ANALYSIS/OPINION:
“A right-wing conspiracy.”
That’s what political insider Terry McAuliffe, the Virginia Democratic nominee for governor, called critical race theory (CRT) being taught in our children’s classrooms.
No, Mr. McAuliffe, CRT at its roots is a Marxist experiment designed to brainwash our youth by having them define all elements of our society around class struggle. And one of the most high-profile debates of CRT’s merits is happening in your own backyard — Loudoun County, Virginia.
Loudoun County made national news earlier this year for discouraging its teachers from reading Dr. Seuss books because of their “strong racial undertones.” The school district’s diversity consultancy uses taxpayer monies to fund CRT teacher training at $625 per hour for five hours. Parents who oppose CRT have been doxed, called racists, and have had their personal information shared online. The leader of the school district’s Minority Student Achievement Advisory Committee (MSAAC) proposed punishing teachers if they criticized their so-called equity training. Multiple rallies have been held to push back on CRT and there’s an effort to recall six of the nine members of the Loudoun School Board.
And in early June, parents in Loudoun County also sued school administrators arguing that its “equity student ambassador” is inherently biased for disqualifying White students from serving.
“We’re behind the eight ball and are essentially late to the game because we now have to reverse the course of a failed institution — the public-school board,” parent and anti-CRT rally-goer Michael Rivera told the Loudoun Times-Mirror this week. “Transgender policies, pornographic books, and critical race theory are now in the system already and we must fight even harder to remove them.”
The awakening of CRT opposition happened last year, as parents witnessed first-hand what their children were being taught as they were being schooled from home.
“This was done in darkness, under cover of darkness and largely under emergency during COVID. What’s done in darkness comes to light,” Loudoun County parent Joe Mobley told Fox News this week. “Parents are waking up. Teachers are waking up and we actually have a large cohort of students who are speaking out against CRT.”
Even some teachers within the district have expressed dismay at having to teach the race-based indoctrination that’s been embedded in their school’s curriculum.
“I am witnessing some of our students in our White population experiencing the impact of equity. They are being told to check their White privilege — or they can’t be a part of certain conversations because they are White,” Monica Gill, a teacher at Loudoun County High School spoke at a rally this past weekend. “This is just one example of how critical race theory — or equity — treats everyone regardless of their color or race as mere avatars. Our education leadership denies it, but equity is critical race theory dressed up pretty.”
She continued: “It sounds lovely — equity — but it is poison. Because equity is not about equality of opportunity, which is foundational to American political culture and economic strength. It is about equal outcomes, which is foundational to Marxist political ideology.”
Still, Democrats, and the mainstream media would like to ignore this grass-roots uprising.
Mr. McAuliffe is not alone in his CRT denial. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said earlier this week Republicans are using CRT to “frighten people,” calling it a “dog whistle.” The mainstream media has also done its part to downplay CRT, with CNN’s Brian Stelter calling it an “obsession of MAGA media and an obsession of Fox,” calling it a “moral panic.”
Yet, this “moral panic” is happening in Northern Virginia — a traditionally blue area of the state, and one Republican’s need to outperform to take back the state’s governorship. CRT is going to be on the ballot this year, and polling shows it’s a winner among women and Independents
By a margin of two to one, Northern Virginia voters are much less likely to vote for an elected official who supports CRT, a survey released this month shows. Seventy-nine percent of women 55 and older affirmed a negative view of CRT, as did 81% of Independent voters 55 and older and 59% of public-school parents, the survey, released by Public Opinion Strategies and paid for by FightForSchools.com and N2America found.
Only 16 percent of those polled said they would be “much more likely” to both vote for someone supporting CRT and seek it to be taught in public schools.
So good luck, Mr. McAuliffe in turning a blind eye to CRT. It may come back to bite you in November.
• Kelly Sadler is commentary editor at The Washington Times.
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