Explaining Critical Race Theory and Critical Ethnic Studies
We must begin by explaining Critical Race Theory and Critical Ethnic Studies and what proponents of the “Critical Race Theory” purport to teach.
What type of discrimination judges someone solely based on the color of their skin? Racism
What type of discrimination judges someone solely by their religious affiliation or beliefs? Religious Discrimination
What type of discrimination judges someone solely based on their nationality or ethnic origin? Xenophobia
What type of discrimination judges someone solely based on their gender? Gender discrimination
What type of discrimination judges someone solely based on their political beliefs? Ideological Discrimination
What type of discrimination judges someone solely based on their socioeconomic status? Economic or Social Discrimination
How would you react if you found out that your child was being subjected to these forms of discrimination on a daily basis?
How would you react if you knew these forms of discrimination were being promoted and taught by the very people who were supposed to educate your children in a positive and uplifting manner, their teachers?
Would you allow this type of discriminatory instruction to continue or would you demand that this type of negative curriculum be banned from your child’s school?
CRITICAL RACE THEORY IS A DIVISIVE CURRICULUM.
Critical Race Theory is a divisive curriculum. The creators of Critical Race Theory (“CRT”) never meant for elementary school teachers to teach it to young children. Derrick Bell, an African American civil rights lawyer and the first black man to teach at Harvard Law Schoo, along with a few others created it in the early 1970s. Bell and the others who created it did so to counter what they felt were dangerously slow-moving gains in the civil rights movement, especially in the country’s legal system. In short, it examines and evaluates societal systems through a racial lens.
CRT gave birth to a concept called Critical Ethnic Studies, or CES. Like CRT, CES also views societal systems through a racial lens, but goes a step further by promoting the concepts of institutional or systemic racism, as well as perceived racial privilege and so-called white supremacy. CES teaches students that the best way to fight back against capitalism is through militant resistance or decolonization. It promotes Marxist militants as role models, including Lolita Lebron, a Puerto Rican nationalist who led an armed group to attack the House of Representatives in 1954, Oscar Lopez Rivera, who led a Marxist-Leninist organization responsible for bombing over 100 U.S. cities, and Yuri Kochiyama, a Maoist advocate who admired Osama bin Laden and Al Queda, while omitting positive role models such as Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court Justice, Frederick Douglas, an abolitionist known for his powerful antislavery writings and orations, and Senator Daniel Inouye, the first Japanese American in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.
CES is now being implemented in grade levels K-12 across the nation and in some cases, becoming a required course for high school graduation. The end goal of the people who promote CES, is to have this type of instruction become a part of the curriculum in every subject area
Critical Race Theory is a divisive curriculum. The creators of Critical Race Theory (“CRT”) never meant for elementary school teachers to teach it to young children. They developed it in the 1970s by several scholars, Derrick Bell, an African American civil rights lawyer and the first black man to teach at Harvard Law School. It was developed in response to what Bell and the other scholars felt were dangerously slow-moving gains, if not an actual reversal of gains, in regards to the civil rights movement, especially when it came to the country’s legal system. In short, it examines and evaluates societal systems through a racial lens.
Critical Ethnic Studies Promotes Marxism
Born from the ideas of CRT, is a concept called Critical Ethnic Studies, or CES. Like CRT, CES also views societal systems through a racial lens but goes a step further by promoting the concepts of institutional or systemic racism, as well as perceived racial privilege and so-called white supremacy. CES teaches students that the best way to fight back against capitalism is through militant resistance or decolonization. Critical ethnic studies promote Marxism. It promotes Marxist militants as role models, including Lolita Lebron, a Puerto Rican nationalist who led an armed group to attack the House of Representatives in 1954, Oscar Lopez Rivera, who led a Marxist-Leninist organization responsible for bombing over 100 U.S. cities, and Yuri Kochiyama, a Maoist advocate who admired Osama bin Laden and Al Queda, while omitting positive role models such as Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court Justice, Frederick Douglas, an abolitionist known for his powerful antislavery writings and orations, and Senator Daniel Inouye, the first Japanese American in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.
CES is now being implemented in grade levels K-12 across the nation and in some cases, becoming a required course for high school graduation. The end goal of the people who promote CES is to have this type of instruction become a part of the curriculum in every subject area.
