Protecting each other -- from racism and from COVID-19 -- should be our shared priority

During the public comment period at the Aug. 17 meeting of the North Thurston School Board, there was a passionate display of opposition to the district’s anti-racist equity work, and the requirement that students and staff wear face masks to prevent COVID-19 transmission.

Courtney Shrieve, the district’s executive director of community relations, estimates there were 25-30 people at the meeting, but the applause and cheering for the speakers on the meeting’s audio recording is so enthusiastic it sounds like many more.

The first parent to speak, who identified himself as Alex, argued that an equity resolution the district passed last February has been “a bit of a disaster.” He asserted that “teachers, many of them labeled racist by the resolution and the following professional development classes, are hurt and emotionally distressed.” He contended that another result was that “students of color now see themselves as victims, and others as oppressors.”

Stephanie Gripp, a parent who taught her kids that race doesn’t matter, said the school district “has no problem with racism – zero.” She told district leaders she was upset that “You need my permission for sex ed but not for telling kids that race matters.” She lamented the district’s focus on “political agendas and pleasure-based sex ed.”

Shane Hunter, a veteran, said that during his years in the military “we did not see color” and it was not discussed. He believes that the district’s equity work, which he mistakenly labeled “critical race theory,” is “pushing hate, division, superiority and racism.”

Ezekiel Lyon, a retired math teacher, said he opposes any inclusion of equity issues in math classes because “math is objective.” He also noted that he would “really rather not have masks. I’m vaccinated, so I’d be protected, and the kids aren’t likely to get really ill unless they have an underlying condition like diabetes.”

The executive summary of the speakers’ comments is that teaching about racism is divisive because race shouldn’t matter, and the danger of COVID-19 does not warrant any individual effort to protect the people around us.

But race does matter. It’s not recent equity work that has made students of color aware that they are victims of it; it has just made it easier for them to talk about it more openly.

Racism has been a feature, not a bug, of American society for as long as there has been an American society. Our attempts to eradicate it have had spectacular but halting successes: We fought a civil war to end slavery, and mounted a civil rights struggle 100 years later to end segregation, secure voting rights, and pass laws outlawing discrimination in housing and employment.

But now we know that much more is needed to end racial disparities in infant mortality, health care, life expectancy, the criminal justice system, and in economic and educational opportunity. Many systems — including our education system — are still in the early stages of figuring out how to rise to that challenge.

It’s not surprising that new efforts to end racism cause conflict and hurt feelings. This work requires uncomfortable conversations that open some minds but cause others to slam shut. We hope the minds that have closed won’t lock the door.

Freedom from racism and freedom from COVID-19 should be our shared priorities, not freedom from consideration of our impact on those around us.

We support those in the North Thurston Public Schools who are entering this challenging new school year committed to racial justice. We hope they will not just stay the course, but dig deeper and go further to teach the truth about American history and to end the suffering that racism in our schools still causes.

We’re also glad they’re wearing masks to protect each other and their students.

This story was originally published September 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.