White, left-wing activists claim they know what’s best for minorities. They cloak their condescending, authoritative agendas in feigned compassion for “people of color.” They believe they know what’s best, even when the parents of nonwhite children say otherwise.

“They want critical race theory (CRT), diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) over what the parents of minority children want,” said Derrick Wilburn, the father of a District 20 student and two District 20 graduates. “We want children prepared to enter college or a vocational field.”

Wilburn, a businessman and former college teacher, is part of a growing movement of Black and other nonwhite parents in Colorado Springs contesting left-wing curriculums they consider harmful.

Wilburn knows a bit about teaching Black children to succeed. His daughter obtained a four-year college degree in five semesters, rather than eight. He initiated a congressional internship program for Black teenagers. His son graduated from the Air Force Academy and flies $60 million KC-135 jets for a living.

“Teaching him DEI and CRT had nothing to do with his achievements,” Wilburn said. “Teaching him DEI would have told my son he could not achieve all of this because of the white oppressor and the racist society holding him back. I taught my children they are overcomers, and that’s what the schools should teach.”

Mike Jones self-identifies as part of the growing movement of Black and other nonwhite parents who are taking on the curriculums that tell minorities they are victims of an intractably racist culture. Mostly white activists, often dressed in red or rainbow outfits, increasingly show up to board meetings to oppose the minority parents. They personally attack any board members tempted to agree with the parents.

“Some of these people are genuinely trying to do something that is well-intentioned, and they are simply misguided,” Jones said. “Others are part of a post-modern narrative that says anything traditional needs to be dismantled because tradition is what birthed prejudice, racism, all of that. … A community that’s predominantly white is fighting hard to make students and families of color feel they need to be taken care of in a way that is anathema to equality. Everyone is forgetting Dr. King’s dream of Whites, Blacks, Jews, Catholics and Protestants holding hands and judging by character, not skin. We have gone completely the other way in public schools.”

The activists seem unwilling or incapable of accepting the consequences of elections. Throughout the city, voters recently elected school board majorities that oppose the teaching of CRT and other agendas that fall under the umbrella of DEI.

“They tell us ‘CRT is not being taught in our schools.’ That’s nonsense,” Jones said. “That’s like saying pizza is not served in the cafeteria, yet they’re serving bread covered with a tomato-based sauce, cheese, and pork-derived meat products. They just stopped calling it pizza.”

Parent Ken Davis attends meetings of D-49 and D-11 and also speaks of activists showing at school board meetings who oppose board majorities elected to dispense with CRT and DEI so schools can focus on the basics.

“I’m part of a growing movement of Black and brown parents coming to the revelation these schools aren’t actually educating our children,” Davis said. “Instead, they are focused on creating in our children a mindset of oppressor versus the oppressed. They are focused on how our children look and how they should feel. Frankly, how our children feel should be left up to us – their parents. The schools should teach them reading, writing and arithmetic. If they don’t, our children won’t succeed.”

Because he often makes the same case, Wilburn finds himself increasingly threatened by white left-wing activists. He recently quoted on his podcast the sophomoric poem an activist posted on the Internet and read during a D-20 school board meeting. A sample:

“CRT is not taught that’s a dead fight it’s true, but let’s talk about the past of the red, white and blue. The history of our country is harsh it is bad, it’s full of division, power plays, its quite sad.” – author unknown.

White activist Tymm Hoffman told Wilburn to quiet down by sending him a cease and desist letter that feigned legal authority to prevent him from quoting a poem read in public. Wilburn responded with an email that said “your request for a cease and desist is summarily denied for reasons briefly cited below …”

“When we express our desire to have our children taught what they need, these activists don’t hesitate to bully us into getting out of their way,” Wilburn said. “It’s not going to work. These are our children, not theirs.”

Exactly. Minority parents know what’s best for their children. In contesting the left, they demand that schools prepare their children for success. They don’t want angry, bitter young activists who have been taught to hate their country. They want their children active in the real world, succeeding with the benefits of traditional knowledge.

Colorado Springs Gazette editorial board