Patriot Brief
- What Happened: Kentucky Rep. Sarah Stalker said she feels bad about being white while defending DEI programs at a legislative hearing.
- Why It Matters: The comments show how DEI focuses on guilt and identity instead of education and fairness.
- Bottom Line: Parents want schools teaching skills, not telling kids to apologize for their skin color.
Kentucky State Rep. Sarah Stalker decided to say the quiet part out loud this week, telling lawmakers she feels bad about being white. Yes, really.
Stalker made the comments during a meeting of the Kentucky General Assembly’s Interim Joint Committee on Education while defending Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs in public schools. Instead of focusing on policy, she turned the spotlight on her own sense of racial guilt.
“I’m going to be honest, I don’t feel good about being white every day for a lot of reasons,” Stalker said, calling her skin color a “point of privilege.” She then added that she is “just a white woman,” and claimed that if she were a white man, she would have even more privilege.
Rep. Sarah Stalker: I have guilt every day for being white and kids should too
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) December 10, 2025
Stalker argued that schools should not protect kids from uncomfortable feelings about race. She said students should be encouraged to pause and reflect on how their skin color affects their lives, even if it makes them feel bad. According to her, stopping those conversations is a “missed opportunity.”
She insisted DEI is not meant to make white people feel guilty, even though her entire argument centered on why feeling guilty is necessary. Ending DEI programs, she warned, would be “whitewashing” history and ignoring what she called the long-standing privilege of white Americans.
Her remarks came in response to a proposal from Republican state Sen. Lindsey Tichenor that would end DEI programs in Kentucky public schools. The bill follows President Donald Trump’s push to eliminate DEI across the federal government, arguing that schools should focus on equal treatment, not forced ideology.
For many parents, Stalker’s comments are exactly the problem. Instead of teaching math, reading, and history, schools are being turned into guilt workshops where kids are told to feel bad about who they are. If this is the best defense of DEI, it explains why so many Americans are rejecting it.