Critical race theory makes students ‘uncomfortable and tense,’ Minnesota high schooler says

Rosemount High School's administration "created unwarranted boundaries and barriers between students" with their liberal indoctrination, the student said.

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Minnesota teen and ninth-grade student at Rosemount High School Brad Taylor went viral last week for his five-minute speech to the District 196 School Board speaking out against liberal indoctrination in the classroom.

Taylor spoke under the special communications request portion of the June 14 meeting. His video has gained over 385,000 views on YouTube, as it was posted by The Daily Caller. The video was also shared on Louder with Crowder, Garage Logic, and The Blaze.

It had been a long first year of high school for Taylor, who cited numerous attempts by administration to “to unify [students but] instead created unwarranted boundaries and barriers between students, pitting us against each other based on characteristics that we can’t control.” He added that “you must admit how uncomfortable it will be to be characterized just by your skin color on the first day of school and be thought that you were wrong just because of your skin color.”

Alpha News spoke with Taylor, who said that his decision to leave Rosemount High School after this last year was because “it wasn’t a healthy environment for any student to be in” anymore. Since last week, Taylor and his mother, Tiffany Taylor, have received “lots of messages from other [District] 196 parents who are also concerned about their kids” and are seeking their consultation.

“The problem is these school districts are acting like some of us are guilty for just existing, and somehow inadvertently responsible for any injustice [and] from what I saw, it made all the kids who have been in RHS feel uncomfortable and tense,” Taylor told Alpha News, adding that his peers “are afraid to say or do the wrong thing” for fear of being labeled as an “intolerant racist.”

One particular example of fear manifesting that Taylor cited was the nine minutes and 43 seconds of silent reflection that teachers mandated on the anniversary of George Floyd’s death. Taylor’s teacher said students “could just do homework” during this time but “a lot of kids felt pressure that they would be called a racist if they contended the ‘proclamation.'”

“If just one person stands up, then other people will feel more empowered to do the same,” Taylor told Alpha News. The 15-year-old surely inspired many as his message was supported by over 200 parents and community members who attended the June 14 school board meeting in District 196, with many more joining in the movement on the local level.

 

Megan Olson

Megan Olson is a 2020 graduate of the University of Minnesota with degrees in political science and history. She works in public affairs in addition to serving on the Legislative Advisory Council for School District 196. She is also on the school board for FIT academy, a charter school in Apple Valley.