This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Rejected a Colorblind Environment

I started attending Board of Education (BOE) meetings because of the Critical Race Theory (CRT) issues raised in the recent BOE election. My hope was that I could learn the truth as to whether CRT was actually being taught in our Guilford School System disguised as our Superintendent of Schools Dr. Paul Freeman’s equity and social justice initiative or, as the BOE repeatedly claims, “We are not teaching CRT in Guilford Schools.”

Bill Maisano, one of the parents who ran for the BOE, spoke at the last meeting. Specifically, he spoke about Ibram Kendi, who I believe is the face and voice of CRT and who our superintendent thought so highly of that he spent $6,000 of taxpayer money in the summer of 2020 to buy 300 copies of his book How to Be an Antiracist to give to every teacher in the Guilford School District. Bill pointed out that in this book Kendi equates capitalism to racism, and openly advocates for discrimination, writing, “the only remedy for past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy for present discrimination is future discrimination.”

Further, Dr. Sharon Locke, who was hired by our superintendent to work with our Guilford School Leadership Team to install a structure for “culturally responsive teaching” (which I believe is a euphemism for CRT) incredibly stated during the Jan. 25, 2021 BOE meeting, that her structure was “straightly aligned with Dr. Kendi’s work ‘How to Be an Antiracist’ and ‘Stamped [from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America].’”

Our superintendent has rejected a colorblind educational environment in favor of a race-conscious educational environment in which he has “foregrounded race” and encourages our students to be “intentionally anti-racist.” He preaches the big lies of systemic racism. He must resign.

Peter Connal

Guilford