Posted on January 16, 2013

Public School Teaches “White Privilege” Class

Todd Starnes, Fox News, January 15, 2013

A school district in Wisconsin said they will review a high school diversity class that exposed students to radical leftist thinkers and promoted a critical race theory that alleges white people are oppressors.

The “American Diversity” class was taught to students at Delavan-Darien High School in Wisconsin, Fox News has learned.

“They’re teaching white guilt,” one parent told Fox News. “They’re dividing the students. They’re saying to non-whites, ‘You have been oppressed and you’re still being oppressed.’”

The parent, who asked not to be identified, has an 18-year-old son who was enrolled in the class and became alarmed after she looked at some of the handouts provided to the students.

“I felt it was indoctrination,” she said. “This is a radical left agenda and ideology that is now embedded in our school.”

The parent said the students were taught “if you’re white, you’re oppressing. If you’re non white, you’ve been a victim.”

According to handouts obtained by Fox News, “white privilege” was defined as “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.)”

Students were also given a handout from University of Texas professor Robert Jensen arguing that people don’t have complete control over their fate.

“There is not space here to list all the ways in which white privilege plays out in our lives, but it is clear that I will carry this privilege with me until the day white supremacy is erased from society,” he wrote.

{snip}

She brought the material to the attention of school officials and eventually to Robert Crist, the new superintendent of the Delavan-Darien School District.

“A lot of red flags go up in my mind when I look at the materials,” Crist told Fox News. “Her concern has merit.”

{snip}

Crist said he believes the class was being taught long before he became superintendent. The course is currently undergoing an evaluation.

“The class will not be taught again until that process is fully complete,” Crist said.

{snip}

At the same time, Crist said schools have a responsibility to prepare students for the real world.

“There are a lot of radical people in our country and across the world,” he said. “They need to be ideally attuned to some of the different thought patterns that different cultures may have.”

But did the teacher cross the line?

“Ideally a teacher is not supposed to share their own viewpoint,” Crist said. “With this type of class, the teacher looks for controversial items like that to stimulate the kids into discussing things in regard to cultural diversity.”

The parent said that’s all well and good — but the teacher only offered students one perspective and were not allowed to debate the theory.

{snip}