Black American Scholars Write A Scorching Letter Denouncing Critical Race Theory, Present Better Alternative
A number of black academics wrote an open letter to the National School Boards Association and local school boards across the country, pushing them to abandon Critical Race Theory-inspired curriculum.
“1776 Unites,” an organization that offers curriculum to counter The New York Time’s “1619 Project,” 21 black scholars slammed Critical Race Theory and the “narrative of racial grievances” are having a “damaging effect” on low income and minority children.
“The prevailing narrative of racial grievances has been corrupting the instruction of American history and the humanities for many decades, but has accelerated dangerously over the past year,” the letter reads. “The most damaging effects of such instruction fall on lower income minority children, who are implicitly told that they are helpless victims with no power or agency to shape their own futures.”
The signees are part of a nonpartisan, “intellectually diverse” group of black-led writers, educators, activists, and thinkers who are “focused on solutions to our country’s greatest challenges in education, culture, race relations, and upward mobility.” Thinkers like Bob Woodson, the creator of “1776 Unites,” and John McWhorter, an associate professor at Columbia University, are among the group.
According to the letter, the scholars believe it is ridiculous that teachers allow the “racial grievance” narrative to dominate nearly every classroom, despite the fact that data shows that only a small percentage of American students meet or exceed proficiency standards in civics and history classes.
Read about our efforts to provide empowering, historically-accurate curriculum to students nationwide!
(Though, #1776Unites is not all conservatives!)https://t.co/O5KvQ3HrpZ
— 1776Unites (@1776Unites) August 17, 2021
For example, on the civics assessment, only 24% of eighth-graders in the United States met or exceeded the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) proficiency standards, and only 15% of students met the NAEP proficiency standards for the history assessment.
“These dismal achievements in gaining an understanding of democratic citizenship, government, historical facts and perspectives across time are low across all student backgrounds and virtually unchanged from the benchmarks established two decades ago,” the letter reads.
For its existing curricula, the organization offers three tenets.
The first is “continuity, not rupture,” which means asking teachers to teach about the harsh realities of slavery while reminding students that slavery is un-American.
The second is “Dignity not grievances,” which proclaims that black people can create their own destinies unhindered by other ethnic groups and hardships.
The final tenet is “resilience, not fragility,” which contends that understanding historical black people’s accomplishments can help current students better understand their responsibilities as American citizens.
_______________________________________________
Download ‘The Scoop TV’ video streaming app, the Conservative Alternative to Netflix!
- If you have an iPhone, click here to download the iPhone app from the Apple App Store.
- Or if you have an Android phone, click here to download the Android app from the Google Play Store
