Once conservative backlash against critical race theory (CRT) began, the media began claiming that it is only taught in academia and did not apply to K – 12 education. But the founders marveled at how the theory had permeated society.
The media has repeatedly claimed that CRT is not taught in schools. MSNBC host Joy Reid has said multiple times on her show that CRT is not being taught in schools and only applies to law school. Jon Favreau, a co-host on the liberal podcast Pod Save America, claimed that CRT is “not actually being taught in schools” and described opposition to the theory as “a coordinated, well-funded GOP midterm strategy.”
Writer Sarah Kendzior also argued that conservatives who are against CRT want to ban “basic historical facts” from being taught to children.
But critical race theory is *not* what’s being taught or banned in schools. Basic historical facts — especially about topics like slavery, Jim Crow, genocides of Native Americans — is what the GOP want banned and they call it “critical race theory” to make it sound intimidating
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) June 12, 2021
We also had a fantastic conversation with @jelani9 about Critical Race Theory, which is:
1) Not actually being taught in schools
2) A coordinated, well-funded GOP midterm strategy
3) Really a debate about how we define history and patriotism: https://t.co/NgrF1do8jJ
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) June 18, 2021
But the early founders of the antiracist ideology marveled as far back as a decade ago about how CRT was being incorporated into education.
Richard Delgado and his wife Jean Stefancic, both professors at the University of Alabama School of Law, did a 2010 interview in the legal journal “Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems.” The pair, who have written several texts about CRT, said that CRT emerged in the 1980s as a form of legal scholarship but said that the theory had “taken root” in other disciplines, including sociology and education.
Delgado said that CRT “found a natural affinity in education.”
“Seeing critical race theory take off in education has been a source of great satisfaction for the two of us,” he added. “Critical race theory is in some ways livelier in education right now than it is in law, where it is a mature movement that has settled down by comparison.”
The theory even goes beyond schools. It has infiltrated every part of society, from the military to America’s corporations.
Dr. Janice Underwood, the state of Virginia’s Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, told Virginia Military Institute’s Board of Visitors to incorporate race into “every single course” offered at VMI and said that “microaggressions” impact their service every day.
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified that the military should be “open-minded” and “widely read” when it comes to CRT and the U.S. Navy reading list includes “How To Be An Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi. (Former Army Captain, Purple Heart Recipient Sean Parnell Rips Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley For Defending CRT)
Coca-Cola allegedly used a program called “Confronting Racism,” which featured “White Fragility” author and left-wing academic Robin DiAngelo, during training that told trainees to “be less white.”
Amazon reportedly funded the distribution of “antiracist” books in Virginia’s public schools. According to documents obtained by Manhattan Institute fellow Christopher Rufo, Disney conducted training that told employees to “not question or debate” the experience of black colleagues, to “work through feelings of guilt, shame, and defensiveness,” and said that America has a “long history of systemic racism and transphobia.”