Chicago Private School Injected Race Into Physics Class, Then Tracked Whether The Indoctrination Worked

Although critical race theory has only come to the forefront of American politics in the last year, an email obtained by The Federalist dating back to 2016 proves the divisive ideology has been entrenched in American K-12 schools for much longer, sometimes where some least expect it.

An email from Elizabeth Denevi, who at the time was the director of studies and professional development at the Latin School of Chicago, shows the private school injected CRT into its ninth-grade physics curriculum and even tracked students’ changing beliefs on race and politics afterward.

Denevi explained that the high school freshmen would be taught a curriculum called “Social Justice in Physics,” which addressed “power dynamics, systemic racism, white privilege, and the shortage of people of color and women in the field of science, especially physics.”

The curriculum mentioned was constructed by Moses Rifkin, a science teacher from Seattle. His current bio on the extremist Southern Poverty Learning Center-backed Learning for Justice website explains that Rifkin “coaches white affinity groups” and “is particularly interested in helping those with privileged identities … understand their privilege and the role they can and must play in working for social justice.”

The email also noted that the effectiveness of the CRT teaching was tracked, with students taking identical surveys before and after being taught the curriculum “in order to track any change in beliefs.”

A separate email disclosed by a concerned parent detailed some of the survey questions, which included inquiries into the political and racial attitudes of high school freshmen. Students were asked to disclose whether they agreed with a number of different statements, including “American society fits my definition of racist” and “White Americans must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society” among others.

Given that answers were recorded and the questions were re-administered after students had undergone the leftwing curriculum, it’s clear that administrators intended to gauge the success of their indoctrination, hence the email outlining an intent to “track any change in beliefs.”

Rifkin’s ideologically motivated focus on injecting leftwing racial politics evidently hasn’t changed since he designed this curriculum. In a 2021 article published in Edutopia, Rifkin argued “infusing our instruction with social justice is very much a part of our job” and pulled from the work of Marxist Paulo Freire before advertising his new curriculum, The Underrepresentation Curriculum Project, which was funded in part by SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance. The leftwing curriculum features allegations of white privilege, citing critical race theorists including Robin DiAngelo as authorities.

The Latin School Of Chicago Was A Launchpad For Leftwing Extremism In Education

There’s no doubt this curriculum was implemented specifically for ideological ends. It appears to have also launched further ideological outreach in other schools.

Just months after the Latin School of Chicago implemented this curricula, Denevi co-founded Teaching While White, a far-left organization that defends political violence and demonizes white people. The organization’s website explains that it “seeks to move the conversation forward on how to be consciously, intentionally, anti-racist in the classroom.” Teaching While White claims on its website that “since racism was created by and for White people, it is our responsibility to dismantle it.”

The organization also runs a program called STAR, Students Teaching Anti-Racism. In the FAQ, the organization openly defended political violence and riots, saying “protesters sometimes feel they need to resort to violence to draw needed attention to their cause.” 

The FAQ also shamed those who object to political correctness, remarking “White people who use the term negatively are displaying a defensiveness that is a hallmark reaction of white fragility and privilege fragility.” It also parroted the leftwing lie that “white people can not experience racism” and said racial bias against white applicants in hiring or admission decisions as a result of affirmative action policies is not an example of discrimination. 

The organization’s core beliefs included statements such as “self-reflection is critical and a first step; you cannot dismantle anti-racism in society until you see the racism, colorism, privilege, white-dominant culture, and bias within yourself.” Yet another was that “racism and the white-dominant culture are the ‘norm’ in America,” a fundamental belief of CRT.

Teaching While White’s work is underpinned by extreme influences. Denevi is married to Randolph Carter, whom she describes as her hero because of his involvement in the Communist and historically violent Black Panthers. Carter is also listed as a senior consultant to Teaching While White on the organization’s website.

Denevi’s leftwing extremism was evidently not merely confined to racial topics. A leaked email from her tenure at The Latin School of Chicago reveals that Denevi sent administrators an NPR article titled “For This Transgender Third-Grader, Life As A Boy Is Liberating.”

Given that the implementation of leftwing curriculum dates back to 2016 and Denevi’s promotion of child transgenderism dates back to 2015, we find yet more proof that while CRT and other dangerous forms of leftism have only recently been exposed, its presence in classrooms across the country is not new. This also provides further evidence that leftist extremism seeks to infiltrate every institution and discipline rather than just the social sciences, history, and humanities. 

The Latin School of Chicago did not respond to a request for comment.

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