The public continues to be confronted by “Critical Race theory”(CRT). It appears as a term pulled out of thin air to describe a social illness. Unfortunately, many of us, including the education establishment, routinely use the term without explaining what it means. Republicans have to do more than simply oppose CRT, we must understand what proponents are saying and have a counter argument to describe the intellectual bankruptcy of those who espouse it. Recently the Secretary-Treasurer of the American Association of Teachers Fedrick Ingram said CRT would “give our students the opportunity to understand the full breadth and depth of the American society.” What does that mean? To most people, it means a discussion of American history to include the good, the bad, the inspirational, and the tragic. We can all agree this is a good idea; students should learn all aspects of our history. They should understand that every society in the history of mankind has its share of tragic paradoxes. Ours is no different although, this nation, our America, continues to press forward (sometimes awkwardly) as it works towards a society offering equality of opportunity for everyone.
Anyone who looks deeper into CRT quickly learns the concept of “oppressed” and the oppressor”(let’s not forget “white supremacy”) is deeply rooted in its philosophy. Students of social history know these words are fundamental concepts in Marxist rhetoric. Any objective examination of 20th-century history must conclude that Marxist ideology leads to a scale of death, destruction, and misery not previously experienced in human history.
Randy Weingarten, President of the AFT, accuses State legislators of preventing teachers from ‘….teaching the truth”. Anyone examining the AFT’s statements would agree teaching truth is what we want from our teachers but clearly she uses aspirational terms to hide an ideological narrative. Digging deeper Robby Souve of Reason Magazine directly quotes the National Education Association… “ will provide a study of “anthropocentrism, and other forms of that critiques empire, white supremacy, anti-Blackness, anti-Indigeneity, racism, patriarchy, CIS heteropatriarchy, capitalism, ableism, power and oppression at the intersections of our society.” Educators who justify CRT are being disingenuous. While it is true that CRT was originally a closely defined legal theory taught in law schools, it recently morphed into a term, acknowledged by the NEA, to describe a very broad range of social justice concepts. Bending the use of words to fit an ideological narrative is validating parents’ concerns.
We also know the teachers’ unions are strong financial supporters of the Democratic Party. According to PenSecrets.org in the 2019-2020 election season the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers gave over $66 million dollars to Democrats or liberal groups. Only 4 percent of teacher’s union contributions went to Republicans. We cannot expect much help from the Biden administration; Dr Jill Biden recently introduced the NEA President Becky Pringle as “our union president- as someone who “makes us feel proud”
Many of us read news reports of school children being encouraged to rank themselves by race, or power or privilege. It is a shame state legislators feel compelled to respond through legislation restricting our teachers’ curriculum choices but how can they be expected to do otherwise? This is an unfortunate circumstance but not unexpected. It would be better if parents had greater influence over the education of their children. The heavy hand of government interference always has unintended consequences
The press and teachers unions continue to paint critics of CRT as right-wing radicals standing in the way of objective truth when in reality parents just want kids to receive an education encouraging an informed, engaged citizenry acknowledging the past while planning for the future. That is the current predicament we must address. If we want to change the current state of affairs we must reach out to everyone, particularly parents, regardless of party. Time to use Republican values of freedom of thought and expression to confront ideological madness
Eric Braunstein
Chairman, New Castle County Republican Party
Mobile: 302 981-0399
