LCPS School Board Chair Brenda Sheridan and Her Assault on Truth
Before we close out the year, I’d like add Brenda to the list of Biggest Pinocchios of 2021. Brenda earned herself four Pinocchios when she said Critical Race Theory “is not in our curriculum because it would be inappropriate,” during her 12/26/21 interview with Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press School board chair: Critical race theory ‘not being taught’ | WTOP News. Brenda, as Thomas Sowell would say, you are “enjoying a sense of moral superiority” in your ignorance.
How can you have a county-wide mission statement that explicitly announces a commitment to disrupt and dismantle white supremacy while simultaneously stating that it would be inappropriate to teach that systemic racism is ingrained in society, when that is what Critical Race Theory posits? Brenda, this is the head of the snake eating the tail.
You signed a multi-year contract with Second Step Social Emotional Learning (Second Step Program | Second Step) to be implemented in all elementary and soon-to-be all middle schools in LCPS. Second Step is partnered with Learning for Justice. Learning for Justice (About Learning for Justice | Learning for Justice) “seeks to uphold the mission of the Southern Poverty Law Center: to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people.” Second Step’s linked resources include terms such as “intersectionality.” Kimberle Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality.” Kimberle Crenshaw is a leading scholar of Critical Race Theory. She gave the ideology its name Critical race theory: Who is Kimberle Crenshaw? How a workshop started a movement | MEAWW.
So, Brenda, dysconscious racism, intersectionality, systemic racism, white privilege, white supremacy, microaggressions, implicit bias, micro-affirmation, critical consciousness, and an article with the phrase “all lives do not matter and never have,” (“No, I Am Not OK.” Thanks for Asking. | Learning for Justice) all of which can be found in a thorough search of Second Step SEL’s related resources, ARE appropriate for LCPS students? Is this what you meant when you referenced compassion and empathy for students’ experiences? Who are you to blanketly determine the lived experiences of thousands of LCPS students?
On the topic of lived experiences and your statement that what is being taught to students can’t be objective, I’d like a micro-affirmation from you, Brenda. In case you didn’t know, micro-affirmations foster inclusion, listening, comfort, and support to people who feel unwelcome or invisible in an environment. Your comments and actions related to this topic have left me feeling invisible because you are failing to acknowledge my lived experience of witnessing first-hand, the implementation of CRT in our schools.
