The Daily Signal - What You Need to Know About Critical Race Theory

Episode Date: January 20, 2021

Critical race theory is fast becoming part of classroom curriculums and the larger culture in general. The Heritage Foundation recently hosted a panel discussion breaking down what critical race theory is and why it poses a threat. The event features insights from several Heritage scholars and policy experts. On today's podcast, we share the audio from the event, “The New Intolerance: Critical Race Theory and Its Grip on America.” We also cover these stories: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., says that soon-to-be-ex-President Donald Trump is partly to blame for the breaching of the Capitol by rioters on Jan. 6. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, says she isn’t sure it’s constitutional to hold an impeachment trial for a president after he has left office.  The United States says China is committing genocide with its repression and forced labor of the Uighurs and other Muslim minorities.  Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk, business. This is the Daily Signal podcast for Wednesday, January 20th. I'm Rachel Del Judas. And I'm Virginia Allen. Critical race theory is quickly seeping deeper into classroom curriculum and culture in general. The Heritage Foundation recently hosted a panel discussion breaking down what exactly is critical race theory and why it poses a threat to historical and fundamental truths. The event features insights from several heritage scholars and policy experts. We're excited to share the audio from the event, which is titled The New Intolerance, Critical Race Theory and its grip on America.

Today's podcast is a little bit longer because we're sharing the full hour panel discussion with you today. We felt that it was just so good that we wanted to share the whole thing. And don't forget, if you're enjoying this podcast, please be sure to leave a review or a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and encourage others to subscribe. Now on to our top news. Senate Majority Leader, soon to be Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said President Donald Trump is to blame for the breaching of the Capitol on January 6th that ultimately left five people dead. Here's what McConnell had to say on the Senate floor Tuesday via the Washington Post. The last time the Senate convened, we had just reclaimed the Capitol from violent criminals who tried to stop Congress from doing our duty. The mob was fed lies.

They were provoked by the president and other powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government, which they did not like. But we pressed on. We stood together and said an angry mob would not get veto power over the rule of law in our nation, not even for one. night. We certified the people's choice for their 46 president. Tomorrow, President Black Biden and Vice President of Luck Harris will be sworn in. We'll have a safe and successful inaugural right here on the west front of the Capitol. Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, says she is not sure it's constitutional to hold an impeachment trial for a president after he's left

office. One asked by reporters Tuesday if she thought it was constitutional to hold the trial. Ernst said she did not think it was and added that I read arguments on both sides, but he's not our president after tomorrow. So the only reason I can see is that Democrats want to further divide the nation. And I'm asking President-elect Joe Biden, please let's move forward. In a letter to Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, who will serve as the new Senate majority leader, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, pointed out that impeachment power exists to protect the nation from the harm that an incumbent president might inflict upon the nation, were he to remain in office, not to vindicate political grievances after a president has left office.

The United States says that China is committing genocide with its repression and forced labor of the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. A Tuesday press statement from Mike Pompeo says that since at least March 2017, local authorities dramatically escalated their decades-long campaign of repression against Uyghur Muslims and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups. Their morally repugnant wholesale policies, practices, and abuses are designed systematically to discriminate against and surveil ethnic Uyghurs as a unique demographic and ethnic group, restrict their freedom to travel, emigrate, and attend. and schools and deny other basic human rights of assembly, speech, and worship. PRC authorities have conducted forced sterilizations and abortions on Uighur women, coerce them to marry non-weggers, and separated Uighur children from their families. The stand taken by the Trump administration is the strongest denunciation by any government of China's actions and follows a Biden campaign statement with the same declaration, per the New York Times.

