Trustee Elizabeth Barnhardt has come under attack from leftists after standing up for Lexington-Richland District 5 parents and students in an incident at Chapin High School. Photo courtesy SW Lexington Ledger.

Anyone who opens their remarks, including a teacher, with the words “Hopefully I don’t get fired for this,” already knows they are walking on shaky ground on whether what they are doing is right or not. That’s what one student wrote of how a Chapin High School teacher allegedly prefaced her lesson. In the case of teacher Mary Wood, she somehow knew she was ‘poking the bear’ when she spoke those words.

“Systemic Racism”?

What followed were two videos Wood presented to her AP Language Arts class with a lesson in what is known as Critical Race Theory (CRT). Those videos, “The Unequal Opportunity Race” and “Systemic Racism Explained”, portrayed white people as inherently “racist” and intentionally holding Black, and those of other races back from fully competing in America, either intentionally or by being ‘unaware of their racist views’.

“The Unequal Opportunity Race” is one of two videos allegedly shown in a Chapin High School classroom.

“Systemic racism Explained” was the 2nd of two videos allegedly shown in a Chapin High School classroom.

The teaching and videos are part of what is also known as DEI, discrimination, exclusion, and indoctrination studies. This includes another tenet called “identity politics” which makes one’s identity the focal point of any perceived or imagined discrimination, ie, race, sex (what many wrongly call gender today), sexual preferences, social status, etc.

The State of SC has determined that those type instructions are a violation of law as it promotes division among the state’s citizens. The law prohibits money from going to schools that teach “an individual, by virtue of his race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive.” It also states that it is unlawful to make any person “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his race or sex.” This is commonly referred to as imposing a “white guilt complex” simply for being of the Caucasian race.

After receiving complaints from parents and from students in the class who said the videos “made me feel uncomfortable” and “ashamed to be Caucasian” the school board took action.

“Because concerned citizens, some elected officials and myself were quick to act and get involved, the teacher was requested to stop teaching the radical subject material. We will not be subject to a twisting of the facts by left-wing actors,” said Barnhardt.

Wood was directed to omit the videos and planned classroom discussions including the book “Between the World and Me”. The 2015 book is a memoir by writer Ta-Nehisi Coates about growing up in urban Baltimore and also promotes the Marxist theory of “systemic racism”.

In a statement Barnhardt said “When it was brought to my attention from concerned parents and students that a teacher at Chapin High School was knowingly violating 2022-2023 South Carolina Proviso 1.93, it was my duty as an elected school board trustee to bring attention of this to leadership in our district.”

This incident took place in House Rep. Jay Kilmartin’s District, which incudes Irmo and Chapin areas. Kilmartin, R-District 85, said, “It’s time we start making an example of teachers who blatantly break the law. There is a proviso at the state level where they lose funding if they teach any illegal Marxist critical race theory.

“These teachers are emboldened to keep it up because it is evident those who are tasked with punishing them seem to secretly agree with what they are doing. Parents want to see consequences when these rogue teachers put the district’s funding in jeopardy. And “likewise” administrators should be concerned for their job safety.”

Last fall the SC House Freedom Caucus sued Lexington District One for teaching CRT. At that time House Rep. RJ May, R-District 88, said, “They have rebranded [CRT] as diversity, equity and inclusion [DEI], as anti-racism, as culturally relevant pedagogy.” He said “regardless what it is called it is the same pernicious, racist nonsense.”

Because Barnhardt acted, she has come under fire for standing up against Marxist based Critical Race Theory being taught in an Advanced Placement (AP) class at Chapin High School. Local and national media have created a stir after the District 5 Board trustee voted to enforce State law and ban instructing Critical Race Theory in the school.

Wood has not been fired but required to revise her planned syllabus. The State newspaper reported Wood as saying she “taught the same book the previous year without any controversy.”

Barnhardt said “When I was elected to the Lexington-Richland Five School Board in 2022, I was expected to stay true to the ideals I expressed on the campaign trail. All the conservative groups and conservative public officials who endorsed my campaign expect me to stay true to the ideals I expressed on the campaign trail. One of the ideals on the top of the list was ensuring that cultural Marxist indoctrination is not taught in District Five.”

Kourtney O’Hara, State Director of Moms For Liberty-Lexington County, said, “Elizabeth is a strong advocate for academic excellence and believes that parents should have the right to choose what their children are taught in school.” She added that she is a “vocal opponent of critical race theory and other leftist ideologies that are being taught in our schools. She has worked tirelessly to defend the rights of students and uphold the proviso banning CRT in South Carolina.”

“We are so thankful for her keeping her promise and being available to her constituents and quick action to the response of the students at Chapin High School… She is a strong leader who stood up for what is right, even when it was unpopular.” O’Hara observed that Barnhardt has “set a standard for present and future school board members and we fully support her.”

“The usual suspects are now alluding to people like me being racist. As a biracial mom of biracial children and member of the school board, it is important that our children learn the skills to succeed in life and not be taught hyper-racialized and hyper-sexualized indoctrination,” said Barnhardt. She added “My hope is that as a district and a state, we can use this as a teachable moment and be prepared for the future. There is no place in our schools to push a political agenda and our teachers must know this prior to purposefully teaching curriculum that does not meet our standards.”

EDITED 6-23-23 10:36PM

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