More Indoctrination of Youth in Minnesota Schools

Minnesota Police Association Says Book Used in Burnsville Class Encourages Children to Fear Officers as Racist.

The largest association of public safety officers in Minnesota says a best-selling children’s book listed by state agencies as a resource for talking about race “encourages children to fear police officers as unfair, violent, and racist.”

In a Friday letter to Gov. Tim Walz, Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association’s executive director Brian Peters requested the state stop recommending the book for instructing elementary students and asked for a follow-up conversation about the approval process for the book.

“Something Happened In Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice,” published in 2018, is about the aftermath of a police officer shooting a Black man. Written by three psychologists, the picture book features two families — one Black and one white — who “talk about the shooting, about the history of racial injustice in the United States, and about how they can help break the pattern of racism,” according to a description by publisher Magination Press.

But Peters wrote to Walz that “(l)anguage in this book leaves the impression unchecked that police officers routinely pull over, arrest, and kill black people without consequence.”

He referred to passages in the book, including, “The cops shot him because he was Black;” “This pattern is being nice to White people and mean to Black people;” and “Cops stick up for each other. And they don’t like Black men.”

Peters continued in his letter: “There are worthy discussions for our state to have surrounding race and equity in society and what children can do to be part of a more just world. We absolutely support making stronger community connections and bring people together. But divisive language that leaves children with the false impression police officers are out to hurt people based on the color of their skin is defamatory, wrong, and harms genuine public safety efforts.”

Sauce: https://www.twincities.com/2020/10/30/mn-police-association-says-book-used-in-burnsville-class-encourages-children-to-fear-officers-as-racist/

https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-police-group-picks-fight-with-walz-over-book-read-to-burnsville-fourth-graders/572930121/