4-Year-Olds Get Handbook Telling Them To Identify Racist Family Members
Student as young as 4-years-old received a fistbook in school instructing them to call out racism in their family.
Children ages 4 and up participated in an anti-racism lesson at Janney Elementary School in Washington, D.C. The principal disclosed that Doying Richards was a featured guest speaker who inducted the students into an “Anti-Racism Fight Club.” This came complete with a fistbook and instructions for children to identify racist family members.
The school’s principal allowed the fistbooks to be distributed and noted how young children need to be taught about race and equity, yet “anti-racism” is a critical race theory ideology that teaches that “not being racist” doesn’t exist and that only anti-racism activism can truly further equity in the United States. The focus remains on equity (which is equality of outcomes no matter how hard a person does or doesn’t work), instead of equality. Anti-racism movements vilify white people and claim that every white person has “privilege” just for being white. It specifically judges people based on the color of their skin in order to prevent people from judging others by the color of their skin.
The fistbook in particular began by congratulating young children on completing their Anti-Racism Fight Club initiation. It then goes on to use two different pictures of the presenter (a black man) to explain discrimination. One shows the presenter in a hoodie with his eyes mostly covered, and the other shows him in a bright happy outfit, smiling. It explains that if one image seems scarier than the other, that is prejudice. This lesson does not take into account that when people commit crimes they generally cover their face to be less recognizable, and that wearing bright colors makes people more noticeable. It also overlooks how facial recognition and facial expressions help children communicate and understand the world around them. Children recognize happy faces and sad faces long before they learn to discriminate based on race.
The fistbook does work to display how all people are discriminated against — even white people, but then goes on to explain what “white privilege” is and states in bold “If you are a white person, white privilege is something you were born with.” This was further detailed with outdated examples of how white people make up most of the entertainment industry and white toys are everywhere. It did not describe ratios or the fact that white people make up most of the US population or how the modern media displays far more minorities than are statistically accurate.
There’s an entire section in the fistbook on “Dealing With Racist Family Members,” which tells children that parents are not always right and that they need to “stop making excuses” for behavior that isn’t anti-racist. This is one of the most concerning aspects of the material being that parents were not notified about the speaker until after the event. Parental rights have proven to be a divisive issue that runs along party lines as many liberals are said to believe that teachers, doctors, and even politicians have a right to instill their beliefs onto other people’s children. While conservatives believe that values and morality start at home and it is their duty to raise their children the way they see fit.
Preschoolers and young elementary school students who are just learning how to identify colors, shapes, letters, and numbers cannot fully understand the meaning of high concept political ideologies and socio-economic debates. By allowing speakers to impress their political opinions as proven fact, and distribute materials like a fistbook, the Janney Elementary School has circulated biased information. Many parents who wish for their children to learn subjects like math, science, English, and history are upset at being vilified and having their children turned into activists. This is becoming a growing issue in public schools across the nation, which may be a contributor to record public school enrollment drops.
