Now that Labor Day weekend is in the rearview mirror, American students are preparing to go back to school—in some form or fashion. Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter (BLM) is gearing up to indoctrinate America’s students with a crash course of pro-socialist, anti-America rhetoric.
In 2016, BLM launched its Black Lives Matter At School program, which it defines as “a national coalition organizing for racial justice in education.” Although this may not ring alarm bells, it certainly should.
Four years later, BLM has infiltrated the nation’s public schools, and they are ready to make their presence felt. “We are calling on all educators, students, parents, antiracist organizers, and education advocates to participate in the Black Lives Matter at School ‘Year of Purpose.’”
So, what does BLM’s Year of Purpose entail? “The centerpiece of the Year of Purpose is asking educators to reflect on their own work in relationship to antiracist pedagogy and abolitionist practice, persistently challenging themselves to center Black lives in their classrooms. In addition, educators will be asked to participate in intentional days of action throughout the school year uplifting different intersectional themes vital to making Black lives matter in schools, communities, and beyond.”
For instance, BLM is advocating for the following on what it calls “Black to School” on the first day of classes:
- “Wear the [BLM] shirt”
- “Review the BLM at School reflection questions and write up your anti-racist action plan for the year”
- Graffiti wall: “What are we going to do differently this year to further the movement for Black lives in our school?”
- Post a video to social media
- Join Twitter chat
Quick question: When did America’s schools become indoctrination camps for divisive racial rhetoric? As a former high school teacher, I can assure you that students would be much better off focusing on the fundamentals, such as reading comprehension, basic mathematics, writing skills, etc.
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Trust me, there is already more than enough “social justice” training in America’s classrooms. The last thing American students need is more precious time devoted to things that have little to do with academics.
However, this is not the position of BLM. In fact, if BLM had their druthers, schools would be more akin to social justice training camps than academic havens.
According to BLM, “The learning environments we aspire to create reflect a deep understanding of the experiences of Black children, families, and communities, as well as our own ongoing work of critical self-reflection and personal transformation. Are we creating humanizing communities that respond to the concerns of our students? Are we committed to leveling up our expectations for Black students? As educators, we turn inward in order to reach outward, linking our efforts to broad, integrated movements for social justice. As our ancestor, the Black lesbian warrior poet Audre Lorde, stated, ‘There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single issue lives.’ This means we must commit to living our principles every day, in and out of our classrooms, within our homes, and with our communities. It is a commitment to the village.”
A commitment to the village? What village does BLM speak of?
In a few years, BLM has morphed from a fringe organization to a mainstream juggernaut. No wonder the National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union, is on-board with BLM’s school program.
However, most parents want their children to attend school so they become educated, not indoctrinated. If BLM really cared about improving schools, especially those attended by mostly black students, one would think they would focus on pushing academics above all else.
After all, black students are falling behind their non-black peers in core academic subject areas.
What’s more, if BLM actually cared about uplifting black students, it would promote school choice, which is overwhelmingly supported by the black community. Instead, BLM continues to double-down on racial rhetoric that does little to help black students, but does a whole lot to guarantee that racial-grievance warriors remain gainfully employed and America’s students remain clueless about why America is an exceptional nation.
Chris Talgo (ctalgo@heartland.org) is an editor at The Heartland Institute.
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