Dem Kentucky rep says she 'doesn't feel good about being white' while arguing for DEI in education

The Kentucky House held an Interim Joint Committee on Education during which State Senator Lindsey Tichenor of District 6 presented arguments against the use of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practices in the state. Many of her fellow lawmakers took issue with the bill, most notably Rep. Sarah Stalker, who, like the others, didn't seem to comprehend the points Tichenor was making.

Tichenor was saying that no child should be made to feel bad about themselves based on their skin color and that educational programming that does not result in academic achievement but is rooted in divisive ideology is not worth spending money on.

"I think we're missing an incredible opportunity right now," Stalker said. "I'm going to be honest, I don't feel good about being white every day for a lot of reasons, because it's a point of privilege that I get to move through the world in a way that so many of my other colleagues and friends and family members in the community don't get the privilege to do."

"And I'm just a female," Stalker went on, "just a woman, a white woman. If I was a white man, I would be functioning from a point of even greater privilege. I think we're missing an opportunity when kids, when kids have a moment to reflect about how the color of their skin does and does not allow them to move through the world."

Tichenor replied to a clip of Stalker's comments, saying "While presenting on my upcoming bill to end DEI in K12, I honestly did not expect to hear this. Her comment is a prime example of how the ideology of DEI warps a person’s brain."

"Running to them and trying to stifle that and trying to say 'you shouldn't feel bad, so we don't want to ever expose you to something that is going to make you have to pause and have maybe some internal feelings,' it's a missed opportunity for some really good dialogue."

"It's not about making people feel bad about being white. I think it's about acknowledging the historical privilege that white people have always had in this country, which I don't know that anybody in this room, in good conscience could argue, exist and still exist."

Jefferson County, KY has been notified by the US Education Office for Civil Rights that they were in violation of Title VI "for unlawfully considering race, engaging in racial balancing and by utilizing a funding formula that explicitly discriminates based on the racial makeup of its schools, this is their racial equity funding model."

Tichenor brought her bill to "to eliminate the wasteful, ineffective and divisive DEI initiatives that have become interwoven in K-12 institutions." She introduced the topic and the practices, saying that "In recent years, we have seen a strong push to incorporate DEI throughout K-12 education with the stated goal of closing long held achievement gaps among minority students and students who are economically disadvantaged."

"The federal government, under the Biden administration, funneled more than $1 billion towards programming and initiatives to implement DEI into schools across the nation. Further bloating our already heavy administrative positions and utilizing the educational platform to indoctrinate students, leaving behind negative societal impacts that may last for years to come," Tichenor said.

Tichenor noted that it wasn't just the educational cost, but the budget items that are a problem in the DEI programming. She said that credit card statements and receipts show "a gross misuse of funds for lavish travel to DEI conferences, hotels, airfare and travel expenses, most notably, recently, was the approved travel to Australia, with the known expenses reaching near $30,000." And that was just part of the spending that had absolutely nothing to do with Kentucky students.

None of these efforts, Tichenor said, have had a positive impact on test scores or educational outcomes. Proficiency has dropped in math and reading under the statewide DEI initiatives. She took aim at restorative justice as well as SEL, or social and emotional learning.

Tichenor read out the definition of diversity that is used for the purpose of DEI legislation and education programming. "Diverse will be defined as pertaining to any and all cultures that are not heterosexual, male centered, white, Western or Christian," she said.

Anti-racist education, per the definition used in education programming, "is an action based response to racist policies, practices, systems and beliefs that exist in education... it focuses intently on instruction, curriculum and pedagogy as liberatory means to decenter whiteness."