Ethnic Studies: The Why Told By a White Marinite.
Teaching elements of Critical Race Theory and Ethnic Studies is not teaching people to be hateful and prejudice against white people. People who think this have a deep ignorance on the topic or are buying into the panic being spread by people who benefit from the people not being able to think critically about systems. Let me explain this by using my own story. I am white with a dominant ancestral roots in Europe and I am fairly confident that the Anderson branch were early Arkansas/Tennessee Scotch-Irish settlers pre-Civil War. What does this mean? I definitely had ancestors who fought on the Confederate side. Yet, when I talk to people about race or learn about the Civil War I do not feel like my identity is being attacked or that I should shoulder the shame of the past. I instead wanted to learn more. I wanted to know why Poor Whites in the South would back an institution that really did not benefit them as much as it did the planters. I wanted to know why people would allow race b