Professor Maren Oberman quoted in Detroit Free Press on teaching about systemic racism in schools
Professor Maren Oberman was quoted in the Detroit Free Press regarding a state bill that would bar Michigan school districts from teaching about the role of systemic racism across society.
In a June 2 article, Lily Altavena covered The Detroit Perspective Project, which seeks to alter the district's English curriculum to better reflect the diversity of the student population. While Detroit Public School Community District eagerly launches this work, state leaders engage in divergent discussions around how schools should approach systemic racism, mirroring debates ramping up across the country.
Altavena reports that State Sen. Lana Theis, R-Brighton, has mounted a campaign to bar schools from lessons on systemic racism, introducing legislation to that effect this month. Theis’ proposal bears striking similarities to bills introduced in state legislatures across the country this spring, including in Texas and Ohio. Theis’ bill, if passed, could possibly cost districts undertaking equity movements 5% of their budgets. The bill would broadly ban curricula broaching the topics of race and racism.
Oberman said she believes such bills could make teachers hesitant to talk about race at all in the classroom. “I see the language in this bill as being very, very strategic and trying to get everybody to talk less about race, racism, and whiteness and white supremacy,” she said.
