During a discussion about how much influence parents should have in their children’s education on The View on Wednesday October 20, director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stirred up a rousing conversation surrounding critical race theory being taught in schools as she guest co-hosted the daytime talk show. She voiced concerns about the way history is taught, and said she wanted to make sure that white students aren’t made to feel guilty in the process.
Before the former secretary of state gave her point of view on the debate surrounding critical race theory, she explained her background and upbringing in the south during segregation. “My parents never thought I was going to grow up in a world without prejudice, but they also told me, ‘That’s somebody else’s problem, not yours. You’re going to overcome it, and you’re going to be anything you want to be,’ and that’s the message that I think we ought to be sending to kids,” she said, and the audience applauded.
Condoleezza then turned to the way race is taught and discussed in schools, and she said that she felt that it was possible to lift up Black students without disparaging white ones. “One of the worries that I have about the way we’re talking about race is that it either seems so big that somehow white people now have to feel guilty for everything that happened in the past – I don’t think that’s very productive – or Black people have to feel disempowered by race. I would like Black kids to be completely empowered, to know that they’re beautiful in their Black-ness, but in order to do that, I don’t have to make white kids feel bad for being white,” she said.
Many viewers on Twitter took issue with the former secretary’s stance on the issue, particularly her concern for white students. One fan accused her of pushing forward a false narrative and said that critical race theory isn’t taught to children between kindergarten and 12th grade. The Twitter user also mentioned that “teaching real history does NOT make white kids feel bad.”
I see Condoleezza Rice is throwing around republican false narratives. Crt is NOT taught in k-12. Teaching real history does NOT make white kids feel bad. If Black kids, Spanish kids, and Asian kids can experience racism at a early, than white kids can learn about it.#TheView
— Tie ✊🏾🐝✊🏾🐝 (@Tyecolt) October 20, 2021
So let me get this straight, Black kids already feel bad knowing that this country enslaved their ancestors and treat them as less than but Condoleezza Rice is worried about how white kids feel when teaching racial history??? #TheView
— Rory Wallace (@TriniTenor) October 20, 2021
Wow. Did not expect Condoleezza Rice on #TheView to be a supporter of white fragility. pic.twitter.com/6mPny7Usx5
— Equally Divided (@DividedEqually) October 20, 2021
Condoleezza Rice can go back to living off the radar in CA. I was looking forward to hearing from her, but she is still the same from 20 years ago. She doesn't want critical race theory because she is more concerned about white people's feelings. 😑🙄😒#TheView pic.twitter.com/8qsmCABEys
— #TashaTaughtYou (@VoGueViXenTASH) October 20, 2021
While some people took issue with Condoleezza’s stance, other people celebrated her appearance on The View. One fan said she “really held her own” at the table. Another viewer praised the former secretary of state for having the conversation in a civilized manor with the women. “Condoleezza Rice and Whoopi Goldberg are discussing Critical Race Theory with nuance; no one has thrown a temper tantrum and demanded an apology because of differing views,” she tweeted and also wrote that she didn’t feel like the two women were “that far apart” in their opinions.
I doubt Condoleezza Rice would leave her job at Stanford but she was a darn good co-host of #TheView today. Really held her own.
Or maybe I'm just lowering my standards because Meghan McCain was so bad lol someone tell me
— Michael A (@Michael092218) October 20, 2021
Condoleezza Rice and Whoopi Goldberg are discussing Critical Race Theory with nuance; no one has thrown a temper tantrum and demanded an apology because of differing views. Rice wants Black students to be empowered and doesn't want white ones to feel guilty. #TheView
— Stephanie. (@qsteph) October 20, 2021
On the show, Whoopi chimed in to mention that educators should be able to manage the nuances of teaching about race. “The whole idea of teaching history is so we don’t repeat it. I think that if you’re a good teacher, you don’t teach to make a white kid feel bad. You’re supposed to say, ‘Listen, you didn’t do any of this, but you should know what happened,'” she said. The former state secretary said that she felt it was important to examine exactly how history is taught. Whoopi retorted with a demonstration that an issue like slavery is an impossible to ignore. “There’s no way to hide the fact that white people owned Black people,” she said.
Sunny Hostin mentioned that she felt there’d been a “roll back” of history and people wanting to “hide” certain aspects of it. Condoleezza reiterated that she didn’t feel history should be taught in such a way that children should feel responsible for things that happened in the past. “It goes back to how we teach the history. We teach the good and the bad, but what we don’t do is make 7 and 10-year-olds feel that they are somehow bad people, because of the color of their skin. We’ve been through that, and we don’t need to do that again,” she said. Joy Behar hopped in to question if making people feel bad was what people had in mind. “That doesn’t seem to be part of the plan,” Joy said, but Condoleezza responded: “It is part of the plan.”
Whoopi tried to remind the ladies at the table that they did need to take a commercial break, and as the comedian told viewers that they’d return soon, Joy and Condoleezza continued their discussion. As music started before cutting to commercials, the former secretary of state could be heard saying, “We all have to learn about our history, but we also have to recognize that we have to live together, and we’re going to do better living together if we don’t make each other feel guilty.”