Because of how information is spread by media, we now live in an era where science is no longer taken as fact by some. As a result, it is not uncommon to see people angered by scientific facts that threaten their political agenda. One Ohio teen recently turned to Reddit after he was in charge of a nursery program and shared basic science with some of the children. But pretty soon, he was in hot water with a couple of Karen parents who were offended by the teachings. The fact that scared the parents? Melanin.
The 16-year-old was in charge of teaching a nursery program at his Ohio Methodist church. In his Reddit post on r/AITAH, he explained two of the children, one black and one white, asked why they looked different. The teen went on to say, “So I explained melanin, nothing biased at all, just simple genetic sciences, not anything radical.” It was basic and the conversation ended quickly.
However, this wouldn’t be the last the teen would hear about the brief conversation. The day ended and the children went to ‘excitedly’ tell their parents about what they learned. The teen said, “The white family was furious while the black family was very happy, they assured me that I did a good thing, while the white family asked why I would teach ‘critical race theory’ to a 4-year-old.”
Feeling confused and even a bit worried, the Ohio teen reached out to their pastor through an email to explain. The pastor responded in the best way possible. According to the teen, “He told me not to worry about it and if the family had anymore comments, they can talk to him and said he’d ‘explain basic genetic sciences.’” He went on to add, “I love my pastor, he’s super cool.” He also asked, “Did I just save that white kid from white supremacy?”
Commenters agreed that the teen handled things well, given the touchy situation. One commenter said, “Just don’t tell them that darker skin absorbs more light and lighter skin reflects more light. That would be critical race physics.”
Another reassured, “Oh yes, what a wonderful pastor! Glad he’s on your side there. Imagine confusing basic genetics and biological science with ‘critical race theory.’ Definitely let the pastor handle these fools.”
What was likely just a scenario of bigots being bigots could have turned into something far worse. Unfortunately, this is far too common in religious environments today. Melanin isn’t even a pillar of critical race theory to begin with. The Karen parents are definitely in the wrong here.
