D.C. Prep Schools Embrace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
In August 2020, the faculty and staff of Sidwell Friends, the Washington, D.C. area s top private school, convened to hear a special talk hosted by the school s director of Equity, Justice, and Community. The speaker was Ibram X. Kendi, no stranger to the podium at posh private schools. We re either educating our children to be racist, or we are educating them to be anti-racist, Kendi said. According to the school s press release, Kendi charged teachers with the task of creating an anti-racist world, both in the School and in the world at large, because to not do so is to be complicit in maintaining racist policies. A few weeks later, Kendi gave another talk for the students at Sidwell, who, like the teachers, had read his book in preparation. Kendi emphasized that change can must happen on a personal level, the press release says.
Private schools around the nation have adopted Kendi s message, and Washington is no exception. The top five D.C.-area private high schools Sidwell Friends, Georgetown Day, Holton-Arms, the National Cathedral School, and St. Albans committed to this vision in the form of strategic plans. Similar plans may have generated backlash in New York, but so far, the D.C. schools have embraced diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) without notable dissent. D.C. s top schools now require every corner of their institutions from chemistry classes and athletic departments to boards of trustees to demonstrate fealty to antiracism.