If you were wondering who's pushing the pernicious critical race theory (CRT) at Nevada schoolchildren, I'm pleased to identify a prime suspect: Dr. Donald Easton-Brooks, the current dean of the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Easton-Brooks, who modestly describes himself as "an internationally-recognized critical quantitative culturally responsive researcher," wrote a revealing op-ed column last Sunday for the Reno Gazette Journal claiming that CRT – which teaches our kids that America is a racist country founded on slavery – "will enrich the lives of our future generations." And this is the guy who's teaching our future teachers. I wonder if UNR President Brian Sandoval, a popular former governor, knows what's going on in his College of Education.
"CRT calls for us to challenge oppressive barriers that cause bias and at times create the racist systems that exist," the good doctor wrote. "Inclusivity is the valuing of diversity and the contributions of diverse groups throughout our country's history and our personal lives." To me, that sounds like pure academic gobbledygook.
"Governor Sisolak's signing of AB261, which provides diversity and inclusivity in the state's academic standards and curriculum, is in line with the country's forefathers' push for a pluralistic system," Easton-Brooks continued. Translation: Nevada public schools, financed by the taxpayers, should teach critical race theory.
Just in case there's any doubt about what this progressive professor was writing about, he provided the answer: "CRT challenges systems that mainly benefit whiteness… and yes, inclusive education (CRT) looks to reduce curriculums (sic) centered on history reflective of mainly whites." So there you have it. Easton-Brooks' bad grammar notwithstanding, he's telling us that "whiteness" is the main problem in American education, which is nonsense.
Basing anything on skin color, especially public education, is a grievous mistake. Because, as Washington Examiner Deputy Editor J. Grant Addison wrote last week, "The apparatchiks inside the Biden administration are proving that they're determined to smuggle a thoughtless, civilization-rotting dogma into public school classrooms whether parents want it or not." Well, although parents may not want it, "woke" academics like Easton-Brooks will find a way to smuggle CRT into Nevada classrooms. Count on it.
Parents throughout the country are rebelling against the teaching of CRT in the nation's public schools. Writing in the Wall Street Journal last week, John Beatty, a dissident member of the Loudon County (Virginia) School Board, revealed that the county's school superintendent spent $400,000 to hire an "equity consultant" – someone very much like our own Easton-Brooks, who's a card-carrying member of the booming, and very lucrative, diversity industry.
Based on the diversity consultant's politically correct recommendations, the school superintendent declared that "Loudon County was systemically racist, and that the administration needed to embrace critical race theory's concept of equity," Beatty wrote. Does any of this sound familiar?
Loudon County parents angrily challenged the superintendent's decision to teach CRT in public schools. "While outside groups tell the school board that our curriculum and district are racist," Beatty continued, "many surveys and studies have found that teachers don't want to talk about race in the classroom," nor should they. As Beatty wisely concluded, "Discussions of race and prejudice should begin at home," and not at school.
I'm disappointed to learn that widely respected Carson City School Superintendent Richard Stokes will retire next June because he has promised that CRT will not be taught in our local schools. But what will happen after Stokes retires? Let's keep an eye on our local school board.
Guy W. Farmer is the Appeal's senior political columnist.
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