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Critical race theory

Ted Cruz Slams Critical Race Theory as 'Bigoted,' Draws Comparison to 'Klansmen in White Sheets'

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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) slammed critical race theory on Friday during a speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Road to Majority Conference, saying the teaching is “bigoted” and comparing it to “klansmen in white sheets.”

According to Cruz, critical race theory:

…replaces class with race and it says all of America and all of the world is a battle between the races and “every bit as racist as a Klansmen in white sheets. … Critical race theory says every white person is a racist. Critical race theory says America is fundamentally racist and irredeemably racist. Critical race theory seeks to turn us against each other and if someone has a different color skin seeks to make us hate that person.

Cruz went on to say:

It is bigoted, it is a lie, and it is every bit as racist as klansmen in white sheets. As a Christian and as an American, I love my brothers and sisters whatever skin color you are, whatever ethnicity you are, whatever faith you are, whatever creed you are … we are commanded to love. The end.

Cruz’s comments garnered the attention of Business Insider senior political reporter John Haltiwanger, who said Cruz made “an absurd comparison” and everything that Republicans say about critical race theory is “completely baseless.”

Haltiwanger wrote in a tweet:

Critical Race Theory never lynched anyone. This is an absurd comparison. CRT is literally just an academic framework that looks at the effects of systemic racism across society. It should not be controversial. Everything Republicans are saying about it is completely baseless.

In later tweets, Haltiwanger claimed, “critical race theory is a lucrative obsession for Republicans because the party is ‘offended by the political focus on racism and racial justice’”

He added that “critical race theory has been around for decades” and that Republicans “began this campaign against CRT in the past year as part of broader pushback against the US finally taking baby steps toward coming to terms [with] its racist past/present.”

More than 20 states, all of which enjoy GOP leadership — including Arizona, Arkansas and Texas — have produced legislation to prevent critical race theory from being a part of curriculum in public schools.

Most recently, on TuesdayTexas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill that outlines how schools in the state should teach students about race and racism and prohibits the teaching of critical race theory.

Follow Kyle on Twitter @RealKyleMorris and Facebook.

Teachers Reward Bonus Points to Students Who Testify on Anti-Critical Race Theory Bill

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At least two teachers in Rhode Island who support the teachings of critical race theory did not receive the outcome they expected after they offered bonus points to students who chose to offer testimonies on an anti-critical race theory state House bill.

According to documents gathered by Parents Defending Education (PDE), two teachers in Barrington, Rhode Island, offered five extra points to each student for their next exam if they testify by word of mouth or offer a written statement on the legislation.

The legislation aims to prevent the teaching of critical race theory, which includes concepts that “an individual, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously,” “an individual, by virtue of their race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex,” and “meritocracy or traits such as hard work ethic are racist or sexist, or were created by a particular race to oppress another race.”

One social studies teacher, Alison Grieco, claimed that she would be unable to accurately teach “the unit on Race or Gender” should the legislation pass and “strongly urged” her students to take part.

Greico also stated that “every opinion is valuable in my classroom as long as it is respectful,” saying “good civics discourse only happens when multiple sides of an issue is discussed.” Previously, Greico claimed “this bill essentially states that there should be no discussion of race or gender in classrooms.”

Another educator, Jennifer Bergevine, a Barrington English teacher, suggested that her students take part in providing feedback also, claiming the legislation “prohibits the teaching of ‘divisive concepts’” and prevents “making ‘any individual feel discomfort, guilty, anguish or any distress on account of their race or sex.’”

Bergevine stated in an email, along with her pronouns:

If this passes I would no longer be able to teach the unit on Race or Gender. I have requested to testify in opposition and will be submitting written testimony. Directions on how to do this are at the bottom of the agenda for the meeting.

“As I prepare my statement, I would like to be able to include student voices,” Bergevine added. “Please feel free to share with me what you believe is the benefit of potentially ‘divisive concepts’ such as Race and Gender.”

According to Parents Defending Education, “Every Barrington High School student who testified did so against the bill.”

Asra Nomani, vice president of strategy and investigations at PDE, released the following statement on the matter:

The documents released by the Barrington Public Schools reveals that Barrington High School teachers used classroom assignments – including earning extra credit points – to organize students in a coordinated campaign to influence legislation in Rhode Island. Their assignments were a thinly-veiled attack on the legislation. That was obvious in the email by a teacher who explicitly sought out students voices to support her testimony against the bill. This campaign by the Barrington High School teachers underscores a disturbing national trend in which school teachers, officials and administrators are exploiting their power to indoctrinate – not educate – students.

Following the news that bonus points were being offered for testimony on the legislation, School Superintendent Mike Messore told a local newspaper that students were not forced to testify any certain way and claimed, “the teacher wasn’t looking to make a political statement.”

According to PDE’s report, “it appears from the documents that the administration was completely unaware both that students had been asked to testify on a specific bill related to education, and that they were pressured to adopt a specific viewpoint about the bill.”

Follow Kyle on Twitter @RealKyleMorris and Facebook.

CNN's Don Lemon scolds parents who oppose critical race theory: ‘Stop making it about you’

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CNN anchor Don Lemon recently lectured parents around the country who are voicing opposition to the implementation of critical race theory into their children’s K-12 curricula, telling them to “stop making it about you.”

What happened?

Lemon made the comments during CNN’s nightly handoff between “Cuomo Prime Time” and “Don Lemon Tonight,” when he and fellow anchor Chris Cuomo were musing about the significance of designating Juneteenth as a national holiday and the topic of critical race theory came up.

The two anchors couldn’t resist the urge to scold the “privileged” conservatives who dare reject the premise that America is fundamentally and systemically racist and who’d rather their children not be taught that they are either victims or oppressors.

