High school students were forced to watch a pro-affirmative action video that depicts race relations as a literal race, with white people receiving a nearly 500-year advantage, as part of a Black History Month program.
NBC12 reports students at Glen Allen High School in Henrico, Va. sat through a showing of a YouTube video titled “Structural Discrimination: The Equal Opportunity Race.”
The white people in the video start the race in the year 1492, when Columbus discovered America. As the white athletes are running, the black runners are left behind as the words “SLAVERY,” “BROKEN TREATIES,” “GENOCIDE,” “MANIFEST DESTINY,” “TRAIL OF TEARS,” “DRED SCOTT,” “SEGREGATION,” “CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT,” and “JAPANESE INTERNMENT” appear on the screen.
Finally, in the year 1964—the year of the Civil Rights Act—the black runners are able to start running. However, they face obstacles on the course, such as standardized testing, the “school to prison pipeline,” drug testing, and an early death.
After one of the runners is stopped by a “shortened lifespan,” a white person is seen zooming by on a walking elevator as the word “PRIVILEGE” appears on the screen.
Even though the video references events that happened to Asians (who do not benefit from affirmative action), the purpose of the video is to advocate for affirmative action. The video claims, “affirmative action helps level the playing field.”
The video has been decried as promoting white guilt.
Radio personality Craig Johnson said, “The reality of it is it’s over. The aftermath of it is poverty pimps who will not let it die.”
He continued, saying, “Dr. King gave his life so that America would be a place where we are judged by the content of our character, not the color of our skin. Now we have poverty pimps being led by our current president Barack Obama who all they talk about is the color of skin."
The school responded to the outrage over the video by stating, “The students participated in a presentation that involved American history and racial discourse. A segment of the video was one component of a thoughtful discussion in which all viewpoints were encouraged. As always, we are welcoming of feedback from students and their families, and we address concerns directly as they come forward.”
Watch the video here: