South Carolina teacher responds to claims she was indoctrinating students
Mary Wood is an English teacher who was accused by some students of 'indoctrination studies' and making them feel ashamed to be White.
A South Carolina public school teacher has been accused by some of her students of "indoctrination studies" and causing them to feel ashamed to be White.
Mary Wood is an advanced English language teacher in Chapin High School located in Lexington-Richland County School District Five. This past year some students complained about lessons, which she had delivered in prior years, to school board trustee Elizabeth Barnhardt.
According to an opinion article the trustee wrote Saturday, Wood began her lesson by stating, "Hopefully, I don't get fired for this."
"Anyone who opens their remarks, including a teacher, with [those]… words already knows they are walking on shaky ground on whether what they are doing is right or not," Barnhardt said.
Teacher Mary Wood accused of teaching indoctrination studies in her classroom. (Fox News Digital)
One of Wood's lessons included the book "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates which infamously called 9/11 heroes "menaces."
Coates wrote about 9/11 responders, "They were not human to me. Black, white, or whatever, they were menaces of nature; they were the fire, the comet, the storm, which could — with no justification — shatter my body."
In the same book, he referred to "White America" as a "syndicate" designed to "dominate and control our bodies."
A student reported that the teacher "prepared" them for the Coates book by introducing two videos which made them feel "uncomfortable."
One of the videos was titled "Structural Discrimination: The Unequal Opportunity Race." It was a metaphor of critical race theory concepts expressed using a track competition of White people racing against Black people. It showed White people gleefully winning, acquiring money, while barriers like rocks, red lights, cages and brick walls were presented in front of the Black runners.
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"Between the World and Me" author Ta-Nehisi Coates, testifies about reparations on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., June 19, 2019. ( Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In one instance, the White people condescendingly said, "Bye, bye" as they passed by the Black runners who were prohibited from competing. Another section showed a White person being advantaged by "Privilege," an "Old Boy Network" while a Black runner was blocked by a brick wall, which said, "Dead End."
The trustee responded stating, "The teaching and videos are part of what is also known as DEI, discrimination, exclusion, and indoctrination studies. This includes another tenet called ‘identity politics’ which makes one’s identity the focal point of any perceived or imagined discrimination, ie, race, sex (what many wrongly call gender today), sexual preferences, social status, etc."
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Wood responded to the allegations on Sunday's "The Mehdi Hasan Show."
"I had no concerns about teaching this lesson. I had vetted it before," she said.
Mary Wood speaks about being asked to change curriculum after students complaint it made them feel ashamed. (Mehdi Hasan Show/Screenshot)
"I think it's important to mention that the goal wasn't to say, ‘Read this and then agree with what is being presented.’ The goal was to say, 'Here is an argument. Now you research on your own afterwards and determine if what you have done is valid," she continued.
However, a student accused the teacher of "indoctrination" under the guise of presenting different points of view. Fox News Digital asked Wood about alternative views she presented vis-à-vis Coates but did not immediately get a response.
A student said, "This past week, my teacher presented two videos tiled 'The Unequal Opportunity Race' and ‘Systemic Racism Explained.’ Prior to showing these video clips, Mrs. Wood spent 20 minutes expressing her personal opinion, telling us she felt these videos to be true. Hearing her opinion and watching these videos made me feel uncomfortable. I actually felt ashamed to be Caucasian."
Critical race theory holds that America is systemically racist and puts people into oppressor or oppressed categories on the basis of their supposed privilege. Its founding theorists believed that discrimination against privileged groups can combat past discrimination.
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The teacher was purportedly asked by the school to change her lessons.
The district released a statement to Fox News Digital, which said, "Daily operations of School District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties are governed by School Board Policies. These policies state that matters concerning academic freedom are to be handled between teachers and administration. As a result, School District Five has no further public comment."
Wood was contacted for comment and did not immediately respond.