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San Diego Requires Anti-Racism Training for Teachers

A slide from San Diego's "anti-racist" teacher training / Twitter
December 4, 2020

The San Diego Unified School District required teachers to attend a "white privilege" training session in which they had to say they were racist and "confront" their privilege.

Christopher Rufo, a contributing editor at City Journal, obtained slideshows from the presentation, which he published Thursday. The training began with an "acknowledgement" that "we meet on stolen land" and continued with discussions on "white culture" and "white fragility."

The presentation defined "white fragility" as "emotions (racial stress) that are stirred when making white people consider racial realities" and that include "closed-mindedness" and "defensiveness." One slide told teachers "you are a racist" and "you are upholding racist ideas, structures, and policies."

Another slide on "white privilege," referring to a white person in the first person, said, "My ability to THRIVE, not just survive in this country, is being preserved at every level of power without me having to do anything at all. I don't even have to vote."

The slideshow used information from controversial "anti-racist" speakers and professors, including Robin DiAngelo and Ibram X. Kendi. Despite training others in "anti-racism," DiAngelo was paid more than a black woman for doing the same job, according to documents first uncovered by the Washington Free Beacon.

Training in "anti-racism" and critical race theory, the idea that law and society are inherently racist, grew in popularity this year following months of civil and racial unrest.

A Virginia school district developed an "anti-racist" curriculum for elementary students this summer. Government agencies, including the Energy Department and taxpayer-funded laboratories, and leading corporations and universities have also begun implementing mandatory critical race theory training.

In September, President Donald Trump banned these trainings at federally funded institutions after Rufo reported on them.