hey there Aubry how's everything I'm great how are you Lindsay good we are getting into a big
meaty topic today oh my gosh our listeners are gonna really appreciate this today I think I
think so you guys if this this topic comes up you want to be prepared to participate in the
discussion you want to know what you think so this is big we are talking about critical race Theory
um whitewashing history there's a lot of sort of um hot button issues here that are
very controversial people feel very passionately about the side that they agree with and you also
you know it's important that you know what you think and that you have the vocabulary you need
to be able to participate in this discussion exactly and you know guys this is this is
the key to fluency right this is having real conversations we don't want to always be having
conversations out of our textbooks right this is the real stuff where we have to talk to people
understand what people are thinking and really understand okay so where do we start today Aubrey
I first want to just remind you guys we've recently talked about conversations like this that
um very controversial topics can come up and it's so important that you have the vocabulary
to have a respectful discussion without being dismissive so definitely check out that episode
if you missed it it was 1886 four phrases to avoid being dismissive in English and this you guys is a
prime example this is the type of conversation where you might feel so passionately about one
side or the other that you almost feel justified in saying like you're crazy or something that's
very dismissive to someone on the other side so you need that vocabulary to have this conversation
without doing that okay so where do we start how do we I mean we have a lot of recommendations of
places our listeners could go to get up to speed on this concept I mean where could they go Aubry
yeah so first of all we want to just kind of talk about what is critical race Theory you can go to
an article in edweek.org that is called what is critical race Theory and why is it on under
attack and this it's just a way of understanding how American racism shapes public policy and has
shaped public policy so you may have heard the term systemic racism you know those who believe
that critical race Theory should be taught in schools believe that systemic racism exists
and needs to be changed okay but not everyone believes that right Lindsay and what and what
does the other side believe like what what are the what are the two sides here like what's going on
what are we this is vital so we have two pretty clear sides in the United States I would really
love to know what it's like in your culture guys this is on YouTube please come back and leave
us a comment let us know if this discussion is happening where you live what you think what the
two sides are if it's the same different I would really like to know in the United States the two
sides are the political right most people who are right-wing Conservative Republican deny systemic
racist them right they often don't believe that systemic racism is a problem and they they agree
that the history book should stay the same as they have been whereas yes okay so just a follow-up
question here for our listeners how have they been in the past the books what so what have they been
featuring what are we missing in the books right so this also depends on who you talk to right
the political right would just say just accurate history just the way it is whereas the political
left would disagree and would say that history has been whitewashed in the United States that
um we aren't portraying accurately what exactly happened during slavery when exactly it started
the prominence the relevance the impact of you know slavery and white people's
actions will say that potentially history is minimizing or misrepresenting non-white
people so there's definitely history books are very full of white American Heroes we'll say
and maybe minimal of Heroes from other of other races and nationalities and what okay so tell us
about the political left like what what is their perspective yeah so most um liberals people of the
political left um liberal are uh Democrats there it is um believe that critical race Theory should
be taught in schools that children should learn that in the past history has been whitewashed
that it needs to be as accurate as possible no matter how painful that is that we all need to
be informed and aware so that it can inform how we act now and how we speak now and it's very
tricky because it is controversial because people believe so strongly one or the other and they're
really at odds they're really opposing viewpoints that it's hard to say I see where you're coming
from but this it's difficult you kind of want to say I don't see where you're coming from right so
vehemently right it's so hard I mean those phrases we taught you guys in the last episode they're
great unless you know your emotions are really hooked in and then it is really hard like you said
Aubry to give the person any concession whatsoever yeah and we didn't teach one or two where you can
if you really fully disagree you certainly don't have to say you disagree you agree sure you can
just say you know something like interesting have you considered this Viewpoint right there
are respectful ways to share your because I have had I've been in the situation where someone will
start talking about you know critical race Theory and whether it should be taught in schools and
this is a topic that I have a difficult time just sitting by and listening without saying anything
because my silence is agreement in a way yeah and I don't like that so right right the vocabulary to
be respectful when I share my opposing opinion and it's also really prominent for you because
you have kids in school right you're really close to this this matters for you what your kids learn
you know the other tricky thing here because even a lot of people who do believe systemic racism
is an issue they would like to personally be the ones teaching that to their children rather than
teachers rather than a curriculum so even those who do you know believe this is a problem often
they would still want to keep it out of schools so that's another debate interesting so that's
another side schools right that's kind of a third yeah interesting so it should be up to the parents
those people think to teach that okay let's just Define for our listeners I think today's episode
guys is all about putting the topic on the table getting it out there for you so you know that it's
