A Texas high school principal was suspended amid claims that he was teaching critical race theory to students.
The teaching of CRT has been outlawed in the state.
Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District Superintendent Robin Ryan sent out a letter to parents that Colleyville Heritage High School informing them that Principal James Whitfield had been placed on paid administrative leave.
At a board of directors meeting last month, parents called for Whitfield’s firing, citing his “extreme views on race.”
“The last time I wasn’t here, someone was allowed to speak my name in public against the rules, and I think that’s what really disparaged my name,” Whitfield said about attending the school board meeting. “That group of people got the attention, so the students, the community, they said, ‘Let’s show up. Let’s let our voice be heard.'”
In July, the Texas Senate passed a bill which no longer requires Texas public schools to teach the history of the Ku Klux Klan or that the group’s white supremacy is “morally wrong.”
The latest Senate Bill 3 is a response to Critical Race Theory and The New York Times‘ controversial 1619 Project and states that the “history of white supremacy, including but not limited to the institution of slavery, the eugenics movement, and the Ku Klux Klan, and the ways in which it is morally wrong.”
The bill also specifies that teachers may not “be compelled” to discuss current events or “controversial issue[s] of public policy or social affairs” and that if they do, they can’t give “deference to any one perspective.”
Speaking to Insider, Whitfield said he was confused as he doesn’t even teach students.
“I don’t promote in schools critical race theory. That is something that is studied at the doctoral level,” he said. “Like, I don’t go around having conversations with kids about, ‘Hey let’s talk about systemic racism, let’s talk about diversity and inclusion.’ That’s not what I do.”
He continued: “All I’m trying to do is love people and celebrate people and engage people, meet them where they’re at and support our kids and celebrate them.”
