When Florida schools begin their 2022-23 school year, teachers will lose 41 percent of their available math textbooks.
This is because the state of Florida seems determined to use children of all races as pawns to advance its political agenda – aimed at breaking down rather than strengthening racism. Earlier this year, the state of Florida banned 54 math textbooks as part of its controversial “Stop Walk Act.” These books contain allegedly prohibited topics, including so-called references to critical race theory or CRT.
After being asked to provide specific examples of offensive material, the state offered only five screenshots, including a statistical analysis of racial prejudice and references to social and psychological education.
In recent years, it has been difficult to find a policy that does a better job of depicting white supremacy and systematic racism than the “Stop Walk Act” and the subsequent banning of mathematics textbooks.
A powerful group consisting of mostly whites unilaterally decides what is racist and what is not, and what can be taught about racism is in itself a perfect picture of systemic racism. There is no mention of critical race theory in mathematics textbooks. According to the Washington Post, most reviewers rated the books as “perfect or almost perfect”. They can be banned to justify the backward policy of the state which is a perfect example of how white supremacy hurts everyone.
Related: Opinion: To understand the reaction against it using the critical race theory
CRT is being used by supporters of the “Stop Walk Act” and similar laws as a threat tactic. However, CRT is a fundamentally positive topic for anyone interested in seeing the eradication of racism. CRT is not the only reference to the existence of racism.
Politicians and political pundits who have spent their careers in support of racial concerns and racist policies have co-opted the term to confuse any anti-apartheid effort, including efforts to teach accurate history.
In a country that has supported genocide, slavery, captivity, segregation, racial discrimination, education bans, lynching, medical examinations and voting bans, it is unreasonable to suggest that teachers should not talk about racism.
In a country that has supported genocide, slavery, captivity, segregation, racial discrimination, education bans, lynching, medical examinations and voting bans, it is unreasonable to suggest that teachers should not talk about racism.
Racism is deeply ingrained in the fabric of our country, and hiding this fact by banning books or using force that harms white students is not going to change that.
If we want to learn from our past mistakes, we need to educate our students about them so that we as a country do not repeat them. Racism will be tolerated if we pretend that it does not exist.
Related: Opinion: When books are banned, ‘education is poor, and everyone loses’
Anti-apartheid efforts like CRT have been politicized only for political reasons. Regardless of a person’s political orientation, we should all find common ground and agree that racism is a social ills that must be eradicated.
The “Stop Walk Act”, signed by Government Dissenters, takes this country back to a darker time. Since the state of Missouri has banned all black people from getting education in the state, freed or enslaved, can I think of a policy that has made such a clear attempt to degrade the education of children for purely racist reasons? As Frederick Douglas warned, “It’s easier to make strong kids than to repair broken ones.” [adults]”
Moving away from the racist past of this country and building an anti-racist future depends, and always will, on our ability to build the next generation better than the last, and we are far from going back now.
Matthew Kincaid, a former Social studies teachers and school administrators Founder, CEO and Chief Consulting Officer of Overcoming Racism.
This piece was made about the “Stop Walk Act” Hatchinger report, A non-profit, independent news organization focusing on inequality and innovation in education. For registration Hatchinger’s newsletter.
