US Public Schools Risk Losing Funding

Published in La Jornada
(Mexico) on 14 November 2021
by Ángel Guerra Cabrera (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Jane Vogel. Edited by Michelle Bisson.
Thousands of public schools in the United States could lose funding if they teach their students the history of racism in that country, according to Dalia Gonzalez Delgado in Cubadebate. The report solidly explains the structural nature of racism in that country, which I summarize and recommend reading in its entirety.

At least eight states — with majority Republican legislatures — have approved laws restricting the teaching of issues related to racial history and race relations. The target of the attacks, critical race theory, is an approach that has until recently been confined to academic circles, but has gained prominence in recent months.

Essentially, CRT argues that racism in the U.S. goes beyond personal prejudice because it is incorporated into laws and institutions. According to one of its founders, Kimberlé Crenshaw, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, it is a perspective on the inherited world “after a legacy of segregation, slavery, manifest destiny, genocide. Basically, it links contemporary problems around racial inequality with laws and policies that produced those same inequalities in the past.”*

Donald Trump wrote on the website RealClearPolitics that “students are being subjected to a new curriculum designed to brainwash them,” and characterized critical race theory as “the left’s vile new theory,” “anti-American” and “immoral.” According to Trump, schools should help students learn that the U.S. is the “greatest, most tolerant, and most generous nation in history."

Recently, Democrat Terry McAuliffe lost the Virginia governor's race to Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin, who made a campaign promise to prohibit the teaching of critical race theory in Virginia schools. A CBS News poll reported that 62% of Virginia voters thought that “academic curricula involving race and history” was an “important factor” in their vote.*

*Editor’s Note: These quotes, though accurately translated, could not be verified.


Miles de escuelas públicas en Estados Unidos (EU) podrían perder financiamiento si enseñan a sus estudiantes la historia del racismo en ese país, afirma Dalia González Delgado en Cubadebate. Allí explica sólidamente el carácter estructural del racismo en ese país, nota que sintetizo y recomiendo leer íntegra (https://bit.ly/3wKH4dN).
Al menos ocho estados –con legislaturas de mayoría republicana– han aprobado leyes que restringen la enseñanza de temas relacionados con la historia y las relaciones raciales. Su blanco de ataques es la teoría crítica de la raza ( critical race theory o CRT), enfoque circunscrito hasta hace poco a círculos académicos, pero que ha ganado protagonismo en los meses recientes.
En esencia, la CRT argumenta que el racismo en EU va más allá de prejuicios personales, pues está incorporado a leyes e instituciones. Según una de sus fundadoras, Kimberlé Crenshaw, profesora de la Facultad de Derecho en la Universidad de California, en Los Ángeles, se trata de una forma de ver el mundo heredada “después de un legado de segregación, esclavitud, destino manifiesto, genocidio. Básicamente, vincula los problemas contemporáneos en torno a la desigualdad racial con las leyes y políticas que produjeron esas mismas desigualdades en el pasado”.
Donald Trump escribió en el sitio web RealClearPolitics que “los estudiantes están siendo sometidos a un nuevo plan de estudios diseñado para lavarles el cerebro”, y calificó la teoría crítica de la raza de “nueva teoría vil de la izquierda”, “antiestadunidense” y “antiética”. Según él, las escuelas deberían ayudar a los jóvenes a entender que EU es “la más grande, más tolerante y más generosa de todas las naciones de la historia”.
Hace pocos días, el demócrata Terry McAuliffe perdió la elección a gobernador en Virginia ante el republicano Glenn Youngkin, quien prometió en campaña prohibir la teoría crítica de la raza en las escuelas. Una encuesta de CBS News señala que 62 por ciento de los votantes de ese estado consideran que los “planes escolares de estudio sobre raza e historia” eran un “factor importante” para emitir su voto.
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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