounts and find elementary teachers that say “Sit down white man,” “Please educate me white man,” “Oh look, another inept white man,” “Mansplaining by a white man,” and “White people suck and there doesn’t seem to be a way to fix them.”

But CRT doesn’t exist.

In Jefferson County middle schools, a friend’s daughter came home with a flyer from a “community group.” When I look up the people promoted on the flyer and exposed to students as “leaders”, I will find a blog post titled “It’s Time We Had a White History Month,” that berates white people with “You enslaved innocent black men, women and children, you murdered innocent black people, you raped a nation of its resources for your profit,” and “You have committed some of the most heinous, egregious crimes against humanity.”

But CRT doesn’t exist.

I can go to McCracken County and listen to the fruits of Kentucky public education, former students who are now adults spewing “White people have ruined this country,” “Cant wait til white people go extinct in America,” Release all the black people in jail that sold weed and make the white ones stay,” and “When the race war happens, I’m gonna be on the brown peoples side.”

But CRT doesn’t exist.

If Brown and other educators are serious about preserving a constructive version of their worldview in the classroom, they should come to the table beside Kentucky parents to condemn these excesses, then purge them from ever seeing the light of day. If the left never outgrows their defensive posture, we will continue to speak past each other and further polarize. Let’s come together before it’s too late.

Will Simpson is a retired GED Instructor, avid gardener and current biophiliac residing in Paducah, KY with his wife of 22 years. He can be reached at wsauer0003@gmail.com.

This story was originally published April 8, 2022 at 10:37 AM.