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.

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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.

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Relevant explanation from the Post article about Loudon:

Loudoun’s equity work began in earnest about two years ago after two high-profile reports found that widespread racism was imperiling Black and Hispanic students’ progress. The reports concluded that children of color were more likely to be disciplined than their White peers and were less likely to succeed academically. In response, the school system developed a 22-page “Plan to Combat Systemic Racism,” which called for banning Confederate gear in schools and hosting teacher trainings to foster “racial consciousness.”

But Loudoun did not start teaching critical race theory, as Superintendent Scott A. Ziegler has noted. The trainings for teachers do sometimes use vocabulary associated with critical race theory, such as “white supremacy” and “systemic racism.” Opponents have seized on this as evidence of critical race theory infiltrating the school system, which enrolls 81,000 students, a majority of whom are Black, Hispanic, Asianor multiracial.

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.

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Coincidentally, the tweet below directs you to a good article on the dark influence behind the making of “critical race theory” as a political tool, with media accomplices.

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As luck would also have it, there’s a more enlightened opinion column in the Democrat-Gazette today by Richard Mason. It’s about systemic discrimination in Arkansas, with a major focus on gender discrimination. It is a commentary on public boards dominated by white men. He touches on race as well.

How about Arkansas citizens of color? Surely you don’t think they are equally represented. If you add local boards and commissions to the board appointed by the governor, the state total is easily over 1,000.

To be non-discriminatory these boards and commissions should have 50 percent women and on average 15 percent people of color. An equally proportioned board with 12 members would be made up of six women and six men, of which two are of color and one is left-handed.

If any such board exists, I’d like to know about it.

CRT, Mike?

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