When Republicans seek to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory and related subjects in public school classrooms, liberals typically demand to know where that is happening.
We can now say New York.
The New York Post reported on Saturday that New York City schools were distributing a book that teaches kids as young as 2 that white people created the concept of race.
The book is called “Our Skin,” and was written by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli. It was published last year, under an initiative started by former Mayor Bill de Blasio, and is intended to target kids ages 2 to 5.
In one part, according to the Post, the book says, “A long time ago, way before you were born, a group of white people made up an idea called race. They sorted people by skin color and said that white people were better, smarter, prettier, and that they deserve more than everybody else.”
The authors add, “That isn’t true or fair at all!” It makes the point with a picture of a man described as “Caucasian” holding up the “Most beautiful skull.”
Vito LaBella, a member of the Community Education Council in Brooklyn, told the Post the book was “inflammatory.”
One page by itself, which features people being sorted by color, “is just preaching hate,” LaBella added.
The Post added that the book’s narrative tells readers that “‘racism is also the things people do and the unfair rules they make about race so that white people get more power.’ There is no discussion that groups other than whites might be racist.”
The authors defended their book, saying on their website, “We know that the harmful ideologies that these books push back against are dominant and powerful in our society….But we’re not scared. We are firmly grounded in our professional and ethical responsibilities.”
Last month, The Miami Times, a South Florida newspaper, gave “Our Skin” an enthusiastic review.
Without noting the issues raised by the Post, the Times noted, “The simple language is perfect for small children of all races and takes the load off parents who may carry too much personal baggage on the subject to approach it without bias. … These kinds of children’s books weren’t around just a few short years ago. It’s good to see them available today and this one is worth the $8-$9 price tag. First, you’ll read it along with your child, and then your child will pick it up and reread it over and over. Food for thought was never this yummy.”
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