A professor and her team are in the spotlight after it was found that their "antiracist parenting" research is funded by a nearly $600,000 grant. According to The College Fix, this is at the University of Minnesota, and that professor is Gail Ferguson.
AFN reported previously about how the university’s Culture and Family Life Lab warns of a “whiteness pandemic.” It gives so-called resources for individuals and parents to be antiracist and teach their children anti-racism. One of the key takeaways is “talking the antiracist walk goes hand in hand with talking the antiracist talk.”
Matt Lamb is associate editor of The College Fix.
"The idea of anti-racism in general is that you can't just not be racist but that you have to actively be opposing racism. And this is from Ibram Kendi who has sort of gone to different universities," says Lamb.
The research at the institution centers on "an antiracist parenting intervention for White mothers of young White children." The center uses the acronym CARPE DIEM, which it says is short for “Courageous, Antiracist, and Reflective Parenting Efforts – Deepening Intentionality with Each Moment."
"This research presupposes that white people — but also like babies, like kids because this is white parenting — that they are racist and that they need to be taught how to not be racist. This is, of course, being subsidized by taxpayers because this is a public university," states Lamb.
Lamb said that the University of Minnesota "wrongly assumes" that little kids need to be taking the lead on opposing racism.
"The best thing that parents can do to encourage respect for everyone is to teach their kids that all people are deserving of dignity, deserving of respect by the nature of being a human being, and from a Christian perspective, we could say by nature of being created by God,” says Lamb.
Lamb emphasized that is what is needed, not what the university is doing.
“We don't need to spend $600,000 and have professors study anti-racism parenting to teach kids to respect one another no matter how they look," concludes Lamb.
