This student refused to apologize for being white, and it ended up costing him dearly in one of his classes. So much for white privilege…
A mother is now speaking out after she said that her biracial son failed his critical race theory class by refusing to make a confession in particular. The school even threatened to keep him from graduating, all based on the fact that he refused to confess his “white dominance”, according to the Blaze.
According to mother Gabrielle Clark’s claims, her son William was forced to take a mandatory “sociology of change” course at Democracy Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada. After his school gave him a failing grade in the Critical Race Theory course, William and his mother filed a lawsuit against the school where they protested the curriculum and sought damages after the school had allegedly threatened to keep William from graduating.
“In the class, William, along with all the students, was asked to publicly reveal his race, gender, religious, and sexual identities, and then attach derogatory labels to those identities,” a crowdfunded campaign posted on the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) website explained. “Students were then asked to ‘undo and unlearn’ their ‘beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that stem from oppression.’”
According to the Daily Mail, William can “pass for white”, the biracial high school senior did not like having labels put on him or the fact that this confession of “white dominance” was being forced upon him in order for him to pass the class. When he objected to these mandatory class exercises, he was punished with a failing grade.
Knowing William’s background would definitely help some of these teachers understand why he objected to these exercises and likely didn’t see himself as “privileged” or an “oppressor.” The eighteen-year-old young man lives with his black mother and helps out by working at a fast-food restaurant to support his family because his father died when he was young and his mom is disabled.
“William was understandably reluctant to label himself as ‘privileged’ or an ‘oppressor,’” the crowdfunding campaign goes on to explain, adding that “while William is the only student in the class who appears to be white — he has light skin and green eyes — he is, in fact, mixed race.”
According to the lawsuit, the school was violating William’s First Amendment rights by “repeatedly compelling his speech involving intimate matters of race, gender, sexuality, and religion” and creating a “psychologically abusive” and a “hostile educational environment.”
The Clarks are seeking “monetary damages, including compensatory and punitive damages, for the damage done to William Clark’s future academic and professional prospects and for the Defendants’ deliberate and protracted harassment, emotional abuse, and violation of Plaintiffs’ Constitutional Rights.” In addition, the Clarks “also want the court to prevent the school from denying William a high school diploma and accommodate him with ‘an alternative non-discriminatory, non-confessional class,’” Daily Mail reported.
Democracy Prep seemed to be talking out of both sides of their mouth on this issue, because they told the news outlet that it could not comment on pending lawsuits, but the school issued a statement. “Our curriculum teaches students about American democracy and movements for social change throughout our history,” the statement said before adding, “We strongly disagree with how the curriculum has been characterized in this filing.”
The Clarks’ lawsuit is being described as a “landmark case” against the already controversial “Critical Race Theory (CRT) curriculum, which forces students to categorize and label their racial, religious, and sexual identities with derogatory labels and asks students to affirm beliefs contrary to their personal conscience.’” Unsurprisingly, the Clarks and their lawsuit have garnered support.
“This is a very important case if you care about pushing back against CRT and standing up for free thought and free expression,” columnist Bari Weiss tweeted, calling for support for the family. In another tweet, she explained, “William Clark is not privileged by any stretch of the imagination. Quite the opposite. But that’s now how his school, a public charter in Las Vegas, sees it.”
Indeed, this just might qualify as an example of liberal overreach, simply because a biracial teenager who is working to support his mother and two younger siblings hardly meets the description of “privileged.” Yes, he has light skin, but in this case, the school would have done better to simply highlight his work ethic, achievements, determination, and responsibilities in the face of his life struggles and incredible obstacles.
Instead, many feel “CRT is creating a toxic learning environment.” One Twitter user summed it up best by asking a few important questions that deserve consideration: “As a practical matter, we should ask ourselves how this application of CRT in this way does anything to confront racism or bigotry? Who benefits from this sort of destructive teaching? Who is helped by this foolishness?” In the case of a teenager who is refusing to apologize for being white, I really don’t have an answer. Do you?
Original Article: https://patriotnationpress.com/he-refused-to-apologize-for-being-white-what-the-school-did-is-5/
