A student has written a letter to English teacher Dana Stangel-Plowe, who resigned from Dwight-Englewood School earlier this month after it promoted critical race theory in the classroom. Stangel-Plowe made headlines when the prominent black Columbia University professor John McWhorter praised her for speaking out against critical race theory being taught to such young minds.
"Students arrive in my classroom accepting this theory as fact: People born with less melanin in their skin are oppressors, and people born with more melanin in their skin are oppressed," Stangel-Plowe wrote in her resignation letter, which is now posted on the website of the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism, the New York Post reported. "Men are oppressors, women are oppressed, and so on. This is the dominant and divisive ideology that is guiding our adolescent students."
McWhorter then took to Twitter to praise Stangel-Plowe for standing up against critical race theory in the classroom, calling on "truly antiracist parents" to pull their children out of Dwight-Englewood School, which he accused of teaching students "'antiracism' that sees life as nothing but abuse of power, and teaches that cringing, hostile group identity against oppression is the essence of a self."
Stangel-Plowe also blew the whistle on Dwight-Englewood Head of School Rodney De Jarnett who she said threatened the school faculty that he would replace them with people of color if they were not to recognize and abide by the CRT policies of the school. Now, a student of Stangel-Plowe has spoken out in support of her and her stance on CRT in classrooms.
According to The Daily Wire, McWhorter shared a letter from a student at the Dwight-Englewood School that was written to Stangel-Plowe in support of her standing up against CRT. In the latter, the student wrote, "I hope you realize how big of an impact you made on our community."
The student went on to say that many students at the school are "scared to speak out on their opinions in fear" and that he himself has refrained from speaking out during their classes "in fear of sounding politically incorrect." The student admitted that he observes the "negative effects of this toxic community" on a daily basis.
The student's letter also recounts how a lot of white students, particularly male ones, have been made to "feel like horse sh**, like worthless scum undeserving of living" due to the critical race theory teachings at the school.
He once stood up against a male white classmate who kept referring to slave owners as "we," as if holding himself accountable for his ancestors' actions. The student argued that most of their parents, despite being white, were also "refugees from foreign countries, whose ancestors were also oppressed and persecuted."
The student also expressed his worry about how online campaigns such as "#KAM" or "kill all men" has gained a following amongst the youth and generalizes that all white men are evil. He admitted it was difficult to discuss such ideas with his girlfriend. He argued, "People don't realize how strongly that affects boys in an extremely negative way."
The student closed the letter by thanking Stangel-Plowe for trying to change the school for the better.
Several states have taken action against critical race theory in classrooms, including Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law that "prescribes how Texas teachers can talk about current events and America's history of racism in the classroom," the Texas Tribune reported. Florida's state Board of Education has also banned critical race theory in the classroom, while Tennessee is also looking to discuss a measure to ban CRT teachings to the youth.
