Parental rights group condemns land acknowledgements that ‘teach children to hate America’

A parental rights group is blasting public school districts nationwide for promoting leftist ideology through “stolen land acknowledgements.”  

Parents Defending Education (PDE) released a list of 155 school districts – representing nearly 3 million students – which have land acknowledgements.  

“The general theme of each of these statements is that the school exists on stolen land, the U.S. is evil for existing, and Americans should apologize for the perceived transgressions of people who existed centuries ago,” Michele Exner, senior adviser at Parents Defending Education and former Marine, wrote in the Washington Examiner. 

“Radical ideologues are using these statements to disparage America and influence students to adopt their same negative views of the country.”  

For example, Kansas City Public Schools’ statement reads, ”We acknowledge that Indigenous Peoples in Kansas City, the state of Missouri, and throughout the United States were forced to cede their territory and endure generations of genocide. Kansas City Public Schools is committed to creating a culture of equity and affirming all communities, especially those who are marginalized.” 

Portland Public Schools in Maine explains, “Land acknowledgements are a way of actively reflecting on the realities of colonization in the United States but do not stand alone. Land acknowledgements in PPS are connected to our broader curriculum, instruction, and school environment efforts to improve inclusion and advance equity.”  

Seattle Public Schools has both a “Stolen Land Acknowledgement” and a “Stolen Black & Brown Labor Acknowledgement,” which reads, “We want to recognize that the United States was build [sic] off the stolen labor of kidnapped Africans and enslaved Black people’s work, which created the profits that created our nation.”  

And when launching National Native American Heritage Month last November, the superintendent of Denver Public Schools wrote, “The DPS community acknowledges our Indigenous relatives who have lived in and cared for this ancient Land from time immemorial. We acknowledge the close relationship that Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute and Natives of other tribal Nations continue to have with the waters, plants, and all moving things that call this Land home.”  

Though these statements seem harmless enough on their face, Exner argued they’re contributing to antisemitism by teaching the next generation to revile any groups perceived to be “colonizers.” 

“Young Americans are being brainwashed to believe that speaking out against America or Israel is justified because they have been lied to and misled to believe these countries are evil,” she explained. “Often, this propaganda is embedded right in the curriculum through ‘ethnic studies.’” 

Last year, a Jewish civil rights group sued a California school district, alleging its ethnic studies curriculum was antisemitic.   

And a black Minnesota mother condemned a similar ethnic studies program for “tell[ing] kids of color they are stuck in a caste system based on their race.”  

PDE encourages parents to push back against such agendas in their local public schools. 

“[Land acknowledgements are] another way radical school district employees are teaching children to hate America,” Exner concluded. “Families should be challenging these toxic statements and calling on their school districts to stop the virtue signaling and focus on doing their job of teaching.”