a hotly debated Topic in American culture right now and giving you the vocab you need to get into
it and you guys can write to us you know you can send your question to Aubry at allearsenglish.com
if you have a follow-up question and we will do a follow-up episode on this exact topic but
what is the term whitewashed mean to whitewash let's just Define that verb yes in general we
use this anytime we make something white right well if we we take a house that's a little faded
and we cover it with white paint let's say we're whitewashing that house we'll whitewash a fence
and so now we've taken that term to use as a verb to talk about anything that is being made more
white in any way we talk about it for history if you're glorifying white people in history
you would say you are whitewashing history this is very controversial a lot of people do not believe
that's a thing they don't believe that happens others feel very strongly that it does happen
yeah and typically within the geography of the US guys and I'm sure this is true in your countries
too you tend to see a more liberal school system a more democratic leaning school system in the
city so New York City probably Los Angeles San Francisco these will probably generally be
teaching critical race Theory right Aubry whereas the more rural parts of the country right probably
are are leaning against it and having hot debates around it right okay that's the intro that's one
of the many interesting things about this topic is that it's different depending on where you live
how it's handled in schools how people are talking about it the education systems are very different
depending on the state you live in the country you live in right and also politically right
politicians will run on platforms either opposing critical race theory in schools or supporting you
know at least that would be one of many parts of their platform would say right yeah and this is at
local levels for school board members or bigger you know for the the president of the United
States people will want to know what they think any candidate who's running what they think about
this yeah in some ways school board members are way more consequential than the president of the
United States it scares me literally beside that right yeah because they're the ones who decide
what our kids learn um but it's self-perpetuating too right so if you live in a small very white
Town your school may not be teaching this and so you're not learning how oh what my opinion that
it's very it's an important thing to learn right that racism is everywhere is systemic
um and that just perpetuates yeah so just to share for me personally I grew up in Idaho in a
very rural town and then I moved to New York City after I got my bachelor's degree and having grown
up in this very sort of a bubble a very sheltered bubble oh yeah I you know there was some culture
shock when I got to New York especially because I was teaching in the Bronx all of my students were
African-American or Latino almost all of them I think there was one white kid in the whole school
and so I was so excited about the diversity and but I there I had some stereotypes and prejudices
that from how I grew up and what I had been taught that I started to realize weren't true I had some
very some great conversations with my students were 10th graders that were able to very kindly
and respectfully help me see that a lot of the ideals I had grown up with were inaccurate and
hurtful and it was fascinating and I was able to I'm so grateful for that opportunity to change to
oh to widen my horizons a little bit too oh my gosh yes why did my understanding of the world
yeah I mean you were lucky they were able to do that you know unfortunately not everyone that
grows up in a small town is able to do that to move to New York City and experience that kind
of diversity and become schooled in the real world in the world right and a lot of people
just stay in their Hometown where they grew up right and I go back to visit for the Fourth of
July and there are a lot of people I went to high school with that still live there and if
we had a conversation I likely would have very different um views from them on this topic wow
okay Aubry so what else do our listeners need to know we want to wrap up you know today was
just really about kind of giving our listeners a broad overview of the issue we want you to know
that it is a hot issue and you should participate guys in a conversation ask questions right when
we're just getting to know an issue we should be asking more questions than anything I think and
I think this is an interesting one where a lot of of us are attempted to avoid the topic because you
know how charged it is we know it's emotional people are very passionate it's easier just
to avoid talking about it with someone that you know has an opposing Viewpoint and that's you're
right if you don't like controversy you don't like contention so especially if you're you're speaking
to someone that you know is not going to change their mind and might not speak respectfully about
your Viewpoint that absolutely is your right to avoid this topic but if it is a conversation with
a co-worker or a friend who is respectful and wants to hear your opinion and wants to share
their theirs yeah don't avoid this conversation yeah guys so take some of the vocab that you've
learned in today's episode some of this key vocab write it down listen again and then jump in when
there's a conversation ask questions start to form you know what you what you believe go for
it make sure you fully understand history itself and that you're kind of learning your history from
a variety of sources right that's the key we're not just relying on One Source definitely right
and this does it comes up in media all the time movies there's I know there's a controversy right
now about the woman King film and there's uh Emmett Till the movie till is about to come out
where if you watch a film like this and don't have um any of the context or the history it might just
be confusing whereas if you are informed about the issues then it's um eye-opening and and can
Inspire these conversations and help you be able to be an informed part of that conversation love
it so guys get curious about this this is so important in our country uh send your follow-up
questions to Aubry at allersenglish.com and Aubry thanks for bringing this to the table
today okay very important thanks Lindsay we'll see you soon talk to you soon bye bye
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