September 22, 2021

Max Brantley: Critical race theory: It’s a political invention, despite what you might read or hear

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In an op-ed for the Arkansas Times, senior editor Max Brantley looks at the trouble being stirred up in the name of critical race theory, and he calls baloney.\

An Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist, Mike Masterson, wrote today about a Loudon, Va., school teacher who resigned because she refused to teach critical race theory (transgender policy also bugged her). He said the school board had added CRT lessons in her school district.

Critical race theory is not being taught in Loudon, Va., or just about anywhere else except the occasional graduate school. You might think otherwise as Republicans have used the phrase nationally to weaponize the appeal of white supremacy.

The Washington Post reports in-depth on the controversy in Loudon, which has been stirred by Republicans and promoted by Fox News as part of a national strategy evident also in Arkansas legislative action.

“Critical race theory” is a dog whistle for the protection of the old order of things. In political practice, it is cancel culture — squelching discussion of lingering discrimination and systemic racism in the U.S.

Does anyone really challenge the existence of white supremacists or evidence of systemic racism in the U.S.? Republicans do. It makes them uncomfortable. It threatens the inherent advantages they enjoy. For useful instruction on built-in advantages, read Peggy McIntosh on white privilege, a straightforward recitation of advantages enjoyed by white people that legislators found so offensive they went after Arkansas Governor’s School for having it on an optional reading list.

Read the full piece here.

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