Teachers Falsely Accused of Presenting CRT Should Sue for Discrimination | by Walter Rhein | Cultured
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Conservatives are calling everything CRT to target and purge schools of minority educators
CC BY 2.0Wikimedia Commons
Right-wing hysteria over critical race theory is out of control.
Too often, rational people elect to "sit the fight out" and let the craziness blow over. That's fine for them, but the reality is that a lot of good people in the United States are being made to suffer because of this passive response.
Conservatives don't even know what critical race theory is. But they've made the term into a knife and they are using it to sever minority educators from the ranks of teachers.
Anti-CRT activists keep the working definition vague, so they can essentially call anything CRT on a whim and be assured they'll be taken seriously.
Minorities are already underrepresented in education. The way educational systems are structured, it only takes a single parent to make a single complaint about any classroom content and the teacher is gone.
To make matters worse, the teacher will likely never know the name of his or her accuser.
School boards unfairly issue dismissals without ever mentioning CRT. With anti-CRT activists winning school board elections, this is only going to become more common.
Teachers have to be encouraged to fight back, particularly minority teachers who are being unfairly targeted. The truth is that nobody is teaching CRT in public schools. Any teacher that is let go on a false accusation of teaching CRT needs to sue that school district for discrimination.
You deserve to face your accuser.
You deserve to have the accusations against you legally spelled out in court.
We can no longer allow anyone to make important decisions that affect people's lives based on ignorant and inaccurate accusations of what constitutes critical race theory.
Public school systems don't offer sufficient protections for teachers
I've worked in education. In some ways, it's just a half step removed from working in politics. A few loud mouths can get in and have a devastating effect on what responsible people are trying to achieve.
The one thing principals and school boards fear is getting sued. Unfortunately, they'll take a lot of rash and sometimes unfair actions in order to sidestep conflict.
But sometimes we need conflict. Sometimes we have to stand up to the crazy racists in our community who demand the heads of minorities for absolutely no valid reason.
Take the case of Kim Morrison of Greenfield High School who lost her job over a worksheet about racism.
In late February, [Kim] Morrison said she was called to the office of high school principal Jennifer Roberts and told there had been complaints from parents.
"That first meeting, when she showed me that she had a copy of the handout and she wanted to know the context, she said the people she's hearing from said that this is CRT," Morrison recalled. "I said 'Well, it's not CRT. I don't know what CRT is because I didn't go to law school and we didn't cover it in grad school. This isn't it.
"I said discussing racism is not CRT and she said she understood but that this is what she is hearing." — Claudette Riley
The kind of lazy thinking that is demonstrated by the above paragraph is absolutely shocking. The principal admits that the worksheet is not CRT, but she still has to respond to the concerns of the parents.
Incidentally, the response of Kim Morrison is brilliant when she says she never went to law school and didn't study CRT. She's right. False accusations of teaching CRT need to be dismissed out of hand.
They're absurd.
They're undefined.
It's not happening!
The dishonest strategy of anti-CRT activists
We're basically at the point where an art teacher could be accused of presenting CRT by handing out a box of crayons that included the color black. Yet, the way our educational system is structured, if a parent complains, no matter how absurd the complaint, the teacher is likely to be disciplined.
We can't have teachers losing their jobs over unsubstantiated accusations. If principals and school boards start to see a trend where these unfair dismissals lead to discrimination lawsuits, then we could work towards defining CRT accurately within the legal system.
One obstacle is that even though teachers are being unfairly fired for teaching CRT, the school boards are usually smart enough not to put that in writing. This again underscores the fundamental dishonesty of the system.
Question: If you're firing me on the baseless accusation that I taught CRT, then why won't you put that in writing?
Answer: Because you know it's wrong. You're ashamed of your actions. You know they represent discrimination.
Why should parents who look like this have more of a say as to who teaches your children than you do?:
CC BY 2.0Wikimedia Commons
Why are insane ideas so widely covered in the media?
It's important for everyone in our country to get a sense of how dangerous all the false chatter about CRT actually is.
Fringe individuals are working themselves up into a frenzy. These people then write personal manifestos and send them to local educators and newspapers.
