They can’t have it both ways.
They can’t say there’s no Critical Race Theory in the Chicago Public Schools and, at the same time, allow the school district to showcase a video that’s a straight-up endorsement of victimization. That says Blacks have no hope. That says Blacks “can’t win” and that there's nothing left to do but burn and loot.
The video involves an impassioned tirade from activist Kimberly Jones – speaking a few days after George Floyd’s murder – about rising up and burning down communities. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a must. Her emotion is raw and real and her arguments persuasive, but the message is nihilistic.
"How can you win? You can't win, the game is fixed. So when they say ‘why do you burn down the community, why do you burn down your own neighborhood?’ It's not ours. We don't own anything. We don't own anything there is.”
“There's a social contract that we all have but if you steal or if I steal then the person who is the authority comes in and they fix the situation. But the person who fixes the situation is killing us so the social contract is broken. And If the social contract is broken why the f*ck do I give a sh*t about burning the f*cking Football Hall of Fame, and burning the f*cking Target…f*ck your Target, f*ck your Hall of Fame. As far as I’m concerned they can burn this b*tch to the ground. And it still wouldn’t be enough.”
That’s an extremely dangerous message to anybody in a vulnerable state, especially Chicago's struggling Black students. Inner-city life is tough enough, but the schools are leaving just 1 in 10 black students reading at grade level. And only 1 in 20 in math. Add Jones’ rhetoric to the mix and that leaves little but despair.
The problem with the video goes even deeper. Argue all you want over whether Critical Race Theory is specifically taught in classrooms, but what this video does is it gives teachers implicit permission to push the same destructive ideas in their classrooms.
You can agree with Jones’ message or not. That’s not the issue. The real issue is whether it’s appropriate for the video to be on CPS’ website. Posted by the Office of Equity. Promoted as an “equity tool" for teachers to spread and for any student to see.
We strongly oppose that. Schools are meant to be a place of hope and inspiration, where learning is the ticket to a better life.
This video destroys that hope.
There’s no turning around education – especially for minorities – as long as this narrative, no matter how it’s packaged, is part of the system. More Illinoisans should know about the narratives CPS is pushing.
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