Terry McAuliffe Thinks White Teachers Make Students Uncomfortable

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If you were a candidate for governor—in an unusually close race due to concerned parents rising up against you and the Democrat machine—would you close out with rants about the race of teachers? In my humble opinion, that’s a little insane but nothing about Terry McAuliffe’s strategy makes sense anyway.

At one of his events, McAuliffe complained about the number of white teachers compared to students. “Fifty percent are students of color, and yet eighty percent of teachers are white. We all know what we have to do in a school to make everybody feel comfortable in school, so let’s diversify!” McAuliffe then promises to pay room, board, and tuition at any college, university, and HBCU in Virginia, if you teach for five years in a demanding area. Unless McAuliffe plans to discriminate, that won’t guarantee a less white teaching force.

It’s disturbing that McAuliffe or politicians like him, would be so focused on race. I understand a curiosity regarding demographics in certain professions, but it shouldn’t be viewed as a negative to have a majority of Caucasian teachers. Of course, students take notice of their teacher’s race, but I can’t recall it ever playing a role in my relationship with a teacher.

I remember teachers who ran a tight ship, those who were pushovers, teachers who made their job seem like a burden, teachers with poor judgment, and teachers who loved to teach. I spent half of my career in a very urban district in Michigan, and the other half in a very rural one. Majority white teachers were the norm, but their race never factored into our treatment of one another.

My favorite teacher was in second grade at Webster Elementary. She was kind, always had a bright smile, and loved to read in the classroom. Among my favorite books were the Bailey School Kids series. As I walked to my home in Pontiac, down the long stretch of Huron street with my sisters, she’d drive by and honk her horn. We’d excitedly wave and yell, “Bye, Ms. Carmichael!” A few years ago, I had a book signing in the Clarkston Library, and guess who showed up after seeing me in the local paper? She had a new last name but was still just as caring and attentive to her student. She even invited me to come read Superkid to her new students.

That teacher was white, and the fact she wasn’t black never made me feel “uncomfortable.”

Terry McAulffie’s strategy has been to blow off parents. He belittles their concerns about pornographic books in school libraries, critical race theory, and sexual assaults as GOP culture war nonsense. At the same time, he and his cohorts boosted white supremacists played by Democrats, in an effort to frame Youngkin voters as racists and play on people’s Charlottesville trauma. But at least the Lincoln Project, who took credit for the stunt, made certain to use a black guy. We’d hate for there to be a lack of diversity in their white supremacist “demonstration.”

One might say McAulffie is out-of-touch with the people of Virginia. I think it’s worse than that. He understands his constituents. He can’t afford to listen and respect them. There’s too much political ideology at stake. Instead of addressing the safety and educational concerns of parents, he signals his false virtue by preaching the importance of skin color. In 2021, you’d think we’d be beyond that.