Courtesy of Bastrop Advertiser
April 28, 2022
By Joni Ashbrook
Republican Glenn Youngkin won the governor’s race in Virginia last year after campaigning hard against the phantom problem of critical race theory being taught in their public schools.
PolitiFact states that critical race theory is not mentioned in Virginia’s Standards of Learning, and Youngkin admitted as much after being pressed by a reporter.
But a lack of facts has never stopped Republicans from using an absurd red herring to rile their base and to distract them from the fact that they offer no policies to improve their lives.
Critical race theory isn’t taught in any K-12 schools, and has nothing to do with an individual’s racism. Critical race theory is only taught in universities and law schools, and it examines historic patterns of racism that are embedded within our laws and social institutions.
Fox News’ super power is its ability to whip people into a frenzy about any inane topic. Fox discussed its warped version of critical race theory more than 3,900 times in 2021, according to Media Matters.
This statement from Fox host Tucker Carlson is a prime example of how Republicans’ propaganda machine gets people outraged over a non-issue.
“I have never figured out what critical race theory is, to be totally honest, after a year of talking about it. They’re teaching that some races are morally superior to others, that some are inherently sinful, and some are inherently saintly,” Carlson said. “And that’s immoral to teach that cause it’s wrong.”
I agree that would be wrong, but that is absolutely not taught, and it’s not only ridiculous but insulting to think teachers would ever teach such things.
Unfortunately, misled, angry parents are filling school board meetings around the country terrified their children are being “indoctrinated” to believe some people are oppressors and others are victims.
The uproar over critical race theory was concocted by a conservative activist, Christopher Rufo, who says the right has “appropriated” the label in order to achieve political victories.
The manufactured hysteria surrounding critical race theory has not only led to banning books about race, and books by Black authors, but Texas and other GOP led states are passing draconian laws that ban teaching critical race theory.
Those laws achieved their goal of stifling and demonizing any discussion of race. According to the Washington Post, teachers are now confused and scared to teach American history and they find themselves self-censoring.
I taught third and fourth grades for twenty-five years and during Black History Month the kids picked a famous Black person’s biography and wrote their story in the first person. If I was still teaching, I would consider the consequences from covering a unit we all thoroughly enjoyed.
The students would edit and revise their work and finally dress up as that person and read their biography to other classes.
One amazing person we learned about was Olympian Wilma Rudolph who overcame the excruciating pain of polio to become the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field.
Recently, NBC News reported that a Dallas parent wanted the school district to ban a children’s picture book about the life of Rudolph because it mentions racism that she faced growing up in Tennessee in the 1940s. That is probably the book we read.
I never had a single complaint that the children felt guilty, nor would I expect to because simply learning the truth about our past does not lead to guilt or anti-white bias.
Just as America was finally reckoning with its racist history after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in May 2020, Republicans quashed the conversations that we need to foster understanding and come together, and they did it merely for political gain.
Ashbrook is a contributing columnist for the Advertiser. She is a retired school teacher and may be reached at [email protected].
