Lake County Gazette

At Buffalo Grove High School (BGHS), staff and faculty are pushing a different definition of racism that has at least one parent fuming over what he calls "far-left teachings" motivated by political ideology.

A father told the Lake County Gazette his daughter is being taught questionable content by her teacher, Breanne Makovec, in a communications class. The source requested to remain anonymous to protect his daughter.

A handout entitled the “The Four I’s of Oppression,” published by the Denver-based Chinook Fund and the Colorado Funders for Inclusiveness and Equity, teaches that non-white people are inherently oppressed by U.S. institutions and laws.

“That is the exact document that is being passed off and being taught to the students,” he said. “My daughter comes home and says, ‘Hey Dad, you know there is no such thing as reverse racism,’ and I am, like, ‘Yeah, I know, because it is actually racism,” he said. “She then says, ‘No, no, no, you can’t actually have racism in the opposite direction at all. I am like 'Really?' She then says, 'Yeah, here is a document and we had a whole big lecture on it in school today.’”

Some of the things that the daughter was likely taught include a variety of topics derived from the main points of the document, which defines racism, blatantly, as a system based on the concept of, “RACISM = PREJUDICE + POWER,” in bold, uppercase font.

The document states that racism is built on ideological oppression, institutional oppression, interpersonal oppression and internalized oppression.

“Reverse-racism” was discredited because, as the document claims, people of color can direct prejudiced feelings toward whites but will not be, "backed up by the legal system and prevailing white institutions."

In this context, the term “white institutions” refers to courts, police, and the legal code.

“Therefore, with this definition of the systemic nature of racism, people of color cannot be racist,” the document reads. “The same formula holds true for all forms of oppression. The dominant group has its mistreatment of the target group embedded in and backed up by society's institutions and other forms of power.”

The parent said he is aggressively pursuing multiple options to address the issue.

"I am currently collecting as much information and data regarding the school's far-left teachings so that a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit can be brought sometime in the future, as the damages can be incredibly massive on quite a number of far-left leaning issues," he said  "I am also trying to collect as much data as possible to show how grades are being affected, as this can be proven through statistical analysis/anomalies. Hopefully, BG will eventually pay the price for their grossly negligent conduct of teaching students improper information that is politically motivated."

Any action, he said, would continue after his daughter graduates and leaves for college.

“Some students jump wholeheartedly in and show their agreement with it,” he said. “Others stay silent, and what that does is that it creates a bad atmosphere, in general, because students can determine who's supportive of it and who's not. We are just wondering why this is being taught at Buffalo Grove High School and what does it have to do with written and oral communication.”

The Chinook Fund is a social justice nonprofit organization. One of the organization’s founders and longtime funders, until recently, is Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat. Chinook Fund’s dealings focus on funding progressive causes throughout Colorado and all over the United States.