Why Critical Race Theory Will Fail

   Democrats and their media allies are fond of saying "schools don't teach critical race theory," or some variation of that, when asked about Republican efforts to reform school curricula in districts across the country. They almost always proceed to say these reform efforts amount to "whitewashing history," to exclude teaching about the racial oppression that blacks in America have endured since before the founding of the USA. These statements are both half-truths that are misleading and specious. 

   CRT is not taught to school children, because as the AP article linked above explains, it is a "graduate level concept." It is taught to the teachers and administrators who design and implement curricula. It's taught to the people that write and publish textbooks. It's promoted by the media allies of the Democrats, specifically the NY Times' 1619 project, which has been incorporated into an educational curriculum. CRT may not be directly taught to students, but it's embedded in many schools' curricula and even pedagogy, meaning the method and practice of teaching. 

   There are some startling examples of this, in textbooks from Florida, and so-called "fight club fistbooks" (which say "we don't do handbooks") being distributed to FOUR YEAR OLDS in Washington, DC schools. In the Florida textbooks, math problems are being unnecessarily framed in racial terms that are biased, inflammatory, and divisive. The premises the questions are based on are not factual, but theoretical. A child might have more questions or interest in the "why" of the premise than the actual math problem. That is the opening for a math teacher to explain a simplified version of CRT to their students, disguised as "explaining a math question." It's no wonder that American children are falling behind the rest of the developed world in math, science, and education in general. Teaching the subject has become secondary to ideological and political indoctrination.

   The Anti Racism Fight Club is pretty straightforward, with a page for the "initiation of kids." In DC, these "fistbooks" are being given to kids as young as four years old. The terms "fight club" and "fistbook" are aggressive, which is concerning enough, when we're talking about lessons for preschoolers. I find it interesting that the Democrats have no objections to this. Also, it explicitly asks young white children "Where do you see racism in yourself," or your family? Why would any teacher or administrator at any school think that laying that kind of burden on a four to seven year old is a good thing? 

    There are also parts where the bias is more subtle in the "fistbook." It sounds almost reasonable to read "Having white privilege does not make you a bad person," but why would it, in the first place? The statement ignores the fact that there are situations where being white is not an advantage, and not just because of any government policy. There are many types of privilege, and not all of them have to do with race. To have such an aggressive narrative that only deals with "white privilege" doesn't come close to analyzing the true dynamic of American society, culture, and economy. What about Asians, Latinos, and all of the other races in our beautiful mosaic? It is a false narrative, meant to sow resentment and victimhood among minority populations, especially blacks. There is no way this material is appropriate for young children, unless the goal is indoctrination. It's not even appropriate for middle or high school kids, unless they are taught about the biases in the narrative, and an opposing viewpoint.

   This brings me back to the second part of the Democrats usual response, that Republicans want to forbid teaching about or discussions of race, and historical injustices that racial minorities have endured in the USA. This is not only false, it is a red herring, meant to distract from the falsehoods that the "antiracist" curriculum promotes. The NY Times' 1619 Project is a premier example. There have been criticisms from across the political spectrum of the scholarship, the facts, and serious omissions in the 1619 Project's narrative. Those omissions not only include the Democratic Party's historical role in supporting slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, and Jim Crow, but the involvement of the family of the NY Times ownership.

   I learned about slavery, Jim Crow, and many other disgraceful chapters of American history in high school, back in the 1970's. I am skeptical about claims that CRT opponents want to ban teaching about those events, because they were taught before CRT was brought into the mainstream of educational instruction. I also learned about the Civil War, and how many lives were lost in bloody combat to end slavery. I'll also admit that what I remember learning in high school is spotty. I do remember that something changed from my time in Catholic grade school in NYC, where I learned "history." In high school, the class was called "Social Studies," and it had a different focus. The change in the name and focus of teaching history was an early effort of the progressive movement to advance their agenda. I think that's so because after graduating in 1979, I voted for Pres. Carter in 1980. For some reason, I thought that Gov. Reagan would start WWIII. Of course, it may not be the school's fault. I was young, and dumb, and as the saying goes, "If you're not a liberal when you're young, you have no heart..."

   That's also why I have hope that this CRT agenda will not achieve its goal of destroying American society and culture. Just like the other parts of the progressive agenda, they have no idea what to replace it with. Claims of "structural" or "systemic" racism don't hold up under scrutiny. It doesn't account for the success of blacks who immigrated here, or any number of other minorities that don't fit that narrative, such as Asian Americans. I'm not worried about our future, because I know so many immigrant Americans that get our political culture better than any progressive Democrat. They may not know who Bob Hope is, but they know that Democrats stand for higher taxes, more regulation, and failing schools. They are insulted to be included in the Democrats' "all minorities against white privilege" narrative, and many voted for Trump. I see a wave coming, and it's not just in this year's midterm elections. By pushing a radical racial agenda, the Democrats are driving minorities out of their party.