Letter: The Road is Paved with Good Intentions

By Greenwich Sentinel
Letters to the Editor

In 2008 President Obama had this to say about Critical Race Theory (CRT) ideas:

“They expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America;” [1]

The ideas President Obama referred to are not the arcane Critical Race Theory (CRT) from the 1970s, but rather how CRT is put into practice by controversial CRT disciples like Jeremiah Wright, Ibram X. Kendi, Robin DiAngelo, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ta-Nehisi Coates and others. Their ideas ARE being pushed into our schools under misleading names like anti-racism, anti-bias and social justice by educators who don’t understand what they are supporting.

Parents in Greenwich are right to be concerned: So-called anti-racism is racist; it is CRT-derived and does not teach kindness or tolerance. It teaches mistrust, and its policies are harmful to those it claims to help. [2]

John McWhorter, a Columbia professor and NY Times columnist puts it this way:

“people of a certain ideology are attempting to transform this country on the basis of racism. They do not know it and, when apprised of it, cannot admit it. But the rest of us must.” [3]

Sadly, these racist anti-racism/CRT principles have become big business as well as politically expedient.

The website of Greenwich Curriculum provider Second Step and the similar Pacific Educational Group provide a complete reference to anti-racism indoctrination. [4]

Here are the basic beliefs of anti-racism/CRT:

America was founded in racism and is today a systemically racist and white supremacist country (e.g., the 1619 Project)
All whites are innately, subconsciously, and uncontrollably racists (e.g., implicit bias)
Our laws and systems, having been written by racist whites, are racist (e.g., systemic racism)
All disparities in outcome measured by race are proof of the above (e.g., police brutality)
Because of the above we must institutionalize race-based thinking (Kendi)

Senator Tim Scott calls this “an agenda that tears us apart.” [5] Many others agree. [6]

The idea that all people of any race share a characteristic is racist. Therefore, the idea all whites are racist is racist. Black and Brown Conservatives who oppose anti-racism/CRT nonsense are attacked as “race traitors.” [7] The concept of being a race traitor is racist. If that’s still not enough, see Ibram Kendi’s assertion that “The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination.” [8] Institutionalized discrimination is racist.

If history has taught us anything it is that you can’t cure bias with more bias. The only cures for bias are reason and knowledge. In the 1960s a famous Muslim religious scholar put it this way:

“Better the bias of the sympathetic human than the [social] justice of the ass … Beware of people who say, “we must have bias, if it is a bias toward good.” The fact is that we must have a bias toward knowledge for it is only knowledge that will destroy bias.” [9]

The recipe is age-old: define supporters as oppressed by “the System” which is a conspiracy of the others who are evil. Invent pseudo-scientific jargon to create a sense of us vs. them. In this case, it’s “implicit bias” among whites. Whites who disagree are suffering from fear called “white fragility.” Others who disagree are race-traitors, white-assimilating, white-adjacent or white-passing. Predictably, all these racist terms are called anti-racism and those who buy into this call themselves woke.

Racism by the Khmer Rouge, Rwandans, Janjaweed, KKK, Turks and too many others always cloaks itself as justice in support of the oppressed. That mask is eventually pulled off, but often only after tremendous damage is done.

Greenwich Parents are concerned and upset because there is an effort to push these harmful ideas in schools by misguided teachers who think they’re doing the right thing. [10]

Politically minded locals label parents who object as “far right.” [11]

While it is a positive sign that the Administration and Board of Education are listening to parents’ concerns, they have moved grudgingly and not far enough. As shockingly demonstrated in the receipts from Freedom of Information Act requests this year, the principles of CRT are infact being taught to our children through the curriculum, teacher training, conferences and lesson plans used at Greenwich Public Schools.

The Board of Education (BOE) must act.

Children should NEVER be divided by nor taught that race is a primary focus, nor taught they or others are inherently racist. Instead, children SHOULD be told that their integrity, diligence, resilience, persistence, work ethic, sportsmanship, empathy, reason, and any of the vast array of character traits which define us as individuals are much more significant than skin color. To the extent teachers discuss race they should confine themselves to the notion that all people are equal under the law, regardless of race. Other questions of Race, Sexuality or Social and Emotional development should be referred to parents, even if those parents are not politically like-minded.

We should teach all historical evils and that there is room for improvement, but we should also teach that past evils do not define us, and that the arc of history is one of continuous improvement. [14]

Mr. Simpa Baiye

[1] Obama speech 2008:

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/us/politics/18text-obama.html

[2] So called “anti-racism” is harmful to those it claims to help

https://thedispatch.com/p/how-anti-racism-is-derailing-efforts

https://www.wsj.com/articles/critical-race-theory-is-the-opposite-of-education-11624293824

https://www.thecollegefix.com/black-law-scholar-explains-how-critical-race-theory-is-a-dangerous-and-destructive-ideology/

https://johnmcwhorter.substack.com/p/you-are-not-a-racist-to-criticize

[3] McWhorter: Woke Racism. How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America.

https://www.amazon.com/Woke-Racism-Religion-Betrayed-America-ebook/dp/B095JLK96B

[4] Second Step teaches and promotes CRT Concepts.

https://www.secondstep.org/anti-racism-and-anti-bias-resources