Two National Guard members have been removed from their inaugural day post due to their association with far-right militia groups. No plot was discovered against President Joe Biden and the names of the right-wing militia groups have not been released. The Secret Service, who oversee the security efforts on inauguration day, said in a statement that due to operational security, we do not discuss the process nor the outcome of the vetting process for military members supporting the United States. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that she reportedly does not agree with Hillary Clinton's position that Congress have a 9-11 commission-style body to look into President Trump's alleged ties to Vladimir Putin. Following a podcast conversation between Clinton and Pelosi on Clinton's podcast published over the weekend, Clinton tweeted on Monday. Speaker Pelosi and I agree. Congress needs to establish an investigative body like the 9-11 commission to determine Trump's ties to Putin so we can't. repair the damage to our national security and prevent a puppet from occupying the presidency

ever again. But for the Washington Examiner, who reached out to Pelosi's office seeking confirmation of whether Clinton's claim was true, as it was unclear in the interview whether Pelosi was agreeing to such a bipartisan commission to look into the Russia issue or the January 6th briot at the Capitol. Drew Hamill, Pelosi's spokesman, said it was the latter. The commission's speaker is talking about relates to the attack on the Capitol. is clear from her answers, he said. He also directed the Washington Examiner to the podcast transcript. He did not respond to a follow-up question on whether Pelosi believe Clinton mischaracterized her. On Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden announced that he has picked Dr. Rachel Levine to be his assistant secretary of health.

If confirmed by the Senate, Levine will be the first openly transgender federal official. In a statement announcing his choice for the position, Biden said, Dr. Rachel Levine will be the steady leadership and essential expertise we need to get people through this pandemic, no matter their zip code, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, and meet the public health needs of our country in this critical moment and beyond. Levine graduated from Harvard University and Tulane University School of Medicine. Levine has served as Pennsylvania's physician general and now serves as the state's Secretary of Health, having been confirmed by Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled state Senate three times. On Monday, President Donald Trump announced an amendment to his executive order from July, announcing 244 people into what he named the National Garden of American Heroes.

According to the Monday executive order, the garden is set to be a statutory park with a task force called the Interagency Task Force for Building and Rebuilding Monuments to American Heroes that would plan the National Garden of American Heroes. While the location of the National Garden of American Heroes hasn't been set yet, the garden will honor 244 people for embodying the American spirit of daring and defiance, excellence and adventure, courage and confidence, loyalty and love. Astounding the world by the sheer power of their example, each one of them has contributed indispensably to America's noble history, the best chapters of which are still to come, according to the executive order. Now stay tuned for the Heritage Foundation panel event, the new intolerance, critical race theory

and its grip on America. And if you want to keep up with all the Heritage Foundation events, be sure to subscribe to the Heritage Events podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen. We're all guilty of it. Spending too much time watching silly videos on the internet. But it's 2021. Maybe it's time for a change. At the Heritage Foundation YouTube channel, you'll find videos that both entertain and educate, including virtual events featuring the biggest names in American politics,

original explainers and documentaries, and heritage experts diving deep on topics like election integrity, China, and other threats to our democracy. All brought to you by the nation's most broadly supported, Public Policy Research Institute. Start watching now at heritage.org slash YouTube. And don't forget to subscribe and share. Good afternoon.

My name is Angela Saylor, and I'm the Vice President of the Funer Institute here at the Heritage Foundation. Happy, Happy New Year to all of you and welcome to our first public event of 2021. The words of Charles Dixon, a tale of two cities, is reverbering across the nation. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom.

It was the age of foolishness. It was the spring of hope. It was the winter of despair. The Heritage Foundation has fought for the interest of the American people for nearly 50 years and through 12 presidential elections. No matter who occupies the White House or who holds the majority in Congress. We continue to advocate for solutions that ensure America remains a land of unprecedented opportunity and the freest, most prosperous nation the world has ever known. As our President K. K. Coles James says, Heritage will never stop fighting for America, and we will always do it adhering to the principles that made America the exceptional nation that it is. We firmly believe the functioning of our republic depends on freedom-loving Americans who uphold the rule of law and defend

the Constitution. As we reflect on 2020 and engage in the astonishing events of 2021, we know as individuals and as a nation we have our work cut out for us in the years ahead. Freedom of speech and freedom of protest are amazing rights we have as Americans. But it is extremely disappointing. disappointing and disheartening to see peaceful protests transform into angry moms. There are appropriate ways to petition government, and attacking the U.S. Capitol and law enforcement is never acceptable. There are many issues that will continue to divide us as a nation, and we will always be able to move forward to look for solutions to those divisions. Today, we at the Heritage Foundation, have designated the next hour to drill down on one of these areas, the new intolerance,

Critical Race Theory, and its grip on America. Last year, our scholars began to take a deep look at critical race theory and to sound the alarms that public policies based on this worldview will never alleviate racial inequality in the real world. In fact, this dogma undermines human and social factors, such as family, entry-level work, and merit-based education, the wellsprings of upward mobility. Yet, the rigid persistence with which believers apply this theory has made critical race theory a constant daily presence in the lives of hundreds of millions of people. I am so delighted to introduce to you our distinguished panel. I'm going to start with our very own Dr. Lindsay Burke.

