NC school board members clash over how to teach history and whether the US is racist
Republican State Board of Education members charged Wednesday that proposed social studies standards are “anti-American” and will teach North Carolina public school students that the nation is oppressive and racist.
The board on Wednesday reviewed new K-12 social studies standards that include language such as having teachers discuss racism, discrimination and the perspectives of marginalized groups. Multiple GOP board members argued that the new standards are divisive and have a leftist political agenda.
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, said that the standards would inaccurately teach that the United States is a racist nation.
“The system of government that we have in this nation is not systematically racist,” Robinson said. “In fact, it is not racist at all.”
Robinson noted how he’s the state’s first Black lieutenant governor and that the United States previously had elected a Black president.
State board member Amy White said North Carolina social studies teachers should be telling students that America is the greatest nation on Earth. She blamed the news media for promoting an anti-American viewpoint.
“While I think some of the revisions have been helpful, I still see an agenda that is anti-American, anti-capitalism, anti-democracy,” said White, who was appointed by former GOP Gov. Pat McCrory. She is a former social studies teacher.
But board members appointed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and the board’s advisors were more supportive of the new standards. The state board is scheduled to vote on the standards next week.
“By having these standards, that means that every one of our kids in every classroom in North Carolina is going to get the same standardized social studies education with those multiple viewpoints and those multiple perspectives included,” said Maureen Stover, a board advisor and 2020 North Carolina Teacher of the Year.
Stover, who teaches in Cumberland County, was named Wednesday one of four finalists for National Teacher of the Year. The winner will be announced in the spring.
Standards go through multiple changes
Wednesday’s debate marks the latest chapter in the struggle over how best to teach the state’s 1.5 million public school students about social studies.
The state board periodically reviews and revises the standards used in different subjects. North Carolina is consolidating U.S. history in high school from two courses into one class to make room for a new personal finance course required by state lawmakers.
The latest standards have gone through multiple drafts, including an earlier one that would have had third-grade students study how monuments such as Confederate statues are valued by their community.
In July, the state board voted to delay adoption to give the state Department of Public Instruction more time to ensure diversity and inclusion in the standards.
Examples of new language presented earlier this month include:
▪ Eighth-grade classes would explain how the experiences and achievements of women, minorities, indigenous and marginalized groups have contributed to the development of the state and nation over time.
▪ Civics students would interpret historical and current perspectives on the evolution of individual rights in America over time, including women, tribal, racial, religious, gender identity and ability.
▪ Civics students would learn about “inequities, injustice, and discrimination within the American system of government over time.”
▪ High school students taking American History could discuss topics such as the Trail of Tears, when the U.S. government forcibly relocated Native Americans, the 1898 Wilmington Coup when white supremacists overthrew the elected multi-racial government and the 1969 Stonewall Riots that are credited with starting the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the U.S.
Board member Todd Chasteen, who was appointed by McCrory, said the standards are too negative about U.S. history.
Board member Olivia Oxendine said the tone of the standards gives students “the feeling of America the oppressor, not America the land of opportunity.” Oxendine, who was appointed by McCrory, said the tone should be amended.
“We have come a long way in the world in racial equality and I will say this as a minority,” Oxendine said. “When I began teaching many years ago, I could have never dreamt of being an American Indian having the opportunity and the privilege to serve on the State Board of Education.”
Systemic racism debated
The new wording drew complaints from several GOP board members, prompting Republican State Superintendent Catherine Truitt, who took office in January, to ask for time to review and suggest changes.
Truitt proposed Wednesday replacing the terms “systemic racism,” “systemic discrimination” and “gender identity” with the words racism, discrimination and identity. She said there are many kinds of racism, discrimination and identity.
Truitt contended that leaving systemic racism in the standards would imply that the U.S. government and Constitution are both racist.
GOP board members called the changes cosmetic.
But board member James Ford, who is Black, argued that the changes Truitt sought would deny that systemic racism exists and make the concept of racism too ambiguous.
Ford, a former social studies teacher and a former Teacher of the Year for North Carolina, cited a long list of discriminatory practices against people of color in the nation’s history.
“There’s hundreds of years plus legacy of actual laws, policies that are the systems that hold the present reality in place,” said Ford, who was appointed by Cooper. “Racism lives not just from person to person but lives within those systems, and those laws, those customs, norms, practices etc. I just want to know if that’s truly up for debate here.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 1:56 PM with the headline "NC school board members clash over how to teach history and whether the US is racist."
