As Asian, Black, White parents stand up to CRT, Ibram X. Kendi dismisses opponents' arguments
Opposition to Critical Race Theory being taught in America's schools has gained momentum, with the Boston University professor now rebuking its critics.
'You are now training our children to be social justice warriors and to loathe our country and our history,' one parent said of CRT, likening its effect to her experience living in Communist China.
As parents across the United States denounce Critical Race Theory in their school districts, Ibram X. Kendi declared that opponents of the framework are merely opposed to activists identifying their racism.
This spring, Critical Race Theory has faced opposition from parents of diverse backgrounds not wanting CRT curriculum in schools.
In one viral video, a Black mother told the Florida Board of Education that Critical Race Theory is inherently prejudiced against her children.
Fla. mom, Keisha King, to the State Board of Education: Critical Race Theory “does not teach the truth, unless you believe that whites are better than blacks ... Telling my child, or any child, that they are in a permanently oppressed status because they are black is racist” pic.twitter.com/DHJFONDXxx
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 11, 2021
“CRT and its outworking today is a teaching that there is a hierarchy in society where white male heterosexual able-bodied people are deemed the oppressor and anyone else outside of that status is oppressed,” she declared. “I don’t know about you, but telling my child or any child that they are in a permanent oppressed status in America because they are black is racist, and saying that white people are automatically above me, my children or any child is racist as well.”
A White mother in Colorado denounced her school board for failing to consult parents over the worldviews taught to their children.
“We are the ones that have the moral authority over their education,” she said. “We will not be marginalized. The board’s job is to represent the stakeholders… The stakeholders who were consulted before this policy was implemented does not list parents. Neither does the advisory committee. We are the stakeholders and we need to be included in this.”
“I do think there’s a concerted backlash from people who recognize that this time last year a growing number of Americans were either speaking out against racism or growing an awareness of the problem of racism,” Kendi, a Boston University professor, told The Guardian via Zoom.
But critiques of Critical Race Theory tend to focus on the framework’s application as curriculum and education policy, not a recognition of the existence of racism.
For example, a survivor of Mao Zedong’s Communist regime told her school board that the tactics behind Critical Race Theory seem “very familiar.”
What a chilling warning for parents from someone who came to this country from China. pic.twitter.com/GOLmvntqgn
— fightforschools (@fightforschools) June 9, 2021
“You are now training our children to be social justice warriors and to loathe our country and our history,” she said. “Growing up in Mao’s China, all of this seems very familiar. The Communist regime used the same critical theory to divide people; the only difference is they used class instead of race.”
“During the Cultural Revolution, I witnessed students and teachers turn against each other,” she recalled. “We changed school names to be politically correct. We were taught to denounce our heritage. The Red Guards destroyed anything that is not Communist: old statues, books, and anything else.”
Campus Reform reached out to Kendi for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @BenZeisloft
