Parents are outraged after discovering that state tax dollars are funding a program designed to teach white preschoolers not only that they are inherently racist but also that they must learn to not be “anti-Black.”
The University of Texas-Austin has announced it will move forward with a program geared at teaching 4- and 5-year-old white children about “anti-Black racism” and their responsibility to become “anti-racist.” Although the program was halted due to a backlash and a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education, the school announced it will go ahead with the experiment.
According to The College Fix, the $100,000 GoKAR! (Go Kids Against Racism) program is financed by the university administration — and by extension taxpayer dollars. Richard Lowery, who is an associate professor of finance at UT Austin, explained that the program is based on Robin DiAngelo’s summation that “raising white children to be white is a form of child abuse.”
GoKAR! is open to 4- and 5-year-olds, who must be white and not yet enrolled in kindergarten to qualify, along with their white caregivers. Researchers are taking up to 200 child participants from across the country for the online course.
“GoKAR! creates opportunities for caregivers to engage in dialogue about Black racism with their preschool-aged children at home,” the recruitment flier states. “The program includes a series of professional children’s videos and discussion guides. We aim to explore overall engagement with the GoKAR! Program, as well as the potential for the program to reduce bias and increase awareness of racism.”
Lowery says the program is based on the claim that waiting until the children are older or more mature won’t accomplish the goal of the study. He claims that the course is intended to indoctrinate young children with the political views of the researchers.
The GoKAR! curriculum teaches children that the U.S. is founded upon systemic racism and that all the discrepancies among minority groups stem from racism.
“Laws that treat people unfairly based on their race. Today, these systems may not seem as directly racist, but there are still rules and laws that impact certain groups of people more than others. For example, kids in mostly Black neighborhoods often go to schools that have less money for books and supplies compared to kids that go to schools in mostly White neighborhoods. Systemic racism can be hard to see but being an upstander means learning to see unfair rules and laws and speaking out or taking action against them.”
The curriculum suggests videos, such as “Woke Kindergarten,” and children’s books, such as “Hope: A Story About Anti-Racism” and “Hands Up!” Caregivers are advised to use websites, such as “Parenting for Social Justice” and “Raising Race Conscious Children.”
The program promises to compensate participants with a $25 gift card as well as an additional $20 gift card for completing an optional interview.
“So only whites are allowed to benefit from this race-segregated ‘educational opportunity’ that includes financial compensation, while all non-whites are denied the opportunity to learn about racism (based on their skin color) and get compensated for that experience,” Lowery said.
Lowery warns that the University of Texas-Austin is testing the water to see how children and their caregivers respond to anti-racist curriculum, which is based on Critical Race Theory.
“Given the way it’s written, it certainly sounds to me that this would be inspired by the kind of critical race theory ideology that seems pervasive at education schools and UT Austin,” he told The College Fix in a telephone interview. “My interpretation is it’s a pilot program, a research study on the effectiveness of the program.”
The complaint against the allocation of taxpayer funds toward a “racially exclusive, racially discriminatory program” was denied. The study will go ahead as planned, and taxpayers are footing the bill.
Racially biased teaching has infected the education system at every level, from preschool through higher academia. There’s no escaping it. The best option is to fund private schools that reject this dogma or opt for homeschool, both of which are becoming more popular than ever.
