Oklahoma’s superintendent of public education did not directly answer when asked Thursday if he believes teaching the Tulsa Race Massacre could be classified under a concept he wants to ban.
Walters has said multiple times he plans to eliminate Critical Race Theory from Oklahoma classrooms. The educational theory asserts that racism in the United States is systemic and are designed to preserve white dominance in the country.
When asked Thursday evening at a forum in Norman if he classifies the race massacre as Critical Race Theory, Walters first said he would never tell a student they were inherently racist, and that you can judge individuals on their actions.
“I would say, you be judgmental of the issue, of the action, of the content of the character of individual. Absolutely,” Walters followed. “But let’s not tie it to the skin color and say that the skin color determined it.”
The audience member who asked repeated the question, to which Walters told him he had already answered.
Walters later said he wants students to learn about the race massacre, and said he’s working to develop more curricula around events like it.
On Friday, Walters explicitly told media outlets that race was a factor in the massacre. A spokesperson for Walters did not immediately respond to Public Radio Tulsa's request for additional comment Friday.
Researchers estimate the Tulsa Race Massacre claimed hundreds of lives when a white mob razed the city’s affluent Greenwood District, nicknamed Black Wall Street. The mob destroyed the neighborhood and killed its residents and business owners following a rumor that a Black boy had inappropriately interacted with a white girl.
State Rep. Regina Goodwin — a descendant of a race massacre survivor — said the racism in the attack on Black Wall Street is “just history.”
“We need to be able to address those issues head-on, acknowledge the wrong that was in it, acknowledge the fact that racism absolutely played a part,” she said.
Goodwin said Oklahoma students “deserve better.”
In a tweet Thursday night, Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Deborah Gist said Tulsa will “continue teaching a full, honest, and complete history.”
