Andrea K. McDaniels
Baltimore Sun
Some parents at a Utah charter school were so against their kids learning about Black history this month that the school recently offered an opt-out option from such lessons.
The Maria Montessori Academy in North Ogden has since reversed its decision to allow some children to skip Black History Month lessons and festivities as the school “works to change hearts and minds with grace and courtesy,” school director Micah Hirokawa wrote in a Facebook post addressing the issue.
But why were these close-minded parents ever allowed to dismiss a vital learning moment? Black history is as important as math, English or American history. It is not some throwaway subject people can do without. What exactly were these parents so offended by that they needed to be handled with such sensitivity and felt the need to protect their children? It’s unclear if the parents were against the events or the way the history was being taught. The school isn’t disclosing what all the hoopla was about so we can only guess.