A subject that gets little coverage these day….so who better than me to resurrect the subject.
We all have heard about the Critical Race Theory (CRT)…..ever wonder why this obscure issue has become so damn important in our political discourse?
Red States are spending an inordinate amount of time trying to prevent the teaching of CRT…..the catch is this waste of time is seldom taught and when it is it is a class for law degree.
Like my state of Mississippi…..
The same Mississippi Legislature that proclaimed racial reconciliation after removing the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag nearly two years ago passed a bill Thursday to limit how race can be discussed in classrooms. Several Black legislators said during the six-hour debate that the bill could squelch honest discussion about the harmful effects of racism because parents could complain if history lessons make white children uncomfortable. The Republican-controlled House voted 75-43 to pass Senate Bill 2113. It will go to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who has pledged to sign it into law, the AP reports. All House votes for the bill on Thursday came from white Republicans.
The bill’s short title says it would prohibit “critical race theory.” But the main text of the bill does not mention or define the theory, and many supporters of the bill also have said they cannot define it. The bill says no school, community college or university could teach that any “sex, race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin is inherently superior or inferior.” Democratic Rep. Zakiya Summers of Jackson said she has been told by some colleagues that the bill does nothing substantial but it gives them a talking point at election time. “Censoring teachers, dismantling education bit by bit, attempting to erase the past, refusing to acknowledge the hurt and the horror and the heinous acts that have been done to my people and then hiding behind this ‘inferior versus superior’ argument—that’s what this bill will do,” Summers said.
No legislators gave speeches in support of the bill. Republican Rep. Joey Hood of Ackerman, who is white, did not define critical race theory as he explained the bill Thursday. “History will continue to be taught—American history, Civil War history, Mississippi history,” Hood said. When the bill passed the Republican-controlled Senate in January, all of the Black senators withheld their votes and walked out in protest. Critical race theory is an academic framework that examines how racism has shaped public policy and institutions such as the legal system, and how those have perpetuated the dominance of white people in society. State Superintendent of Education Carey Wright said critical race theory is not taught in Mississippi schools. The University of Mississippi law school offers an elective class on the theory.
Well after all the energy spent by numerous state legislative bodies…..we know that it is banned from being taught to our children….but why is this?
My state would not surprise me if they started a campaign to ban the US Constitution….I wouldn’t be surprised if the Constitution itself is ultimately banned in states like Mississippi because if students are permitted to read the 3/5s & fugitive slave clauses it will become clear to them that the principles of America’s founding included the idea of people as property.
Texas (go figure) has yet another bill before the legislature about teaching CRT….
Texas college and university professors may soon lose tenure if they teach critical race theory (CRT) in their classrooms, according to the Lone Star state’s lieutenant governor, who has vowed action by the state.
In a warning message to educators this week, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he will work to strip them of their job security in the state if they teach CRT.
“The critical race theory people are trying to take us back to a divided country,” Patrick told reporters at a press conference.
“Tenure to these professors who voted 41-5 telling the taxpayers and the parents and the legislature, and your own board of regents, to get out of their business that we have no say what you do in the classroom… You’ve opened the door for this issue because you went too far.”
“What we will propose to do is to end all tenure for all new hires,” Patrick said, vowing that the state legislature would take action against those who teach the subject in their classrooms.
“The law will change to say teaching critical race theory is prima facie evidence for good cause for tenure revocation,” he said. In addition to his comments concerning tenure, Patrick said he wants annual reviews for the professors rather than six year reviews.
(FOX News)
Then there is yet another of those ‘go figure’ states that has tried to limit the teaching of race….Georgia (the state not the country)
Legislation prohibiting Georgia schools from teaching nine racial and ethnic concepts it defines as divisive has passed the state Senate. The bill cleared 32-20 on Friday, CNN reports, with Republicans voting yes and Democrats no, and goes next to the House. The measure also would apply to training in state agencies. Republicans in other states are pursuing similar legislation. The movement was sparked by the uproar over “critical race theory,” which isn’t taught in Georgia schools anyway, per WXIA.
The prohibited concepts include that one race or ethnicity is inherently superior to another and that the US and Georgia are “fundamentally or systemically racist.” It specifies that teachers would not be allowed to make students feel demeaned or guilty because of their race, skin color or ethnicity. The legislature has four similar bills before it, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This one would withhold up to 10% of schools’ funding for violations. Colleges and universities also could be docked, but the bill doesn’t specify how much. Another bill would penalize schools up to 20% of their funding.
The sponsor of one of them said history could still be taught but teachers would not be allowed to include their political beliefs. GOP Rep. Bill Wade said he worked with school board and teacher groups on the bill, but they’ve said they’re opposed to his bill. “All this bill does is muzzle our teachers and make them into a straw man for political gain from the true divisive voices in our communities,” said Democratic Rep. Matthew Wilson, a former elementary teacher. “This bill is whiter than the paper it’s printed on,” said the lawmaker, who is white.
These idiots are doing exact what they claim the CRT is doing…..dividing the country.
