Parents at a Washington, D.C., elementary school were livid after the school shared an “Antiracism Fight Club” guidebook that asked them to evaluate their own racism and advocate removing police from schools.
According to reports, children as young as 4 were given a lesson on “anti-racism” that asked them to identify racist members of their family.
Janney Elementary School in Washington, D.C. held a virtual assembly with an anti-racist educator on Nov. 30 for students, according to an email from Janney Elementary School’s principal. Doyin Richards, an educator who claims “racism is as American as apple pie and baseball,” taught elementary schoolers about racism and oppression.
Following the event, parents received copies of what Richards calls a “Fistbook,” a name inspired by the combative nature of the activist’s approach to fighting racism. The “Fistbook,” provides definitions for white privilege and white supremacy and asks parents where they see racism in their “daily life” and in themselves.
The “Fistbook for Kids” explains:
“If you are a white person, white privilege is something you were born with and it simply means that your life is not more difficult due to the color of your skin. Put differently, it’s not your fault for having white privilege, but it is your fault if you choose to ignore it.”
The book also presents some very damaging perspectives on racial relations with elementary school-aged children.
“[I]f a Black person says something mean to a white person, he has no power over him. It’s as if white people walk around with an invisible force field because they hold all of the power in America,” says the book.
Another page defines racism as “Racial Prejudice + Power = Racism”, suggesting that a race “without power” can be prejudiced against another racial group without being racist. Essentially, given that the book already teaches that white people hold all the power, this teaches kids that only white people are capable of racism.
The book also includes an illustration of a black character with a 100lb ball and chain on his leg, running after a white person who is looking over his shoulder and smirking.
Richards explains in his book:
“Think of it this way, imagine a white person raced against a Black person. The white person would be able to run at his normal speed while the Black person would have a 100-pound weight attached to his leg. Changes are the white person would win the race almost every time.”
More of this from the 100 Percent Fedup report:
There is also a section titled, “How to deal with racism from loved ones” which encourages children to identify racist family members. “Just because someone is older than you doesn’t mean that they’re right all of the time”, Richards writes.
“If someone doesn’t believe that people should be created equally based on the color of their skin, then they are the problem. Parents need to stop making excuses for that behavior if they truly believe in anti-racism,” says the book. “Who in your family has racist beliefs? Do you think you can change their ways? What is your strategy for dealing with them?”
Imagine how damaging it will be to children as young as four who are taught that white people have more power than black people, or for black children to be told they will always lose against a white person, or even to imagine you are always “competing” with other races.
This kind of rhetoric is exactly what will make kids overly aware of and obsessed with racial differences, which is the opposite of what our society should be moving towards.
Following the elementary school’s presentation, the parents were emailed a link to Richards’ original “Anti-Racism Fight Club Fistbook” – the adult version.
“If you hate Kaepernick now, you’d hate Dr. King if he was alive today,” argues Richards in his book. “And do you know what’s funny? In 50 years from now, white people will probably talk glowingly of Kaepernick as they are with Dr. King now. Stop using his quotes to benefit your racism.”
On an online forum for “DC Urban Moms and Dads”, many comments were posted by users claiming to be parents at Janney Elementary. One wrote, “Anyone else’s Kindergarten kid freaked out by an anti-racism assembly today? My kid needed to sleep with a light on and the door open tonight. Anyone know what specifically was talked about? My kid couldn’t relay much except that she was scared.”
Source: 100percentfedup