Hamilton County teachers ‘white privilege’ training

On Aug. 3, 2020, The Tennessee Star reported that Hamilton County School District teachers went through “white privilege” training. The lessons included: “People of color cannot be racist” and “White Privilege is both a legacy a cause of racism.”

According to board member Rhonda Thurman, “Teachers who had to sit through this are furious.” Other lessons included: “People of color cannot be racist because they lack the institutional power to adversely affect white lives; Even if minorities sometimes complain about whites, such complaints serve as coping mechanisms to withstand racism rather than actual anti-white bias; Even when minorities express or practice prejudice against whites they are not racists; White privilege is both a legacy and a cause of racism and White privilege exists because of historic, enduring racism and biases.” 

The district responded and said that the slides from the presentation had been taken out of context. 

References

Hamilton County Teachers Now Sit Through White Privilege Training The Tennessee Star, August 3, 2019

Schools Respond to “White Privilege” Presentation WDEF.com, August 2, 2019