Children at a New York City school were provided with a “Black Lives Matter” coloring book that advocates for the principles of the far-left group, including transgender affirmation, outraging some parents.
According to The Free Press, students ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade at Brooklyn’s PS 321 William Penn were provided with copies of “What We Believe: A Black Lives Matter Principles Activity Book” as part of their Black History Month activities.
“The book uses drawings and worksheets to promote the 13 tenets of the Black Lives Matter movement, under titles like ‘Queer Affirming,’ ‘Transgender Affirming,’ and ‘Restorative Justice,’” The Free Press reported.
Children at a Brooklyn elementary school were given copies of “What We Believe: A Black Lives Matter Principles Activity Book. (Screenshot/Amazon)
According to The Free Press, the book created by Black Lives Matter at School lists Black Lives Matter’s “national demands.” Among them are “hire more black teachers” and “fund counselors not cops.”
A preview page of the book on Amazon claims that the principles “show ways we can use new systems, like restorative justice and Black villages, instead of old systems, like the police and neighborhoods that make it hard for Black people to create community.”
The book’s “Transgender Affirming” section “instructs students to read the book ‘When Aidan Became a Brother’ about a girl who transitions to a boy, and then answer questions on a worksheet like, ‘How do you feel when someone tells you what you can or can’t do based on your gender?'”
Yet another preview page says: “We make space for transgender people to participate and lead. We know that cisgender (not trans) people in our society have privilege, and we want to uplift trans people, especially black trans women who often experience violence.”
The parent of a fourth grader, whose parents fled communist China, had an issue with the book’s use of the word “comrade,” according to the outlet.
“Using the word comrades comes from Communist times,” the parent told The Free Press. “They are using words that I don’t think are appropriate for elementary school.”
The parent said they only learned about the book because their daughter had to attend school remotely last week due to snow.
“This is classwork, not homework,” the parent told The Free Press. “If it weren’t for the snow, we wouldn’t have known.”
Another parent, whose family fled from the Soviet Union, said the coloring book’s text reminds her “of the songs we were made to sing as elementary school children. ‘Dismantling’ and ‘comrade’ and everything—it really reminds me of the word salad that was a part of those songs.”
