Emanuele Berry

The board's response, they vote not to renew his contract. I reached out to the district and they said they were not going to talk about this. But in public statements they made earlier, they said the decision was not based on people calling for Dr. Whitefield to be fired. They list a bunch of other reasons, stuff like insubordination.

The board's response, they vote not to renew his contract. I reached out to the district and they said they were not going to talk about this. But in public statements they made earlier, they said the decision was not based on people calling for Dr. Whitefield to be fired. They list a bunch of other reasons, stuff like insubordination.

A Facebook post he wrote defending himself was not OK with them, against professional conduct. He talked to the media instead of filing formal complaints with the school. As they read this list at the meeting, you could hear students and parents who came to support Whitfield scoff at the items being read.

A Facebook post he wrote defending himself was not OK with them, against professional conduct. He talked to the media instead of filing formal complaints with the school. As they read this list at the meeting, you could hear students and parents who came to support Whitfield scoff at the items being read.

The response went on for so long, she never got to finish the statement. It said he was dividing large sections of the community by, quote, continuing to raise issues of critical race theory. Dr. Whitfield lost his job. What changed over the last year? As Whitfield said, not him. That email didn't change. The black squares are gone from Instagram. The random reparations money from friends, gone.

The response went on for so long, she never got to finish the statement. It said he was dividing large sections of the community by, quote, continuing to raise issues of critical race theory. Dr. Whitfield lost his job. What changed over the last year? As Whitfield said, not him. That email didn't change. The black squares are gone from Instagram. The random reparations money from friends, gone.

We went from anti-racist books crowding the bestsellers list to banning kids' books about Rosa Parks. For Dr. Whitfield, the consequence of getting caught in this backlash is he's no longer in the one place he really wants to be. When I spoke with him in early November, he told me he was still dropping his kid off at elementary school. The high school is across the street.

We went from anti-racist books crowding the bestsellers list to banning kids' books about Rosa Parks. For Dr. Whitfield, the consequence of getting caught in this backlash is he's no longer in the one place he really wants to be. When I spoke with him in early November, he told me he was still dropping his kid off at elementary school. The high school is across the street.

The line of what's acceptable to say about race and racism in America, it moved. It's as though we were having one argument and then the terms changed. And that shift has left many Black people exposed and vulnerable and living with those consequences. This backlash, it's not surprising. This is what America does. Reconstruction, then Jim Crow. The civil rights movement to the war on drugs.

The line of what's acceptable to say about race and racism in America, it moved. It's as though we were having one argument and then the terms changed. And that shift has left many Black people exposed and vulnerable and living with those consequences. This backlash, it's not surprising. This is what America does. Reconstruction, then Jim Crow. The civil rights movement to the war on drugs.

Obama to Trump. So no, it's not surprising that there is backlash. But what I am surprised by is the way people have been caught up and tangled in it. The choices they've made to either further twist themselves along the line of what's acceptable or move away from it. The way Black people have had to reconsider what to say and the fallout that comes with those choices.

Obama to Trump. So no, it's not surprising that there is backlash. But what I am surprised by is the way people have been caught up and tangled in it. The choices they've made to either further twist themselves along the line of what's acceptable or move away from it. The way Black people have had to reconsider what to say and the fallout that comes with those choices.

Our show today, two stories of people trying to figure out what to say or if they should say anything in this moment of backlash. Stay with us. It's This American Life. Act One. Incident. The place that this backlash is playing out most dramatically is in schools, in particular school board meetings.

Our show today, two stories of people trying to figure out what to say or if they should say anything in this moment of backlash. Stay with us. It's This American Life. Act One. Incident. The place that this backlash is playing out most dramatically is in schools, in particular school board meetings.

Sometimes parents are angry about something as small as the email Dr. Whitefield wrote, or a specific book they don't like, or an effort to diversify a library's collection. Sometimes it's a new resolution to promote equity in the school. And a lot of these parents repeat the same talking points in these meetings across the country. They say microaggressions are not real.

Sometimes parents are angry about something as small as the email Dr. Whitefield wrote, or a specific book they don't like, or an effort to diversify a library's collection. Sometimes it's a new resolution to promote equity in the school. And a lot of these parents repeat the same talking points in these meetings across the country. They say microaggressions are not real.

What about reverse racism? And somehow Martin Luther King Jr. comes up a lot. But what these examples boil down to is we shouldn't be talking about racism because it's not a thing anymore.

What about reverse racism? And somehow Martin Luther King Jr. comes up a lot. But what these examples boil down to is we shouldn't be talking about racism because it's not a thing anymore.

This is from Traverse City, Michigan.

This is from Traverse City, Michigan.