Dear white people of Arizona,
Did you hear that good ol’ Doug Douchey banned critical race theory from being taught in Arizona public schools and government entities?
How do you feel? Did you know?
If you don’t know much about critical race theory, here’s my crash course on it and why I think it’s necessary – and why it’s important to mental health.
Let’s start. Let’s pretend you’re white. I’m white, too. I’m also pregnant. My daughter is half-Asian. She will inevitably live a different path than your white child, or than a black, Hispanic or Native child.
You can sit here and tell me that you don’t “see” race, and that you believe everyone is “equal.”
That’s some bullshit, whether or not you want to believe it.
People in America are not equal. And if you don’t see race, that’s part of the problem. That is why critical race theory is necessary. Because we need to see race.
You need to know that your white child will walk into a store, and look like everyone else. They will pick out dolls that look like them. They will be called for jobs someday because their last name sounds white. They won’t be attacked for no reason. They won’t be stigmatized based on their race. They won’t be asked “where are you from?” or told to “go back to your country.”
Children of color do not get that life.
My daughter does not get to have that life.
Critical race theory is the recognition of that.
In school growing up, I learned that Native Americans were barbaric and attacked innocent settlers. I learned that Christopher Columbus “discovered” America and was a good man. I didn’t learn that he gave Natives blankets of smallpox, and that there was a mass genocide that took place. I learned about slavery, but I also learned that racism “ended” with the civil rights movement.
In college, I learned to think through information and statistics given to me that demonstrated that current policies still promote racism. I listened to classmates and scholars discuss their experiences. We discussed race and racism. Why did I need to wait until college to discuss those things?
OH. I know!! Because it makes white people uncomfortable.
For some reason, white people don’t like to acknowledge the concept of white privilege.
I think it creates some guilt. And I think parents might worry that it will make their white children feel responsible or guilty for racism.
Hi, my name is Maria and I have white privilege. Have I made unconscious decisions in my life that fueled racism? Do I live in a society in which I benefit and take advantage of that privilege? Yes.
How hard is that?
I can still be an ally to people of color. But to be an ally, I need to recognize that means that I will lose my privilege. I want equity. Is my empathy for history enough to change policy, views and lived experiences today? NO. It’s not. I promote anti-racism. That means I will sacrifice my comforts, and my discomfort, in order to be an ally. That is critical race theory.
My life as a white woman is different than a white man. I’ve left jobs due to unequal pay and treatment. My life as a white woman is different from a black man. A gay black man’s life is different than a straight Hispanic woman, and so on. There are various factors including gender, race, sexuality, socicoeconomic level, etc. that all come into a cross that create different lived experiences for people. My life as a white poor woman was much different than my life as a white middle class woman. That is critical race theory.
Does institutional racism exist? Yes. Is it going to change by banning education that highlights inequity? No.
Are more Black mom’s dying in the hospital than white moms? Yes. Significantly.
Are more Native American youth committing suicide than white youth? Yes. Significantly.
Are Black people significantly more likely to get pulled over, arrested, and killed by the police than white people? Yes. Significantly.
Are children of color “tracked” differently in schools, which ultimately leads white children more frequently into gifted programs/college track? Yes.
Are people of color more likely to be housed next to landfills and other harmful environmental areas? Yes.
Does this have anything to do with genetics? Behavior? No. I spent 12 years in college studying this. No, no, no. This is a symptom of institutional racism. And unless our kids learn about it, guess what – it’s not going to change.
Our children need to be able to look at dynamics of power in this country. They need to understand if they have an unconscious bias so they can work on that before they become old, and like many others, in denial.
I grew up in an environment of racism. I know what blatant racism looks like. I know there is a “fear” that white people hold of being called racist. Just because you aren’t swearing or spitting at people of color, doesn’t mean you don’t hold an internal bias that you feel more comfortable with a white man walking behind you than you do with a Black man walking behind you. That is internalized bias.
Doug Douchey banning critical race theory is because he, along with other people, are threatened by the idea that a person of color could hold power. How can we sit and learn about slavery, the civil rights movements, and then pretend that racism stopped existing sometime in the 1960’s when we see Black people being disproportionally killed by police today?
It’s gaslighting to students of color.
Douchey’s favorite buddy, Trump, noted that critical race theory is “divisive, anti-American propaganda” which aims to “rip apart friends, neighbors and families.”
If you have friends, neighbors or family members of color and you oppose critical race theory, you don’t deserve their friendship or trust because you are placing yourself and your comforts above them.
Our kids deserve to know that America isn’t “the greatest.” That’s some Kim Jung Un propaganda shit.
We need to rethink the way history is taught, because honestly – it’s not accurate.
History should be factual and without bias – but you can’t give factual information if you’re just worried about protecting your belief that America can do no wrong.
You can learn to love your country by acknowledging it’s flaws and continually working to improve it. It doesn’t make you anti-patriot or anti-America. It makes you look toward a better future for everyone, not just a group in power.
So fuck you Doug Ducey and fuck you Donald Trump.
