Analysis

The Schools That Retaliated Against The Unwoke

Loudoun County, VA Teacher Tanner Cross speaks at a school board meeting about gender pronouns [Youtube:Screenshot:The Blue Oak Project]

[Youtube:Screenshot:The Blue Oak Project]

Harold Hutchison Reporter
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While “woke” teachers who indoctrinate their students with various left-wing causes have prompted parents and fellow teachers to get involved, sometimes speaking out has come at a price.

Here are some of the top times that “woke” educators retaliated against the “unwoke.”

Suspended For Speaking Out

First on the list is the administration of Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS), in northern Virginia.

When Tanner Cross, an elementary school gym teacher at Leesburg Elementary School, spoke out against a proposed policy regarding transgender students that required the use of “preferred” pronouns, he was placed on administrative leave by LCPS. In addition to the suspension, a secret Facebook group worked to get Cross fired.

With the assistance of Alliance Defending Freedom, Cross sued to overturn the suspension. A trial court ordered his reinstatement, and the Virginia Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s ruling.

Cross was still listed on the staff directory of the school he taught at prior to his suspension at the time of publishing.

Label Your Race Or Flunk

In second place, a Las Vegas charter school that asked a student to label his race.

A senior at the Democracy Prep Agassi Campus, William Clark, was given an assignment to list his “race, religion, sexual orientation, and disabilities” and then asked to assign them labels. Clark was threatened with flunking if he didn’t complete the assignment.

“The lesson categorized certain racial and religious identities as inherently ‘oppressive,’ singling these identities out in bold text, and instructed pupils, including William, who fell into these categories to accept the label ‘oppressor’ regardless of whether they disagreed with the pejorative characterization of their heritage, convictions, and identities,” the suit filed by Clark’s mother, Gabrielle Clark, said.

Gabrielle, who had a white father and black mother, and had kids from a black husband and a white husband, said, “When this all happened, I’m thinking, ‘So my white kids are oppressing my black kids? Is that what we’re saying?’” (RELATED: ANALYSIS: The Top-6 Wokest Teachers Exposed This Year)

Parents Question CRT, Kids Get Expelled

Third on the list is a Columbus, Ohio, private school that responded drastically to parental concerns about the presence of critical race theory in the curriculum.

Critical race theory holds that America is fundamentally racist, yet it teaches people 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.

Amanda Gross and Amy Gonzalez, parents of children at Columbus Academy, had been raising questions about the curriculum for months, claiming that students were being indoctrinated into leftist thinking. The school responded by deciding not to re-enroll their children for the following school year, claiming parents were breaching the enrollment agreement. 

“I feel like it is unfortunate that when you are speaking out and you are trying to say your truth, unfortunately, there are people who want to retaliate against you,” Gross said during an interview on “Fox & Friends First.”

“In this case, they retaliated against our children, who are innocent.”

Benched For Being Conservative

In fourth place is a volleyball coach at the University of Oklahoma who penalized a player for her beliefs.

Kylee McLaughlin had been a volleyball player in 2018 and 2019 and had been chosen as a team captain for the University of Oklahoma’s Lady Sooners. But a “woke” coach almost derailed her college career.

McLaughlin was accused of racism and homophobia after the coach showed a documentary on racism called “13th,” prompting a discussion during which McLaughlin pointed out many black people were incarcerated over “drugs and marijuana.”

She also came under fire for how she responded to an ESPN tweet about an article changing the fight song of Oklahoma’s rival, the University of Texas. McLaughlin had responded with a skull and crossbones emoji and a laughing clown emoji, and later expressed the opinion that “Eyes of Texas” was not a racist song.

She eventually redshirted and then transferred to Ole Miss, but has since filed suit against the University of Oklahoma, claiming her First Amendment rights were violated.

“Although Plaintiff supports equality, social justice, and finds racism despicable, she disagreed with the WOKE culture and critical race theory advocated and practiced by two of her coaches who are the Defendants in this action,” the lawsuit said.

“If You Just Stay Silent, You’re A Racist” 

Fifth on the list is an exclusive school that made parents an offer the administration thought they couldn’t refuse. 

When several parents at the Brearley School in Manhattan, New York, balked at becoming activists for Black Lives Matter, the “woke” educators didn’t take no for an answer.

“It’s more than just a curriculum, they advocated for Black Lives Matter, they want families to advocate for Black Lives Matter,” Andrew Guttman, whose daughter attended the $54,000-a-year school before he withdrew her, said in an interview.

“This is the antiracism principle, where they say if you’re not antiracist, you’re racist. It’s more even than that. If you just stay silent, you’re a racist,” he added in an interview after the letter he wrote to the school drew media attention.

In response to his opposition to the “woke” curriculum, the head of the school labeled Guttman’s opinions as “deeply offensive and harmful.” (RELATED: Minnesotans File Lawsuits Aimed At ‘Confronting CRT-Inspired Bullying’)

A Secret Facebook Group To Target The ‘Unwoke’

Sixth on the list is a group of school board members that used a secret Facebook group to go after “unwoke” parents.

When parents in Loudoun County, Virginia, were calling for schools to re-open for in-person learning, and questioning indoctrination involving critical race theory, a half-dozen of the school board’s members joined a secret Facebook group that began targeting those parents for harassment and sought to expose them.

They thought the parents would back down. Instead, the parents launched a recall campaign.

Since then, at least one leader of the anti-critical race theory group has faced harassment. Jessica Mendez told the Daily Caller that her employer received a flyer in the mail claiming she was a racist.

Have you or your family been targeted for retaliation over not being “woke?” Do you know of someone who has faced retaliation for asking questions about curriculum? Is so, please contact us via our tipline.