As part of Black Lives Matter week at school, students at Lincoln High School were given a handout/worksheet defining the “9 Signs of White Supremacy,” according to the father of one of the students. Seattle students were told that “Worship of the Written Word” is white supremacy because it “erases the wide range of ways in which we communicate with each other.” By this definition, the World Literature and Composition/Writing subject itself is racist.
The memo also condemns the idea that we value written communication because it is a form of “revering only what is written and even only what is written according to narrow standards full of misinformation and lies.” The memo doesn't provide any context about what this actually means.
“I feel bad for students who learn things like that because it sets them up for failure,” the father of one explained on KTTH's Jason Rantz Show. The father asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from Seattle Public Schools against his child. According to him, other parts of the memo were no less disturbing.
The memo labels “objectivity,” “individualism,” and “perfectionism” as white supremacy. If students deny their own racism—or that any of the nine characteristics are racist—that is also white supremacy.
Denial or overprotection is a racist example of “the right to say what is and is not racist, and that those in power have the right to be spared the stresses of anti-racist work.”
Father argues that these concepts are “incoherent and do not stand up to any reasoned analysis.” He also notes that the program is set up to ensure that students accept each concept without ever questioning the claims. “How can a 15-year-old object in class when ‘denial and defensiveness’ is itself a characteristic of white supremacy? This is real pedagogical negligence.”
Another aspect of the class on white supremacy at this Seattle school included a video called "Getting Called Out: How to Apologize" by Francesca Ramsey. It reportedly features white students expressing what the teacher considers “white supremacy.”
“Challenging behavior, in the context of this video, is when you say or do something that supports the oppression of a marginalized group of people,” Ramsey says.
Ramsey says her advice is to be an ally and “do the right thing.” She explains that you shouldn't "get defensive" by denying that you're oppressing marginalized people, even if you're not actually oppressing marginalized people. “What you really need to do is listen, because that's where the other person will hopefully explain to you what you did wrong and how you can explain it,” she says.
In the context of the white supremacy worksheet, it seems clear that students should simply acknowledge that they support oppression. If a student advocates independence or a love of reading and writing, then he must recognize that this is white supremacist thinking and stop acting independently or loving to read and write.
The father says he taught his son to be on guard against this kind of left-wing indoctrination. That is why his son drew his attention to these sheets. But he notes that the program doesn't do much to help his child learn the subject he's supposed to be learning.
“My problem with this curriculum is that it is supposed to be a writing and literature class, and these classes are not helping my child become a better writer,” the father explains.
“I'm sure the Lincoln administration will cite high ELA scores, but the large proportion of HCC [highly able] kids (40% of students) is a big factor.
With so many smart, hard-working kids (white supremacists), it's easy to maintain these luxurious beliefs, but system-wide, only 63% of kids are proficient in English. Is this really the best use of class time?”
The father also wonders how many students will succumb to this toxic thinking in Seattle schools, where concepts of white supremacy are so blatantly biased. “I feel sorry for those students who learn things like that because it sets them up for failure,” he said.
Seattle Public Schools officials responded to requests for comment with the usual negative response.