Rhode Island Private School Excludes White Students from Event

The Wheeler School in Providence, Rhode Island, excluded white students from attending a guest speaker event, allowing only those who “identify as a student of color or multiracial” to attend.

In a February 7, 2022, email to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders, the school invited only non-white students to attend a “Students of Color affinity group” speaking event with actress and author Karyn Parsons, who is best known for her role as Hilary Banks in NBC’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

“Affinity group” is a pet name used by critical race theorists and other leftists typically for racial segregation. The term is also used for other forms of segregation based on “common identity characteristics,” as it places paramount importance on those attributes in order to justify excluding those with different characteristics from participating in activities.

According to parents and students at the Wheeler School, who reported their experience to Parents Defending Education (PDE), “white students at the middle school level were not allowed to attend.” At lower grade levels, the racial segregation was reportedly not observed.

Parsons responded to criticism on Twitter, but does not appear to have denied the racial segregation, justifying it by saying all the students could have met with her in the other sessions at which she presented.

I visited Wheeler School 4 BHM & spoke w/3 different, completely diverse groups of students. The 4th was a Students of Color Affinity Group. Any child in the classes I presented to wld have had the chance to meet me regardless of race. I cherish all my fans. Of every color.

— Karyn Parsons (@Karyn_Parsons) February 12, 2022

This is not the first time the Wheeler School has come under fire for racial radicalism.

The school also has an “Antiracism Working Group for White Parents and Guardians,” which featured a plethora of radical source materials, detailing how to talk about race and whiteness, including “Woke Kindergarten.”

Furthermore, on Wheeler’s diversity, equity, and inclusion page, an extensive “microaggression reporting process” was outlined with new phrases like “microassault,” “microinsult,” and “microinvalidation” — which “involves negating or ignoring the ‘psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of a person of color.’” This information was removed from the site Saturday:

In the since-deleted section, a “microassault” is defined as a “verbal or nonverbal attack meant to hurt the intended victim through name-calling, avoidant behavior, or purposeful discriminatory actions.”

“It’s truly astonishing that in 2022, schools consider it acceptable behavior to exclude students on the basis of their skin color,” PDE President and Founder Nicole Neily said. “It’s immoral, and something that prospective families, current families, and alumni should know — so that they can redirect their applications, tuition, and donations elsewhere.”

Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.