Boone county Recorder 06/10/21

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YOU’LL BE Delighted

What is critical race theory? Here’s what to know about Kentucky’s bill to limit racism discussions Olivia Krauth Louisville Courier Journal USA TODAY NETWORK

Boone County Public Library's Florence Branch on Thursday, May 27 in Florence, Kentucky. PHOTOS BY MEG VOGEL/THE ENQUIRER

Where should the next branch go?

New Northern Kentucky library spurs suspicions and claims of ‘inequity’

B

Julia Fair | Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY NETWORK

oone County will be getting a new library. But where that library is going has stirred controversy, leaving one city feeling spurned and suspicious and library offi cials feeling exasperated. In this Northern Kentucky county, its libraries welcome just over half a million visits a year at its six locations throughout the county. Each building serves as a community hub where people escape the summer heat, read, research, and even attend book clubs. So, people get excited when these hubs get upgraded and bigger. More than 30,000 people live in Florence, the second-largest city in the three-county region. It’s known by travelers on Interstates 71/75 for its iconic Florence Y’all water tower near the Florence Mall. About 10 miles south is the city of Walton, home to about 4,000 people, a small Main Street, a shopping center, and a solar farm.

In both cities, land has been set aside its leaders say should be home to their new library. The library board spent $1.4 million on land in Walton in 2010 and the city of Florence spent $575,000 on land in 2017. In April, the Boone County Library Board announced Walton would get a new building just over twice the size of the current library and Florence would get a renovation to expand its current building. Offi cials from Florence were baffl ed – and irked. Florence offi cials told The Enquirer they should be next in line for a new building because of how many people use their branch and how many tax dollars their residents give the board. “We kept explaining to them that that’s not the priority that we were given with the plan that we have,” said Carrie Herrmann, the Boone County Library director. “Walton is supposed to be the next one.” To argue that their city should instead be next in line, Florence offi cials crunched numbers and questioned the legitimacy of a study the library board See BRANCH, Page 4A

A national push to stifl e classroom conversations about systemic racism has arrived in Kentucky. A bill fi led ahead of Kentucky’s 2022 legislative session by Rep. Joseph Fischer, R-Ft. Thomas, would bar teachers from talking about a 12-point list of concepts touching on discrimination, privilege and anything seen as “promoting division” between diff erent Fischer groups of people. Fischer’s bill mirrors legislation in statehouses across the country as conservatives push against conversations about systemic racism, white privilege and critical race theory in K-12 classrooms, often calling such topics divisive or alleging districts are indoctrinating children. The wave of legislation comes as school districts are seeking to rectify the root causes of racial disparities in student outcomes and make history curriculum more accurate and inclusive. Kentucky’s proposed measure runs headlong into education leaders who have made racial equity and inclusion a priority in both state policy and some of the state’s largest school districts.

What is critical race theory? “Critical race theory” has recently become a buzzword used as a catch-all to refer to racial equity eff orts being implemented in schools. But that is not quite what it actually is. Critical race theory, or CRT for short, is a theoretical framework that examines how institutions may perpetuate systemic racism in the United States. It holds that racism is real and is ingrained in systems, like the legal system or public schools, to the detriment of people of color and the benefi t of white people. The theory focuses on systemic issues rather than individuals and their personal actions. “It is not a targeting of any other group,” Kalasia Ojeh, a Pan-African Studies professor at the University of Louisville, said. A majority of people likely do not study CRT, she noted, and if they do, it is likely in college. Critical race theory is widely adopted in Black history departments at the collegiate level, Ojeh said, but it “is not the general assumption” used throughout college courses.

Why is everyone talking about critical race theory? Several school districts doubleddown on — or began — diversity, inclusion and equity eff orts as the nation faced a racial justice reckoning over the past year. Those initiatives vary from district to district but they often seek to reverse racial disparities in education, including gaps in test scores, unequal Boone County Public Library's Walton Branch on Thursday, May 27 in Walton, Kentucky.

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For the Postmaster: Published weekly every Thursday. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, KY 41042 ISSN 201108 ❚ USPS 060-780 Postmaster: Send address change to The Boone County Recorder, 2766 Circleport Dr., Erlanger, KY 41018 Annual subscription: Weekly Recorder In-County $18.02; All other in-state $23.32; Out-of-state $27.56; Kentucky sales tax included

See CRT, Page 5A

Vol. 145 No. 33 © 2021 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED $1.00

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