It started with a mock ‘slave trade’ and a school resolution against racism. Now a war over critical race theory is tearing this small town apart. - For The Washington Post - July 2021  

Traverse City, Michigan, a picturesque lake-side town, has become one of many U.S. cities where critical race theory and whether the core tenants of such should be taught in public schools is becoming hotly contested by majority white school districts and parents.

Many white residents insist racism isn't a huge issue in Traverse City. Months ago, white students conducted a private Snapchat group pretending and making jokes about how much their Black classmates would sell for in the era of slavery. The school district responded by speeding up an equity resolution, which had started last Fall in response to the murder of George Floyd.
The equity resolution, even after much of its language was amended, brought forth angry white parents who asserted it was critical race theory in disguise. Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson and I met with students whose educational futures remain at stake and have often been left out of this national conversation. We also met with a group of white parents and community members who fervently opposed the equity resolution and CRT.