Oswego School District parent opposes teaching of 1619 Project, critical race theory

An Oswego School District 308 parent spoke in opposition to the teaching of critical race theory and the 1619 Project in district schools during a Wednesday, May 5 Board of Education committee meeting.

“I join with parents from across our district and from across our country to speak out against an emerging social studies curriculum that incorporates the historically inaccurate 1619 Project as well as critical race theory, which is an offshoot of critical theory, a Marxist movement,” Thomas Nanninga, a district parent, told members of the board’s equity advisory committee.

Nanninga acknowledged that Associate Superintendent for Educational Services Faith Dahlquist had told him previously that critical race theory and 1619 Project are not currently being taught in the district but noted they have been adopted by other school districts across the country.

Critical race theory examines how laws and policies perpetuate systematic racism in society. In general it holds that racism is at the core of the nation’s history and life, the result of a system and not just bad individuals. The 1619 Project, an ongoing initiative by the New York Times magazine, began in 2019 on the 400th anniversary of the start of slavery in the United States. It “aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative,” according to the project’s website.

Nanninga told the committee subjective buzzwords like “equity” and “diversity” are now being use to promote critical race theory and the 1619 Project.

“We, the concerned citizens and parents of School District 308 are asking as a committee to recognize that we do not, I do not, support the addition of critical race theory, equity, social justice or whatever the newest label is, to be taught in our schools,” Nanninga said. “They sound good, but they are all a part of critical theory...critical race theory promotes racism.”

The ideology, he charged, “states that all of America and its institutions are deeply racist and therefore irredeemable and need to be torn down and dismantled.

“Critical race theory is far from the traditional Civil Rights movement which sought to provide equal opportunity and dignity without regard to race. This destructive narrative is just the opposite of Martin Luther King’s dream of a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

“Truth should always be taught,” Nanninga continued, “and we have horrible blemishes in our past. Slavery was abominable and evil. Our founding principles were not evil, but as great American and former slave, Frederick Douglass believed, these principals were written with the ability to break these racial hierarchies. This has happened.”

The implementation of critical race theory robs children of a sound education, Nanninga said, encouraging the committee to consider alternative approaches “that allow open discussions in the spirit of free speech rather than an indoctrination of Marxism.”

“While other countries are focusing and outpacing us in math, we should be teaching our children how to divide, not how to be divided,” he said.

The district did not return a request for comment in time for publication.