She is the Director of Heritage's Center for Education Policy. She oversees the Foundation's Research and Policy on Issues pertaining to pre-K, to preschool, K-12, and higher education reform. Lindsay's commentary research and op-eds have appeared in new. numerous magazines and newspapers, and she is a frequent guest on radio and television shows and speaks on education reform issues all across the country and internationally. She has also published evaluations of education choice options for public policy foundations, and she's done extensive work developing and evaluating education savings accounts. Lindsay also serves as a fellow at Ed Choice, the name's

Foundation of Milton and Rose Friedman and on the National Advisory Board of Learned for Life, a network of public charter schools serving opportunity youth. I also want to introduce you to my colleague Jonathan Butcher. Jonathan serves as the senior policy analyst for the Center of Education Policy at Heritage. He has researched and testified on education policy and school choice programs around the United States. Jonathan also co-edited and wrote chapters in the book, The Not So Great Society, which provides conservative solutions to the problems created by the ever-expanding federal footprint in preschool K-12 and higher education. My colleague, Mike Gonzalez, I want to introduce you to, he is the senior fellow at the Douglas

and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy. and Angelus T. Arandano, E. Pluribus Unum fellow here at Heritage. He spent close to 20 years as a journalist, 15 of them reporting from Europe, Asia, Latin America. And Mike joined Heritage as a vice president of communications way back in 2009 and has now become a senior research fellow in 2014. In his new capacity, he has written on Hong Kong, China, and Latin America. And we are so proud of his book that he released last year, The Plot to Change America, How Identity Politics is Dividing the Land of the Free.

And last but not least, documentary filmmaker Christopher Rupo, we call him Chris, has joined the Heritage Foundation as a visiting fellow and domestic policy studies, focusing on homelessness. Chris has directed four documentaries for PBS, Netflix, and international television. And currently, he's the director for the Center of Wealth and Poverty at the Discovery Institute.

Chris also serves as a contributing editor of City Journal, where he covers poverty, homelessness, addiction, crime, and other afflictions. I want to ask all of my colleagues to please join the screen. And I want to remind you, as we go through the program, you will have an opportunity to ask questions. please lodge your questions in the Q&A box. You know, there's an old saying taken from one of the oldest books known to mankind. What has been will be again. What has been done will be done again.

There's nothing new under the sun. Critical race theory has been and continues today with tenets and principles that are not new, but have become more popular. In December, Mike Gonzalez and Jonathan Butcher took, took the issues of critical race theory to pen and wrote an issue brief to educate all willing to hear about critical race theory and its rejection of the underpinnings of Western civilization. It has been said that critical race theory looks at all aspects of society through the lens of race and power and claims no human experience can transcend race. Therefore, society and every human relationship exists within the power struggle between the races. Mike and Jonathan, I am so excited about the conversation we're going to have today with the rest of our colleagues.

Your paper addresses the perilous events of what we witnessed an experience last year. And you all noted that it was not so much a reaction to the hatred and the heart of real races, but to the mindset that critical theory has created. So let's discuss why research on critical race theory is so important right now and how you all have traced the history of the family of critical theories. Mike, let's start with you. Thank you, Angela. I think it is supremely important now, especially after the events that you referenced last week.

The left now feels emboldened by the riots, the capital that we saw on the day of the epiphany. The violent mob that invaded the capital have now made it easier to repress conservative ideas. Because the left now, frankly, feels it has the upper hand, the moral upper hand. And because of the results of the elections, the day before the riot, they have all the levers of government power. They also have all the culture-making institutions. They have big tech, which as we can all see is now repressing all views that the left does not agree with. And they have increasingly the Fortune 500 companies. So conservatives really have to be very aware of what the movement calls for.

