School district faces CRT battle after book teaches ‘white America is a syndicate’
Luke Gentile
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A South Carolina school district has become embroiled in a dispute surrounding critical race theory after a high school teacher allegedly conducted a lesson centered on “systemic racism” teaching that “White America is syndicate for control.”
Meetings of the Lexington-Richland School District 5 have been the site of debate and turmoil after Chapin High School teacher Mary Wood purportedly introduced multiple books and videos into her lesson plan, including Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me, according to a report.
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The work discussed the author’s experiences regarding being black in the United States. Critics maintain it violates South Carolina law, which sets limits on K-12 lessons on race and bars the instruction of critical race theory.
Critical race theory and other closely related ideologies hold that the U.S. is inherently racist and that skin color is used to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites. Critics claim it relegates all white people to the role of oppressors and all people of color to that of victims.
The teaching of the book caused “several students to feel uncomfortable because of the color of their skin,” one mother said.
Between the World and Me argues that “white America is a syndicate to dominate and control our bodies,” another mother said.
“This is not only inappropriate and divisive, this is illegal,” she said “We had students email some board members that they feel ashamed to be white after reading these books and being assigned these assignments.”
Parents defending Wood and the book’s instruction argue some students could feel forgotten without such lessons, the report noted.
“When we don’t teach our children to think for themselves, we create divisive robots,” one mother said.
“Some parts of history should make kids uncomfortable,” according to a former teacher. “I, as a teacher, wanted my kids to feel bad or feel uncomfortable. Why? Because this creates empathy, which hopefully will help prevent the bad parts of our history from repeating itself.”
The school district is focused on providing “education for effective citizenship,” and to “achieve this purpose, students should have an opportunity to examine controversial issues within the context of their formal education experiences,” according to a district policy.
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“School District Five welcomes and appreciates feedback from the community as it looks to continue improving its goal of loving and growing all students. Superintendent Ross promised the board and community that he would provide professional development which addresses controversial and sensitive issues,” a district spokesperson said.
“This development will help teachers and staff with determining if a topic is appropriate for a course, appropriate for the maturity of the students, is standard-based, and ensures academic freedom of students.”