In 2020, a Nevada schoolteacher informed her class that they had to declare their various identities and characteristics, which were then scored according to their ‘privilege’ or ‘oppression’.
To identify as either white or Christian was defined as oppressive. Students were asked to ‘undo and unlearn’ their ‘beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours that stem from oppression’.
One student, William Clark, knew that something was wrong with being told to ‘unlearn’ Christianity. But he was threatened with a failing grade and non-graduation if he failed to comply.
Critical race theory
That classroom activity was one practical application of critical race theory, which is one of the most contentious issues in society and in the church today.
In the name of ‘antiracism’, many schoolchildren are being encouraged to see everything in racial categories. Asking children to see themselves and others as either guilty of privilege or victims of oppression is divisive in the extreme.
The Bible shines a bright light onto this divisive ideology. Scripture teaches the unity of the human race (Genesis 1:26; 7:21; 10:32; Matthew 19:4; Acts 17:26; Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:21-28, 45-49). We are all more related to one another than most people imagine.
