So glad to see our youth standing up to this by walking out of school and protesting. This reminds me of a student who shared in class recently who said that Texas' ban on specific books has made these books hugely popular in her Central Texas secondary school, backfiring on those in support of this. If anything, censorship is politicizing many of our students even more.
It actually all so predictable. All of a sudden, this "forbidden fruit" becomes attractive and lots of students are now reading books that they likely would never have read under ordinary circumstances.
-Angela Valenzuela
Temecula students walk out to protest
critical race theory ban
Hundreds marched off campus Friday, Jan. 13, at Chaparral, Great Oak and Temecula Valley high schools
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Temecula students are sending a message to adults in their school district: They will not be silenced.
Hundreds of students across the city’s three high schools — Temecula Valley, Great Oak and Chaparral — walked out of classes Friday morning, Jan. 13, to protest a school board resolution that bans the teaching of “critical race theory” in the Temecula Valley Unified School District.
The two school board members who opposed the ban, Steven Schwartz and Allison Barclay, plan to propose rescinding it at the Tuesday, Jan. 31, meeting.
At Temecula Valley High School, more than 200 students began leaving campus about 10:30 a.m. and headed to nearby Ronald Reagan Sports Park.
Some of the teens carried handmade signs with slogans such as “Stop censorship,” “End racism,” and “If history makes you uncomfortable, imagine how they felt.” Some shouted as they demonstrated. Many said they fear the ban could censor their education and that of younger students, while affecting the representation and safety of students of color and LGBTQ students. About 20 to 30 adults — apparently parents and residents there to ensure students were safe — also attended.
“Teach all history!” students shouted while gathered around the sports park’s parking lot. “We are here.”
Genesis Kekoa, president of Temecula Valley High’s Black Student Union, said she has been emailing Temecula Valley school board members about reversing the ban, which she believes silences students’ voices.
“I hope they realize we’re not going to be silent,” Kekoa, a 16-year-old junior at Temecula Valley High said. “We’re not being told by parents or teachers to do this; we’re doing it ourselves. We have a voice. I’m scared students are not going to be taught our history. Everyone deserves to be seen. Everyone’s culture and history deserves to be taught.”
A new conservative board majority last month approved the resolution, introduced by new board president Joseph Komrosky. Critical race theory — which is typically taught at the graduate school level and examines how racism has been historically embedded in society and policy — has been a contentious subject in the Temecula Valley community. Some have blasted the methodology, though a school district spokesperson and some current and past school board members have said it is not taught in the district.
Friday’s walkout was a joint effort from students at the three high schools, many of them part of their respective schools’ cultural clubs. It was organized by presidents of the three Black Student Union organizations.
It marked the second known day of student-led walkouts in the district since the ban was passed on a 3-2 vote at a heated Dec. 13 school board meeting. On Dec. 16, some Great Oak students walked out.
Seraphim Gugsa, a Black Student Union leader at Great Oak, joined the walkout at Birdsall Sports Park on Friday. She said the protest shows the “discomfort” felt by “not only colored students all around Temecula, but those who have the desire to have their education untouched by censorship.”
“We don’t intend on this (walkout) being the last,” Gugsa said.
Rachel Dennis, a former pastor in Murrieta who joined Friday’s protest at Ronald Reagan Sports Park, said she was raised in “white Christian nationalism … I know the dangers.”
“These youth won’t be silenced,” Dennis said. “It’s the youth that push us to progress.”
Before the November election, Komrosky, who along with the two other trustees who supported the ban, was backed by a conservative PAC. He has called critical race theory a “racist” and “divisive ideology,” that falsely “assigns moral fault to individuals solely on the basis of an individual’s race.”
In a statement, Komrosky said Friday that he “fully recognizes” and supports “the students’ right to voice their opinions.”
“While the board’s resolution to ban critical race theory is not intended to erase any part of history, many believe it’s a divisive ideology that assigns moral fault to individuals solely on the basis of an individual’s race and, therefore, is itself a racist ideology,” Komrosky wrote.
Temecula Valley schools spokesperson James Evans has said that the district does not teach critical race theory.
Evans said Friday that the Temecula Valley High protest included 200 to 250 students, while demonstrations at the other two campuses had 100 to 200 students. All were peaceful and “conducted in a respectful, safe and orderly manner,” Evans added.
Administrators focused on keeping students safe while they “exercised their First Amendment rights,” Evans said, adding that the district “does not endorse any student-led protests or walkouts and as such, our classrooms continued with planned instruction.”
Barclay, the board member who opposed the ban, said she has been “impressed” with the way students are speaking out.
“Clearly, TVUSD has done an excellent job contributing to the success of students that were able to present a passionate, well-thought-out and thoroughly researched message,” she said in an email. “… These resolutions have proven to be very divisive and I would hope that our newly elected board members would listen to the community, take a step back and do what’s best for TVUSD.”
Temecula Mayor Zak Schwank, who attended Friday’s walk-out at Temecula Valley High, said he feels it’s “important for adults and leaders in our community to just listen.”
In a Thursday, Jan. 12, joint letter to Temecula Valley Unified employees, officials from the district, the teachers’ union and the California School Employees Association offered guidance to employees on how to handle the planned walkouts.
The letter states that the district does not endorse or encourage student-led activities on or off campus, and regular truancy policies regarding attendance would apply. However, students are free to plan “peaceful, student-led, on-campus activities” during breaks and lunch during the school day.
“The district must strive to ensure student safety, respect students’ First Amendment rights to engage in this type of demonstration, while balancing participation in such events with appropriate expectations for all,” the letter states. “We are always concerned when any type of event encourages students to leave campus, as this may put students in potential harm and will significantly disrupt the instructional program.”
The letter also cautioned school employees from following students off campus, because “they can be held personally liable” for their conduct and safety.
San Jacinto City Councilmember Brian Hawkins, who attended the protest near Temecula Valley High, said he was concerned that Temecula officials “are not listening to the people.”
Gathering students in a circle, he and Kekoa led the students in chants at Reagan Park.
“This is not even my city, but I represent all people,” Hawkins said later. “I’m happy to see young people involved, to make sure they know they have a voice.”
Neighbor and Temecula resident Jennifer Krumm walked to the park on Friday to support the student protesters. The parent of two younger students in the district, she said she wants them “to have a full education.”
“I want my children to know and understand race can be colorful,” Krumm said. “It shouldn’t be buried.”
San Diego resident Tony Perez drove to the walkout to support Kekoa, who is his niece.
“Racism, ignorance, is a weed. If it’s not plucked up by the root, it’ll just grow,” Perez said. “So every generation has to put in effort to fight it.”
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