Jim Buckley Interview Part I
Read the News-Press article here: https://newspress.com/the-culturally-responsive-curriculum/
Christy Lozano is the name of the person who until now has been identified by me only as “Teacher” in various “School Daze” columns I’ve written for the News-Press. In those articles, we’ve examined some of what Ms. Lozano and others consider dangerous and damaging material, especially when offered as “recommended reading material” for children from pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade in the elementary schools in the district.
We’ve questioned the need and/or desirability of introducing subjects such as, for example, transgenderism, to four-year-old children.
Since our last article, Ms Lozano produced a video outlining the sheer volume of sexually oriented material available for and meant for young children that Santa Barbara Unified School District administrators (and school administrations around the country) believe should be part of the school curriculum. The video she made “went viral” as they say, and was noticed by Laura Ingraham of the “Ingraham Angle” on Fox Cable News, who aired it; consequently Ms Lozano was interviewed and appeared (via Zoom) on the Ingraham Angle.
Here is a short list of recommended reading material that falls under the Culturally Responsive Curriculum banner, and, while we appreciate that all these books and videos may have a positive purpose, what Christy and many are concerned with is that they are aimed at children as young as four years old.
The “Queer Kid Stuff” YouTube channel includes “Why is Pride in June?” “Julian is a Mermaid,” and “Drag Queen Story Hour.” YouTube videos include “Thanksgiving is a day of Mourning for Native Americans,” and “Thanksgiving Native Americans One Word Cut.” Books include “Sparkle Boy,” “It Feels Good to be Yourself,” “Call Me Tree” and “Stonewall–A Building, An Uprising, A Revolution.”
The following is an edited transcript of part of my most recent interview with Christy.
Q. Your video detailing the many ways the left-wing Black Lives Matter and LGBT agenda is inserted into public and private school curricula, beginning as early as pre-Kindergarten has now been seen by hundreds of thousands of people. Because of that, you were invited and have made an appearance on Fox Cable News Station’s Laura Ingraham Show. What were the repercussions?
A. A lot of people resonated with the video. And mostly I had tons of positive comments. People messaging me on every possible social media. A lot of “Thanks you’s” from parents and community members, and just “Thank you for telling us,” “Thank you for being brave, putting it out there.” And a few negatives.
Q. Only “a few negatives?” Is that because they are Fox viewers?
A. Probably. So tons of positive comments, tons.
Q. I received messages about the articles I did on you that basically said: "Oh my god, I had no idea that they were teaching this." Did you get any of that kind of thing?
A. Yeah. Lots of comments like that.
Q. What exactly did you have in the video?
A. I just walked people through the password-protected teacher portal on the Santa Barbara Unified website.
Q. Okay, it is password protected, so you need to be a teacher to get on it? Or at least to know a teacher who would give you the password?
A. Yeah. Then I walked them through what they call the Culturally Responsive Curriculum. I showed them that students are supposed to start with “self” on the portal, and every time you go into a “people” group, it basically refers to what “white people” should do for people of color. In every people group, we're told as white people how we're supposed to act towards “people of color.” The interesting thing is if they're telling me [and every other “white” person] that this is what I have to do. They're assuming I haven’t been and don’t do that. So there is a divisiveness to the curriculum right from the get-go.
Q. We talked about the insidious nature of this curriculum. What makes it so ... Let's use that word, insidious?
A. Well, I think the language they use makes it insidious, because they’re telling me I will be an ally if I do the things they tell me to do. And, they're insinuating that I'm not doing those things now, which makes me feel bad. It creates some shame, or some guilt by the language they use; they are stereotyping, making a judgment on me and anyone classified “white.” Which is the what they don't want me to do to anyone of color. It's highly manipulative; if I want to be a better white person, I have to do these things. That's the insidious part.
Q. Have you had discussions with other teachers or parents as to the wisdom of introducing the issue of, say, transgenderism to a five-year-old? What's the why there?
A. I've had discussions with people who believe as I do that it's wrong. As to the why, I think they do it because they are trying to create a mindset in the child’s formative years. If they can do that, it will mold and shape who they become and how they think, because they are little sponges from four to ten years old. I mean, some things get really set in concrete in that age.
Q. That's the intent then, to get them young. So they're not going to wait until they're 12 or 13, when it may be too late to influence them?
A. Right.
Q. You were telling me about a school that was mostly Hispanic and had somebody come in to read one of these stories, let's say it was about a boy who liked to wear dresses, and necklaces, and whatever. The boys, in particular, who again, were six, seven years old, were laughing, and shaking their heads, saying, "No, that’s wrong. Boys don’t do that!” Tell me how the teacher who was reading that to the children responded to their skepticism.
A. He was upset, and called them very close-minded little kids.
A. Did he say that to their faces?
A. I don't know if he said it to their faces, but he did seem upset. He told me that he couldn't believe how closed they were to those ideas. That he had come from San Francisco, and those kids are way more open minded. I felt sad for the kids, because that teacher is making them feel bad for saying, "No, this is wrong; boys don’t do that!” The kids are right, most boys don’t do that. But the teacher is telling them they are wrong. That's very disturbing to me. I know the teacher has the power to do that. That's why it's so important to let people know, you’ve got to protect your kids.
We’ll continue this conversation in upcoming columns…
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