RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina State Board of Education is debating whether or not to change some of the language in North Carolina Schools. They're discussing whether or not to use the words and definitions of systemic racism, systemic discrimination, and gender identity.

When introducing the changes, David Stegall, the deputy state superintendent of innovation said, "The terms that were lifted up, systemic racism, systemic discrimination and gender identity, were all changed, this was shared, and the glossary will have clarification of terms to include some further descriptions, but we made all those changes as requested."

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson started the discussion saying he doesn't agree with the tone of the descriptions, saying it has an explicit agenda of being politically divisive.

"There was never a time when any of our teachers excluded anyone. We learned about Native Americans, we learned about the contribution of African Americans, we learned about the contributions of women. We learned about the complex issue of slavery. I can remember distinct conversations with our teachers in middle school and high school about those complex issues and how they helped shaped this nation," Robinson says.

Another Republican on the board agreed with Robinson opposing the definitions proposed in the current draft. Parents across the Triangle also have very different opinions on the subject. 

"This is a wonderful country. I am a patriot. The only way to be a true patriot is to look at everything we’ve done, good, bad, indifferent, and draw conclusions from that and act accordingly in the future. I want them to be giving kids a full sense of who we are as a country so they can grow to love it and change it to be better," Renee Sekel of Cary  says.

Other parents in the Triangle believe this language should not be used in schools. The school board will continue reviewing the information and voting on the matter next week. This is the fifth draft of revision, and they began revising social studies standards back in April of 2019.