Westerly School Committee Declines To Ban Critical Race Theory

WESTERLY, RI — The Westerly School Committee will not ban the teaching of critical race theory, a phrase that has become a lightning rod nationwide and is used to describe a way of thinking about America’s history through the lens of racism.

A resolution to ban teaching critical race theory in Westerly public schools was unanimously rejected by the district's school committee at a packed Town Hall on Wednesday night, where the committee held an open public forum on the issue. The majority of participants spoke against the resolution, WLNE-TV reported. Some spoke passionately in favor of the measure. Others stood with signs that said "Unmask Our Children."

The public forum was prompted by a petition that was delivered to the School Committee that sought to have the resolution placed on the agenda for discussion.

Related: EXPLAINER: So much buzz, but what is critical race theory?

"We are concerned that despite assurances to the contrary, the Westerly School Curriculum is at risk of becoming structured in a manner that results in the indoctrination of our students with radical social concepts," the petition stated.

You can read the full petition here.

The Associated Press defines critical race theory as a way of thinking about America’s history:

"Scholars developed it during the 1970s and 1980s in response to what they viewed as a lack of racial progress following the civil rights legislation of the 1960s... It centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of white people in society."

The petition asked that "the teaching of divisive practices" be banned, including any assertion that the Town of Westerly, the State of Rhode Island, and the United States "are fundamentally and systemically racist or sexist."

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