Battlesboro teacher says new NC bill could limit which parts of history he is allowed to teach :: WRAL.com – WRAL.com

This week, the North Carolina Senate passed a bill limiting the teaching of race, gender and sex in public schools. Rodney Pierce, a teacher at Red Oak Middle School in Battleboro, spoke with WRAL's Lena Tillett about how this bill could change the way he teaches history.

THIS IS NOT WHAT WE NEED HERE IN NORTH CAROLINA. >> OR TENNESSEE, THEY SAW SIMILAR IMPACTS AS WELL. >>> REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS IN THE SENATE PASSED A BILL THAT WILL CHANGE HOW SOME TEACHERS LEAVE CLASSES. IT WOULD PROHIBIT THEM FROM PRO PROMOTING CERTAIN CONCEPTS, LATE CRITICAL RACE THEORY, WHICH IS A GRADUATE LEVEL FRAMEWORK THAT EXAMINES HOW RACISM AFFECTS OUR LIVES PICKET BAND SEVEN CONCEPTS BUT IT CAN BE PART OF ASSIGNED MATERIALS. WE ARE JOINED BY RODNEY PIERCE IN BATTLES BOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA. FIRST THINGS FIRST, THE SCHOLARLY PRACTICE OF CRITICAL RACE THEORY, IS THAT BEING TAUGHT IN NORTH CAROLINA'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS? >> NO, MA'AM. THAT IS A LAW SCHOOL COURSE PICKET IS NOT BEING TAUGHT IN NORTH CAROLINA PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND I BELIEVE THAT THIS IS JUST ANOTHER ISSUE THAT HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP BY CERTAIN POLITICAL PARTIES TO SCORE POINTS DURING MIDTERM ELECTIONS OR DURING GENERAL ELECTIONS IN THE FUTURE. >> IS SIGNED INTO LAW, WHAT THIS BILL CHANGE HOW YOU TEACH HISTORY? >> IT CAN CHANGE HOW I TEACH HISTORY BECAUSE ONE OF THE CONCEPTS IS TEACHING HISTORY THAT MAY MAKE, OR TEACHINGS CONTENT THAT MAY MAKE A STUDENT FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE, FEEL DISCOMFORT, GUILT, ANXIETY OR SOME TYPE OF ANGUISH OR PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS. IF YOU LOOK AT ANY PART OF HISTORY, IT CAN MAKE A STUDENT FEEL LIKE THAT PICK A FIGHT TALK ABOUT THE FOUNDING OF AMERICA, SOMEONE COULD LOOK AT THE SONS OF LIBERTY BEING A GANG, WHEN YOU CONSIDER WHAT THEY DID TO THE PROPERTY OF REDDISH OF VISUALS BY SETTING FIRE TO IT AT SOME POINTS. THEN YOU CAN HAVE A STUDENT WHO MAY FEEL SOME SORT OF WAY ABOUT THE ACTIVE SLAVE TRADE IN THAT STUDENT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE WHITE. I HAD AN ARAB STUDENT TODAY TALK ABOUT THE ARAB PART IN THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE. YOU CAN HAVE AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS WHO FEEL LIKE YOU ARE MAKING THEM FEEL INFERIOR. THERE ARE PARTS ABOUT HISTORY WE NEED TO LEARN THAT TEACHERS MAY BE AFRAID TO TEACH SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID OF MAKING A STUDENT FEEL DISCOMFORT. >> YOU TOUCHED ON THIS A BIT, BUT I WANTED TO RUN THROUGH THE BAND CONCEPTS FOR TEACHERS. ONE IS RACE OR SEX IS INHERENTLY SUPERIOR, ANY INDIVIDUAL FEEL DISCOMFORT BECAUSE OF THEIR RACE OR SEX AND THE U.S. WAS CREATED IN ORDER TO OPPRESS MEMBERS OF A RACE OR SEX. CAN YOU TEACH SOCIAL STUDIES WITHOUT ADDRESSING THESE ISSUES? >> WHEN YOU TEACH THOSE STUDIES, YOU HAVE TO ADDRESS RACE AND YOU HAVE TO ADDRESS GENDER. WHEN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, WHEN OUR COUNTRY'S GOVERNMENT WAS FOUNDED, THERE WERE NO PEOPLE OF COLOR IN THE WOMB, NO WOMEN IN THE ROOM. WHAT TYPE OF GOVERNMENT DO YOU THINK WAS BEING SET UP AND WHO DO YOU THINK IT WAS TO BENEFIT WHEN THERE WERE NO OTHER PEOPLE IN THE ROOM? A GOOD PERCENTAGE OF THE MEN IN THAT ROOM ENSLAVED MEN AND WOMEN WHO LOOKED LIKE ME, YOU KNOW? THINK ABOUT IT FROM THE VIEWPOINT THAT THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ITSELF HAS A LINE IN THERE AND THAT SAYS MERCILESS INDIAN SAVAGES, THAT IS WRITTEN BY ONE OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS, THOMAS JEFFERSON. WHAT ABOUT INDIGENOUS STUDENTS AND HOW DO THEY FEEL ABOUT THAT LINE? THERE ARE PARTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE THAT WE MAY FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE TEACHING OR BRINGING TO THE ATTENTION OF YOUR STUDENTS SIMPLY BECAUSE IT CAUSES CALLS ONE CERTAIN STUDENT A CERTAIN TERM FEEL LIKE THEY ARE OFFENDING THEM.

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Battlesboro teacher says new NC bill could limit which parts of history he is allowed to teach :: WRAL.com - WRAL.com