A New York City elementary school handed out “Awakened Black Lives Matter” coloring books to 5-year-olds that featured “queer and trans-affirming” lessons and teachings about revolutionary politics, according to a report. has been exposed to criticism.
Students at PS 321 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, which serves children from kindergarten through fifth grade, last week held a “What We Believe: Black Lives Matter” lesson as part of a Black History Month lesson. He handed me a coloring book called “Principle Activity Book.” free press report.
The book features heavily on the BLM movement’s 13 “Guiding Principles” and uses a variety of diagrams and worksheets to convey its message.
Under the title Trans Affirming Principles, the book states, “We know that cisgender (non-trans) people have privilege in society, and trans people, especially those who often experience violence, I want to uplift black trans women.”
Meanwhile, the book also lists many of the BLM movement’s national demands, including “funding counselors instead of cops” and “mandating black history and ethnic studies.”
However, some parents argued that the coloring book did not actually teach children about black history, but instead presented controversial ideas “as fact.”
“That’s not necessarily true. Not all black people believe in these principles,” the mother of a fourth-grade student told the Free Press.
She added that the book “isn’t detailed enough and doesn’t mention any specific people.” It feels very vague. ”
Other parents objected to another principle entitled empathy and the use of the word “comrade” to describe the way people should understand and relate to others, including interpreted it as a communist term, and some interpreted it as promoting political propaganda.
The mother of a fourth-grade elementary school student whose grandparents emigrated to the United States from China said, “The use of the word comrade dates back to the communist era.”
“You are using language that is not appropriate for an elementary school.”
Parents acknowledged that some of the lessons, such as the importance of forgiveness, seemed innocuous, but argued that others resembled revolutionary politics.
For example, the “Black Village” principle states that it “destroys the requirements of the nuclear family structure prescribed by the Western world.”
And the “intergenerational” principle calls for “community networks without age discrimination.”
PS 321 and the city Department of Education did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment Thursday.
“If parents have concerns about the resources being used in their schools, we encourage them to share their concerns with their school principal or district superintendent,” a DOE spokesperson told the Free Press in a statement. said.
