Matthew Hawn, a teacher from Sullivan County, got terminated for teaching on racism in modern issues. Hawn’s story has gotten national coverage in the last few months. Sullivan Central High School terminated Hawn from his employment position after the law against critical race theory became effective in Tennessee. On December 14, 2021, Hawn appealed to the Sullivan County School Board for a cancellation of his dismissal.
His termination letter cited many incidents, including the following.
- His teaching of a Ta-Nehisi Coates essay on the part that racism played in the populist rise of Donald Trump to the US presidential position.
- A Kyla Jenée Lacey poem on white privilege.
A few parents complained that Hawn introduced the Coates literary piece and then did not use other viewpoints. Other parents complained about the profane language in Lacey’s literature that Hawn discussed in class. The school fired him in June this year.
Lacey and Coates supported Hawn at a recent press conference in virtual form. For your information, the think tank AAPF (African American Policy Forum) organized the recent virtual presser.
As an African-American artist, Lacey’s work was viewed as profane. As for Lacey, profane language has never been kept out of artistic expression. Lacey also stated that regarding profanity as an issue is intellectually dishonest when demands are made to prohibit books on Ruby Bridges, who is the first Black student at a white school in Louisiana.
Coates considered this part of an American movement to not just restrict education and information but also narrow the debate and dialogue in the country. Coates stated that the above-mentioned is not a new phenomenon and that the appearance of diverse views is relatively new in the history of the US. Coates, an award-winner, also cited the record of exclusion found in sectors such as film and publishing.
Hawn, a Sullivan County resident who has long been into teaching, also talked at the recent press conference. Hawn stated that he introduced the views of an author with recognition and a so-called avant-garde poem writer. Stating that he did not bring his perspectives to class, Hawn underlined that he wanted his students to grasp the views of the author and the poet.
Hawn also associated not allowing students to talk about these issues with a case of complicating it for them to succeed. Students will need to vie for admissions into colleges with students from other parts of the nation who get to take part in those discussions.
Professor and lawyer Kimberlé Crenshaw pioneered CRT (critical race theory), which is a regulatory framework examining the part that racism plays in society. It is typically taught in a graduate program rather than an elementary school. Crenshaw described the recent uproar against educating school children about racial injustice and its history as an attempt to transform censorship into some just cause.
As for Crenshaw, Hawn lost his passion and livelihood as he looked to aid his students in carefully considering the recent protests about police brutality against James Blake and George Floyd.