In anticipation of the first meeting of the DEIB Committee, a steering committee was formed. The purpose of the steering committee was to guide staff, families and community members towards adopting a DEIB mindset.
The following email from Curriculum Director Mary Jane Evink to the DEIB Steering Committee restats the goals of the DEIB Committee, then lists resources the DEIB Committee should consider using, and ends with notes reminding members what to say in regards to Critical Race Theory questions from community members.
The cognitive disconnects are apparent even before the first meeting of the DEIB Committee. While they state they “want all of our students and staff to feel like they belong,” the third bullet point under goals states, “decreased resistance – collective understanding.” This sounds like they intend to force their beliefs onto the staff, students and parents. The email continues with a list of resources that support CRT teaching, but ends by reminding members that they do not teach CRT. Why would they want to explore resources that provide a positive view of CRT and then not teach it? The answer is because they don’t. They love CRT and they are secretively teaching it, which is why the email instructs teachers how to answer questions regarding CRT teaching. In other words, they are instructing teachers on how to lie to parents and community members.
The resources referenced in the above email for the steering committee to review are quite interesting.
The first reference is from the group A Long Talk. The goal of A Long Talk is to have an anti-racist at every dinner table. The reference mentioned in the above email takes you to a page titled “Let’s Talk About CRT” which is a collection of articles that focus on topics such as Critical Race Theory, white privilege and antiracism. These articles are presented as fact and their purpose is to create identity categories, focus on injustices suffered by people with those identities, and then create activists who fight for those who have been oppressed.
The second reference links to a video clip featuring Randi Weingarten, the President of the American Federation of Teachers, speaking for all public schools. She states that CRT is a theory taught in Law Schools and is not taught in public schools.
The final reference, “‘Critical Race Theory Is Simply the Latest Bogeyman.’ Inside the Fight Over What Kids Learn About America’s History” explains how CRT is just teaching accurate history and conservatives are trying to use the phrase to mean something different. It details current bills being introduced by various legislatures to ban racist teachings and points to Donald Trump as the perpetuator of racism in America. The article contradicts itself. If CRT is so great, then why aren’t they working to persuade schools to teach the foundations of CRT? Instead, they are denying that they teach it.
Isn’t it interesting that the DEIB Committee, which was formed to ensure kids feel like they belong, are infatuated with the teaching of Critical Race Theory? They believe teaching CRT means teaching accurate history, yet insist they are not teaching CRT. In addition, the members all agree on left-wing political topics. And we’re supposed to believe that the DEIB Committee is about promoting belonging.