Sometimes these manifestos contain false accusations. Sometimes they contain death threats.
When misinformed people sit down and start writing, they destroy the lives of responsible people. Why do major publications give these horrible people a platform? Why do they assist in the spread of lies, false accusations and misinformation?
Take this excerpt from a horrible article titled "Some parents have real concerns about anti-white bigotry they see from Ky teachers":
CRT doesn't exists in Kentucky public schools but I can go to Calloway County and find teachers that get on their personal social media accounts to announce "white, cis men should sit this one out," and that white Kentuckians are "inherently racist."
I can go to Knox County and find teachers that say it is the "responsibility of white Americans" to "do better," "check their privilege," and that "old white men should step aside."
But CRT doesn't exist — Will Simpson
This entire article is filled with illogical and backwards thinking, yet it was published in a major newspaper! In the paragraphs featured above, the author takes certain phrases he claims he saw on private social media accounts and attempts to use this as part of a conspiracy theory to suggest teachers present CRT without any evidence!
Notice that the author does not provide any screen shots of these supposed statements. The author does not provide any definitions of what constitutes CRT. The author does not provide any examples of course material that substantiate his accusations.
Instead, he just goes on a hysterical tirade about anti-white racism based on an insistence that he knows it's out there, and the paper published his article!
This article is so baseless, dangerous, and unhinged that it should have gone straight in the trash. Instead, it was given a wide platform to influence people.
Decent people might unfairly lose their job over this! It's not right. Our media gives far too much clout to the ideas of ignorant and deranged individuals at the expense of rational, productive members of our society.
Anti-CRT activists have turned schools into a hostile environment
I have people in my family who are completely ignorant. They're uneducated. Yet, they always have the energy to write long diatribes on social media, or attend school board meetings, or make baseless accusations against good, responsible teachers or any other rational members of our community.
One problem with American society is that crazy actions always make the headlines. Horrible people commit terrible atrocities, destroy lives, and are never held responsible for their behavior.
In the last few years, we've seen our justice department drag its feet prosecuting those individuals who attempted to overthrow the government on January 6th. Yet, if you are a teacher and some random, nameless parent falsely accuses you of teaching CRT, you're likely to get your pink slip that afternoon.
It's not right.
It's at the point where teachers have to consider their workplace a hostile environment. If you're called into the office to discuss a worksheet a parent claims represents CRT, you need to insist that accusation is provided in writing. You need to gather evidence for why you're facing discipline. Then, if you lose your job, you need to sue the district.
Make them say the words, "You're being fired for teaching CRT."
Then nail them because you DIDN'T teach CRT.
American society needs a major philosophy shift
We can't sit back and passively allow good teachers to be disciplined over false accusations. That you're an activist for social justice on social media isn't a proof that you're bringing CRT into classrooms.
The worst part is that the type of people who attack CRT are often those that will say giving a Nazi salute is protected under the Constitution.
"A parent did a Nazi salute at a school board because they thought the policies were oppressive!" Then [Ted Cruz] asked Garland, "Is doing a Nazi salute… protected by the First Amendment?"
Garland responded calmly, "Yes, it is." — Frida Ghitis
Where are the opinion pieces demanding the dismissal of individuals who post defenses of the Nazi salute on their social media? Rational people must be writing them. We can only conclude that major newspapers refuse to print those articles!
Our justice system is sympathetic to right-wing violence
Another problem facing teachers falsely accused of teaching CRT is that, again and again, the American justice system has demonstrated a sympathy for right-wing agitators. This was most recently seen in the mistrial of the men accused of a plot against Michigan's governor.
Prosecutors said the men planned to abduct [Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer] from her holiday home, conduct some kind of "treason trial" and set her adrift in a boat on Lake Michigan.
But lawyers for the accused countered that the scheme was mostly "smoke and mirrors", profane talk by angry and disillusioned men — BBC.com
This is a case that involved evidence gathered by the FBI and it led to zero consequences! Meanwhile, teachers have to be worried about being deprived of their livelihood because they hand out a worksheet that contains the words "racially privileged."
Since when are threats to murder an elected politician just "profane talk?"
It's a crime to threaten people!
