A mother from northern Virginia unloaded on her county’s school board this week, rebuking members for embracing “racist” and “abusive” critical race theory.
The unnamed mother delivered a brief address Tuesday at a Loudoun County School Board meeting, where she urged members to “implement love, not hate” and “to communicate without deceiving people.”
“Let me educate you,” she said in a viral clip circulating online. “An honest dialogue does not oppress. An honest dialogue does not implement hatred or injustice. It’s to communicate without deceiving people.”
The mother, who is black, argued critical race theory was “a tactic used by Hitler and the Ku Klux Klan on slavery very many years ago to dumb down my ancestors so we could not think for ourselves.”
“You cannot tell me what is or is not racist,” she added, demanding the school board members “ban” critical race theory from district schools.
Her comments came on the heels of a petition launched by parents to recall several school board members whom they have accused of “infecting” Loudoun County Public Schools with critical race theory.
The petition, launched last week by the nascent Fight for Schools political action committee, is focused on ousting the following board members: Denise Corbo, Beth Barts, Brenda Sheridan, Atoosa Reaser, Ian Serotkin, and Leslee King. The PAC’s website states the petition has been signed by “well over a thousand motivated Loudoun County residents.”
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Each of the board members were, according to a report from The Daily Wire, part of a secret Facebook group in which participants compiled a list of parents who opposed critical race theory in the LCPS system.
One member of the Facebook group, Andrea Weiskopf, a teacher at River Bend and Seneca Ridge Middle School, reportedly condemned parents who oppose critical race theory, saying, “Over the past few weeks, a small group of Loudoun residents have put their racism on display for the nation.”
“They have been emboldened by the meekness and silence of those on the school board and in the community,” she said, according to PAC founder Ian Prior, a Loudoun County parent who previously worked in former President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice. “[I]t is the duty of the school board to acknowledge such overt and blatant racism against the students under your care.”
In a statement shared with Faithwire, LCPS Interim Superintendent Dr. Scott Ziegler pushed back against the assertion that critical race theory has been embraced by the school district.
He said it is “misinformation” to suggest the LCPS system is infusing its curricula with critical race theory. However, the district has implemented a so-called “equity plan,” which mandates “100% of new teachers will engage in on-boarding training sessions on equity, history of racism; mitigating bias, and the need for creating a safe, inclusive, and affirming learning space for every student.” The district also boasts a “detailed action plan to combat systemic racism” — a core tenet of critical race theory — and a lengthy video titled “An Apology to the Loudoun County Black Community,
While the school district “has not adopted a uniform equity curriculum,” Ziegler said, it has propped up a “Culturally Responsive Framework.” The plan “calls for all students, staff, families, and other members of our community to engage in the disruption and dismantling of white supremacy, systemic racism, and hateful language and actions based on race, religion, country of origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, and/or ability.”
Much of this arose when the district hired The Equity Collaborative in 2019 to conduct a “Systemic Equity Assessment,” which urged against treating all people “the same” because it “sidestep[s] differences … based on social, cultural, and racial factors.”
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“The assessment, submitted to the school division in June 2019, identified five barriers that could prevent students from attaining the world-class education LCPS strives to provide,” Ziegler said. “These barriers included race, poverty, learning disabilities, academic expectations and discipline practices. Of these five factors, the assessment identified race as the most prevalent problem.”
Many critics have argued that, although the LCPS system may not officially embrace critical race theory by name, the district is espousing the same principles.
Parents have also condemned LCPS teachers and school board members for publicly maligning those who oppose critical race theory.
“It has come to my attention that individuals, including some identifying themselves as LCPS employees, have made statements across social media about parents and their thoughts about the school division’s equity work,” Ziegler stated. “LCPS recognizes the right of its employees to free speech, but does not condone anyone targeting members of the community for their viewpoint.”