And you start that by understanding what the left is trying to do, this push for all out institutional changes. was already in full blossom before the Capitol Hill riots. Let's not forget the Speaker Pelosi, started the year by removing the words mother, father, sister, brother, et cetera, which she called two gender-specific from the rules of the House of Representatives. You know, Mother is one of the most emotive words we have in the English language. All research shows, and now it's gone because of critical theory. And last week began, let's not forget, on Sunday, the Sunday of last week with Representative Emmanuel Cleaver opening the 117th Congress with the words, Amen and A Women. So this is now, because of the sad events of last week, this is now going to be on steroids.

And conservatives need to be very aware of that. I tell you, we are really living in some interesting moments and the work that you and Jonathan and Lindsey and Chris are doing are so critical. Jonathan, jump into the conversation and further elaborate on why the research of critical race theory is so important right now. Thanks, Angela. So critical race theory and its parent, critical theory, are rooted in a worldview that want to dismantle social and governmental norms. Okay, that's what they're after. Racism existed and still exists in some forms today. We're not denying that. We're not denying that issue.

And we don't have to identify the new intolerance and dogmas within critical race theory. The question is, what do we do about it? So as we explained in our paper, critical theory is not a sympathetic perspective with policy goals that lead to racial reconciliation, freedom and opportunity. That's not what it is. It's talking about subjugation and retribution. One of the founders of critical race theory calls for, quote, transformative resistance strategy in response to the rule of law in our constitutional republic critical race theories adherents are again straight from their their words quote highly

suspicious of the liberal agenda and liberal as in classical liberal values in the enlightenment and reason and they quote distrust its method thus there is and should be a reflexive response among all Americans, on both sides of the ideological divide, to concepts that are intent on driving public policy that are not committed to freedom and opportunity for all, but only retribution and justice for some. Ronald Reagan said years ago, we have to offer America and the world a larger vision. We must hold out an exciting prospect of an orderly, compassionate, pluralistic society and archipelago of prospering communities and divergent institutions. This is not the critical race theory agenda. Again, from the founders of critical race theory, it questions the very

foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, and neutral principles of constitutional law. So like the events of last Wednesday, this is not building but destroying. And as we explain in our paper and in a few minutes here in the webinar, the applications of critical race theory and policy today have no plans for rebuilding. So Mike, just kind of building off of what some of what Jonathan has just laid down, and he highlights that unlike traditional civil rights discourse, which stresses step-by-step progress, critical race theory questions the very foundations of liberal order. Mike, can you talk more about the roots of critical rates theory? And give us a quick lesson there. So as we go over to Chris and get him in the conversation,

people are really rooted in what we're talking about. Yeah, thanks. Briefly, understanding the roots is very important. The way we, a moment ago I said that we need to, the conservatives needed to be very aware of the challenge, what the challenge currently is. And the way we grasp the moment begins by understanding the origins of critical race theory, understanding that it is merely a tool for changing the country. And I wrote a book about this, as you said, the plot to change America. Critical race theory is obviously the child of critical legal theory, which starts in the 1970s and holds that the whole legal setup, all of jurisprudence, is really only to preserve the privilege of the people who write the laws.

And then critical legal theory itself is the child of critical theory, which emerges in Germany in the 1930s, just as the Third Reich is taking a hold of that country. Critical theory is simply an unremitting and devastating criticism of all the institutions of the West. It was started by an institute called the Frankfurt School colloquially, which is a very important neo-Marxist, Western Marxist institution. So what critical race theory does is that it takes this destructive criticism of critical theory and of Western institutions and as its name would suggest, sees all of life through the prism of race.

So American history, for example, is interpreted only through the lens of fractures race relations. Critical theory and critical legal theory is therefore a Marxist view of life that divides everything. into categories of the oppressors and the oppressed and critical race theory colorizes all that. The oppressed, then are African Americans and other categories later to be called people of color that were created, that have been created by the government since the 1970s and 80s. Wow, I tell you, I guess a scholar looks at that and sees concentric circles and maybe someone in their youth says, this sounds like an octopus with tentacles everywhere. As critical theory becomes more familiar to the public in everyday life,

