Just like Teaching Tolerance does not actually teach tolerance, EmbraceRace does not actually embrace race. Their manipulative titles do not represent the intolerant and racist content they push out to teachers and parents to share with children as young as kindergarten.
Among the resources teachers value in their lesson planning are those that recommend books and discussion topics. EmbraceRace has grown in popularity and has elevated the radical left’s hypocrisy to a new level. While preaching tolerance, EmbraceRace has also bullied white people through ignorant generalizations and insulting allegations. With many articles suggesting that “white supremacy” is ingrained in all white people, and posting articles by those who have come to believe that this generalization applies to them, they are forcing white people to hate themselves. The saddest part of this is that they don’t just want adults to harbor self-hate and identify with a false characterization that someone told them they have, but they are doing it to children as well.
EmbraceRace only started in 2016, but has gained the support of very influential and wealthy individuals and organizations. Their finances are very difficult, even impossible to find. Still we know that the Rite Aid Foundation recently gave them a one million dollar grant, and they are supported by the Proteus Fund, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the NoVo Foundation, and the Haas Institute.
According to an article by EmbraceRace titled, “What is ‘The Talk’ White parents should have with White children?” by Madeleine Rogin, all whites are accused of being racist. “If you are a White parent of a White child, and you are having some aha moments about the extent, depth, and prevalence of racism in our country, or you’ve had this awareness for some time but are having a different kind of aha moment (i.e., reckoning with your own participation in this system, your own privilege, and a true desire to do something about it), talk to your children. Not about equality in general, or the importance of standing up for what is right, or the history of civil unrest in our country, or the greatness of Dr. King, but about White supremacy, systemic racism, and Whiteness. This is not a talk about kindness in general, or the beauty of diversity, or how we can celebrate our differences, though those talks are also important. The talk I am speaking of is much harder for White parents to have. It is the truth about bias and racism and how we all have it.”
Children of all races and ethnicities must always have hope, optimism, and inspiration in their lives. Eliminating the perseverance that was instilled in extraordinary people who made extraordinary history is only crushing the dreams and the spirit of our children. We must speak about equality. We must speak about “the importance of standing up for what is right.” We absolutely must talk about the “civil unrest in our country” and the incredible greatness of role model Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We must talk about “kindness” and the “beauty of diversity” and “celebrate our differences.” We must talk about “bias” and “racism,” but we must not accuse everyone of being racist like this article suggests. We are not all racist, and the nerve of Rogin to say that, especially to single out white young children, is unbelievable. If she thinks everyone is racist and preaches that foolish narrative, then she is the one with the problem because she apparently thinks she is a racist. There is help for that and she should get it, and just because she needs it doesn’t mean everyone else does. There are good people in this world, there are great people in this world, who are not racist. Telling parents to tell their children that they are racist, even if they don’t know it and believe they are not, is tragically sad and dangerous.
In another article from EmbraceRace titled, “Watching my Five-Year Old Wrestle With His Whiteness,” author Shannon Cofrin Gaggero shares positively how she seriously “disturbed” her son by speaking with him and showing him images relating to the “violence and oppression [perpetuated by white people].” This conversation centered around the false narrative that “we live in a culture rooted in White supremacy.” As a result, her son felt “shame,” and as Gaggero was teaching her five-year old about segregation, she followed Nikole Hannah-Jones’s lead and changed history to make her son believe that the Civil Rights Movement accomplished nothing. While this may seem bad enough, it gets worse.
In an article titled, “Your Five-Year Old is Already Racially Biased” by Andrew Grant-Thomas, he writes about a teacher who gave students an assignment asking them how “comfortable” they would be in different scenarios being around people with different races, ethnicities, nationalities and religions. If a child said they’d feel comfortable no matter what, this teacher likely would not have accepted that as an answer, and would probably have forced that child into saying something racist. Teachers and parents who are not accepting the answer that someone is not a racist are sadly creating self-loathing racists in our children. Racism does exist, and sadly there are people who pass these ideas on to their kids, but situations like that are resolved through the appropriate teams who are trained to deal with these issues in school, and that does not include a teacher singling out all white children telling them that they are racist.
In the same way Nikole Hannah-Jones tries to say that children do not learn about racism and the history of slavery, and the great contributions of black Americans, EmbraceRace asserts the same false narrative but adds an even more damaging platform for teachers to use in the classroom; forcing white children to be ashamed of themselves, even when they have only lived in this world for five years, because they are white. They are affecting the mental health and friendships of children of all races and they need to stop.
This allegation that the history of racism is absent from school curriculums is wrong. Students do learn about the horrors of slavery and the tragedies that continued to impact America after its abolishment, and they do this with no help from these radical hypocritical educational organizations and teachers who hide behind the idea that curriculums dictate what they teach when most teachers are responsible for gathering their own resources. It is the decision of these ignorant people who have now decided that it is time teach about racism and equality who have been avoiding the topic due to their own ignorance; the rest of us have already taught it, have already had difficult conversations about the challenges in our history, and have also lifted our children up with stories of success, hope, and inspiration. Educators are always seeking advice on how to discuss tragic history in the most respectful ways, but these radical organizations are providing no resources that are appropriate for every child and school. Their divisive, blatantly racist, and hypocritical works are inappropriate and unacceptable in an educational setting where diversity, respect, and empathy must be cultivated.
