A crowd of roughly 200 people marched to a Texas school to protest critical race theory (CRT) during a school board meeting Tuesday, Fox 4 reported.
The massive crowd of parents and activists marched a mile from a police and fire memorial to Fort Worth Independent School District (ISD), demanding the school not implement CRT into academics and calling on the school’s superintendent, Kent Scribner, to step down from the board, according to Fox 4.
Protestors rallied against the teaching of critical race theory in @FortWorthISD last night. CRT isn’t being taught, a spokesman said.
Another group pushed trustees to maintain racial equity work. The clash is likely a preview of what’s to come.https://t.co/VavznrbzRO #txlege
— Emily Donaldson (@EmilyJDonaldson) June 23, 2021
CRT holds that America is fundamentally racist, yet teaches individuals to view every social interaction and person in terms of race. Its adherents pursue “antiracism” through the end of merit, objective truth and the adoption of race-based policies.
The school board did not have anything related to CRT on its agenda for the meeting and insists CRT is not in the district’s curriculum.
A group of about 150 Fort Worth parents and activists gathering at the Fort Worth Police and Firefighters Memorial to speak out against Critical Race Theory; demanding FWISD Superintendent Kent Scribner step down. March to district headquarters starts NOW #FOX4 #CRT #FortWorth pic.twitter.com/vj3VPeEQNw
— Macy Jenkins (@MacyJJenkins) June 22, 2021
“I am a white mother of white children, and I am beyond grateful that my kids are in a district that values teaching, truth and doing the work racial equity requires,” Sophia Rogers, a parent, said, according to Fox 4.
Some local residents pointed to the district’s “Courageous Conversations About Race” program as evidence that the school had CRT-aligned instruction.
“The Courageous Conversations is actually Critical Race Theory being programmed under a different name,” Sharon Hives, who lives in Fort Worth, said, according to Fox 4. “It’s still teaching that one race is oppressing another race.”
The district reportedly said the program, which was implemented five years earlier, was not being offered throughout the pandemic.
Some parents were concerned that the school’s alleged focus on ideology is causing “plummeting academic scores,” and others said they’ve enrolled their children in private schools over the issue of CRT, according to Fox 4.
Texas is one of several states to have passed legislation targeting CRT. The state’s bill, H.B. 3979, adopts American founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Federalist Papers, as part of the state’s social studies curriculum. (RELATED: Here’s What’s Actually In The GOP’s Anti-Critical Race Theory Bills)
The bill prohibits schools from requiring teachers and other employees to engage in “training, orientation, or therapy that presents any form of race or sex-stereotyping or blame on the basis of race or sex.”
Unlike the other states, however, Texas’ bill prohibits schools and teachers from requiring students to participate in political activism or programs involving social or public policy advocacy. Schools and teachers cannot offer incentives like extra credit for students who participate in activism.
“Texas bans liberal PAC money that trains teachers in CRT indoctrination. We also empower teachers so they can refuse to take part in CRT training. Further, we block incentives that promote action civics (aka protest civics) over academic rigor,” Republican Texas state Rep. Steve Toth previously told the Daily Caller.
Parents across the country have presented their concerns about CRT to their local school boards, in often heated exchanges that have resulted in arrests.
In Loudoun County, Virginia, parents protesting CRT and a transgender policy were arrested Tuesday during a school board meeting. More than 200 people signed up to speak at the public comment section during the meeting.