Manchester parents upset over 'power and privilege' handout
Victoria and Jonathan Faucher don't consider themselves activists. But when their eighth grade son brought home a packet on microaggressions and a 'Wheel of Power and Privilege' from school on Thursday, the Manchester couple felt they needed to take action.
'It's disturbing,' Victoria Faucher said.
'I don't see why it's necessary, and now the parents get to talk to them (students) about it and deal with it,' said Jonathan Faucher. 'Talk to them, and somehow press the reset button, even though the cat's out of the bag, right? It's unnecessary.'
The Fauchers' son is in eighth grade at Henry J. McLaughlin Middle School in Manchester. The packet he brought home Thursday was titled 'Cultural Fluency 2.0: Microaggressions,' distributed by Grade 8 Language Arts teacher Jennifer Doucette.
The packet was distributed in connection with a unit on the Holocaust, though it includes no mention of the mass murder of Jews by German Nazis during World War II. School officials say the packet contained some materials intended only for staff development.
Microaggressions are defined by Merriam Webster as 'a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group (such as a racial minority).'
The packet contains a list of examples 'offered for reflection' of possible microaggressions, such as failing to learn to pronounce or continuing to mispronounce the names of students after they have corrected you; using the terms 'illegals' to reference undocumented students, or continuing to misuse pronouns after a student — transgender or not — indicates their preferred gender pronoun.
The packet also contained a 'Wheel of Power and Privilege,' listing cultural identifiers — such as White, middle class or citizen — and the degree of power and privilege associated with each.
Students could circle cultural identifiers on the wheel they felt matched up with them, and learn what category the wheel places them in: most power, marginalized or most marginalized.
Jonathan Faucher said the 'Wheel of Power and Privilege' was especially concerning to his family and his son's circle of friends.
'It's a good group,' Faucher said. 'It's very multicultural, and they all play sports together, they're all good friends. They have been for years, but now they're looking at each other differently, and for what? Because my son's a white French Canadian, so now he has White privilege. My son's friends, other cultures, they're filling it out, and they're marginalized. My son fills it out, and he has privilege.
'How could this possibly be allowed in a public school district?'
District's response
On Friday, the Manchester School District issued a statement saying it is 'aware of social media posts regarding a classroom lesson in one of our schools.' The district said it has reviewed the matter with the building principal, and while officials said they couldn't address personnel matters directly, 'we could share the lesson was in fact part of a unit on the Holocaust,' as required in state minimum standards.
'We understand that this topic can create reactions and conversations within our classrooms,' the statement said. 'In this isolated incident, students were asked to complete an anonymous self-reflection form to explore their understanding of self to text within the unit. Unfortunately, materials intended only for staff professional development were used for this anonymous student self-reflection.
'We want to be clear that there was never a survey completed as part of this lesson or unit. The district team has taken steps so this action is not repeated.'
District officials say they remain committed to providing 'age and topic appropriate' instruction for all students, and 'sometimes that includes discussion of difficult periods of history in the world.'
'However, such discussions are paramount to a well-educated and well-rounded public, and we are committed to teaching those topics in a manner that complies with both educational best practices and state and federal law.'
Political respose
News of the packet and 'wheel' spread Friday. State Sen. Victoria Sullivan, R-Manchester, said the power and privilege wheel sent a message to students that 'some children are better than others.'
'That is a message that should never be put upon children,' Sullivan said. 'All children are unique in their talents and abilities. Telling children that they are better than some people or are less than others based on skin color, sexuality, body size, and gender is unacceptable.
'Manchester repeatedly makes headlines for inadequate proficiency scores. Yet, this is where they are spending taxpayer dollars.'
Manchester Alderman At Large Joe Kelly Levasseur said parents feel 'trapped in public schools' because of questionnaires like the one sent home.
'They make children uncomfortable and parents even more so,' Levasseur said. 'Explaining racism to non-racist children creates a problem that was never there to begin with. Manchester should focus on unity and how Americans are an amazing melting pot that brings us all together to achieve the American dream.'
Jonathan Faucher said his son has friends of color that he's 'very good friends with, and they're great kids.'
'That's the way it should be — they're friends no matter what,' Faucher said. 'There's no problem — why introduce something that might create one? These kids, two days ago, were just simply friends. Now they have this to deal with.'
pfeely@unionleader.com
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