It's not a crime to discuss racism in schools!
Yet teachers are held accountable and people who threaten politicians are free to have their diatribes and false accusations published in major papers.
They have an influence! Anti-CRT activists win elections.
It has to stop.
What we are doing versus what we need to do
One sad result of all this is that the passive response is to remove all talk of racism from the classroom. Many teachers are, in effect, handing the anti-CRT activists a victory uncontested.
Our children need to be educated on the realities of racism in our country. A failure to discuss racism in the classroom represents a terrible defeat for our whole community.
Even worse, the passive response further entrenches the existing mechanism of prosecuting innocent, rational people without evidence. We need to push back against that strategy.
Teachers should not lose their job over lazy, unfounded accusations because principals and school board members prefer to brush conflict under the rug rather than fight for justice. Fighting for justice is an inherent part of their job! If a teacher is fired on false and vague accusations of teaching CRT, that teacher has a valid legal case for unlawful dismissal on the grounds of discrimination.
We're only at the start of this fight, but the passive response is not going to make it go away. A year from now when there's a mound of statistics proving that only minority teachers are let go and that CRT was never proved or defined, it will be too late.
School districts cannot be allowed to fire good teachers because a couple irrational, fringe members of the community are confused about what constitutes critical race theory. This problem isn't going to go away if we ignore it. We have to find our voice and defend our good teachers.
Our children deserve better than to receive their education from a wave of new hires who defend their constitutional right to give the Nazi salute on their social media pages. Somehow, teachers like that seem to be entrenched in the school system forever.
It's not right.
Speak out.
Defend the good teachers.
Sue districts that dismiss teachers based on false accusations of presenting CRT. Settle this in court. Make them define the terms. Help educate the country.
Conservative CRT Hysteria Is Designed to Purge Black Teachers From Schools
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The far right in America is terrorizing teachers and school administrators by threatening them, their families and their jobs just for doing their jobs as well as they were meant to. The same basic American History that we all learned in school is now falsely being labeled Critical Race Theory!
The far right wing has been trying to shut down public education for decades and shift it to private institutions that have little to no oversite where THEY get to dictate what children learn while the tax payers still have to pay. They can't think past the ends of their own biases. First, it will kill off rural schools much like for profit health care has left rural areas behind. Second, it threatens the long term success when those children hit the job markets.
Bingo...
Really? How much have Republicans cut from public educate while controlling Congress? School funding must be much lower than it was decades ago, right?
most of the thumper fucks that have tried that shit in my state eventually ended up renting a u-haul.
Quit thinking I'm dumb. We all know about the push from Republicans on vouchers and Charter Schools.
The amount of money spent on education since 1980 (or whatever time frame you meant ) has massively increased and has coincided with more Republican power at the federal level To claim Republicans have been trying to "shut it down" while spending more and more money on schools, it is simply dishonest. It has no basis in reality and you can't show a single serious attempt by Republicans to shut down public schools.
It is a wild claim, one that certainly can't be substantiated with facts.
There are many, many links to articles across the internet going back since long before NewsTalkers was a thing until present that documents the expansion of voucher programs and the rise of charter schools. It insults your own intelligence to suggest that these efforts are not about curriculum control. The far right lost on segregation, they lost on prayer in school, they lost on intelligent design, they lost on trans bathrooms, they will lose on fake CRT claims. All the push that diverts money from public schools only ends up hurting rural communities who most need it. They have less voices trying to help them than inner city schools.
Wrong, not in rural northern Michigan districts. Now in some our more urban districts, like the Detroit area, they are losing schools. Have been for years as people escape liberal shitholes like that.
Horseshit, many private and parochial schools have been outperforming public schools long before Charters schools made their entrance to the game.
Stop trying to propagate union lies.
to suggest that these efforts are not about curriculum control.
So now it's not about shutting down public schools, its about "curriculum control."
so progressives don't care about controlling the curriculum. Is that what you are arguing? That's not going to work either.
One leads to the other. Got another squirrel?
Stop trying to miss represent my comments.
Stop trying to spread bullshit and I could.
