A southern California school district voted to ban Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the new school board’s first meeting.
California’s Temecula Valley Unified School District voted 3-2 to ban CRT just after a conservative majority had been sworn in.
The resolution banning Critical Race Theory stated
“The TVUSD desires to uplift and unite students by not imposing the responsibility of historical transgressions in the past and instead will engage students of all cultures in age-appropriate critical thinking that helps students navigate the past, present, and future.”
The board condemned racism while also condemning CRT as “an ideology based on false assumptions about the United States of America and its population.”
“Critical Race Theory or other similar frameworks will not be used as a source to guide how topics related to race will be taught,” the board added.
In addition, the resolution specifically banned many of the core tenets of the theory, such as the notion that:
Racism is racial prejudice plus power, a concept that is often used to argue that (i) only individuals classified as “white” people can be racist because only “white” people control society and (ii) individuals in ethnic minorities cannot be racist because they do not control society.
The resolution also bans other tenets of the theory, such as the idea that “Racism is ordinary and the usual way society operates” as well as “The ‘voice-of-color’ thesis, the belief that minority groups are inherently better equipped to speak about race and racism.
The board’s resolution banned other teachings as well, including the idea that individuals, as a result of their race or gender, can be “inherently racist or sexist,” or may be “a member of either and oppressor or an oppressed class.”
It also bans the teachings that an individual “should be discriminated against or receive favorable treatment on the basis of race or sex,” that they bear “responsibility for past actions committed by other members of the same group,” or that they “should feel guilty or discomforted on the basis of race or sex.”