CRT's intolerance and the idea of systematic racism is being normalized in the American psyche. And this weakens public and private bonds that create trust between citizens and really allows for a civic engagement, if you will. Chris, jump in here and tell us about the work that you've been doing. and the highlights of what you think we need to really have our ears open to. Yeah, great, thanks. So I've been working on looking at critical race theory within institutions. So beginning last summer, I worked on a series of investigative reports looking at essentially HR programs and federal agencies

and that were increasingly over the last few years being dominated by critical race theory. And to give a few specific examples, The national nuclear laboratories in New Mexico was holding a critical race theory-based training in which they took their white male executives to a resort and forced them through a series of trainings to deconstruct their white male identity, which they claimed was kind of consonant with the KKK, MAGA hats, mass killings, all of these horrible things, to deconstruct that identity. to essentially publicly condemn themselves and then to write letters of apology to women and people of color for their whiteness. Another example, the FBI was holding intersectionality training for the FBI employees.

The Justice Department was teaching the tenets of critical race theory and even the Treasury Department was holding training sessions outlining how the United States was a fundamentally racist and irredeemable country. And then asking them to hold kind of sub-training sessions along these same lines. And this reporting led to an executive order from President Trump banning these trainings in the federal government. Although it's looking like I think with a 99% degree of certainty that that executive order will be canceled and these will come back with a vengeance. So the new work that I'm doing this year is started off this year.

year, I'm doing a series of 10 to 15 reports on critical race theory in schools, K through 12. Again, along those same lines, you know, they had, for example, one story that's going to be coming out shortly, had third graders deconstructing their intersectional identities. So basically, slicing and dicing their own kind of internal self-image on the axes of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, transgenderism, et cetera, and then ranking themselves, again, eight to nine-year-olds, ranking themselves on a hierarchy of power and privilege. So they're really taking these tenets that were once limited to academia and now trying to basically inject them directly into the bloodstream of every institution from kindergarten to the federal government.

And this is obviously dangerous. And I think, you know, my last short point, there's a very kind of direct line from what Mike is talking about, the Frankfurt School and Marcusa in the 1960s and 70s to HR programs in pretty much every large institution in the country to elementary schools, high schools, K through 12, etc. but also critically to the street rioting and protests that we saw last year that we talked about at the beginning. These all emanate from the same core ideologies. And unfortunately, I think it is pretty much a guarantee that as they perpetuate the institutions with even greater force and fury, we're going to see more unrest. And I'll tell you that they're now training elementary school students. how to hold protests, how to disrupt the system, how to become revolutionaries.

And that's the state of play right now. I tell you, I think everyone's ears are burning in terms of what we're going to tell them next. Lindsay, want to get you in on the discussion. You know, critical race theory is a complete rejection of the best ideas of the American founding. And boy, oh boy, this is some dangerous, dangerous philosophical poisoning, as Chris has pointed out, like in the bloodstream. Lindsay, talk about, you know, let's talk about our young people and why this is such an issue for school boards and parents of school-aged children. Yeah, thanks, Angela, and thank you for hosting this event. And I think Chris just now really hit the nail on the head.

I would add colleges of education to that list that he just rattled off as well, really disseminating critical theory and critical race theory. You know, I think one other institution we should really draw our attention to are school boards in this conversation. And there are 14,000 school boards across the country with 100,000 school board members. And those members really determine the shape and the content of curricula and, and, and, and classrooms across America. And in fact, those 100,000 school board members comprise the largest group of elected officials in America. And so school boards wields really considerable power

over everything from curricula and instruction to even things like school bus routes and superintendent hiring and pay. So at Heritage, we recently commissioned a study because we really wanted to know what both parents and school board members think about a whole host of issues taking place in classrooms across America, but also these issues that are really emanating from critical theory. And one of those ideas is a 1619 project, which we've talked about

at length before on various webinars and have excellent scholarship on that from Jonathan and Mike as well. But journalists at the New York Times began the 1619 project in 2019 in an effort to rethink the founding date of America and, quote, reframe the U.S. history by, marking the year when the first enslaved Africans arrived on Virginia soil as our nation's foundational date, end quote. And now more than 4,500 classrooms across the country have begun to incorporate 1619 project curricular materials into their content. And so this is what we wanted to find out in our survey. So we ask families, we ask school board members across the country, specifically about 1619, and 50% of all parents and 70% of school board members said that they do not want schools to use instructional material based on the idea that slavery is the, quote, center of our national narrative as the 1619 project does.

