The state official in charge of Oklahoma’s schools is facing calls for impeachment, after he said teachers should tell students that the Tulsa race massacre was not racially motivated.
In a public forum on Thursday, Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s state superintendent of public instruction, said teachers could cover the 1921 massacre, in which white Tulsans murdered an estimated 300 Black people, but teachers should not “say that the skin color determined it”.
Walters is a pro-Trump Republican who was elected to oversee Oklahoma education in November. He has consistently indulged in rightwing talking points including “woke ideology” and has said critical race theory should not be taught in classrooms. Republicans have frequently conflated banning critical race theory with banning any discussion of racial history in classrooms.
At the forum in Norman, Oklahoma, Walters was asked how the massacre could “not fall” under his broad definition of CRT.
“I would never tell a kid that because of your race, because of your color of your skin, or your gender or anything like that, you are less of a person or are inherently racist.
“That doesn’t mean you don’t judge the actions of individuals. Oh, you can, absolutely. Historically, you should: ‘This was right. This was wrong. They did this for this reason.’
“But to say it was inherent in that … because of their skin is where I say that is critical race theory. You’re saying that race defines a person. I reject that.
“So I would say you be judgmental of the issue, of the action, of the content, of the character of the individual, absolutely. But let’s not tie it to the skin color and say that the skin color determined it.”
The Frontier, an Oklahoma-based investigative journalism organization, reported Walters’s comments.
Speaking to the Guardian, Alicia Andrews, the chair of the Oklahoma Democratic party, described Walters as “ridiculous”.
“How are you going to talk about a race massacre as if race isn’t part of the very cause of the incident?” Andrews said.
“I would love for him to be impeached, because he’s forgotten that his job is superintendent of public instruction. Most of his actions have been with his direct intent of destroying public education in favor of shoring up private and charter schools on public tax dollars. To me that’s a clear dereliction.”
According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, a state-run agency, the massacre is “believed to be the single worst incident of racial violence in American history”.
The massacre saw white mobs burn down the Black neighborhood of Greenwood, in Tulsa, and kill hundreds of Black people.
About 10,000 Black residents lived in Greenwood, which had a thriving business district, known as Black Wall Street, and was one of the most affluent Black neighborhoods in the US.
After a 19-year-old Black man was falsely accused of sexual assault, white people, some conscripted by the state, launched an offensive on Greenwood, destroying homes and businesses across 35 city blocks.
A Red Cross investigation found that more than 1,000 homes were burned during the massacre.
“Thirty-five city blocks were looted systematically, then burned to a cinder,” the report said. “And the 12,000 population there scattered like chaff before the wind.”
In a text, Walters, who has previously pushed a conspiracy theory that schools had installed litter boxes in classrooms to accommodate children who identified as cats, said “the media is twisting” his remarks.
He provided two audio files which, upon review, confirmed what he said at the forum on Thursday.
Walters said: “[The media] misrepresented my statements about the Tulsa race massacre in an attempt to create a fake controversy.
“Let me be crystal clear that history should be accurately taught.
“1. The Tulsa race massacre is a terrible mark on our history. The events on that day were racist, evil, and it is inexcusable. Individuals are responsible for their actions and should be held accountable.
“2. Kids should never be made to feel bad or told they are inferior based on the color of their skin.”
Kevin Stitt, the Republican governor of Oklahoma, did not respond to questions regarding Walters’s position.
Andrews said Walters was “intentionally watering down history”.
“As a Black woman, as a Black woman who lives in Tulsa, those remarks hit particularly hard and close to home,” Andrews said.
“The Tulsa race massacre was absolutely motivated by race. Absolutely, 100%, motivated by race.
“And I don’t even I don’t know how you pretend to talk about it without mentioning its motivation. How are you going to talk about a race massacre as if race isn’t part of the very cause of the incident?”
She added: “We must learn from our history in order to not repeat it.”
