Racist Kansas City school nonsense isn’t ‘kids being kids.’ It’s a cancer on society

There has been a disturbing rash of racist incidents in Kansas City area high schools lately that makes one wonder: What in the world is going on and why? It is not OK that these events are happening in area schools so frequently and that it is turning into a state of emergency for Black students: petitions to bring back slavery; immature, bigoted posts in social media; walkouts protesting mistreatment of Black students.

These things are happening in the so-called “better” school districts in the area. Michael Harriot, reporter for theRoot.com, recently wrote: “Even though white children are now the minority of America’s school-age population, most white children attend majority-white schools that are better funded than the schools attended by Black kids. White students have access to better school libraries, a more advanced curriculum and even better food than nonwhite students.”

So-called “critical race theory” — a graduate-level academic construct that is not taught in any grade school or high school in Missouri — can’t be the culprit. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education sent out a survey about this concept, and only a handful of districts across the state (including Kansas City Public Schools) responded. Most Missouri educators have never even heard the term.

Maybe it’s the fact that American history isn’t taught as it should be: that while a lot of our history is glorious, a whole lot of it is also abhorrent. Slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow, the Trail of Tears, Wounded Knee, Japanese internment camps, sundown towns, antisemitic incidents, the John Birch Society and so much else are all part of the American fabric, too. Local, state and federal laws deliberately written to deny Black Americans and others of color basic rights intentionally granted privilege to white people.

Our children — all of them — must be taught the facts about American history. All children should be taught the good and the bad. Don’t hide anything under the table.

Why are some people so afraid of the truth? Truth gives greater understanding to how we can work together to truly make this country the one we all claim we want it to be.

The incidents recently in our schools indicate a much larger problem than people not fully understanding and accepting American history. There is something very disturbing when high school students in 2021 start a petition to reinstate slavery in any country, especially in a country such as ours that touts itself as being so much better, so much more righteous than those we routinely criticize. There is a deep-rooted acceptance of inequity for people of color and the poor by those who mistakenly believe only they made this country what it is — overlooking the fact our forebears used slavery, thievery and other nefarious acts as means to an end.

The incidents in area high schools cannot be viewed as “kids will be kids.” High schoolers are old enough to know and understand empathy. The students involved represent their respective school districts just as they represent their families. Each district must discipline the students involved in accordance with their stated disciplinary guidelines in their code of conduct handbooks. Everyone needs to understand that this type of behavior is not acceptable in an orderly society. And these actions, regardless of the intent, must have consequences.

The districts affected have an opportunity to educate their students and their communities, but first they must listen to their students of color and other marginalized children. They are asking for more diversity and equity initiatives, improved cultural competencies for staff and students and expansion of the curriculum. All students need to be heard and their feelings must be validated.