Editor’s note: Keisha King, a member of Moms for Liberty and a mother of two in Florida, delivered these remarks Thursday to the state Board of Education, according to Fox News. Her comments were widely shared on social media, including by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Below is a lightly edited transcript, or you can watch the video.
My name is Keisha King. I’m a mom of two, one who’s in the Duval County public school system, and one in private school, thanks to school choice. I’m also a member of Moms for Liberty, representing thousands of parents.
Just coming off of May 31st, marking the 100 years of the Tulsa riots, it is sad that we are even contemplating something like critical race theory, where children will be separated by their skin color and deemed permanently oppressors or oppressed in 2021.
That is not teaching the truth, unless you believe that whites are better than blacks. I have personally heard teachers teaching CRT, and we have had an assembly shut down because Duval County public school system consultant thought it would be a great idea to separate students by race. This is unacceptable.
CRT is not racial sensitivity or simply teaching unfavorable American history or teaching Jim Crow history. CRT is deeper and more dangerous than that. CRT … is a teaching that there is a hierarchy in society where white, male, heterosexual, able-bodied people are deemed the oppressor and anyone else outside of that status is oppressed. That’s why we see corporations like Coca-Cola asking their employees to be less white, which is ridiculous.
I don’t know about you, but telling my child or any child that they are in a permanent oppressed status in America because they are black is racist. And saying that white people are automatically above me, my children, or any child is racist as well.
This is not something that we can stand for in our country. And don’t take it from me. Look at the writers of these types of publications.
Our ancestors—white, black, and others—hung, bled, and died right alongside each other to push America toward that more perfect union. If this continues, we will look back and be responsible for the dismantling of the greatest country in the world by reverting to teaching hate and that race is a determining factor on where your destiny lies. Thank you.
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