Black Lives Matter Narrative Removed From 5th Grade Curriculum

Sarasota FL

15 October, 2021

3:54 PM

Description

SARASTOTA COUNTY, FL — A Black Lives Matter narrative has been removed from 5th grade reading curriculum materials by Sarasota County Schools. In a letter sent to parents Monday, the school district said the narrative was removed because it violates the Florida Department of Education's ban on teaching critical race theory in public school classrooms. The FDOE defines critical race theory as "the theory that racism is not merely the product of prejudice, but that racism is embedded in American society and its legal systems in order to uphold the supremacy of white persons," according to Sarasota County Schools. In its letter, the district said a group of teachers in the district and curriculum specialists review educational curriculum to ensure it's in compliance with state mandates. As educators prepared for an upcoming unit of study for fifth graders, they found vocabulary passages, including the narrative that was removed, that weren't available for review when the reading materials were selected. The Black Lives Matter narrative was removed from a "vocabulary practice text" section of the curriculum because it "contained content that may be controversial and in conflict with FDOE's requirements," the district said in its letter to parents. This contemporary narrative shared the story of a child and their father attending a June BLM protest in Atlanta. "More than a thousand people came out that day. Some wore their 'Sunday best' — suits and ties, dresses and hats — just like civil rights protesters did in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s time. Most also wore masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus," the author wrote. "All were joined in a common purpose: to raise our voices in dissent against racist systems that harm Black people. We were protesting limits on our opportunities and dangers threatening Black lives." The author also detailed how their father was nearly "arrested for jogging through a neighborhood where someone thought he shouldn't be," noting that many people in their family "has anecdotes like that." This passage was replaced by a narrative about a Birmingham protest that took place on May 5, 1963. This narrative read, "More than a thousand kids came out that day. Some wore their 'Sunday best' — suits and ties, dresses and hats — just like the adults did when they protested with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We all were joined in a common purpose: to raise our voices in dissent against the discrimination we experienced. We were protesting limits on our freedoms. We were protesting legal segregation and the many ways these unjust laws constrained our lives." The author also noted that their "father had been arrested during another march. Like me, he was protesting the Jim Crow laws that rules our lives." They added, "Every Black person I knew had anecdotes about unfair treatment." Read both narratives — the BLM passage and the one that replaced it — below. Trevor D. Harvey, president of the NAACP's Sarasota County branch, said the removed narrative "has nothing to do with (critical race theory.)" He added, "If you truly and honestly understand CRT you will recognize the way it was written has nothing to do with CRT at all…I get so frustrated. The minute somebody says 'Black' or something about slavery, they automatically relate it to CRT, and this is not CRT. It's just not." The original narrative shares a present-day event. In the replacement narrative, "the verbiage changed to flip it to something that has now happened in the past and it is moving away from present day," Harvey said. "This new document, I feel that it is hindering the engagement of the learner by putting them in the past, (telling them) that everything is peaches and creams now and is afraid of touching the present. In reality, things are not peaches and cream." He's concerned "this is the start of censorship." Harvey added, "And it's just going to get worse, in my perspective. If this is the signs of how the district is going to start changing curriculum and censoring individuals, I just think it's gonna get worse." He said he plans to reach out to the school district's superintendent, Dr. Brennan Asplen, to have a conversation about the changes made to the curriculum. "I look forward to sitting down to talk with Dr. Asplen and others who made this decision. It doesn't seem like there was any reach out other than to this little group (within the district) to really get an understanding of the document," Harvey said. Patch reached out to BLM Manasota for comment on this story. Black Lives Matter narrative removed from Sarasota County Schools' 5th grade reading curriculum. Black Lives Matter Narrativ... by Tiffany Razzano New narrative that replaced the BLM passage in Sarasota County Schools' 5th grade reading curriculum.  >