California School District Implements Privilege Audit and Oppression Presentation for Students

A high school in California's Alameda Unified School District is compelling freshmen to audit their “privileged” identities and present on “systems of oppression,” according to documents first obtained by Parents Defending Education and shared with The Daily Wire.

The ethnic studies curriculum requires students to evaluate their own level of privilege as they are indoctrinated in Critical Race Theory and extreme gender theory. Students received handouts like “My Relationship with Privilege and Oppression,” which purportedly indicates whether one is privileged or oppressed. White, male, Christian students without a criminal record are singled out as the epitome of privilege.

The document lists 29 different identities and characteristics—including race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, religion, and education level—to determine one’s alleged level of privilege or marginalization. It asks students to consider their status as "intersectional human beings" and complete assignments like “A Map of Myself,” which involves auditing their identities and categorizing each as a “position of privilege or marginalization.”

“For each identity domain … consider if it puts you in a position of privilege or marginalization,” the assignment reads, asking students to list their race, ethnicity, biological sex, sexual orientation, and religion. The curriculum cites “anti-racist” author Robin DiAngelo and asserts that “race is a socially constructed system.”

The coursework probes students about the identities they are most conscious of daily and the “most negative or difficult” aspects of those identities. An ethnic studies course syllabus reveals a focus on “power and oppression,” exploring how the “master narrative” impacts different groups by arguing that “laws & policies are not objective.”

“Individuals obsessed with forcing this oppressor vs. oppressed paradigm are poisoning the minds of children,” Michele Exner, senior adviser at Parents Defending Education, told The Daily Wire. “They want to perpetuate a victimhood mentality based on how many ideological boxes someone can check off. What they should be teaching is math, reading, writing, and history—all subjects that will actually help students of all backgrounds excel instead of pushing this divisive content in classrooms.”

Students are also expected to “identify social systems that structure and perpetuate power, privilege, and oppression” and “identify how identities intersect to create power, privilege, and oppression.” The course includes vocabulary terms such as “white supremacy,” “white privilege,” “microaggressions,” and “colonized mind.”

Assignments require students to study the “Four I’s Of Oppression”: “ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized” oppression. They must create a slideshow on topics like “white supremacy, patriarchy, heteronormativity, or cisnormativity.”

The curriculum even includes a “privilege walk” exercise, where students take steps forward or backward based on their responses to questions, visually illustrating their relative privilege. Students then describe their emotions and thoughts about the exercise and reflect on their perceptions of privilege and inequality.

In another assignment, students write essays on political organizing strategies, focusing on how left-wing movements use grassroots organizing and social media for success. They are given examples of leftist movements to study, such as Black Lives Matter and the Black Panthers.

The Alameda Unified School District has not responded to requests for comment.

Please share this article or subscribe to our newsletter for more updates.