The critical race theory took yet another hit nationally when this week a father in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who said he is a descendant of slaves, said that putting critical race theory into our classrooms does not combat racism; it only “fans the flames of what little embers are left.”
Shortly after Derrick Wilburn’s stirring speech late last week, School District 49 Board of Education voted 3-2 to ban critical race theory from its classrooms.
Wilburn told a large crowd during the school board meeting that he “is Black,” and he is “not oppressed and not a victim.”
This Colorado Springs father denounces critical race theory and says that “racism in America would be dead today if not for certain people and institutions keeping it on life support”—including public education.
Following his testimony, the school board voted 3-2 to ban CRT. pic.twitter.com/sK1TLS69MQ
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) August 19, 2021
“I am a direct descendant of the North American slave trade,” Wilburn said in his address to the Colorado Springs school board, a video from Twitter. “Both my parents are Black. All four of my grandparents are Black; all eight of my great, 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. …
“I travel across this country of ours, and I check into hotels, and I fly commercially. I walk into retail establishments, and I order food in restaurants. I go wherever I want whenever I want. I am treated with kindness, dignity and respect, literally from coast to coast. I have three children. They are not oppressed, either; although, 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. That is all,” Wilburn continued.
“We are not victims of America. We are not victims of some unseen, 190-year-old source that kind of floats around in ether. Putting the critical race theory in 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, one of those institutions is the American education system. I can think of nothing more damaging to a society than to tell a baby born today that she has grievances against another baby born today simply because of what their ancestors may have done two centuries ago.”
“There’s simply no point in doing that to our children, and putting critical race theory into our classrooms in part does that,” Wilburn said. “Putting critical theory into our 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.”
Prior to Wilburn’s speech, a member of the school board encouraged the audience to stand with him while he was speaking if they agreed with his comments. Many, shown in the video, did.
This video has gone viral on social media, and Fox News reported that is the result of dozens of other parents who have voiced outrage during board meetings due to critical race theory being implemented in classrooms.”
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