‘White privilege’ training now mandatory for San Diego teachers

Dr. Alveda King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece, said that she does not believe such training is an effective tool for improving race relations in the United States.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

The San Diego Unified School District in Southern California is forcing teachers to participate in unconscious bias training sessions, according to documents obtained by journalist Christopher R. Rufo.

The course outline, Rufo reported, explains that teachers will be told “you are racist” and “you are upholding racist ideas, structures, and policies.”

Teachers are told they must commit to becoming “anti-racist activists” that “confront and examine [their] white privilege,” “acknowledge when [they] feel white fragility,” and “teach others to see their privilege.”

Such unconscious bias training programs have become de jure in workplaces and schools across the nation, despite the lack of critical evidence surrounding the practice.

According to a report in Scientific American that referenced multiple studies on the subject, there is little evidence that unconscious bias training works, and there are no rigorous standards to which such training is held.

“We are a majority-minority district with a majority white teacher workforce,” Maureen Magee, the school district’s spokeswoman, said in a statement to Fox News.

“The ability to hold honest conversations about race with grace is important, which is why we offered the training and why so many teachers elected to enroll. Our students benefit from being able to talk about race and other difficult issues, regardless of their background.”

“Most of all, we believe every open and sincere conversation about race – no matter how it begins – provides an opportunity to learn from one another, for hearts to open, and for minds to grow.”

Dr. Alveda King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece, spoke to Fox News and said that she does not believe unconscious bias training is an effective tool for improving race relations in the United States.

“Sensitivity training telling people how to talk to each other, how to think about each other, watch each other’s skin color…that has not worked in all these years,” she said.

“We all bleed the same. We are human beings….you should listen to my uncle, Dr. King, when he says we must live together as brothers and sisters or perish as fools.”

Black Lives MatterRacial tensionUS politicsWhite privilege