States continue to ban Critical Race Theory in the classroom. The CRT front of the culture war has made its way to the military and reality TV.
Summary
More states are introducing legislation or using other means to prevent Critical Race Theory from being taught in classrooms.
- Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill into law earlier this week, saying students should not be taught “things that inherently divide or pit either Americans against Americans or people groups against people groups.”
- As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is working with the state’s Board of Education to prevent CRT from being used in the classroom, the state’s largest teachers union has come out against banning it.
- Ohio lawmakers have also introduced legislation to prohibit its use in classrooms, saying it is “designed to look at everything from a ‘race first’ lens, which is the very definition of racism.”
- In Montana, the state’s Attorney General issued an opinion that it violated federal and state discrimination laws, which effectively bans Critical Race Theory from being taught in schools.
- Reality TV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines were in the crosshairs earlier this week after it was revealed they donated to Chip’s sister, who is running for local school board in Texas and is publicly against Critical Race Theory being taught. (The Hill, notorious for click-bait headlines on social media, wrote their headline to erroneously suggest the Gaineses donated to a campaign to ban Critical Race Theory.)
- NBC News framed the fight between proponents and opponents of Critical Race Theory as a question of whether CRT and patriotism co-exist, while blaming President Donald Trump for starting the fight over Critical Race Theory and promoting a program that “calls for a massive federal investment in history and civics.”
- CNN put together a lesson based on Critical Race Theory, listing various topics and how viewing them through the lens of CRT “might refine your understanding of history”, as if “land was taken” and “immigration was biased” is a singularly American artifact.
- Newsweek’s coverage of the Montana Attorney General’s decision was the most balanced reporting of states’ efforts to ban Critical Race Theory among the mainstream media, listing the specific concepts prohibited and the legal basis for banning it.
- The Daily Signal came to the defense of the Gaineses, blasting various outlets for their deceptive headlines suggesting they supported an issue campaign, and omitting the candidate’s relationship to Chip Gaines.
- A book and its review in The New Republic were criticized by The Blaze, after the book, which claims white Vietnam War veterans “played the discriminated-against minority.”
- RedState derided Brandeis University administrator Kate Slater, who declared “I don’t hate white people, I hate whiteness” and encouraging viewers in Instagram to watch her video to understand the difference. Slater, who is white, said arguments against Critical Race Theory are “straw man” arguments that systemic racism doesn’t exist.
- Newsmax covered what Republicans in Congress are calling “the politicization of our armed forces” after it was reported the Department of Defense conducted multiple trainings and professional development courses deemed “woke” by critics.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
