Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System for material regarding the district’s 2023 “Engage” professional learning conference. PDE received a presentation from the district titled “The World Needs More Purple People” from the conference that is about “using DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) to connect.” The presentation tells district staff that they have a “clear target” to “respond appropriately when encountering racial and cultural bias, helping those around me feel seen and heard.”
The presentation has a “privilege” and “oppression” chart. This chart labels “white,” “men, cisgender,” “heterosexual,” and “Christian” as having a “privilege status.” The chart then labels “person of color,” “women, trans, nonbinary, genderqueer,” “LGBQ+, polyamorous, asexual, aromantic,” and “Muslim, Eastern, Pagan, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, etc.” as having an “oppression status.”