Written by William Hekman
Thursday night, parents and concerned citizens in Poway held a rally to protest the use of Critical Race Theory in Poway Unified School District. They held the rally to demand transparency from the district. Protesters say that the district has not been transparent about the adoption of curriculums centered around CRT. Transparency has been a massive topic in education as children return to their classrooms on campus instead of being online.
One of the attendees of the protest was President of the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation Frank Xu. Xu said that plenty of people attended the rally, not just concerned parents. Xu said in an interview with KUSI that grandparents, empty-nesters, and students attend the rally to voice their opposition to CRT. Xu said their opposition to the curriculum is that it divides students on racial lines, “The Critical Race Theory and Ethnic Studies curriculum actively divides people by their skin color, saying that some people are oppressors and some others are victims” Xu also pointed out the financial impact of the curriculum, pointing out that a lot of taxpayer money was going towards this curriculum, “They spent $120,000 on equity teams and coaches, $230,000 for inclusivity and so on, and also a new position, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”.
Xu also said that the board has been having closed door meetings about this, out of fear that parents will protest the curriculum. The district recently announced that they will no longer continue with in-person meetings, which has raised concerns among parents. While the ethnic studies materials have been published on the Poway Unified website, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion material has not been made available.
Photo Cred: KUSI
