Being in an interracial relationship for over 20 years, and an interracial marriage for 15+ years, I can honestly say that race had never been an issue. That changed when our daughter got into middle school, about four years back when Critical Race Theory started to be introduced into her education. Starting then and for years going forward, CRT brought in added tension to our family that had never been present prior.
Image above: Dan Garcia and his family
Because of my family makeup, I’d been previously very aware of what CRT was doing on college campuses but I never expected it to be brought into my very own home. The friction started with assignments brought home and me simply questioning their intent and biases, which wasn’t “acceptable” from a “privileged white male.”
I’m fortunate that because I was able to bring perspective and context around CRT to my family from the beginning, my family has now also begun to question CRT’s intent in the educational system.
My concern is that many children don’t have a parent with the experience, background, and comfortability in delicately pushing back and questioning CRT in our educational system. Because kids aren’t being provided other opinions and viewpoints, far too many children take CRT as fact because they also lack the experience to question. Not to mention, doing so can get them labeled.
My family and I have witnessed first-hand how CRT has created resentment, division, and an overall unhealthy educational environment for our children.
Over and beyond this concern and the tension brought into our home is the added time it now takes to tirelessly review my daughter’s lessons, looking for CRT’s influence. It can be very emotionally draining. But its influence is consistently there and I need to be able to provide the much-needed context and perspective that the lessons are desperately lacking. Though I’m now confident that my daughter has the foundation to see through most of this, it’s still an endless struggle and need to simply provide balance to her education.
This entire experience has led me to believe that our public education system is one of the most dangerous and unhealthy environments for our children.
I say this because I see how our children have become anxiety riddled, always on the verge of an emotional breakdown. I don’t blame this solely on our educational system, but it definitely plays a very large part in confusing our children, creating division that makes it difficult to communicate, and leaving them anxious and hopeless for their very own futures.
We’re currently witnessing this in the highest rates of teenage depression, self-mutilation, and suicide…ever.
Instead of attempting to close the educational gap by focusing on the basics of our children’s educational needs, the public education system has become nothing more than “Leftist” indoctrination camps, teaching our children to become activists for the next feigned “moral” outrage.
Because it’s much easier to confuse and enrage our youth and get them active that way verses motivating and educating them as a way to close the education gap.
As a reformed Democrat, this isn’t to criticize Democrats, as most of my family are Democrats. And we desperately need a moral Left. But this is more of a call for some drastically lacking and much needed balance to be brought into our educational system—that will end up benefiting us all.
Dan Garcia, St. Paul, MN
I Won’t Let Critical Race Theory Divide My Family:
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