A well-known defender of critical race theory has modified her approach to broaching the topic in a new Washington Post op-ed.
Meena Harris' article comes at a crucial moment in the debate over CRT.
Harris is Vice President Kamala Harris' niece.
In her op-ed, Harris accuses conservative lawmakers of preventing teachers from “discussing racism, equity and justice in classrooms.” She adds that progressives often don't have “explicit plans to discuss anti-racism” with schoolchildren.
But there may be a workaround outside the classroom.
As Fox News reports:
Harris called for families nationwide to “start taking time at home to discuss the injustices that shaped our nation's past, the work still to be done in our present, and the values that should define our future.”
SEE ALSO: Virginia Dept. of Education Promoted Critical Race Theory Despite Repeated Denials
Harris went on to recommend a children's version of “The 1619 Project” co-authored by Nikole Hannah-Jones called “Born on the Water” as well as “Your Legacy” by Broadway director Schele Williams, saying those books “offer honest depictions of our nation's racist past and empowering narratives for children of color” and “can help Black and Brown kids understand a key tenet of anti-racism from an early age: thinking critically and questioning the status quo.”
She also recommended parents to read the original “The 1619 Project” as part of “unlearning our own biases.”
SEE ALSO: Biden Moms Tell CNN Why They Voted Republican
“It's crucial that their White classmates learn about our country's past and the ways it informs our present — so they can be strong, anti-racist allies both inside and outside of the classroom,” Harris wrote. “Parents and children alike could benefit from cracking open a book like ‘Born on the Water' or ‘Your Legacy.' Because far more powerful than any attempt to erase history is a movement of conscientious families willing to face it head on.”
Are you concerned that your children or grandchildren might be exposed to controversial or inappropriate material in public school this year? As always, tell us in the comments below!
I don’t want to see kids grow up to be unpatriotic because of the bias’ of their teachers. My two nephews recently learned their state capitals and were shocked that Ohio and South Carolina named theirs in honor of Christopher Columbus. But he’s a “racist,” according to their teacher. He also lived 500 years ago. Living half a millennia ago would be like living on a different planet for us. One problem with judging the past by today’s standards is that the critique never ends. Today, activists condemn Columbus for holding ideas that were completely acceptable in his lifetime. They gleefully ignore his achievements that changed history forever. Tomorrow, they’ll go after Abraham Lincoln for some made-up slight. How will the future’s social justice warriors judge us, and who will judge them?
Exactly when are the majority in this country going to rise up and say enough of this CRT crap. No American alive today suffered any time as a slave. Trying to throw all this “racist” stuff in everyone’s face is only going to make more people resent the blacks, and other minorities, and could well lead to more racist feelings in this country. The way this country is divided we are sitting on a powder keg, and that keg is ready to explode. When it does we will have another full blown civil/race war that will pretty well shatter this country.
How about if Meena Harris and Nikole Hannah-Jones make a trip to Africa to hold their ancestors accountable for selling their own into slavery? My family came here as immigrants and doesn’t owe their families or them anything. In fact, most people today did not have families that participated in slavery and do not owe anything to those who are not now experiencing nor have ever experienced slavery themselves.
I wonder if these books mention that it was the Western culture that eliminated slavery; that the US was the 2nd country in the world to outlaw slave trading; that Republicans fought a civil war over slavery 120 years ago; that slavery existed long before Columbus – who do you think built the pyramids; that slavery existed between tribes in the New World, it wasn’t some sort of garden of Eden before Columbus arrived?
CRT is nothing more than classic “ideological subversion” invented by the soviet KGB and used by socialists and communists for decades to spread their destructive propaganda. It always involves some form of claim that, in order to fix the [insert straw man here] problem, society as we know it must be destroyed and rebuilt. The ugly truth is that purveyors of this propaganda have only one aim — to increase their power and influence. They could not care less about “fixing” anything.
I have news for commie Harris, her racist niece, and Emperor Biden, it is not just conservative politicians, it is all conservatives she has to worry about. Doing away with laws as they think should be done for some reason will unchain these forces and remove the only barriers keeping many of these would be tyrants in their “cat bird’s seat” and in good health.
It should be clear to everyone that social biases and discrimination exists. They always have and likely always will. There should be open and honest discussions of this/these facts at home, in schools and churches and in the public forum.
We can not change the color of our skins but we can moderate the vitriol about and toward those who don’t look like us. Probably the most difficult transition to make is the willingness of subordinate social groups to conform to mores and folkways of the majority of our culture. Too many citizens hold on to the residuals of their primary cultures and attempt to impose those behaviors and attitudes on the rest of society. If people continue to place more emphasis on being ” black or Jewish or Christian or Latin or Anglo” than American, we will be bound in conflict perpetually.
We are all in this together. Let’s quit being ignorant and selfish and recognize our differences and the need for compromise to make our lives better for all.