NC School Board shouldn’t “refine” harsh truths about history and systemic racism

Unlike her predecessor, newly elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt is making an effort to work closely with the State Board of Education, an approach she defines as “one team, one voice.”

But that commitment is being strained by a split on the board over how the state should direct schools to teach about racism and discrimination based on gender identity. The split is expected to be resolved Thursday when the board votes on new standards for teaching K-12 social studies courses.

Truitt has tried to close the divide by proposing a compromise on the standards. But in doing so, the Republican superintendent raised concerns about her commitment to teachers and how much she will bow to conservatives.

At issue is the language of proposed social studies standards developed after a lengthy process of consideration by educators and public feedback. The proposed standards support teaching about systemic racism, systemic discrimination and bias against people based on their gender identity.

Conservatives on the board, most prominently Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, object that “systemic” unfairly presents the government as condoning racism and discrimination. “The system of government that we have in this nation is not systemically racist,” Robinson said. “In fact, it is not racist at all.”

The majority of board members, including Eric Davis, the board’s chairman, think that teaching how racism and gender identity bias are reflected in government and society is simply teaching the truth. In June, during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, Davis said in a statement: “The pandemic of the past two months and the events of the past week have revealed in undeniable clarity the vast inequities that are embedded in our society and the underlying systemic racism that sustains them.”

A majority of the public appears to agree. A survey with 7,000 respondents found 85% favored the standards as proposed. Robinson says he will present a petition signed by more than 13,000 people who are opposed.

Truitt recommends that the board “refine” the standards by removing “systemic” and “gender” and referring only to “racism,” “discrimination” and “identity.”

As an educator, Truitt should appreciate the significance and power of words. In this case, the trimming of adjectives vastly distorts the standards’ meanings by making the words generic. People can “discriminate” when shopping. Racism can apply to many races, not the history of slavery and oppression of Blacks in the U.S.. And “identity” becomes vague to the point of meaninglessness when “gender” is removed.

Truitt should insist that school instruction of history and civics reflect the truth. That includes teaching that the nation – in many cases over many years and to this day – has denied the truths its Founders declared self-evident. Watering down the standards’ language is not a compromise. It is a denial.

Discrimination based on race or gender is hard to talk about among adults – as the board debate illustrates. But it is even harder to teach about in a classroom. An important effect of the state standards is that they support teachers whose instruction about race and gender is challenged by parents.

Mariah Morris, the state’s 2019 Teacher of the Year and an advisor to the board, told board members in July that the “hard truths” of America history need to be included in the standards as a “shall” to be taught and not a “may” be taught.

“We will be protecting our teachers from any backlash that they might receive from community members or parents who might be upset,” Morris said.

It’s notable that the standards are being revised in part to accommodate a requirement from the legislature that schools drop one of two required history courses to make way for a new course in personal finance. If children are to learn less history – a travesty in itself – let them at least learn a truer history.

This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 12:00 AM.