A California school has allegedly taught students that White people have no culture. Naturally, the situation has caused controversy and outrage among White parents.
A Choir Class
The mother of one of the school’s students reported the claims to the school district, saying that her daughter had been taught about White privilege during a choir class. Moreover, the girl had allegedly been taught that White people have no culture.
The School District’s Website
According to the school district’s website, it’s working with an “equity teacher on special assignment” to “interrupt any inequitable practices in school culture and curriculum and eliminate barriers to personal and academic success.”
The Nature of White Fragility
The mother said: “As a parent of a choir student, having outside instruction regarding White privilege with the choir students was incredibly hurtful and demeaning to many students in the class. It not only created division and confusion between the students, but it was also incorrect information.”
A Lack of Culture
The mother continued: “During this, the teacher’s discussion with the class, she stated that White people had no culture and any culture that they did have was stolen. She gave inaccurate information that the students could quickly Google and figure out was wrong.”
An Opt-Out Form
The mom called for the district to “rectify” the incident. She said: “It is apparent that there are things that are being taught to our children where the district or the school does not provide a necessary opt-in or opt-out form for parents.”
Moms for Liberty
The mother in question is reportedly a member of Moms for Liberty, a far-right extremist anti-LGBTQ+ hate group. The organization believes teaching children about the existence of racism and queer people is “indoctrination” and they’ve been known to proudly quote Adolf Hitler in their newsletters.
An Intriguing Explanation
The “White people have no culture” statement is something that’s been discussed and debated on the internet for many years. Trying to explain it, one social media user said: “[It] started as an academic argument. It’s not supposed to mean that no individual White person has culture. As an example, German, Slavic, French people – who are historically White – do have cultures. The point is that there is no overarching ‘White culture’ throughout the world that somehow unifies all White people.”
White Supremacist Talk
Echoing the aforementioned individual, another person said: “Having an Italian-American club, or an Irish-American club, is okay for cultural purposes. To put all White people into those groups doesn’t work for obvious reasons. Even White people in the U.S. have different cultures according to regional differences. This is why there is no such thing as ‘White culture.’ To claim otherwise is just White supremacist talk.”
A Shared History
Another commenter wrote: “White culture doesn’t exist but Italian, Swedish, German culture exists. In America, the vast majority of Black people were kidnapped and brought over here. This shared history is why Black people do have culture.”
Racism and Oppression
Others discussed White supremacy, racism, and oppression. “People who are considered White do have culture. There is Irish culture, German culture, French culture, Norwegian culture. ‘Whiteness’ itself is not a culture, however, but a political category created for the sole purpose of oppressing those who are deemed not to belong to it,” one individual said.
The Importance of Teaching History
Conversations about racism and White privilege in the classroom are also things that have been heavily debated for quite some time. One social media commenter said: “History needs to be taught – good, bad, and ugly, lest we repeat ourselves.”
Acknowledging the Past
Echoing the aforementioned individual, another person wrote: “Racism is part of our history. I’m Native American and Japanese. My grandma and her family hid during the internment camps. A lot of people don’t even realize we had internment camps for Japanese people. If we refuse to acknowledge our past, we’re going to make more mistakes.”
Racism and U.S. History
Others pointed out that racism can be found in every aspect of U.S. history. “I mean, the entire history of the United States is based on racism so if they are going to teach American history they’d better be talking about racism almost constantly,” one person wrote.
A Teacher’s Opinion
Teachers often share their opinions on the matter too. Echoing the previously mentioned commenter, another individual said: “As a history teacher, I can tell you it’s not possible to teach history, especially American history, without talking about race.”
History Is Being Erased
Another teacher wrote: “What’s happening in this country at the moment is really scaring me. Teachers are being censored and history is being erased. Of course racism needs to be discussed in the classroom.”
The Nature of Privilege
Some people discussed various types of privilege. One such individual said: “Teach kids about White privilege. Teach them about all kinds of privilege. Male privilege, straight privilege, cis privilege. Teach them how someone can be privileged in some ways and underprivileged in others. Then, maybe, we’ll end up with fewer adults thinking White privilege means White people can’t struggle. We’ll have fewer adults getting defensive about it.”
A Misinformed Opinion
Unfortunately, a fair few people still don’t understand the importance of teaching children about history and the way it affects us today. “I’m not saying children shouldn’t be taught about slavery. Obviously, they should. But they need to be made aware that it’s a thing of the past. Racism barely exists nowadays in the United States and my concern is teachers indoctrinating children to believe otherwise,” one commenter said.
Teaching About White Privilege
Another commenter wrote: “Teach them about slavery. Teach them about racism. Do not teach them about fictional ideas like White privilege. It is not proven, it does not exist. Do not even teach it to them as a theory.”
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