Epilogue (4/11/2022): This issue of CRT being snuck into the Freshman English curriculum was the subject of several speakers and a large portion of the Delegate Question and Answer period at the 2021 SAA Constituency Meeting. Follow these links for more on this topic and other issues of concern raised at that meeting: Constituency Delegate Q&A on Critical Race Theory & Political Bias:
Original Post:
Lillian Hepburn-Richmond (LHR) has received contact from a parent reporting that the highly controversial and divisive "Critical Race Theory" has been snuck into the high school English curriculum for SAA freshmen (14-15 year olds), and possibly juniors too. This was done by providing students with large portions (40 or more pages) of highly controversial and divisive material from "So You Want to Talk About Race?" by Ijeoma Oluo, without either notice to parents or their consent. Among other claims, the author calls herself an atheist, uses profanity at times in the text, declares the USA to be a white supremacist country, that everything imaginable is actually about race, presumes that white people are inherently racist in need of punishment and correction, and that all racial minorities are inherently victims in need of help. One long portion of the text, which appears to have been photographed (possibly in violation of copyright) spends approximately 10 pages detailing "microaggressions." The concerned parent also reported that many students were very uncomfortable with the material, and that many parents are very upset and unhappy about it. The authority or protocol to quietly inject this material into an SDA school's classroom of 14-15 year old children has not been clearly explained. Parents have complained. Thus far there is no resolution that is satisfactory to the reporting parent.
How does this fit into a Christian, SDA education?
Had you been notified or asked, would you have agreed for your child to be exposed to this material?
Has SAA administration or its Board reported anything to the school community about this?
This is a perfect example of why the "Eyes on SAA" blog is so necessary.
LHR thanks the concerned parent for contacting us with this report. We are certain that there is more to this story, and so we encourage all other concerned parents to use this blog as a means of communication for such matters. We will respect your requests for confidentiality to protect you from retaliation by the school authorities or other members of the school community. LHR will continue to follow this story and update with posts to the blog.
- Lillian Hepburn-Richmond (a cohort of concerned parents)