Equitable Math Fails to Compute
Currently, Bill Gates is funding a project called “Equitable Math,” which seeks to show how white supremacy shows up in math classes. Equitable math fails to compute. According to the writers of the Equitable Math curriculum, white supremacy in mathematics shows up when children focus on getting the correct answer, are told to work independently, have answers marked as “incorrect,” or are required to show their work just to name a few. While not all of the concepts in “Equitable Math” are wrong, and in some cases even offer ideas on how to improve the teaching of mathematics in the classroom, its biggest problem comes from its core belief that all problems students face in math come from white supremacy rather than a multitude of other, more basic issues like poor teaching or individual responsibility.
Furthering this concept, some schools are trying to, or have already started to stop testing altogether, stating that testing is “racist” because certain groups of children, usually based solely on their skin color, do not test as well as other groups. In other schools, honors or advanced classes are now being labeled as “racist” for the same reason, and are, therefore abolished. These ideologies are in and of themselves, RACIST.
CES uses blatant discrimination to break children apart into groups based on their race, religion, and class. Based on those groupings, it further identifies children as either being the OPPRESSED or the OPPRESSOR and often identifies the OPPRESSORS as white supremacists. It is important to note that a curriculum based on CES actually comes with a warning label “may cause trauma.”
While CES claims to talk about intersectionality or the concept that everyone has their own unique experiences of discrimination and oppression, it oftentimes omits any intersectionality that does not fit the narrative of white supremacy as the core of all problems.
CES openly states that white children are the only people who can be racist and because of the color of their skin, are automatically born privileged, despite any other hardships they may have to endure in their lives, and are born inherently racist. Therefore, white children are told they are the OPPRESSORS. This same labeling is also sometimes applied to lighter-skinned black and Latino students as well as children from inter-racial or inter-ethnic couples.
In contrast, CES teaches that black people can never be racist, because they are the “victims” of white people and a foundational system in America that was created by white people, and therefore, are OPPRESSED.
Both of these ideologies are in and of themselves, racist, as they solely judge children by the color of their skin.
Critical Race Theory disapproves of achievement
Since Critical Race Theory disapproves of achievement, then how is your child being judged by their teachers and peers on a daily basis?
In CES, children are forced to complete worksheets that enable them to determine just how “racist” or “privileged” they are based on various characteristics. Some of those characteristics include:
Whether you are Male or Female (White males are the most racist children of all)
Your gender identity (Or how your feelings about your identity match up with the sex you were assigned at birth)
Your religious background
Christianity and Judaism are looked at as the most racist religions of all, despite the many races that practice both religions.
Jews are not only viewed as colonizers of Israel and oppressors of Palestine but they are also seen as having white privilege, despite the holocaust by Europe and the population not having yet recovered after 75 years.
Further, they attack the Jews for their alleged dominance in education, business, entertainment, and science.
If you are organized
If you get good grades
If you ask too many questions
If you disagree with anything you’re being taught (Also known as microaggressions)
If you are arrogant or too confident
If you come from a Two-parent household
If your parents own their home
If your parents speak English
If you speak English
If you are a U.S. citizen
If your parents own their own business
Your socioeconomic status
Notice that NONE of these criteria include your child’s interests, character, individuality, or personality. CES focuses on superficial characteristics to prejudge children and break children into groups. CES makes unfair determinations on who they are as people. Asian and Jewish children are considered “white-adjacent.”
To sum things up, CES seeks to fight actual or perceived discrimination and racism, with real discrimination and racism. Other programs founded in CRT principles include the 1619 Project and Teaching Hard History.
Equitable Math Fails to Compute
Bill Gates currently funds a project called “Equitable Math,” which seeks to show how white supremacy shows up in math classes. Equitable math fails to compute. Math, a pure form of logic, constitutes one of the most objective forms of study. Conversely, according to the writers of the Equitable Math curriculum, white supremacy in mathematics shows up when children focus on getting the correct answer, are told to work independently, have answers marked as “incorrect,” or are required to show their work just to name a few. Whereas “equitable math” gets a failing grade, it does get a few points. In some cases, it offers unsupported ideas on how to improve the teaching of mathematics in the classroom. Unquestionably, equitable math’s biggest problem comes from its core belief that all problems students face in math come from white supremacy rather than a multitude of other, more basic issues like poor teaching or individual responsibility.