“That’s the idea … that’s the whole thing about what privilege,” said Lemon during the exchange. “People don’t like to have their pleasure interrupted, their peace interrupted. And so, people think that it should be the way it should be because they have been taught that in this country.”

“But, you know,” Lemon continued, “telling people, having people come to the realization, especially ancestors [descendants] of slaves, that they were enslaved, and that they were beaten and they were sold, that they weren’t able to accrue wealth, they weren’t able to go to school, weren’t able to go vote … you think that makes them feel good?”

“So, the folks on the other side, stop making it about you,” he exclaimed. “Be curious instead of judgmental, that’s all.”

What else?

Lemon’s comments were immediately met with backlash from critics online.

The Washington Examiner’s Tsar Becket Adams said, “it doesn’t get more ‘about you’ than what happens to your own children, adding “a person with kids would know that.”

Conservative commentator Stephen L. Miller added, “Don Lemon a millionaire telling parents who have kids in the public school system to get over their privilege is just perfection.”

“This is so dishonest,” blasted the Daily Wire’s Andrew Klavan. “CRT = Racism & Marxism. It’s not history. The history of slavery is already taught. I’m glad [Lemon] said this privately on [CNN] instead of in public where someone might hear him.”

Anything else?

Critical race theory, or CRT, has persisted as a hot-button issue in America over the last several months as parents have become aware of how teaching based off the progressive ideology has trickled into their children’s classrooms.

In response, several Republican-controlled state legislatures have passed laws prohibiting CRT teaching in public schools.

The theory, despite what Lemon and Cuomo suggest, is not simply the teaching of American slavery in public school classrooms. It is an ideology that asserts race is a socially constructed tool used by white people to oppress and exploit people of color. Adherents of the theory believe that the U.S. law and and its legal and societal institutions are inherently racist.

Trump pens op-ed ripping into critical race theory: 'Teaching even one child these divisive messages would verge on psychological abuse'

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Former President Donald Trump said this week that critical race theory is not far from inflicting psychological abuse on children.

He made the remarks in a lengthy editorial, which ran Friday on the RealClearPolitics website.

What are the details?

In the missive, Trump blasted President Joe Biden for embracing critical race theory and said that anyone who would subject a child or young person to the teaching borders on inflicting “psychological abuse.”

The piece titled, “A Plan to Get Divisive & Radical Theories Out of Our Schools,” noted that Biden has done nothing in his presidency thus far beyond “divide our country by race and gender.”

“There is no clearer example than the Biden administration’s new effort aimed at indoctrinating America’s schoolchildren with some of the most toxic and anti-American theories ever conceived,” the former president wrote. “It is vital for Americans to understand what this initiative would do, what drives it and, most importantly, how we can stop it.”

Trump pointed out that he believes the left is insistent on casting America’s history in a negative light — even if they have to brainwash innocent children in order to do so.

“In classrooms across the nation, students are being subjected to a new curriculum designed to brainwash them with the ridiculous left-wing dogma known as ‘critical race theory,'” he wrote. “The key fact about this twisted doctrine is that it is completely antithetical to everything that normal Americans of any color would wish to teach their children.”

Trump said that instead of children learning about America as “the greatest, most tolerant, and most generous nation in history,” they are learning that America is “systemically evil and that the hearts of our people are full of hatred and malice.”

“Far from advancing the beautiful dream of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — that our children should ‘not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character’ — the left’s vile new theory preaches that judging people by the color of their skin is actually a good idea,” Trump added. “Teaching even one child these divisive messages would verge on psychological abuse. Indoctrinating generations of children with these extreme ideas is not just immoral — it is a program for national suicide.”

Biden, Trump said, couldn’t care less, and endorsed this very notion in a rule published in the Federal Register “aimed at inflicting a critical race theory-inspired curriculum on American schoolchildren.”

“The rule,” the former president wrote, “explicitly cites the New York Times’ discredited ‘1619 Project’ as a motivation. The Times has described the goal of its endeavor as the ‘re-education’ of the American people, and the project even includes a lesson plan that encourages students to practice ‘erasing’ parts of the Declaration of Independence.”

Trump said that the only way to avoid losing America as a both a beacon of hope and a country itself is to push back and loudly make demands for change.

“[M]ost Americans oppose this insanity,” he noted. “The left has only gotten away with it until this point because not enough parents have been paying attention and speaking up.

“But that is quickly changing,” Trump added.

What does he suggest?

The former president said that all parents and concerned citizens should step up and demand every state legislature to pass a ban on taxpayer dollars going to school district or workplaces that teach critical race theory.

“It needs to happen everywhere,” he insisted, “and Congress should seek to institute a federal ban through legislation as well.”

Trump also said that each state should be responsible to create its own 1776 Commission to hold public schools and boards to standards that ensure American children are receiving a “patriotic, pro-American education” — and “not being taught that the United States is an evil nation.”

The former president also said that parents need to push for transparency within their children’s curricula and refuse to stand down, even if they have to file public records request to obtain the information.

Trump also said that concerned Americans need to mobilize to keep civics lessons truthful and avoid contorting lessons “into a vehicle for political indoctrination” — and if parents are unable to effect change, they should be permitted to get an automatic school choice voucher to take their children’s education elsewhere.

“The government has no right to brainwash students with controversial ideologies against their parents’ will,” he added.

“Make no mistake: The motive behind all of this left-wing lunacy is to discredit and eliminate the greatest obstacles to the fundamental transformation of America. To succeed with their extreme agenda, radicals know they must abolish our attachment to the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and most of all, Americans’ very identity as a free, proud, and self-governing people. The left knows that if they can dissolve our national memory and identity, they can gain the total political control they crave,” he continued.

“A nation is only as strong as its spirit,” he concluded. “For our children, we must act before it is too late.”