Learning facts about America's history we've missed
Protesters rally against critical race theory being taught in schools in Leesburg, Virginia, in June. Credit: AFP via Getty Images/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds
Dealing with CRT from a woke view
I certainly agreed with much of what William F.B. O’Reilly said about wokeness ["Wokeness slipping toward caricature," Opinion, Nov. 16]. However, as he moved onto critical race theory, I found myself cringing.
Are schools proposing teaching a racially predatory narrative of American history, or are they proposing teaching things that have historically been missed in our education?
Growing up, even in liberal New York City, I learned that Americans invented everything and that we won every war. I didn’t learn about lynchings; Tulsa, Oklahoma; or the Holocaust. Despite what adults think, my young brain could handle it.
As to O’Reilly’s experience hailing a cab with his Black colleagues and his regret in not asking them to consider what the cabdrivers were thinking in not picking them up, I’d say he made the right decision in not asking his friends to consider the drivers’ thoughts. They likely were not picked up because his colleagues were Black and the drivers assumed they were criminals. Those drivers could have used a bit of "wokeness."
— Mark Weintraub, Old Bethpage
The article "War of Words" [Our Towns, Nov. 15] was an extremely disturbing example of the shrinking value of secondary education in the minds of a portion of our population.
Those who want to deny our children knowledge of the real world, and opportunities to discuss, question and analyze the actions of people in our world, are in fact stifling the mature growth needed to face that world.
It was chilling to read that the Commack Board of Education was willing to demote and punish Charles Schulz by stripping him of tenure for speaking out in protest of the removal of "Persepolis" from the curriculum. This is a denial of principles of democratic education, literacy and critical thinking.
The board has missed an opportunity to support the very system it leads. This kind of policy decision will likely produce shallow-thinking people who will be unable to recognize misinformation or be able to make factually based decisions. More than just the $80 million in Schulz’s lawsuit will certainly be lost if this policy continues.
— Catherine Parker, Bay Shore
