'We Are Not Victims': Black Father's Impassioned Plea on Critical Race Theory Leads School District to Ban It

AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File

And another one bites the dust.

A black father in Colorado delivered an emotional speech in which he thoroughly destroyed Critical Race Theory during a school board meeting last week — for which he earned a standing ovation from other parents. Moments later, the board members voted to ban CRT in the district.

Advertisement

Coincidental? Dunno.

But I do know the number of school boards — and states — banning CRT continues to increase, as more and more angry parents speak out against the radical-left orthodoxy, which teaches (indoctrinates) that “virtually all white people contribute to racism” — simply and solely by virtue of the color of their skin, and as a result must spend their entire lives atoning to people of color for the “sin” of being born white.

As reported by The Blaze, several Colorado Springs parents spoke against implementing critical race theory in school district classrooms, but Derrick Wilburn stole the show. Wilburn, who is a descendant of slaves, told the school board that installing CRT into classrooms not only doesn’t combat racism — it fans “the flames of what little embers are left.”

“I am a direct descendant of the North American slave trade. Both my parents are black. All four of my grandparents are black, all eight of my great grandparents, and all 16 of my great greats.

“On my mother’s side, my ancestors were enslaved in Alabama. On my father’s side, we were enslaved in Texas.”

Advertisement

Wilburn, who is the founder and executive director of the Rocky Mountain Black Conservatives, then scored a direct hit, as he declared to the board that he is not a victim.

“I’m not oppressed and I’m not a victim. We are not victims of America. We are not victims of some unseen 190-year-old force that kind of floats around in the ether.”

The father of three then talked about his kids. They “are not oppressed, either, though they are victims.”

“I taught my children they are victims of three things: Their own ignorance, their own laziness, and their own poor decision making.”

As I first read that last quote, I thought about what happens to Black Americans who refuse to live on the liberal plantation. They are called — by other Blacks — “Toms,” “house negroes,” “n***ers,” and worse; my favorite (and most humorous) example being former New Black Panthers leader Malik Zulu Shabazz, who in 2011 angrily denounced then-president Barack Obama as a “bamboozling buck-dancing Tom.”

Obama’s “sin,” in Malik’s eyes? He “represented the white man.”

Advertisement

Wilburn laid the blame for “fanning the flames of racism” at the feet of the American educational system.

“Putting critical theory into our classrooms is taking our nation in the wrong direction. Racism in America would by and large be dead today if it were not for certain people and institutions keeping it on life support.

“Sadly, very sadly, one of those institutions is the American education system.

“Putting critical race theory in classrooms is not combating racism. It’s fanning the flames of what little embers are left. I encourage you to support this resolution.

Let racism die the death it deserves.”

Shortly after Wilburn’s impassioned plea, as noted by The Blaze, the Colorado Springs School District 49 school board voted 3-2 to ban critical race theory in classrooms. The administrators presented a summary of their ban, as transcribed by The Blaze.

The driving force behind CRT and antiracism is the acceptance of a worldview that encompasses specific notions about history, philosophy, sociology, and public policy. By its own terms, CRT/antiracism excludes individuals who merely advocate for neutral principles of the Constitution, or who deny or question the extent to which white supremacy shapes our institutions.

Public Education, properly designed, includes age-appropriate exposure to events, philosophies, and structures which comprise the American experience. Clearly, this may and should include instruction of the facts and related literature regarding racism and inequality in America.

However, such exposure should not purport to deliberately undermine student/family values, religious beliefs, or principles. Further, every student, regardless of status, has a unique life story.

Thus, while instructors and administrators may recognize and/or believe in particular doctrines in the areas of faith, civil rights, economics, international affairs, sociology, or politics, it never should be the role of public educators to endorse or proselytize on behalf of a specific perspective in any of these areas. Certainly, CRT/antiracism or related euphemistic surrogates should not be an element of D49’s curricula or teacher training.

Advertisement

Boom, amen, and bingo.

This is how it’s supposed to work. School boards answer to us. Not the other way around. They are supported by our tax dollars. As a result, we must hold them accountable.

In an article earlier this month titled School Board Bans ‘Fatally Flawed’ Critical Race Theory: ‘Just Garbage’, I included a quote from Paso Robles, California, school board president Chris Arend, who nailed how CRT should be taught in America’s classrooms — if it is to be covered, at all, that is.

“I find Critical Race Theory to be just an absolutely disgustingly racist ideology that has been developed with the intention of really driving a wedge between various groups in America, various ethnic groups, and to use that to absolutely ruin our nation.

“We teach the children about communism without teaching them communism. We teach them about fascism, without teaching them fascism.

“We can do the same with CRT, and actually, we should do that so that the kids are vaccinated against the prevalence of this contagion in academia.”

Again — Boom, amen, bingo.

This is not complicated, gang. That is to say, the wise words of Derrick Wilburn and Chris Arend are not wrapped up in complex ideas or concepts. They are easy to understand.

And above all, they are right —morally so.

In a Saturday article titled Leftist ‘Biden Agenda’ Seeks to Redefine ‘American’ Identity — Victor Davis Hanson, I analyzed VDH’s recent op-ed in which he suggested America is “in the midst of a revolutionary epoch, and most [Americans] probably don’t even know it.”

Advertisement

“Are we in a revolution and don’t even know it?”, he asked.

Here’s part of my article:

I suspect [Victor Davis Hanson] is right. If so, how does it end? In other words, who wins? And how much worse does it get before it gets better? Dunno.

But I do know, based on the pushback from angry parents against arrogant, condescending Leftist school boards and the insanity of Marist-driven Critical Race Theory — and subsequent banning of CRT by multiple states — that it’s a yuuge start.

A “we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it, anymore!” beginning, as it were.

I also know that we must continue that mindset — even more so — across the crazy-train board.

These people are hellbent on destroying America as we know it, gang.

We must not let that happen. We must not let them win. I suspect that we will not.

And we must not let them win.

Derrick Wilburn knows that. Chris Arend knows it, as well. So does Victor Davis Hanson. And so do we.

The future of the education of our kids depends on us; not decisions made by “progressive” school boards.

We must stop the radical, race-obsessed Left in its tracks. God knows what will happen if we don’t.

Recommended

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on RedState Videos