I'm seeing it now. I work in an industry where it's very important to pay attention to detail and use critical thinking and also pay attention to what your trainer is telling you. I see the same mistakes made over and over and over and I'm past the point of banging my head on the wall
Sure, sure... De Nile is just a river.
Go for it.
I’m sure the discovery phase of such lawsuits would be very illuminating.
Might be a good idea to get the folk that worry about historical occurrences explain what their concerns are rather than flouting a piece of cardboard with three letters on it.
Great idea but that would require them to actually think about what their real concerns are
Always the 'Catch 22', right?
Additionally, a lot of these nutjobs are accusing teachers and administrators of "grooming" kids, which I think is probably an even more despicable accusation than the CRT nonsense.
Does, "Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness", sound like a suggestion?
Was that one of "The Ten Suggestions"? If so, I didn't know. Did you?
Seems to me it was right up there with do not steal and do not kill...
always amusing and ironic when tge left complains someone is doing the same thing the left has done for the last 6 years
These people aren’t genuinely religious. They’re political.
If you can’t see that many teachers and admins are actively trying both those things, you haven’t been paying attention.
And you’re smarter than that.
Parents don’t want schools to indoctrinate their kids. They want them to be educated.
No, please. You’re smarter than that. Come back to the real world.
Teachers have a hard enough time just teaching 2+2 to a roomful of energetic maniacs who lose their pencils, want a drink, need to go to the bathroom, can’t stop talking to their bestie, or miss their mommies. They don’t have time or energy for something as nefarious or esoteric as Critical Race Theory or sexual grooming.
Almost every teacher working in K-12 is just some lower middle class slob with a bachelor’s degree trying to make it from paycheck to paycheck. They have neither the inclination nor the luxury of indoctrinating their students into these boogeyman ideologies.
At MINIMUM, people need to stop with such accusations unless they have hard evidence. Too many of these accusations (i.e.: 99.99999999% of them) are based on “I heard” or “someone told me” or “everybody knows.”
One wonders if you are being willfully ignorant or just pushing a narrative. I’m guessing the former as I get tired of hearing how bad teachers have it and I know you aren’t stupid. Perhaps the chip on shoulder on this topic is simply too large to overcome.
First and foremost no one forced them to be teachers. A good teacher is worth their weight in gold but get over it. It’s just a job choice just like any other. They can leave it anytime like any other.
Second, the assertion they are underpaid just doesn’t ring true. Not around here anyway. Average teacher compensation here is nearly 40% higher than the areas average. Not a bad gig for 9/10 months work. Not bad at all. Certainly not pay check to pay check in comparison to the rest. Especially when many of them have a side gig going in the summer. I never had the luxury of having time for a summer side gig. Most jobs don’t allow for that luxury.
And lastly do you have an online presence? A simple google search yields teachers and school districts all over the country proudly pushing an indoctrination/CRT agenda. It’s hard to miss. Really really hard to miss.
Meaning what? You can accuse them of any horrible thing without evidence, and it’s fine?
I didn’t assert that they were underpaid. I suggested that they were just working slobs making ordinary money and they don’t have the luxury to worry about the things some people say they are prioritizing.
None of that justifies accusing someone of “grooming” children without some SERIOUS evidence.
What search? Wiki? Twitter? My friend’s cousin’s best friend’s mom said? Some wackjob who thinks an ordinary lesson about slavery or civil rights is “indoctrination?” Cowards who think that acknowledging a child’s gay parents equals “grooming?”
Again, produce real evidence of wrongdoing and present it to proper authorities or stop with the McCarthyism.
And what one goofy teacher might do in no way tells us anything about all the other teachers in a school, district, or country.
False accusations of indoctrination and grooming can destroy the careers and lives of good teachers. Americans should know better.
Yeah, you just want to argue. Most comments speak for themselves. You have a nice day now ya hear!
That's rich...
Thx ..... coming from you that’s priceless
You're a teacher, aren't you?
"Conservatives Are Calling Everything CRT To Target And Purge Schools Of Minority Educators"
The first sentence of the article is enough to show the whole article is bullshit.
Community organizers are not teachers. Social activists are not teachers. And racism, whether or not it is CRT, is not an educational subject of instruction for primary education.