In light of the moral panic over Critical Race Theory, we're concerned that the American history taught in public schools is going to be reduced to the sort of white-washed blither favored by the schoolmen of the 1840s, fake founders quotes and all.
At the Alexandria MN public school board meeting on Monday night, Lori Gibson, a mother in an interracial marriage, sought to address her worries that the manufactured fear and rage over Critical Race Theory might erase the factual history of bans on interracial marriage in many American states.
Many attending the school board meeting didn't want to hear it.
Here's the video of the incident, from Parents United 206; the embedded video is coded to start at Lori Gibson and ends with the video. It's not clear whether Gibson's testimony went on any longer, as the video itself fades to black after someone in the audience says, "Time's up."
At the Alexandria Echo Press, Celeste Edenloff reports in New Alexandria school board member takes oath; tempers flare over CRT:
Parent tries to speak out
Lori Gibson, whose children attend school in Alexandria, tried to speak to school board members about critical race theory, or CRT, but was repeatedly interrupted by others in the audience.
She contacted the Echo Press Tuesday morning with her concerns, stating that “when a mother comes to a meeting with simple prepared remarks to express concerns about the erasure of history uncomfortable for white people to hear, but is heckled and harassed to the point of needing to excuse herself and request a police escort to her vehicle, it’s a problem.”
Gibson said she was further harassed and actually threatened on her way out.
“Are we no longer able to speak if we don’t agree and how do we feel about sharing those thoughts with people willing to threaten and intimidate. How long before someone gets hurt?” she said in her email.
She shared her prepared comments with school board members Tuesday morning, as well as with the Echo Press. Below is the full prepared statement she had planned on reading to the school board, but was unable to.
“My thanks to the school board for keeping kids in school, even in the midst of rising COVID numbers. I have significant, genuine concerns about our new school board member. As Ms. Eigen ran for this seat, she referenced ‘CRT’ incessantly and consistently. When engaged in dialog about this topic, she was unable to provide examples of how this played out in our district, just claimed that ‘it’s taught, it’s just not called CRT,’ and was unable to provide an example of her definition of ‘CRT’ generally.
“She insists her greatest concern is children of color viewing themselves as ‘victims.’ This is condescending and insulting to families like mine, given her lack of experience or education on the topic. Her words are nearly verbatim the published words of the Heritage Foundation, Center of the American Experiment and other far-right political groups bent on making the banning of their manufactured definition of ‘CRT’ relevant to public school curriculum discussions. Ms. Eigen posted on social media about ‘training’ she received from the Center of the American Experiment.
“Perhaps she doesn’t understand even recent examples of racism in our country. A relationship between people who looked like my husband and I would not have been allowed in more than 20 states when I was a child. On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Loving versus Virginia against the state, making clear the 14th amendment was violated by the law. Seventeen states had to rescind their laws against interracial marriage. We celebrate it as Loving Day.
“Would it surprise her that in November of 2000, Alabama’s State Constitution still held a ban against interracial marriage, and its state Legislature clung to it as a symbolic statement of the state's views on interracial marriage? As recently as 1998, Alabama State House leaders successfully killed attempts to remove it. Voters finally had the opportunity to remove the language in November 2000, but the outcome was close, with 59% of voters supported removal of the language and 41% favored keeping it.
“I’m very proud to say Minnesota is one of only nine states that has never had a ban of any kind on interracial marriage. This is one of the reasons I am concerned with curriculum denying discussion of these issues. It’s important to discuss the ways systemic racism shapes the laws in our country, how far we’ve come, and to consider what would happen if we pretended it didn’t exist in any of our legal systems, and how important having federal law is with regard to the constitutional rights afforded everyone in our country.
“I request that appropriate representation for children and families of color are immediately placed on any curriculum-related committees if they aren’t already there, and that no board members committed to the cause of race-denying political groups be assigned to these committees. People of color deserve equitable consideration in the telling of their history, heritage, current experiences and hopes for the future.”
Gibson began by focusing on statements made by Maureen Eigen during a recent special election. Gibson had opposed Eigen's candidacy; the Echo Press published a letter to the editor from Gibson, Eigen's choices create concerns about her candidacy for Alexandria School Board, which focused on Eigen's October 25 "Health Freedom" event featuring " Dr. Bob Zajac, a pediatrician whose medical license is currently conditioned by the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice." Zajac objects to a variety of vaccines.
We are concerned about the stalking horse of CRT as it resides in the heads of those who don't want the history of ability of couples to marry taught in schools in any state. The United State Supreme Court found in 1967 in Loving v. Virginia that anti-miscegenation laws violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. That's a great lesson about the Constitution.
Some of those who didn't want to hear Gibson object to mention of "Alabama" and note it's 2021. With the final objection, we have to wonder how for the person who shouted it, any mention of the past could be brought up in a classroom.
Photo: "In 1958, shortly after their wedding, Mildred and Richard Loving were arrested in their Virginia home by local police for the crime of being married. Richard was white. Mildred was black and Native American. ...Virginia's Racial Integrity Act of 1924, like laws in fifteen other states at the time, prohibited interracial marriages among white and black people. Richard and Mildred were convicted for violating this law and were banished from Virginia. After several years of exile in Washington, DC, they decided to challenge their convictions with the help of two young attorneys with the ACLU...." Via Episode 3: Loving v. Virginia.of Heightened Scrutiny a podcast about the Supreme Court's landmark civil rights cases.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the paypal subscription button.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.
I'm on Venmo for those who prefer to use this service: @Sally-Sorensen-6
How many times does it have to be said that Critical Race Theory is *not* taught in high schools. It's barely taught in colleges. One might be tempted to think from the over-heated rhetoric that CRT is everywhere(!). Spoiler alert -- it's not.
That said, what galls this history major is the idea that merely teaching about, for example, the Tulsa Race Riot (and that's what it was, a riot, and a massacre) is somehow un-American? I just cannot some days....
Posted by: Mike Worcester | Dec 22, 2021 at 01:58 PM