Critical Race Theory is being banned in more states. The culture war over CRT may be a harbinger of shifting political powers.
Summary
Loudoun County, Virginia, one of the biggest hotspots in the battle over the use of critical race theory is being used as a litmus test over whether Virginia can trend back towards Republicans in upcoming elections.
- The fight over critical race theory has spread from the DC suburbs to rural Bedford County, whose school district announced it will not be using any CRT material in new classes, including one class on African American history.
- In both Oklahoma and Tennessee, state education officials have publicly committed to uphold new laws that prevent the teaching of CRT and related philosophies in classrooms.
- A Colorado Springs area school district has introduced a resolution that prevents schools from “utiliz[ing] critical race theory or antiracism curriculum for student education or any staff training.”
- An effort to stop the use of CRT in Alabama was introduced in the state legislature, which prevents “divisive concepts” from being taught to students or state employee.
- The Economist wrote about the national battle over critical race theory, contending it is part of a century-long argument whether an optimistic or a “more fragmented, less flattering” account of American history is taught.
- CNN attempted to throw cold water on the debate by pretending it was just a “conservative bogeyman” and “an invented problem” perpetuated by conservative media who “sought to demonize it” rather than “debating CRT’s merit.”
- An opinion column in the Washington Post posited the theory was proven correct when Nikole Hannah-Jones, the creator of the (historically illiterate) 1619 Project, was in fact offered a tenured position at the University of North Carolina, which the author called “a majority-White institution whose leaders clearly did not value her worth.”
- Fox News reported on outrageous remarks by rival MSNBC’s Joy Reid who compared parents opposed to critical race theory to followers of Q-anon conspiracy theories.
- The Federalist pushed back on a New York Times op-ed by a group of contributors (of different political stripes) which said laws banning CRT in school are un-American “speech codes”, with The Federalist arguing the Marxist ideology of critical race theory is the truly un-American ethos.
- Lara Trump and Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville recently spoke out against CRT, saying it teaches children to judge others based on their skin color and classifying people by their race as oppressed or oppressor.
- Katie Pavlich noted the shift in phrasing among teachers unions and pro-CRT groups, reporting on Randi Weingarten (who previously argued CRT was not being taught in schools) attempting to pass off CRT as “teaching accurate history.”
Author’s Take
The Economist’s reporting on the current culture war is actually the most analytical, least biased one can find. While it does lean too heavily on the defense of CRT by activists, it presents the arguments of those opposed with little obvious bias.
Meanwhile, CNN’s abhorrent obfuscation of the debate is an example of the sensationalist coverage it condemns in its own “reporting.” CNN is participating in gaslighting of the most contemptable order, reassuring its readers that the outrage either isn’t real or the source of the outrage is ginned-up political posturing. This from the very same network that slobbered over itself with innumerable appearances by convict Michael Avenatti or breathlessly reported every fake news nugget of the now-debunked (and actually ginned-up) Trump-Russia Collusiongate story.
All of media should take a page from The Economist’s report: Discuss the facts and present both sides with as little bias as possible, and acknowledge their institutional bias when necessary.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
