Courage Incarnate: Oregon grandmother fights to keep Critical Race Theory out of local schools
Divisive, racialized curricula and the permeation of inappropriate sexual content in schools inspires veteran teacher and grandmother to run for school board
Meet Jeanette Schade, a veteran of 23 years in the classroom who has decided to run for a school board seat in Beaverton, Oregon in order to keep critical race theory and transgender education out of her grandchildren’s classrooms. (Photo: Courtesy Jeanette Schade)
An evil ideological force, the most destructive imagined thus far in the 21st Century, has been unleashed on our public school students.
Critical Race Theory, also known as CRT and which is nothing more than an updated variety of racism, is designed by its Fascist creators to be a successful social movement that dominates academia, politics and the business world. It holds that the most important thing about a person is skin color Nothing else matters. Not intellect, not character, not virtue nor moral turpitude.
The concept of this misbegotten presumption is that “whiteness” is the great evil in contemporary America, for reasons that remain obscure. CRT has turned as much as two-thirds of our population into a persecuted group in an upside-down world where color of our skins is to be the be all and end all of our existences, no matter what, no escape.
Skin color allegedly determines our position in life, our fate, our class and presumably even our character as well — not only how we behave and also what we have done and will do in the future. Nothing this malevolent has reared it’s ugly head since 1930s Nazi Germany and as U.S. Fascist Democrats have risen to something just short of absolute power, that should come as no surprise
Into the thick of this fray has stepped a woman who stands against the maliciousness that is CRT. She is Jeanette Schade, a 23-year veteran of Beaverton, Oregon classrooms and a grandmother to three, two of whom are already enrolled in the Beaverton school district.
Schade has come under attack for running on a platform opposed to both Critical Race Theory and comprehensive sexuality education. On the last Monday in April, a crowd gathered at an intersection near the school district's headquarters in Beaverton to protest Schade. A few dozen attendees waved signs in support of so-called “anti-racism” as defined by CRT, and for LGBTQ rights.
"Critical race theory which asks children to question their identity based on an immutable quality like skin color is racist, and I will continue to speak out against it as I campaign," said Schade in a Facebook post on that same day.
Protests erupted after Schade accepted a $1,000 donation from Free Oregon, a political action committee founded by small business owner Ben Edtl from Tigard, Oregon, which is near Beaverton. Schade lives in Tigard but lives within the Beaverton School District's boundaries — and posted on Facebook regarding the donation, immediately receiving attacks on her Facebook page.
Beaverton, Oregon teachers gathered to protest the candidacy and anti-Critical Race Theory stance of veteran teacher Jeanette Schade, who is running for school board. (Photo: Lisa Dees/Eugene Register-Guard)
Most came from several teachers in Beaverton and others who have previously been identified "Antifa/Black Lives Matter" activists. Many of them participated in violent demonstrations in Portland and Eugene last summer that resulted in at least a dozen deaths and over 800 police officers injured.
The Beaverton School District says that what it calls "culturally relevant teaching" (CRT) — a term representing a deliberate effort to mislead patrons of the district — encourages educators to be conscious of their own biases and assumptions, create a “learning environment” where all students feel accepted and work to understand how students' "race, language, culture, gender, and class, along with prior knowledge of content, shape their beliefs and expectations about learning."
In other words, “culturally relevant teaching” perfectly mirrors the false and hate-filled rhetoric of Critical Race Theory.
In 2020, residents in Beaverton, Oregon voted for Joe Biden by a whopping 59 percent margin, with only 19 percent of the vote share going to Donald Trump. Undeterred, the conservative school board candidate has a shot in the deep-blue Portland suburb.
According to Schade, educators are unwittingly teaching school children racism under the guise of “anti-racism,” even going so far as to offer a segregated graduation for black high school students for the first time this spring.
“They’re trying to fight racism with racism, and fight intolerance with intolerance, and that’s not how you go about it. We need to go back to Martin Luther King Jr.,” she told America’s Conservative Voice (ACV).
The rise of divisive, racialized curricula and the permeation of inappropriate sexual content in schools has inspired this grandmother and 23-year veteran teacher to run for school board.
“Every day I’m out talking to people … I get calls, emails, text messages from parents who are concerned about what’s being taught in schools, but they are afraid to speak out,” she told ACV. “There’s a ton of hidden conservatives, and even a lot of moderate Dems that are saying ‘we have to get this garbage out’ [of the schools].”
Despite what she perceives to be widespread silent support, the campaign hasn’t been easy. Zeroing in on her stance against Critical Race Theory in k-12 schools, opponents claim repeatedly in public posts that Schade is a “white supremacist,” “racist,” “homophobe,” “transphobe,” “anti-Semite,” “bigot,” and “COVID denier,” to name just a few of the epithets.
Parent groups have formed in opposition to Beaverton’s “woke” dedication to Critical Race Theory, endorsing former teacher Jeanette Schade for school board in the heavily blue Oregon city. (Photo: Eric Navelle/Beaverton Valley Times)
According to Schade, lawn sign theft has also been rampant, and has been endorsed by members of the teachers union in private Facebook groups. Her own lawn signs were stolen from her residence within 2 hours of placing them, and multiple supporters have reported the same.
Schade also reports that for the past 2 weeks, the harassment against her has been nearly 24-7 with angry phone calls to her home coming in at all hours of the night. Facebook messages calling her a “racist waste of flesh,” a “racist skank,” and “NAZI!” filter in throughout the day. Still, Jeanette remains undeterred. “Some people would be scared. I’m not.”
Jeanette believes the harassment is primarily linked to online posts made on various Fascist Facebook groups. One such post claimed that Schade is a “1950’s racist white mom reenactor,” and asserted that “keeping people like Jeanette Schade out of positions of power is part of the larger fight.” The post continued, “We’d be remiss if we didn’t leverage our power & privilege to do what we can to limit her political career.”
From the amount of backlash, one might expect she is running on a radical platform. However, her website reveals a succinct list of mainstream items. Her platform includes a safe reopening of schools — closed since the beginning of the CCP virus infection in Oregon. She also advocates for limitations on “powerful special interests,” an emphasis on the basics of education and providing education and training that helps students achieve a variety of career paths.
Regarding her stance on comprehensive sex ed, Jeanette shared three specific examples of what she considers “inappropriate” content for children that goes too far:
“Kindergarten students are being taught anatomy, including private anatomy,” with lessons that include coloring images of nude men and women. “Then you get to third grade and they start talking about kids satisfying themselves through a bathing suit,” and “then you get to fourth-fifth grade and they start talking about gender identity and transgender.”
Jeanette is confident that most parents in the district would prefer to address these topics at home in the way they see fit. “People across party lines…are sick and tired of what’s going on. This is about our kids’ future.”
Beaverton School Board elections are on May 18th. If Jeanette is able to win, she and her running mates will achieve a conservative majority on the board. Regardless, win or lose, her campaign is shining a much needed light on Critical Race Theory and comprehensive sex education in schools across the nation. Parents everywhere are taking notice and awakening to the danger to their students.
Courage is more important than ever. Parents across the country are standing up to racism in school curricula. Even so, too many are still afraid. If you know someone in your community who is taking a stand we would love to share their story. Leave a comment on this webpage or use Messenger at our Facebook page: America’s Conservative Voice.