Critical Race Theory and Education Talk at the Mercantile Library
Thursday May 12, 2022, 6 pm reception/6:30 pm program.
There has been increasing legislation across the country challenging how educators teach about diversity, equity and inclusion in their classrooms. Laws against teaching so-called critical race theory (CRT) have been already passed in several states across the country including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. There is much misinformation about what critical race theory is and to what extent it is being taught in K-12 schools. Educators across the nation on both sides of the political aisle have been resistant to the legislation, as it limits what they can teach and further, much of the legislation includes harsh repercussions for those who teach material that violates the ambiguous laws being put forth. As a result, Democracy and Me educational coordinator Dr. David Childs is giving a free talk at the Mercantile Library entitled Understanding Critical Race Theory and Education: Making the Case for a More Diverse Curriculum.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced plans to ban the teaching of critical
race theory in Florida public schools, which has been prohibited
by a Board of Education rule since June. No Florida public schools
teach the theory. Screenshot From The Florida Channel
The mercantile library website gives the following description of Dr. Childs’ talk.
“There has been a growing push for legislation banning so-called critical race theory (CRT) and diversity and equity curricula in public schools and universities. Multiple states have already passed some sort of law against teaching CRT in K-12 schools. What is critical race theory? Are our schools overrun by this theory? Is it taking the place of the important subjects? Does critical race theory teach our students that all white people are bad? Dr. David Childs will highlight the tenets of CRT, discussing what it is and what it is not? He will also discuss the extent that it is actually being taught in public schools and universities. Within that conversation, Dr. Childs will highlight the importance of a more diverse social studies and language arts curriculum. Dr. Childs will also discuss his new historical fiction young adult novel “Escaping from Home: A Novel about Slavery and Freedom” designed to address issues of equity and racial justice. He wrote the novel for classroom use and to teach the public about diversity and African American history.”
Free & open to the public. Registration required.
Starting off, it is great to hear that Dr. David Childs was able to give this talk at the Mercantile Library. I have been there for a couple talks, and they are all very interesting and seem to reach a great crowd. Teaching Critical Race Theory in schools has to be very hard, but I believe it is something that should be done to an extent. The kids need to be old enough to fully understand the subject they are learning, so beginning to teach this in kindergarten, seems pointless. Starting in maybe 3rd or 4th grade would make more sense. I also think that it is wrong for the certain group of states that have banned the teaching of this because as I stated earlier, these topics are very important to learn about.
The article that I selected was “Critical Race Theory and Education Talk at the Mercantile Library”. This article was written about Critical Race Theory and where it stands in education today. There are laws that are put in place in several states to not teach this theory. For example. the governor of Florida wat to ban the theory. Many educators are on the fence about teaching about critical race theory. Dr. David Childs is talking about this theory at the Mercantile Library for free. Dr. Childs stated, “What is critical race theory? Are our schools overrun by this theory? Is it taking the place of the important subjects? Does critical race theory teach our students that all white people are bad?” Some people may think that talking about race and intersectionality may cause certain races look bad. Dr. Childs expresses that education needs to be more diverse and spoke about his about his young adult novel.
Teaching diversity and Critical race Theory in schools always seems like a difficult thing to do. On one hand, you want to inform the children as much as you can. But on the other hand, you don’t want the children to know too much and start to treat others who look different in a poor way. However, I was unaware of the laws that are being passed to prevent such education. This is dumb to me though; not educating the children just because it is a sensitive topic is not acceptable. Human reproduction is uncomfortable to teach, however, we do it anyway because we have to know those things to live better. The same is with this topic.
When it comes to teaching diversity and Critical race Theory in schools I was unaware of the laws that are being passed to prevent such education. I feel that this should be taught in schools as this is part of the reason that we continue to have racism today. Lack of education in our youth grows up to be lack of education in our adults and the vicious cycle will continue if we do not grasp it at the forefront.