Public schools in Portland, Oregon have recently adopted a new curriculum for eighth-graders which delves into the history of racism in Oregon.   The goals and purposes of this program are to better understand Oregon’s racial past, examine biases, and provide a healing opportunity.  Excuse me, but why do twelve and thirteen year olds need healing opportunities for discrimination they’ve never experienced that happened in 1886?

            According to Keisha Edwards, co-author of Beyond the Oregon Trail: Oregon’s Untold History, “A lot of multicultural curriculum has dealt with celebrating differences.  We had the element of going beyond celebrating differences, past that to the place where the rub is -- the racism, sexism, classism, homophobia. Oregon Uniting was willing to go that extra step to push people to examine the biases that affect them and provide a healing opportunity."  

            Oregon Uniting, developers of the curriculum, merged with The Understanding Racism Foundation in 2004, a group which believes that, “the root cause of racial discrimination in the United States is the conduct of white people.”          

            While the program harps upon the evils of Manifest Destiny, and the treatment of minorities by white people, supposedly, “everyone leaves with their dignity in tact,” according to co-author Shauna Adams.  Hard to believe coming from a group that believes white people are the cause of all racism.

            This curriculum is not a history lesson for the good of education, but one meant to emphasize racism and cause further divisions among the public.  Every child, I hope, still learns about the terrible history of slavery in our country based upon racial superiority.  Oregon seems to think that focusing special attention on just how terrible that time was will somehow bring the youth together.  In truth, it serves only to divide children and create racial tension as they turn into adults.

            Another program highlighting the racism of white people is up and running again at the University of Delaware.  A mandatory residence hall program, terminated last year when news broke that the program required students to acknowledge that all white people are racists and that it would offer treatment for any incorrect attitudes regarding class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality they might hold upon entering the school, has now been revived at the university.

            Training documents stated: "A RACIST: A racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality. By this definition, people of color cannot be racists, because as peoples within the U.S. system, they do not have the power to back up their prejudices, hostilities, or acts of discrimination"  

The program also stated that the term "reverse racism" was “created and used by white people to deny their white privilege.  Those in denial use the term reverse racism to refer to hostile behavior by people of color toward whites, and to affirmative action policies, which allegedly give ‘preferential treatment’ to people of color over whites.  In the U.S., there is no such thing as “reverse racism.”

Really?  I guess that’s good news for Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Another reverend, who some would call controversial, happens to disagree.  Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, radio host, columnist, and founder of BOND, has focused extensively on the “reverse racism” in this country.  Rev. Peterson also happens to be a leader in the Black Community.

If educators really care about getting beyond racial divisions they should focus on teaching the harmonious ideals that used to be embedded in our culture: virtue, morality, honor, personal responsibility, and Natural Law.  Without such ideals, the American identity can never flourish, and the people will never be united.