Patrice Leverett, right, UNLV assistant professor of Counselor Education, School Psychology, and Human Services, responds to a question during a “We Need to Talk” panel discussion at UNLV’s Greenspun Hall Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. Panelist Jayne Malorni, Education Program Lead with the Nevada Department of Education, listens at left.
Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 | 2 a.m.
There’s no reason for Las Vegas parents to fear conversations about critical race theory occurring at their children’s schools.
That’s because “having a conversation about race” and “recognizing that someone is being treated differently because of the way they look doesn’t make you racist,” said UNLV professor Patrice Leverett during UNLV’s ongoing “We Need to Talk: Conversations on Racism for a More Resilient Las Vegas” lecture series.
Critical race theory, or CRT, is the study of racism and how discrimination against marginalized groups — notably people of African descent, according to Clark — can be found in educational, legal, and other U.S. systems. It became more broadly a national discussion in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by police in Minnesota sparked outrage.
Christine Clark, professor of teaching and learning at UNLV, and Leverett, assistant professor of counselor education, school psychology, and human services spoke on this issue alongside Education Program Lead Jayne Malorni from the Nevada Department of Education and event host Claytee White.
As the subject of CRT being taught in kindergarten through 12th-grade education has entered the public conversation, White acknowledged that parents might be “afraid” of these discussions. She hoped parents, especially those with children in the Clark County School District, would use this panel as “an opportunity to ask questions of experts” and assuage their “fear.” Multiple states have attempted to or succeeded at banning CRT from being taught in classrooms, though it's generally not officially part of curriculum below the graduate collegiate level.
One of the biggest drivers of this apprehension in parents is the fear that discussions on past wrongdoings towards marginalized groups may cause others to be labeled as bad people, Leverett said.
“What we’re saying here is that everyone is being impacted by these racial interactions — all of us, we are all being impacted — in ways that impact our ability to talk to one another, to love one another, to communicate with one another,” Leverett said. “And until we’re having real conversations about how that’s manifesting, we can’t begin the healing process that’s necessary for us to come together.”
CCSD “(doesn’t) teach critical race theory” because it is not in their nine statewide academic standards, which consist of areas like mathematics, language arts, and computer science, Malorni said. Although CRT itself is not taught, Malorni explained that — in social studies — there is a multicultural learning track designed to “ensure that when [teachers] are talking about history… (they’re) really incorporating diverse contributions of all individuals from all walks of life around the globe.”
Leverett and Clark also added that CRT “is not necessarily something that’s taught” at UNLV’s undergraduate level, but graduate students might see classes covering the specific topic.
Clark explained that these conversations are necessary in classrooms, especially because children can experience racism at young ages. These situations can often be violent and initiated by adults in schools, Clark said.
“It’s not a question of if a young child will have experiences with racism, it’s a question of when,” Clark said.
Because teachers may be some of the first people children turn to after experiences of racism in the classroom or other educational settings, Clark argued that teachers should have the ability to help students navigate these issues and heal from them.
She encouraged people — from teachers to parents — to “get comfortable being uncomfortable,” because discussions on racial issues must be spoken about “if we really want to fix long-standing, pervasive, and persistent racial injustice.”
For students in Clark County, Malorni said the educators in the K-12 setting want to give students the tools to become “productive community members” that can be “civically engaged, to have open conversations, [and] to create civic discourse and have dialogue.”
“I think those are the things that our parents shouldn’t be afraid of,” Clark said. “I think they should want to engage in that behavior, too, with their students. We need to be able to have these conversations, both parents and students and teachers, community members — it doesn’t matter, we just need to be able to have these conversations.”
