Ryan Walters, Oklahoma's superintendent of public instruction says that it's just fine for public schools to teach kids about the Tulsa race massacre so long as teachers don't suggest that the white supremacists' horrific attacks on Black people was motivated by the color of their skin. During a public forum in Norman, Oklahoma, someone asked Walters how teaching the history of the Tulsa race massacre doesn't interfere with his ban on "Critical Race Theory" in public schools. As a reminder, in May 1921, a mob of white supremacists attacked residents of the predominantly Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, destroying countless homes and businesses and killing hundreds of people. Because they were Black. Here's Walters' incredible response:
"I would never tell a kid that because of your race, because of the color of your skin, or your gender or anything like that, you are less of a person or are inherently racist. That doesn't mean you don't judge the actions of individuals. Oh, you can. Absolutely, historically, you should. 'This was right. This was wrong. They did this for this reason.' But to say it was inherent in that because of their skin is where I say that is Critical Race Theory. You're saying that race defines a person."
More at Baptist News Global.
(Thanks, Bob Pescovitz!)
