(Part 1 concentrated on Florida's new anti-critical race theory/1619 Project rule.)
The Citizens for Renewing America have a booklet for you: Combatting Critical Race Theory In Your Community (yeah, they use the British spelling of "combating"). As the subtitle says, it's "An A to Z Guide On How To Stop Critical Race Theory And Reclaim Your Local School Board," although it doesn't actually go from A to Z on anything. So it's already lying to you.
According to the "Guide," critical race theory is coming after you to hijack all your institutions: "The fact is that proponents of this radical ideology will attempt to take over your cultural institutions, including all educational institutions." How is it going to do that? By telling you that "because racism is embedded in every single part of the system including anything from laws, to morality, to culture, to healthcare, and even science, racism is everywhere—no matter what anyone thinks. The way society operates is racist," which, let's be honest, is fucking true. That's the hilariously depressing part of this: these anti-CRT, anti-1619 Project assholes tell you that the truth isn't true.
Now, I know you're wondering, "Why, how will I know if my precious white child is being subjected to the jungle madness that is critical race theory if they don't specifically say that heinous phrase?" Well, shitty parent of a kid who is going to grow up to hate you, there are certain buzzwords you should look out for. In fact, there's a big motherfuckin' list of 'em. They include, no shit, "equitable," "multiculturalism," "racial prejudice," and "anti-racism." Yes, there are some loaded words and phrases, but I don't think anyone is using "identity deconstruction" in little white Todd's 4th grade social studies class.
(Side note: What's with these culture warriors and their problem with ideas or people that are "anti" something awful? How is it bad to be "anti-racist"? Or "anti-fascist," for that matter? It's like they're saying, "Don't tell us the shit we believe is wrong. You're wrong for telling us we're wrong about our wrongness." Really, I'm just saying they're a bunch of cowardly, brainless garbage fuckers on the right.)
If you're thinking, "Okay, this shit can't get any weirder and crazier," oh, you are mistaken. Because, see, this bullshit shifts from warning you about the horrors of your kid learning that Black and brown people have been treated like shit throughout American history to a completely nutzoid, paranoid rant about the CRT soldiers fucking up your nice, white society: "Once the Critical Race Theory activists show up, they will do everything in their power to take over your school, church, mosque, synagogue, club, business, government, police service, hospital, and any other institution you can think of. They will not always come as wolves in wolves’ clothing. Often, they will come as sheep, pretending to be articulate, reasonable, and moderate thought leaders. But with just an ounce of power, they will move surreptitiously and artfully to implement destructive CRT dreams into reality. It is incumbent on parents to always be on their guard and not invest power or potential in those who could do their children harm...They will stop at nothing...They are not trying to win an academic debate, they are attempting to socially replace you."
I read that and thought, "You hysterical motherfuckers, we just want kids to be taught that racism is real and it's been part of our history. Is that so fucking hard? Does that make baby Washington cry? Fuck off." And I thought, "Damn, they really don't want Black people teaching their kids."
But this is the tiger that conservatives have decided to unleash to tear into the heart of any burgeoning unity that the country might have over things like voting rights or gun laws or economic justice or, really, just about any fucking thing that Republicans don't want. They create a socialist/Marxist/Negro/Islamic babadook to haunt anyone who might want to think beyond their prejudices and actually make the nation stronger. "Oh, fuck that Joe Biden," they want voters to say. "Fuck those Democrats. Sure, they may want to give us supplemental income to help lift our children out of poverty, but not at the cost of our white souls!" Racism is the convenient cudgel of conservatism.
Yesterday in Texas (motto: "Your guns will keep you cool when the power goes out again"), Gov. Greg "People with Disabilities Can Be Assholes, Too" Abbott signed an anti-critical race theory/1619 Project bill into law, and, like those in other states, it's a confusing pile of contradictions and hyperbole. For instance, it requires that students learn about Ona Judge, George Washington's slave who escaped her bondage, and Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson's enslaved rape victim, as well as Frederick Douglass's newspaper, the North Star, the Fugitive Slave Acts, and other documents related to Black life before and during the Civil War. The students have to learn about the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act and the Civil Rights Movement. They have to learn "the history of white supremacy, including but not limited to the institution of slavery, the eugenics movement, and the Ku Klux Klan, and the ways in which it is morally wrong."
However, teachers are supposed to give lessons in these things while adhering to the second part of the law, which says that they can't teach that "with respect to their relationship to American values, slavery and racism are anything other than deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to, the authentic founding principles of the United States, which include liberty and equality." So, just to get this right, you're supposed to teach how, for most of the history of this country, Black people were either enslaved or denied rights, but you have to lie and say that's a "deviation," "betrayal," or "failure," not the reality that "This is America."
And you cannot do anything that might cause "an individual [to] feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual's race or sex." So if you teach your class that white people in Texas were some of the lynching-est motherfuckers in the nation after the Civil War and that makes Todd feel like shit and he tells his MAGA mama, you might get in trouble.
Oh, and you very specifically cannot, no way, no how, "require an understanding of The 1619 Project." Yeah, it's that fucking clear in it's "fuck you, libcucks."
That booklet I talked about up top also offers tips for getting teachers and others at the school to narc out the CRT supporters, as well as how to run for school board so that the loyal (white) Americans can run the joint. That's become an entire insane movement, with the group No Left Turn (god, they are so dunderheaded in their names) leading the way.
And it's continuing, with more states passing laws and more states teeing up laws, because this is the new hysteria. This is the new "transgender people will fondle your children in the restroom" or "Shariah law is coming for your pork" or "violent video games cause people to murder" kind of fake controversy. And it's not like this is something the fuckers have studied. Over in Alabama, a reporter actually asked a state legislator who is sponsoring a bill banning the teaching of critical race theory in his state what the fuck it is. And, of course, the dumb fuck didn't know. That's because you're not gonna know unless you take a course in it because "critical race theory" doesn't mean "all that black shit that makes my white ass look bad." It means something pretty goddamn precise.
This is part of the backlash to Black Lives Matter. It is a reaction to legitimizing the pain and oppression of non-white people. It is the fearful squeal of a hegemonic whiteness that is seeing its power diminish as the United States becomes a non-white country, the crepuscule of a dominance that cannot continue. The shift to that non-white USA is going to happen, as it should. The only question is how much of this hateful bullshit are we going to have to wade through to get to the truly equitable, multicultural, anti-racist dawn.