With regard to what students should be taught about slavery, 70% of parents and 74% of school board members believe that students should be taught, that slavery is a tragedy that harm the nation, but that freedom and prosperity represent who we are as Americans. And America continues to offer a beacon of hope to those who wish to immigrate here. I would note in that slide that just 25% of parents and only 17% of school board members believe that students should be taught that the founding ideals of liberty and equality were false when they were written and that America's history must be reframed. And then we ask among all parents, 59% a majority want their children to continue to learn that the year 1776, not 1619, is the birth of America.

33% of parents want their children to learn 1619, but the vast majority, 59%, want them to continue to learn. It is 1776. And among school board respondents, 73% believe that students should continue to learn that the founding year of America was 1776 and just 16% would like to teach that founding date is 1619. So if parents and school board members appear relatively opposed to the content being disseminated through 1619, broader critical theory content, which we have a long survey, it's actually being released today, why are we seeing so many classrooms adopt 1619 content and related content? Education scholar Robert Pondissio chokes it up to teachers using found curriculum, so resources that they find on the internet, not formally, but there's also the bigger issue of who influences that decision-making process, which really brings us back to this question of school board members.

The special interest groups are able to shape the policies that are promulgated by school boards to a large degree, in part, because a century ago and an attempt to get school boards out of politics to get special interest groups. groups out of politics, progressive era reformers slated school board elections to be held as off-year races. And so that decision actually had the opposite effect of what was intended. John Chubb at the Hoover Institute says that school board elections have the lowest turnout of any general election averaging only about 10% of local voters. And so with low turnout, special interest groups are really able to define that local education narrative and really exert outsides influence on the proposals that ultimately become policy. So I would just say that as school boards adopt curriculum and textbooks across the country, they should bear the findings

from the survey in mind and critically, and we can talk more about this when we talk solutions, but state lawmakers should require public school boards to make curricular materials available for public review. Wow. Lindsay, that, you know, you, you know, you, Bringing us back and reminding us of 1619 this year, I mean, something we have to continue to keep our eyes on is so important. And the data that you just shared, I mean, it should give us hope when you see that teachers and school board members and parents are on a trajectory of 1776 and looking for truth. Jonathan, you know, last year and going into this year, you're still following very closely other examples in the K-12 world of application of critical race theory.

Give us a few more examples so that people can really understand how this theory is percolating its head across the spectrum. Sure, thanks. Well, it's the K-12 world and beyond. So remember, critical race theory abandons the teaching of facts from history to math and much in between. So some of this comes today in the form of new ethnic studies programs from California to Washington State to Connecticut, which is notable because that's where the president elects Choice for Education Secretary led the development of an ethnic studies program that schools are required to offer. That includes ideas from critical race theory. But it's not limited to these ethnic studies courses. Again, so listen, like Lindsay brought up just a moment ago about colleges of education. So someone that's widely read in colleges of ed from 20 years ago said, quote, the use of voice or naming your reality is a way that critical race theory links form and substance in scholarship.

And, quote, much of reality is socially constructed. So they're getting away from this idea that there are facts, that there is objective truth, which is why we took the time to explain the roots of all this coming from what Mike was talking about. So California has an entire section in their ethnic studies program that is under development right now that's devoted to intersectionality. It's a way, of course, like Chris was saying that he touched on, that critical race theory allows for the combining of the elements of perceived oppression to claim additional rights in some cases for people from minority ethnicities. Columbia professor John McWhorter calls such pedagogy nothing more than performance art. And for example, San Francisco is now canceling Abraham Lincoln by removing his name from the name of a high school. But it gets worse because we've had a rash of shoutdowns and disinitations at colleges and universities over the past five, ten years. Why is it happening in this day and age?

