Virginia mom suing biracial son's school over CRT curriculum says it 'totally changed his perspective' on race
Lawyer said Henley Middle School appears to be standing by divisive curriculum amid lawsuit
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Virginia mom is suing her 13-year-old's middle school over their critical race theory curriculum after she noticed a drastic change in the perspective and behavior of her biracial son.
Melissa Riley, a single mom from the Charlottesville area, told "Jesse Watters Primetime" on Monday that her son, whose father is African-American, never thought of himself as different from his peers until the Albemarle School District introduced an "anti-racism" policy. It was then that began developing "racial issues," she said.
"We didn’t have issues before. He is in eighth grade," Riley told host Jesse Watters. "He's seeing himself just as a Black man. He's seeing things that don’t go his way as racism. And he is finding safety in numbers now."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CRITICAL RACE THEORY RELATED IDEAS FOUND IN MANDATORY PROGRAMS IN 39 OF TOP 50 US MEDICAL SCHOOLS
Riley said that her son began accusing her and others of "racism" as a way of shirking his responsibilities.
"I asked him to clean the house, [he said] ‘racism,’" she told Watters.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"You are kidding right? Or are you serious?" the host responded.
"No. I’m serious," Riley said. "They have totally changed his perspective. They have put him in a box."
Riley said her son is "using it as an excuse because they have told him that that’s how people see him, as a Black man, that the world is against and [he] sees it as a negative now."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}People gather to protest different issues including the board’s handling of a sexual assault that happened in a school bathroom in May, vaccine mandates and critical race theory during a Loudoun County School Board meeting in Ashburn, Virginia, U.S., October 26, 2021. Picture taken October 26, 2021. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)
When she confronted the school about the negative effects the program was having on her son by emphasizing racial conflict and division, Riley said she was told her son could be a "Black spokesman for the Black community" in the school.
"When I told them I didn’t think that that would be appropriate, they told me that if he was uncomfortable with the conversations, he and other children of color could go to a safe place during these conversations," she said. "And that’s segregation."
Riley and her son are among the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the Albemarle County School Board in December by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the New York Post reported. Her lawyer Ryan Bangert told Watters in the same interview that the school hasn't denied its curriculum, and stands by the divisive teachings.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Amy Carney speaks on behalf of parents during a protest against critical race theory being taught at Scottsdale Unified School District before a digital school board meeting at Coronado High Schoo in Scottsdale on May 24, 2021. (Reuters)
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"They certainly are fighting back," he said. "And they don’t deny what they are teaching. They simply think it’s fine. They think it’s okay. But it’s not okay. It’s never okay. It’s never right for a school to teach kids that they are determined by their race. It’s never okay for a school to tell kids that bigotry should be fought with bigotry and racism should be fought by doubling down on racism. Those things are not okay," Banger asserted. "They’re a violation of students’ civil rights."