California English teacher teaches kids grammar is part of White supremacy: 'Undermine that B.S.'

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A self-identified "cringey" California English teacher claimed she combats "white supremacy" "B.S." in her classroom by teaching students about the overemphasized importance of grammar usage and writing rules. 

Marta Shaffer, a tenured English teacher at Oroville High School, began the 2022-2023 academic year by teaching parts of linguistics as a way of "fighting white supremacy in my classes," according to her posts on TikTok. The goal was to be "inclusive of all kinds of ways we use the language." 

According to Shaffer, expectations for students to use proper grammar and syntax is part of White supremacy culture that "runs deep." 

"I try to undermine that B.S. in my classroom as much as I can," she said in a video highlighted by the Twitter account LibsofTikTok. 

Fox News Digital identified Shaffer as the teacher in the video and reached out to Oroville High School for comment but didn't receive a response.

California English teacher with tenure says grammar and essay writing standards are part of white supremacy culture. (iStock | TikTok/screenshot)

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She said, "We study linguistics and the rules that we actually use to communicate instead of the made-up rules that White supremacy created for when we write papers and stuff, which is what scholars call the 'language of power.'"

The teacher praised students' academic essays for including "AAVE" language – African-American Vernacular English.

"As an educator I am constantly worried if I'm the problem. What do I mean by that? Well public education is an institution that upholds lots of problematic systems in our society like white supremacy, and misogyny and colonization, etc," she continued. "Well, let's look at how we write essays [where we] start with an introduction that includes a thesis, always cite your sources, use transition words like ‘however’ and ‘therefore.’ These are all made-up rules. They were created by Westerners in power. Which got me thinking, what if I started my school year with a unit honoring how we talk rather than teaching students how to write properly."

California teacher Marta Shaffer says essay formatting and grammar is part of white supremacy.  (TikTok/Screenshot)

Another included a prompt that said a student's "codes" – how they speak at home or with friends – is "just as important, if not more than important," than a boss's expectations on how their employee communicates. 

She said, "Just because your teachers, your professors, and your boss may expect you to write and speak in a certain way that may not be natural to you, does not mean that your more natural… languages are not important. They are just as important, if not more important than the ‘language of respectability.’"

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The English teacher added that she feels like a "cringe white lady" when "teaching students of color" about linguistics. 

California teacher discusses feeling like a 'white savior' in the classroom. (TikTok/Screenshot)

"Did I worry I was being a White savior? Absolutely. Was it uncomfortable? Definitely. But a lot of my students come here, and they're uncomfortable with the white mainstream culture of public school life. So I think it's good for them to see their teacher deal with linguistic discomfort, too," she said. 

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The California teacher also claimed that the IQ bell curve and the SAT are "racist." 

"The writers of these tests were made up almost entirely of White people… and they still are," she said. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: This report was originally described as 'First on Fox.'