Tennessee school district staff trained on how White Christians are privileged, polyamorous are oppressed

The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System held an ENGAGE conference on July 19th to train staff about 'oppression' and 'privilege'

A Tennessee school district offered voluntary training to its staff about "cultural competency" which included instruction that "White Christian" people are privileged while "people of color" and "polyamorous" people are oppressed.

According to documents obtained via a public records request, the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System sent Parents Defending Education (PDE) a presentation from the district’s ENGAGE conference, which was held on July 19.

The presentation, titled "The World Needs More Purple People" which promoted the idea of using "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to connect." In the presentation, it states there is a "clear target" to "respond appropriately when encountering racial and cultural bias, helping those around me feel seen and heard."

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The presentation contained a "privilege" and "oppression" chart. According to the chart, "privilege status" corresponds with labels "white," "men, cisgender," "heterosexual," and "Christian."

On the other hand, "oppression status" corresponds with labels "person of color," "women, trans, nonbinary, genderqueer," "LGBTQ+, polyamorous, asexual, aromantic," and "Muslim, Eastern, Pagan, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, etc." 

Furthermore, district staff learned about the difference between "cultural competency" and "cultural humility" and their definitions at the ENGAGE conference.

According to the presentation, the phrase "cultural competency" is an understanding that the race and ethnicity of students should be considered under a method of teaching. Cultural humility explains that "it is helpful to see what others see; what they themselves have determined is their personal expression of their heritage and their personal culture."

According to documents obtained via a public records request, the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System sent Parents Defending Education a presentation from the district’s ENGAGE conference that uses "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to connect." (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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The presentation goes further by teaching staff that there can be "trauma from language." 

Phrases such as "take this to your mommy" were used an example of trauma inducing language. Other phrases like "I don’t see color" and "how did you celebrate Christmas?" were other examples the presentation stated were negative and that people should "avoid." 

A spokesperson for CMCSS sent Fox News Digital a statement saying that "the ENGAGE conference has a mix of content developed by the district and content developed independently by educators." 

"Educators are not required to attend, and they select their own sessions," the statement reads. "Since this presentation was developed independently by educators and not developed or delivered by the District, I do not have any additional information on the presentation. CMCSS is in compliance with state law and does not require implicit bias training for employees."

A spokesperson from PDE told Fox News Digital "When a teacher training teaches that saying the words ‘mommy’ and ‘Christmas’ can cause trauma, we know we are dealing with unserious people."

"But these unserious people wield great power and their attempt to indoctrinate teachers into the repugnant belief that being White or male or heterosexual or Christian or able-bodied or an adult, makes you an oppressor is destructive and intellectually bankrupt," Erika Sanzi, Director of Outreach at Parents Defending Education said.

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She continued, "If it wasn't so sinister, it would be comical that K-12 teachers are being taught that polyamorous people are oppressed. This is all based on critical theory, and it has no place in our schools."

According to GLSEN’s website, there is a statement that says "while many LGBTQ+-inclusive school supports begin in middle or high school, it is critical for elementary schools to establish a foundation of respect and understanding for all people."

District staff were also given a "reading list" that features a resource called "Safe Space Kit: Guide to Being an Ally to LGBT Students" from the organization GLSEN. According to GLSEN’s website, there is a statement that says "while many LGBTQ+-inclusive school supports begin in middle or high school, it is critical for elementary schools to establish a foundation of respect and understanding for all people."

Fox News Digital previously reported on GLSEN calling for gender ideology to be integrated into all classes, even math. It provides educators instructions on how they can make math "more inclusive of trans and non-binary identities" by including "they/them" pronouns in word problems.

Fox News' Hannah Grossman contributed to this report.

Joshua Q. Nelson is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

Joshua focuses on politics, education policy ranging from the local to the federal level, and the parental uprising in education.

Joining Fox News Digital in 2019, he previously graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Political Science and is an alum of the National Journalism Center and the Heritage Foundation's Young Leaders Program. 

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