Furthering this concept, some schools are trying to, or have already started to stop testing altogether, stating that testing is “racist” because certain groups of children, usually based solely on their skin color, do not test as well as other groups. In other schools, honors or advanced classes are now being labeled as “racist” for the same reason, and are, therefore abolished. These ideologies are in and of themselves, RACIST.
CES uses blatant discrimination to break children apart into groups based on their race, religion, and class.
CES uses blatant discrimination to break children apart into groups based on their race, religion, and class. Based on those groupings, it further identifies children as either being the OPPRESSED or the OPPRESSOR, and often identifies the OPPRESSORS as white supremacists. It is important to note that a curriculum based on CES actually comes with a warning label, “may cause trauma.”
While CES claims to talk about intersectionality or the concept that everyone has their own unique experiences of discrimination and oppression, it oftentimes omits any intersectionality that does not fit the narrative of white supremacy as the core of all problems.
CES openly states that white children are the only people who can be racist and because of the color of their skin, are automatically born privileged, despite ay other hardships they may have to endure in their lives, and are born inherently racist. Therefore, white children are told they are the OPRESSORS. This same labeling is also sometimes applied to lighter skinned black and Latino students as well as children from inter-racial or inter-ethnic couples.
In contrast, CES teaches that black people can never be racist, because they are the “victims” of white people and a foundational system in America that was created by white people, and therefore, are OPRESSED.
Both of these ideologies are in and of themselves, racist, as they solely judge children by the color of their skin.
So, how is your child being judged by their teachers and peers on a daily basis?
In CES, children are forced to complete worksheets that enable them to determined just how “racist” or “privileged” they are based on various characteristics. Some of those characteristics include:
Whether you are Male or Female (White males are the most racist children of all)
Your gender identity (Or how your feelings about your identity match up with the sex you were assigned at birth)
Your religious background
Christianity and Judaism are looked at as the most racist religions of all, despite the many races that practice both religions.
Jews are not only viewed as colonizers of Israel and oppressors of Palestine but they are also seen as having white privilege, despite the holocaust by Europeans and the population not having yet recovered to WWII levels even after 75 years.
Further, they attack the Jews for their alleged dominance in education, business, entertainment, and science.
If you are organized
If you get good grades
If you ask too many questions
If you disagree with anything you’re being taught (also known as microaggressions)
If you are arrogant or too confident
If you come from a Two-parent household
If your parents own their home
If your parents speak English
If you speak English
If you are a U.S. citizen
If your parents own their own business
Your socioeconomic status
Notice that NONE of these criteria include your child’s interests, character, individuality, or personality. CES focuses on superficial characteristics to prejudge children and break children into groups. CES makes unfair determinations on who they are as people. Asian and Jewish children are considered “white-adjacent.”
Critical Ethnic Studies is Racist
To sum things up, Critical Ethnic Studies is racist. CES seeks to fight actual or perceived discrimination and racism, with real discrimination and racism. Other programs founded in CRT principles include the 1619 Project and Teaching Hard History.
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THERE IS A BETTER WAY.
There is there a better way to address these sensitive topics without further dividing, blaming, or harming children in the process.
California Bill AB-2016: Objective of Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) states that teachers should “prepare pupils to be global citizens with an APPRECIATION for the contributions of multiple cultures.”
CONSTRUCTIVE ETHNIC STUDIES
In contrast to Critical Ethnic Studies, focuses on and explores the true experiences, histories, cultures, struggles, and accomplishments of specific ethnic or racial groups within American history and society, and seeks to promote healing through empathy, appreciation, understanding, positive discussion, and educating children on multiple perspectives.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Join school boards or attend school board meetings and ask for a Public Review Process to SEE the curriculum, DEMAND transparency, and PROMOTE positive curriculum rather than divisive curriculum
Educate yourself further on CRT topics and curriculum or join support groups including ACES, FAIR, What Are They Learning, FIRE, Parent Union, No Left Turn in Education
Write to legislators
Pay attention to what your children are learning in class
Speak up against cancel culture
Write letters to the editor to local papers
Submit letters to the State Board of Education and to your Governor
Talk to other parents and teachers, and SPREAD THE WORD
RESOURCES:
https://academic.oup.com/clp/article-abstract/51/1/467/366105?redirectedFrom=PDF
https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1254/critical-race-theory
https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1254/critical-race-theory
https://www.womankind.org.uk/intersectionality-101-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-important/
https://www.calethstudies.org/