Brandywine School District
This is a message from Concerned Citizens of Brandywine School District.
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Dear Brandywine School Board members,
We are writing to you to express my concern about the manner in which racism is being addressed in our district. The "Diversity and Equity Resources" list that is found on the district website contains many racist books and articles advancing racism against the white majority in this country.
We are wondering if the board was part of the decision to put that list of resources on the website. And if not, we are wondering who made the decision to put it there. We think it is essential that the board take the time to carefully read the resources that the district website is endorsing.
Many of the ideas being advocated there, such as "anti-racism", are actually endorsements of racism--this time against whites in an attempt to make up for past wrongs done to minorities.
No one can genuinely believe that slavery, Jim Crow laws, and other racist policies that have existed in the U.S. were correct. These are policies of which our country is and should be ashamed (as should the majority of other countries of the world where these racist ideas existed and often continue to exist today). However, the United States is continually making efforts to rid our society of lingering racism.
Another term, included in the very name of the resource list, “Diversity and Equity Resources for Families”, which sounds good but in actuality is wrong is "equity". People think that it is simply another trendy word for equality but it instead means just the opposite; Equity is inequality in favor of minorities and against the majority. It involves holding back and limiting the opportunities for certain people based on their skin color so that other people can have more opportunity. Is this not the definition of racism?
One of the resources listed on the website is Ibram X. Kendi's book "How to be an Anti-Racist". In this book Kendi states:
“The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination. As President Lyndon B. Johnson said in 1965, “You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, ‘You are free to compete with all the others,’ and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.” As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun wrote in 1978, “In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way. And in order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently.”
These ideas are extremely destructive to society. White children should not be taught that they are inherently racists and white supremacists. Black children should not be taught that they will forever be victims, do not have a strong work ethic or a capability for delayed gratification, and need assistance to be able to succeed. And no American child should be taught that their country was founded on racism and is still systemically racist.
Certainly this country has its faults and black people were treated terribly in the past and there are unfortunately still racists both in the U.S. and throughout the world today. But racism is not the defining characteristic of our society and anyone who thinks so is not being honest.
Proponents of equity and anti-racism are actively and strongly rejecting everything that Martin Luther King, Jr. stood for and are intentionally stirring up racial strife and division. MLK Jr. stated "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." This is the antithesis of the above quote by Ibram X. Kendi.
We would like the Brandywine School District and the state of Delaware to return to the belief that we should not judge people based on their race but instead should treat everyone equally and judge people based on their character. We should not lump people into categories such as “racist”, “white supremacist”, and “oppressor” or “victim” and “oppressed” based on the color of their skin. To characterize people this way is the epitome of prejudice and stereotyping which we have always been taught is wrong.
A poll released by Parents Defending Education found that 74% of Americans are “somewhat or strongly opposed” to white privilege training and to schools communicating that minorities are inherently oppressed. This politically correct trend is leading our country in a dangerous, racially charged direction and should be removed from our school curriculum.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and to listen to our concerns regarding the "diversity and equity" policies being espoused on the district website.