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Yesterday, NC Family sent a letter to the members of the North Carolina State Board of Education, expressing our concern with the Proposed Standards Revisions for K-12 Social Studies that the Board is currently considering. These revisions appear to deal primarily with Critical Race Theory, which, according to a December 2020 Heritage Foundation report, “makes race the prism through which its proponents analyze all aspects of American life.”

(You can read NC Family’s letter in its entirety here)

Just a couple of the proposed revisions that we take issue with in this letter are:

• Civic literacy must include an explanation of “how individual values and societal norms contribute to institutional discrimination and the marginalization of minority groups living under the American system of government.”
• American History must “compare how some groups in American society have benefited from economic policies while other groups have been systemically denied the same benefits.”

“The use of charged terms like ‘institutional’ and ‘systemically,'” NC Family warns in our letter, “along with ‘the American system of government,’ can be read to suggest that the United States of America is, at its core, unresponsive, indifferent, and insensitive to the racial inequities and challenges that have faced our nation. This fails to recognize many of the important advancements our country has made in these areas over the years. In addition, many of the proposals call for a ‘critique’ of certain areas of study, which can be read to imply or suggest a negative or critical perspective. Instead, we suggest replacing this word with ‘evaluate,’ which would encourage a more neutral, open-minded approach.”

Please contact the members of the State Board of Education and urge them to remove these provisions, and to review the Proposed Standards Reivions for K-12 Social Studies and remove any similar provisions.

North Carolina State Board of Education

Chairman Eric C. Davis – eric.davis@dpi.nc.gov

Vice Chairman Alan Duncan – alan.duncan@dpi.nc.gov

State Superintendent Catherine Truitt – catherine.truitt@dpi.nc.gov

Lt. Governor Mark Robinson – mark.robinson@dpi.nc.gov

State Treasurer Dale Folwell – dale.folwell@dpi.nc.gov

Dr. Olivia Holmes Oxendine – olivia.oxendine@dpi.nc.gov

Reginald Kenan – Reginald.kenan@dpi.nc.gov

Amy White – amy.white@dpi.nc.gov

Todd Chasteen – todd.chasteen@dpi.nc.gov

James E. Ford – James.Ford@dpi.nc.gov

Jill Camnitz – Jill.Camnitz@dpi.nc.gov

Dr. Donna Tipton-Rogers – Donna.Tipton-Rogers@dpi.nc.gov

J. Wendell Hall – JWendell.Hall@dpi.nc.gov

Brenda Stephens – brenda.stephens@orange.k12.nc.us

Dr. Tony Jackson – ajacksonsbe@vcs.k12.nc.us

Kisha Clemons – kisha.clemons@n-ccs.org

Matthew Bristow-Smith – msmith@ecps.us

Maureen Stover – stoverscience@gmail.com

Mariah Morris – morristeach1@gmail.com

Nate Kolk-Tomberlin – fergus0425@gmail.com

Bryce Womble – brycewomble22@gmail.com