Condoleeza Rice slams critical race theory, ‘I don’t have to make white kids feel bad for being white’

"So the governor's race in blue-leaning Virginia is being seen as a barometer for which way America will swing in 2022 in the midterms, and one of the key issues up for debate is how much of a voice parents should have in their child's school curriculum, especially when it comes to subjects like sex education and critical race theory. I thought they didn't teach critical race theory in school, they went to like law schools or something," said Whoopi Goldberg.

"I sure hope not. Because I'm not certain seven-year-olds need to learn it," replied Rice.

Joy Behar, noting that she used to be a teacher, said that there's a set curriculum that teachers need to follow, and that if parents have an issue with what's being taught, they should homeschool their children.

"Well, they're actually homeschooling them in increasing numbers. And I think that's a signal," replied Rice

"First of all, parents ought to be involved in their children's education. Their children are in school seven hours, that's a very formative period. And I think parents ought to have a say. We used to have parent-teacher conferences. We used to have PTAs. There are lots of ways for parents do be involved, and they should be," said Rice.

Rice noted that she grew up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, and attended segregated schools until moving to Denver, Colorado

"My parents never thought I was going to grow up in a world without prejudice. But they also told me, that's somebody else's problem, not yours, you're going to overcome it. And you are going to be anything you want to be. And that's the message that I think we ought to be sending to kids," Rice said.

"One of the worries that I have, about the way that we're talking about race, is that it either seems so big that somehow white people now have to feel guilty for everything that happened in the past, I don't think that's very productive, or black people have to feel disempowered by race," Rice continued.

"I would like black kids to be completely empowered to know that they are beautiful in their blackness. But in order to do that, I don't have to make white kids feel bad for being white. So somehow, this is a conversation that has gone in the wrong direction," she added.

Goldberg noted that teachers should be teaching history, particularly the problematic parts of history, so that we won't repeat it.

"I have no problem with letting people know what happened. Yes, but let's remember history is complex, right? Human beings aren't angels now and they weren't angels in the past. And so how we teach about our history is also important," Rice replied.

Sunny Hostin argued with Rice that parents "don't want children to hear about the real history."

"Come on now," Rice said.

"People are being taught the true history, but I just have to say one more thing: It goes back to how we teach the history. We teach the good and we teach the bad of history. But what we don't do is make 7 and 10-year-olds feel that they are somehow bad people because of the color of their skin," she added. "We've been through that, and we don't need to do that again for anyone."