Public Racist Act from a Teacher is Why CRT is NECESSARY

Last week a harmful video of an educator from RUSD circulated throughout the online indigenous community depicting a teacher adorned in a faux paper-craft feather headpiece engaging in a dehumanizing and racist act against native culture in an attempt to create a visual narrative that would aid students in remembering the lesson plan. This public racist display, which has gone on for years at the school without confrontation, was filmed by an indigenous student in the class who felt it was an act of violence upon him and his culture. The district has since put the educator on leave and issued a public statement stating that the educator’s behavior doesn’t reflect the district’s values on “diversity, equity, and inclusion, and does not condone behavior against these values.” However, as mentioned, this harmful behavior has gone on for years as depicted and documented in a past yearbook where the same act was published with a photo and correlating excerpt showcasing and commemorating the educator’s lesson plan as a creative form of student engagement. This type of uninformed, uneducated, and unconscious behavior and language among educators happens daily across schools nationwide with little to no accountability, repercussions, or reparations. BIPOC youth are traumatized in the process while their white peers perpetuate the same behaviors and language witnessed from educators. The action of this educator is a prime example of why critical race theory is necessary for education. Public racist acts enacted by educators contribute to sustaining white supremacy and are exactly why anti-critical race theory laws like HB3979 will further regress racial equity and progress. Educators need diversity and inclusion training, racial equity training, and critical race theory training to instruct the next generation without the truth.