A Wisconsin high school is under fire after a parent accused a diversity class of promoting a critical race theory, alleging that students are being taught that minorities are disadvantaged by white oppressors, Fox News reports.
Delavan-Darien High School’s “American Diversity” course aims to help students “better understand oneself and recognize how feelings, ideas and beliefs interact with the ideas and beliefs of other individuals and groups,” according to the school’s website. By studying American society through the connections among culture, ethnicity, race, religion and gender issues, the course seeks to “create a more accurate picture of modern America.”
But an unnamed parent tells Fox News that assignments and class worksheets seem like “indoctrination.” A handout gives students a definition of “white privilege” being describe as: In critical race theory, white privilege is a set of advantages that are believed to be enjoyed by white people beyond those commonly experienced by non-white people in the same social, political, and economic spaces (nation, community, workplace, income, etc.). Theorists differentiate it from racism or prejudice because, they say, a person who may benefit from white privilege is not necessarily racist or prejudiced and may be unaware of having any privileges reserved only for whites.
To apply the lesson to the real world, students were allegedly told to go to a Wal-Mart and count the number of dolls in the toy section that represented blacks versus whites. Superintendent Robert Crist says there is merit to parental concern.
“A lot of red flags go up in my mind when I look at the materials,” Crist told Fox News. “Ideally, you would want to present one theory that might be way on the left and another theory that may be way on the right and if you find one in the middle you can present that too … now you have a well-rounded discussion, in my opinion.”
The course will not be offered at the school again until the district evaluates the curriculum.
Sound off should “White Privilege” classes be taught in school?
