New York City Mayor to Require All City Staff to Take CRT-Style Training to Address Unconscious Bias

By James On Jan 30, 2023

New York City Mayor Eric Adams will reportedly require all staff who work for the city to undergo “radical critical racial theory” training, according to a Fox news source.

Mandatory training was said to have been sent to all employees working for the city with a March 6 deadline in an email.

The training will reportedly cover individual, institutional and systemic racism, and he said all New York City workplaces must maintain an “equity lens” through anti-racism training, creating spaces where race and related issues can be openly discussed.

Mayor Eric Adams (L) makes a subway safety announcement January 27 in New York

Weekend protests over the murder of Tire Nichols in Times Square in New York on January 27

WHAT IS THE CRITICAL RACE THEORY?

Critical Race Theory has become a divisive idea in the United States in recent years.

But it originated in the 1970s as a consideration of how the law could maintain and preserve race discrimination in some cases.

The term was adopted by scholars in other areas, receiving increased attention in the 1990s and 2000s.

Some historians, journalists, and academics have seen the CRT framework as a way to take a closer look at entrenched inequality in different parts of society.

Some critics, including historians, journalists, and academics, have resisted viewing different aspects of society through the lens of race and historical disadvantage.

Caring parents have argued that it is important for young children to question social norms and inherited ‘unconscious bias’ by critically examining different aspects of society.

Opposing parents have argued that it is dangerous to politicize the classroom, that race-based lenses of privilege are reductive, and that teaching about institutional racism will fuel divisions.

Two days ago, New York’s Washington Square Park saw large demonstrations protesting the death of 29-year-old black man Tire Nichols.

Nichols died in hospital three days after he was violently beaten by police officers during a traffic stop, allegedly for “reckless driving”, on January 7, 2022.

Five police officers were charged with second degree murder.

The news sparked calls for significant reform of police laws.

The release of the body camera footage sparked crowds of protests in New York over the weekend.

New York Mayor Eric Adams, who is also a former police chief, said Saturday that he felt personally betrayed by the five Memphis officers.

He said: ‘As a human being, I am devastated. As mayor, I am outraged. And as someone who spent decades fighting for police diversity and against police abuse, I feel betrayed by these officers.’

Today, Fox reported that the Democratic mayor, who last week garnered large re-election donations, sparking speculation he could run for president, would support critical training in racial theory for all city employees.

Critical race theory is “an expansive academic framework,” which argues that historical patterns of racism are embedded in law and other institutions.

The methodology grew out of a study of law at Harvard University in the 1970s and has come to refer, broadly, to a way of viewing certain institutions and areas of society through the lenses of race and gender. privilege.

Mari Matsuda, a law professor at the University of Hawaii and a pioneer in developing the theory, previously told the New York Times: “The problem is not bad people. […] The problem is a system that reproduces bad results. It’s both humane and inclusive to say, “We’ve done things that have hurt all of us, and we need to find a way out.”

The city’s mayor, Eric Adams, strongly condemned the murder of 29-year-old black man Tire Nichols.

Protesters gather in Washington Square Park to protest the death of Tire Nichols, January 28.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams at the Columbia University Forum on January 29.

However, conservative critics have urged against racial sensitivity training in schools and workplaces.

Former President Donald Trump saying: ‘Students at our universities are inundated with critical race theory. This is a Marxist doctrine that holds that the United States is an evil and racist nation.’

He added: ‘[It] it’s being forced into our children’s schools, it’s being imposed on workplace training, and it’s being deployed to tear apart friends, neighbors, and families.’

CRT teaching has proven controversial among some parents and students.

The news also comes days after Republican Rep. Chip Roy introduced a bill to defund public schools that practice “racist teaching” by exposing students to “divisive concepts” like critical race theory.

The Anti-Racist Teaching in Schools Act, or CRT Act, would block federal funding in K-12 schools that promote such ‘race-based theories.’

The legislation identifies teachings such as ‘any race is inherently superior to or inferior to any other race, color or national origin’; ‘America is a fundamentally racist country’; or that ‘the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States are fundamentally racist documents’.

I would also point to the teachings on unconscious bias.