California schools launch anti-racism plan, flouting Trump's threats
SACRAMENTO — The California Department of Education announced new anti-racism lessons and teacher training for school districts on Monday, days after President Donald Trump decried the notion of teaching slavery as a founding tenet of the U.S. and called for a more “patriotic education."
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond pointed to the police killing of George Floyd in May, bullying of Asian American students amid the coronavirus and a spike in anti-immigrant rhetoric and antisemitism since the 2016 election as reasons for the project.
“We have continued to watch unspeakable acts of racism play out on our television screens, whether it be police brutality or those who want to hold on to symbols that represent hate against African Americans that go back to slavery,” Thurmond said at a news conference announcing the optional materials. “At times, it just is so heartbreaking. Sometimes I’m not sure what to do. But in those moments, I’m reminded education continues to be one of our most powerful tools to countering hate.”
Last week, Trump said he would sign an executive order to establish a "1776 Commission,” a nod to the 1619 project, a New York Times Magazine production named after the year that the first slaves arrived in Virginia. The project has been adapted into a curriculum guide for schools to use, and focuses on the history of slavery as the root of systemic racism in the U.S.
Trump and other Republicans have tried to discredit the project and called similar teachings in schools a “twisted web of lies.” The president threatened to defund California schools that teach the 1619 Project in a tweet earlier this month.
Thurmond dismissed those threats on Monday, and supported the use of the 1619 Project in California schools. Trump does not have the power to mandate state CONTINUE READING: California schools launch anti-racism plan, flouting Trump's threats
