Culver City High School teacher explains that he uses Parents Defending Education as an example of “white supremacy” in his classes; his curriculum explicitly includes topics on Critical Race Theory and includes reference to a “drag show”

On April 12, 2023, Parents Defending Education received a message from someone who claimed to be a teacher at Culver City High School in California. He explained to PDE that he taught an “ethnic studies course” at the school. He appeared to call PDE “un-American” and a proponent of “white supremacy” in his message. Despite PDE consisting of Americans from diverse backgrounds, he argued that PDE’s intention was to stifle the progress of minorities:

It only proves that this curriculum movement is so threatening to White supremacy that it prompts an organization such as yours to publish information designed to create fear for learning the TRUTH about the experiences of other ethnicities. And as you may argue that you are not advocating for White supremacy, the simple fear that you have of students of color discovering the wrongdoings of the past so that they can make their future’s better, has to be one of the MOST un-American endeavors perpetrated against a group of American citizens.

The teacher then stated that a “healthy democracy deserves a reckoning with truthful information.” He also said that PDE provided him with the “perfect lesson” to teach students the “importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.” He explained:

As a result of your organization and website, you have provided this educator with enough useful evidence to make your organization a perfect lesson for my students as it validates the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. As ironic as it may sound, thank you for providing me this excellent opportunity to continue to educate my students so that our democracy can continue to evolve to include all of our voices.

PDE found a page for the teacher on the Culver City High School’s website. The school describes him as a “Director of Student Activities / Teacher, English.” PDE submitted a public records request to the Culver City Unified School District seeking lesson plans and emails from the teacher that include any material with the phrases “Parents Defending Education,” “PDE,” “parent rights,” “parents rights,” “parental rights,” “Critical Race Theory,” “CRT,” and “white supremacy” from the most recent school year.

On May 18, 2023, PDE received one document back that appeared to be a curriculum overview. The document is titled “Struggle, Resistance and Liberation” with the label “Social Justice.” The course name on the document is “Ethnic Literature and Studies.” This was also the name of the course the teacher taught in an email the school district previously sent to PDE. The curriculum appears to focus on topics commonly connected to what is considered left-wing ideologies. At one point in the document, the curriculum explicitly focuses on a tenet of Critical Race Theory (CRT).

One section of the curriculum is labeled as “Intersectionality.” The curriculum describes intersectionality as “a concept developed from critical race theory and gender studies by Kimberly Crenshaw in 1989.” The idea is that “oppression affects individuals uniquely based on their intersectionality.” The following example is then provided: “A low-income, Black, Muslim woman vs. a wealthy, White, Christian, gay man. Both experience oppression but at different levels and circumstances.” Graphs are then shown with “ethnicity,” “race,” “gender,” “sexuality,” and “religion” as components of intersectionality.

The curriculum focuses on the idea of “social justice.” In recent years, the phrase has been used when advocating for racial equity and LGBTQ issues in politics, entertainment, and education. The curriculum describes social justice as emphasizing “fairness in how society divides its social resources.” The teacher adds in the curriculum: “Gender inequality, racism, and LGBTQ+ discrimination are frequent subjects of social justice advocacy.” The curriculum explains that “some applications of social justice, like critical race theory, have become embattled in the American culture wars.”

The curriculum also brings in the idea of supporting abortion as part of social justice: “In addition to political rights, such as freedom of conscience, it also requires freedom from police abuse and respect for one’s reproductive rights and bodily autonomy.” One page of the curriculum is labeled as “Areas of Focus Within Social Justice.” A list is then provided with “Racial Equality,” “Gender Equality,” and “LGBTQ+ Equality.” The curriculum further provides what appears to be a positive definition of this view of “social justice activism”:

Activism means engaging in direct, vigorous action to support or oppose one side of a controversial issue. In this case, that activism is directed toward social justice, in which people have their human rights and freedoms respected, receive equitable treatment with regard to opportunities and resources, and are not discriminated against because of their class, gender, race, sexual orientation, and similar identity markers.

One topic of the curriculum dated January 6, 2023, appears to be on illegal immigration in support of illegal immigrants. An area of focus for this topic is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Students then watch a video titled “Can The American Dream Be Achieved If You Are Not American?” The video is an illegal immigrant talking about the challenges he faces living in the United States.

Another topic in the curriculum is a lesson from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) titled “Teaching the 4 I’s of Oppression.” Students are told for this part of the curriculum that their notes on the topic will be graded for quality.

Another topic in the curriculum is mascots for businesses and sports teams. Students are told to read “The Real Problem with Native American Mascots.” Students are also taught about “cultural appropriation.”

Students are additionally given a lesson in the curriculum on why “equity” is more important than “equality.” Students are also taught activism with Colin Kaepernick provided as an example. On a lesson dated April 10, 2023, students are asked: “How active have you been? In what ways have you served as an activist for a cause? What causes can you see yourself supporting in the future?”

In the curriculum for April 12, 2023, there is a note to “Announce Drag Show.” No other details are provided for this drag show.

One subject in the curriculum is labeled “Domination and Subordination” in an attempt to promote the idea of oppression. The curriculum states: “In US society, people are commonly defined as Other on the basis of race or ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, and physical or mental ability. Each of these categories has a form of oppression associated with it: racism, sexism, religious oppression/anti- Semitism, heterosexism, classism, ageism, and ableism.”

The teacher also has a website for an “Intercultural Literature” class at Culver City High School. He has entire sections of this class labeled as “Race and Ethnicity” and “Sexism, Sexuality, and Gender.” Topics of discussion include “privilege,” “patriarchy,” and “transgender health care.”

In a presentation labeled as “Sexual Identity / Gender Unit” from the website, he attempts to teach students that “gender” and “sex” are different. He explains: “Gender is who you are inside, how you naturally feel (boy/girl, man/woman, masculine/feminine, both, neither).” He then adds: “Sex is determined by the biological components you are born with (male/female, intersex).”

The teacher also has a document of “LGBTQ Terminology” for students that includes the terms “gender identity,” “gender expression,” “genderless,” “genderqueer,” “heterosexism,” “pansexual,” “drag queen,” “dyke,” and “faggot.”