Columbus Dispatch Letters to the Editor   July 15, 2021

Educate yourself: It's not anti-CRT, it's anti-diversity and anti-inclusion

One year ago, the State School Board of Ohio passed a resolution to advance equity and condemn racism in our schools.

The State BOE's equity resolution is a meaningful statement in support of diversity and equity. 

Naturally, Critical Race Theory wasn't even mentioned in the BOE document, since CRT is not being taught in our public schools.

Sadly, Ohio hosts some well-funded “political action committees” and “astroturf parent groups” that spread propaganda about public schools “indoctrinating” Ohio’s children. Their misplaced outrage is a coordinated attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion. These groups are framed as anti-critical race theory organizations, when in reality, they are anti-diversity/equity/inclusion.

It's hard to comprehend how any compassionate adult could protest against promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in public schools.

Ohio children deserve an accurate understanding of our nation's history and governmental institutions. Are our students not worthy of a culturally responsive curriculum that reflects their collective ancestry and backgrounds to empower them to value every culture?

The path to equity begins with an unbiased understanding of the past based on factual evidence, and educators need to be able to help students honestly explore American history without being accused by extremists who mislabel their teaching as “critical race theory.”

Ohioans must reject the false narrative of misguided people who say that the state BOE equity proclamation has anything to do with critical race theory

Let’s applaud the members of the State School Board of Ohio who considered the needs of all children in the development of this groundbreaking “Resolution to Condemn Racism and to Advance Equity.”

Jeanne Melvin, Public Education Partners, Columbus