Michigan Superintendent Michael Rice Sends Mixed Messages On Teaching Racism In K-12 Classrooms

The Michigan Director of Public and Governmental Affairs put out a very strange press release about students in K-12 classrooms in Michigan learning about race and racism.  They felt the need to start their press release informing us that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is not a curriculum taught in Michigan classrooms. That was interesting, a horse by another color is still a horse Mr. Rice.

During a meeting of the State Board of Education, State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice said:

"To choose to ignore race and racism in our teaching is to efface or erase history, implicitly or explicitly, and to shortchange our children, who deserve to learn the full breadth and complexity of our extraordinary history”

What Mr. Rice does not seem to understand is teaching about race and racism is one thing.  Teaching that white children are racist because of the color of their skin and people of color are all victims is something else.  He presents a straw man argument and demeans people of color.

I also thought it was rich that a Democrat would talk about erasing history when his Party has been tearing down statues and renaming buildings all over the country for years now.  His Party has been erasing history for years now.  Remember Democrats who wanted to and then succeeded in tearing down the Bronson Park Fountain of the Pioneers statue in Kalamazoo?  Was Mr. Rice concerned that his Party "choose to ignore race and racism in our teaching is to efface or erase history, implicitly or explicitly, and to shortchange our children, who deserve to learn the full breadth and complexity of our extraordinary history"?

I never heard him comment about that erasing or what they considered an ugly history.  You cannot pick and choose your ugly history to teach and not to teach.  That Mr, Rice is called hypocrisy.

Michael then goes on to state that Critical Race Theory is not a curriculum:

"It is an academic lens or set of lenses developed primarily by those in higher education to consider the elements and impacts of racism and particularly institutional racism on our country and citizenry”

You lost me Mike at “developed primarily by those in higher education”.  Anything that comes out of “higher education” and is developed in their classrooms or offices and not in real life is usually greatly flawed.  There are too many variables in real life to take into account, for instance, who would be teaching the CRT principals and what are their biases, prejudices and bigotry.

Mr. Rice ended with the following:

"Race and racism may be inconvenient for some, uncomfortable for others, and searing for still others, but, because they are inextricably a part of our history, they must be taught…I have confidence in our teachers to work through and teach these challenging issues to share the fullness and complexity of our history with our children….and by extension to permit our young people, armed with a knowledge of the past, to help assess the progress that we have made….and the progress that they wish to help make in their lifetimes."

I have informed my listeners for years that they must not only know what subjects their children are being taught at school but what they are being taught within those subjects and classrooms. You should review all their homework and the books they receive.

Most importantly make sure you create a relationship with your child that they feel free and comfortable to tell you what is going on in their classroom.  When you have people like Michael Rice as the States Superintendent over  K-12 grades and classrooms it is imperative that you do so, your child’s emotional well-being could be at risk.