Photo: Oklahoma State Department Of Education
An Oklahoma superintendent is facing backlash after suggesting that the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre wasn't tied to race.
The criticism stems from comments made by Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters on Thursday (July 6), when he was asked how accurate teachings on the Tulsa Race Massacre wouldn't violate the state's ban on critical race theory, per the Independent.
“I would never tell a kid that because of your race, because of the color of your skin, or your gender or anything like that, you are less of a person or are inherently racist,” Walters said during Thursday's forum at the Norman Public Library. “That doesn’t mean you don’t judge the actions of individuals. Oh, you can. Absolutely, historically, you should. ‘This was right. This was wrong. They did this for this reason.’"
“But to say it was inherent in that because of their skin is where I say that is critical race theory," he continued. "You’re saying that race defines a person.”
“Let’s not tie it to the skin color and say the skin color determined it,” he added of the massacre, which left over 300 Black people dead, more than 800 injured, and thousands of people homeless after a white mob destroyed Tulsa's then-thriving Greenwood District, known by many as Black Wall Street.
Survivors of the massacre slammed the state official for his comments.
“We strongly condemn Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters’ recent suggestion that the State of Oklahoma whitewash and outright bury key facts from state history surrounding the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921,” an attorney for a group of Tulsa survivors said. “Walters’ absurd, ridiculous, and ahistorical suggestion to brush aside the historical facts surrounding the cause of and motivations behind the Tulsa Race Massacre—specifically, the suggestion, ‘let’s not tie it to skin color’—is antithetical to public and private education because any such teaching would be historically false. Walters may benefit from clickbait posturing for white supremacy, but the people of Oklahoma and our country at large know the truth.”
Tulsa superintendent Deborah Gist said Walters' comments wouldn't affect how the Tulsa Race Massacre is taught in school.
“No matter what anyone says or does, Tulsa will continue teaching a full, honest, and complete history of our city, state, country, and world,” Gist wrote on Twitter.
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