Should Black people be considered founders of the United States of America?
This was simply one question mentioned in a lengthy email between the GHAPS Curriculum Director Mary Jane Evink and Jane Claridy, a 5th Grade Teacher at White Pines.
What is the purpose of asking this question? Although this question may seem innocent enough and appear to be asked as a prompt to challenge thinking, I would argue that the true purpose of this question is to create a trap by first using emotion to create a sense of injustice.
No matter how this question is answered the results create feelings of injustice. For example, if the question is answered “no”, one may say that black people should not be considered founders of the United States of America because there were no black people at the Constitutional Convention. The likely result is that the person who said “no” will be called a racist and it will be pointed out that black people were indeed living in America in 1776 and they supported those who created the Constitution. Therefore, black people should be considered founders of the United States of America, and because they are not, we need to become active and fight for them to have their rightful place in American history texts.
If the question is answered “yes”, black people should be considered founders of the United States of America, it is likely to be pointed out that black people are not commonly considered founders. This is an injustice to blacks living in America, and we should work to correct the injustice through activism.
You see, no matter which way this question is answered, the answer stirs emotion and leads to a sense of injustice. Quoting from the same email included below, “Power, oppression and racism – These ‘have to be understood as systemic and institutional, not individual or cosmetic.’” These two GHAPS employees are discussing the specific offshoot of cultural Marxism known as Critical Race Theory and challenging each other to expand their thinking into these concepts. This is deeply concerning because Jane Claridy is a 5th grade teacher at White Pines and Mary Jane Evink influences the curriculum for all 5,500 GHAPS students. Through the DEIB Committee, GHAPS instructs teachers to tell parents they do not teach Critical Race Theory.
Please read the email below and ask yourself if these GHAPS employees have adopted Marxist activist viewpoints.