A group of Black Lives Matter activists told Indiana middle school students during a spring 2020 lecture that they live in a world where 'crime is made up' and black people are more likely to be 'enslaved' for their actions.
Video of the talk - which featured Indy10 BLM activists Jessica Louise, Kyra Jay Harvey, Michelle Anastasia and Leah Derray - was recently leaked by Tony Kinnett, district science coordinator and instructional coach for Indianapolis Public Schools.
The footage shows how teachers permitted the guest speakers to tell students they were living in a 'misogynistic, masculine society' that uses white supremacy and capitalism to harm black people, according to the Daily Caller, which obtained and first reported on the video.
The activists, focusing heavily on racial inequality, alleged that the American justice system treats black, brown and poor people less favorably than white people.
'Crime is made up. People created these rules and people break them. It's just that if you are black, brown, or poor, you are more likely to be jailed for these things, to be enslaved, imprisoned, for these things that a lot of people do,' Derray says.
'The thing is, not that like everyone doesn't commit crime, everyone does commit crime.'
The teacher who hosted the BLM speakers described their presence as powerful and applauded them for 'being open about who you are and the challenges that you faced and kept going.'
Meanwhile, Kinnett - who went viral for a video he posted to Twitter in November blasting school districts and politicians who claimed critical race theory was not taught in schools - has been suspended with pay while the district investigates him for 'potential misconduct'.
A group of Black Lives Matter activists (pictured) told Indiana middle school students during a spring 2020 lecture that they live in a world where 'crime is made up' and black people are more likely to be enslaved for their actions
The spring talk, given to students at the K-8 Butler University Laboratory School 60, was part of the district's Racial Justice Speaker Series.
It encouraged students to 'stop all this madness' by becoming activists themselves and fighting for equality in their own Indianapolis community.
'If we really want to change the world...if we want to make the world a better place, we got to start with our communities first,' Derray told the middle schoolers.
'And it doesn't matter if I want to make black people free and equal all across the globe, if I'm not working right here in Indianapolis … That's what it's going to take, working with people that you might not get along with.'
Derray said her upbringing shaped her desire to be an activist, sharing how she knew many people from her graduating high school class that were sent to prison.
She explained how growing up she was taught 'if you do the crime you do the time,' but would now argue: 'It's not about us doing crime, it's about crime being done to our communities.'
The activist alleged she was raised in an environment where she - along with her parents, friends and siblings - experienced 'harms and trauma' that ultimately put them in 'situations that result in us doing things that locks us up.'
She also argued that white supremacy and capitalism 'really harm black and brown people.'
Anastasia echoed this claim, saying activism taught her to 'really challenge the information' she learned throughout her life, including the teachings of capitalism.
'I was raised to be a capitalist,' she said. 'I was raised to want as much money as possible, as many things as possible.'
Teachers at the K-8 Butler University Laboratory School 60 (pictured) permitted the guest speakers to tell students they were living in a 'misogynistic, masculine society' that uses white supremacy and capitalism to harm black people
'[Activism has] really, really, challenged some of those ideals that were handed to me and assigned to me … I learn every day more about how those things affected me … and how to try to take them out of my learning now as an adult.'
The group shared how Indy10 BLM has created a 'list of demands' for the city of Indianapolis, which includes a call to end cash bail because 'freedom should be free.'
They also alleged 'black women and fems' are often overlooked, not afforded seats at the table and not heard.
'Black women and fems [females] live in this misogynistic, masculine society which tells women they should cook and clean and stay at home,' Harvey said. 'We live in this world where masculinity, that's power.'
Activist Leah Derray (right) told students: 'Crime is made up. People created these rules and people break them. It's just that if you are black, brown, or poor, you are more likely to be jailed for these things, to be enslaved, imprisoned, for these things that a lot of people do'
The activists also encouraged students to 'stop all this madness' by becoming activists themselves and fighting for equality in their own Indianapolis community
Harvey claimed it 'took a while for people to recognize that we were leaders in this city' because they were black women. She said people see their group and 'want to harm them' because of their race and gender.
The activist also said they encounter 'people who don't think there's anything wrong with the police, or think the police are doing their job.'
Anastasia also referenced the teachings of founding CRT theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw who purports that 'all the different layers of human existence that can interact all at once.'
The activist touted the theorist's teachings, which describe CRT as 'an approach to grappling with a history of white supremacy that rejects the belief that what's in the past is in the past, and that the laws and systems that grow from that past are detached from it.'
After the talk, school leaders applauded the speakers and the students reportedly 'gushed' that they were 'meeting real life superheroes right now.'
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