What are these people so afraid of would be the next logical question….
Maybe there is a good answer after all…..
What nobody is talking about, though, is the why of this particular issue at this particular time. As a result, we’re mistaking the tool for the goal.
Moral panics, when driven by politicians, are usually just tools. This CRT moral panic is a tool being used by a coalition of interests to achieve their own goals, none of which have anything to do with teaching or not-teaching the history of race in America.
- Imagine you’re part of a group of libertarian billionaires who don’t believe in public education and who see any such sort of taxpayer-funded effort to improve “the underclasses” as an absurd waste of the tax dollars you “worked so hard to earn” and the “gummint” now wants to take away from you “at the barrel of a gun.”
- Imagine you’re a leader in the Republican Party who’s seeing the average age of the Fox audience — 70 — as a threat to your own political longevity because old white people don’t go into politics and you need 30- and 40-year-olds to learn their basic political skills locally (like on a school board) so you can groom and propel them up into state or federal politics.
- Imagine you’re a multimillionaire white evangelical preacher who’s looking for an issue you can use to more tightly bind your congregation — your donors — to you by portraying yourself as a crusader who’s going to save their children from a horrible fate.
- Imagine you’re a white supremacist militia leader who’s looking to expand his base by bringing in white middle-class adults and therefore you need an issue to get yourself into the headlines “taking on authorities” but that won’t also end with you going to jail.
- Imagine you’re a Republican politician who’s looking at a serious challenge in the upcoming primary elections and you need an issue that’ll be both popular and energizing for your base voters, even if the larger population doesn’t much care, because base voters are all you care about in the upcoming primary.
There you have your answer….it is a wedge issue that does nothing but create chaos and confusion……and these are the two issues that the GOP excel at giving the people of this country.
Turn The Page!
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Racism is ingrained into the human DNA, is perfectly natural to the species, and is never going to be changed by any amount of government interference. The surface symptoms can be controlled by threats, intimidation, punishments etc., but the basal instinct will remain as long as human life exists on earth.
And as long as we ignore the fact to more it will never change…..chuq
Some of “us” fear the diminishing white majority, and John is correct.
Why do you fear this? As long as we allow social media teach our kids it will not change for it is easier to be fearful and lazy than to see what is what chuq
Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
Never in my lifetime, did I think … and I’m in my early 70s!! … “These idiots are doing exact what they claim the CRT is doing … dividing the country.”
THanx so much….interesting how many have an opinion on this issue. Peace my friend chuq
Most welcome!! Same to you!! 🙏🏽
😎
I’ve tried to understand CRT and have concluded that the same history can be taught as has been traditional but if you look at the history through the eyes of blacks, hispanics and native Americans it is a very different history indeed. Seems natural that different subsets of the population quite naturally reach different conclusions. It is a valid historical approach and I think American history majors in college should be exposed to it. But in early grade school I think we should stress our common denominators and things that unite us not divide us. Our shortcomings can still be noted but our history should be a celebration of reaching to create a more perfect union rather than condemnation and suspicion breeding which CRT seems to fertilize in the minds of our young people.
I disagree….our history should be taught….all of it…the good, the bad and definitely the ugly. chuq
That’s certainly a valid opinion but my fear is the trend toward indoctrination by the left like all the sex and gender stuff that seems to applaud all and anything that is divergent from sensible traditional values. The bad and the ugly has always been part of the history curriculum. Today’s leftist teachers are promoting only the bad and the ugly. Today’s teachers have become instruments of indoctrination not academic mentors. Tearing down statues of Washington, Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt – my God ! Those who want to destroy America start by denouncing our heritage of people, places and things that are pillars of nationhood and identity politics do not breed nationhood. . Teaching from a “hate America” dynamic is not value building but divisive hate-mongering. I saw it in the 60’s with the anti-establishment movement which was really a “hate our parents” movement and dismissive of the faith, courage and struggles of our forefathers. When I was in the classroom I was shocked and astonished listening to classroom neighbors fill the minds of teens with constant hate America filth. We are producing new generations of hate the police and burn it all down misfits. I even have heard lies about George Washington producing babies down in the slave quarters as part of the institutional rape of that time. First of all, he was too honorable a man to engage in such behavior. He was also very sick with all kinds of chronic diseases his whole life. By late teens he had survived tuberculosis and smallpox. These illnesses left him sterile. Washington could not sire any babies at all. Indeed ironic for the “father” of our nation.
I see the Right as doing more of that ‘indoctrination’ and call it progress….it is nay thing but progress chuq
I probably sound like the old man in his mountain cave since I embraced Kindness as my lifestyle, but I see a pattern of constantly inventing threats that are going to “destroy our way of life” that actually don’t exist. They serve as smokescreens to divert attention from real issues and you brought that out in your article. Thank you for that.
I totally agree….most issues these days are nothing more than stupidity taught as fact. chuq
Fortunately, this is not something we have to deal with here. Not yet, anyway.
Best wishes, Pete.
Fortunate hopefully you never have to deal with this stupidity…..chuq