Half Of Black Parents Want More Discussions About Race In The Classroom, New Study Finds
Black parents are asking for more discussion about racism in the classroom.
A poll conducted in May by Education Next reveals 49% of Black parents want more focus on racism and slavery in school. Sixty-four percent of parents (their race was not identied) said the classroom places “about the right amount” of emphasis “on slavery, racism, and other challenges faced by Black people in the United States.” Eleven percent said there was too much emphasis and 25% said too little on discussing race in schools.
David Houston, education researcher at George Mason University said, “Parents of Black students are more likely to say that schools should be emphasizing these issues.”
Houston also added, “That’s a large majority of parents saying their child’s school is handling this appropriately. It’s a minority that says otherwise.”
The discussion around history being taught in schools has existed for decades. However, with Republican efforts to make critical race theory a hot topic to motivate their base and passing “anti-woke” legislation, the debate of what can be taught in school has caused outrage from Texas to Virginia to Florida. Florida governor Ron DeSantis passed the “Stop WOKE Act,” which took effect on July 1. The law sets limits on how issues involving race may be taught in schools and allows parents to sue teachers and school districts that violate it.
Developed in the 1970s and 80s by former Harvard Law professor Derrick Bell, who died in 2011, CRT examines how racism is embedded in institutions to protect white dominance, according to The New York Times.
