Educational activist organizations, many of which have a clear political agenda, are continuously designing curriculum and so-called “teacher resources” for K-12 schools. How much of this material, if any, should be used by teachers in American classrooms, and is it promoting the kinds of holistic instructional approaches we need in 21st century America? This video analyzes one group in particular, an organization called BARWE, which stands for Building Anti-Racist White Educators. Thanks for watching.
This is my review of Robin DiAngelo’s new book, Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm, which I recently published in Merion West.
Anti-racist educator Ibram X. Kendi recently headlined the American Federation of Teachers’ TEACH 21 Conference, speaking at a livestream session titled, “A Conversation with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi.” The official AFT conference agenda stated, “Hear from Dr. Ibram X. Kendi in this free-ranging discussion with student activists and AFT members on his scholarship and on developing anti-racist mindsets and actions inside and outside classrooms.”
During the livestream, which has not been posted on the AFT website, Dr. Kendi compared those who oppose critical race theory to Southern segregationists from the 1950s. According to an article titled “Anti-racist education benefits all of us” published on the AFT’s website:
Ingram asked Kendi about the furor over critical race theory and related pushes against teaching about enslavement and discrimination. Kendi compared it to the reaction to Brown v. Board of Education, when some white people were fearful that desegregated schools—and the Black children in them—were going to be harmful to their children. Today’s fears are similar in that misinformation is being spread about potential harms; one bold lie is that teaching about racism conveys to white children that they are inherently evil. Kendi was clear and compassionate: He does not know of any anti-racist teacher who would believe or convey that any child or group of people is inherently bad or racist.
But Dr. Kendi misrepresents the growing concern by parents, educators, and community members over the toxic and polarizing tenets of critical race theory, and falsely states that no anti-racist educator teaches that all whites are inherently racist; Robin DiAngelo, whose anti-racist approaches are embedded in K-12 curriculum in a number of school districts – and whose book White Fragility is on recommended reading lists across America – explicitly teaches just that.
Instead of disassociating with such polarizing tenets of anti-racism – which is an example of critical pedagogy that is under critical race theory – Kendi attempts to gaslight educators when it comes to remembering his own ideas, as well as the ideas of other anti-racists who use an identity-based model, which polarizes by skin color and offers little in terms of holistic, universal solutions to the real problems of racism and racial disparities today.
This is my conversation with Kyle Boyer, an educator, pastor, and member of the Tredyffrin/Easttown School Board. On June 14th, during the last TESD school board meeting of the school year, a dozen parents and community members challenged the school district’s equity initiative and use of critical pedagogy. After public comments were closed, Kyle addressed the meeting, calling the comments “hurtful and harmful,” and suggested what he witnessed helped explain why the Capitol was breached on January 6th.
I did a video analyzing the public comments and Kyle’s response, titled “Tredyffrin/Easttown Parents Compared to Capitol Rioters for Opposing CRT.” The following day, Kyle contacted me and we agreed to have a discussion about his comments and the school board meeting, as well as talk about broader topics such as racism, individualism, group identity, microaggressions, and other issues. This video is our conversation.
America’s two largest teachers’ unions, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, have officially endorsed teaching critical Race Theory in K-12 classrooms, and are campaigning to push the use of critical pedagogy in lessons and activities in the name of social justice. Both the AFT and NEA misrepresent the concepts at the heart of CRT, and minimize the toxic approach as simply “teaching accurate history.” This is far from the reality of CRT, and this video attempts to clarify the issue by asking AFT President Randi Weingarten, and NEA President Becky Pringle, 10 questions about their support and endorsement of CRT.
This video compares two pathways to equality: one that is identity-based and endorsed by Ibram X. Kendi (critical race theory and anti-racism), and one that is principle-based and endorsed by Thomas Sowell (individual skill-building and universal values).
Chalk and Talk 