LTHS Eyes Book About American Racism

LA GRANGE, IL — Lyons Township High School is considering textbooks for next year. One of them is about racism in America.

The 2014 book is titled "Citizen: An American Lyric," by Claudia Rankine. On Monday, the school board is expected to consider that book, among other purchases. The book in question would be used for language arts classes.

According to teachers' rationale for the book, it explores the themes of identity, race and belonging in 21st century America.

The book, the rationale said, presents questions about how racism permeates classrooms, grocery stores and tennis courts.

"Rankine reflects on 21st century issues such as Hurricane Katrina, Trayvon Martin's death and stop-and-frisk laws," the rationale said. "Through an exploration of contemporary American controversy, we will be able to help students understand how to have difficult conversations about racism in the world that they have inherited."

Throughout the country, including in Lyons Township, many parents have accused schools of pushing critical race theory. Typically taught at the college level, the theory examines how race and law intersect in the United States.

The theory's opponents argue it teaches that American society is racist. The other side says students need to understand the history of race in the United States.

Rankine has emphasized the importance of teaching critical race theory.

“The suppression of critical race theory is the suppression of information around this country that shows its true investment in white nationalism,” she said last year in the Richmond Free Press, an African-American newspaper in Richmond, Virginia.

During an event in Richmond, Rankine presented a photo of a Ku Klux Klan parade in 1926 in Washington, according to the Free Press.

“The move against critical race theory is really a move for the suppression of images like this, which is American history,” she said.

On its website, Lyons Township High School says it doesn't teach critical race theory.