Well, listen to the students who violate the free speech rights of others or invited speakers when they do these shoutdowns. So at Columbia, for example, a few years ago, rioters took over the library and called to decolonize Columbia, which is code in critical race theory to remove any instruction that doesn't teach from the perspective of minority ethnic groups. Terms like dismantle whiteness and the idea that a $60,000 a year college is no longer a safe space are commonly heard during these shoutdowns. Shelby Steele, a former civil rights activist himself,

captures this mindset. when he says that it's a political identity that collectivizes people, one that herds them into victim-focused identities, and consoles them with a vague myth of their own human superiority. So again, critical race theory is not sufficient to help the current or future generations understand the challenges that we face today in rebuilding a sense of individual agency and human flourishing. critical race theory it makes no promises for reconciliation only a perpetual conflict between groups we again have to give the next generation a bigger vision than the one that contains rewards for determining your own level of oppression a revolutionary era doctor in boston 200 years ago he got it right in his message he said our country is in danger but not to be despaired of on you current and future generations depend the fortunate of America, you are to decide the important question on which rest the happiness and liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves. Oh, boy. So, Mike, I know you're, I know you, the, the word identity politics is like all over your mind and you want to get that into the conversation in a much louder way. Mike, really tell us, break it down on identity politics here and how it's

serving as a vehicle for even the elimination of capitalism and the introduction of socialism. Yes, thank you. And before I start giving you my answer, I want to give a shout out to Chris Rufo. He did a lot last year, and he mentioned Marcusa. And I think we can see in what the big tech companies are doing to conservative views, an echo of Marcus's 1966 essay, repressive tolerance. Now, as to your question, Angela, let's not forget that the left has a purpose in mind when it criticizes all the institutions of the West. And let me be clear what I mean by the institutions of the West.

I mean the family, the nation state, religion, and above all, the economic system that is based on individual private ownership of property. We can say that Speaker Pelosi was writing the family out of the rules of the House of Representatives when you're not. she outlawed the use of the term mother and father. Now, the reason to destroy these pillars of Western society to make them look hideous is to make more authoritarian systems of government and of the economy look alluring by comparison. And by that, I want to be clear about what I'm saying. By that, I mean central planning.

Critical race theory extends this intense criticism to the history of the United States, which must start, as Lindsay alluded to, not with the Declaration of Independence in 1776, but with the arrival in Virginia of a group of Africans, apparently from Angola in 1619, the reason to make all the history of America look hideous as well is obvious. If America is institutionally, structurally, and systemically racist, then all the institutions, structures, and America's very system must be overreactual. hold. Again, the purpose here is to introduce more authoritarian alternatives, where are God given or natural rights, such as the right to free speech, private property, or conscience,

are not only just not protected, but not even respected. That critical race theory is the system of beliefs behind identity politics, which seeks to change America, which is the reason why I've called my book the plot to change America, and now we see the consequences. We have spent the last four decades destroying the centripetal forces that hold the country together. And I'm referring to, I'm quoting here from a very famous now lecturer by Professor Jonathan Haidt. He gave prophetically not three years ago. And now we see the consequences of this unconscionable approach, you know, in what has happened in the last seven months of riots and protests and looting. and what happened last week, the violence, the mob that we saw at the Capitol,

obviously what we need to do is going forward is restristen these centripetal forces again and fight against the divisions of critical race theory and identity politics. Chris, I see you nodding, and I want to get you in the conversation that just expand more about all of this in the workplace and what it means for welfare and et cetera here. So can you drill in a little more about the workplace? Yeah, yeah. I'd love to talk about the workplace.

And I think, you know, to Mike's point, I think that the real odd phenomenon that I'm seeing is that critical race theory, you know, ostensibly is about lifting up people of color, lifting up the poor, creating greater equality. It really traffics in two, kind of key conceptions. One is systemic racism, the idea that our institutions are kind of, are kind of geared towards oppressing minority groups, et cetera. And then also, you know,

racial equality is the catchword, but racial equity, rather, is the catchword of the thing they're moving towards. But if you actually look at the kind of core beliefs and recommendations of critical race theory, it wouldn't actually look at the, you know, lead to greater racial equality or greater racial equity. In fact, it would destroy the very institutions that historically for people of all racial groups are essential. And, you know, those are really simply the family, kind of family structure work. Obviously, the only solution to poverty is earned income. That's what, you know, history shows and common sense. And also educational achievement, actually having a sense of educational achievement and verbal and math skills, particularly.

And critical race theory explicitly rejects all three of those as means of lifting people up or means of achieving greater equality. Critical race theory dismisses the family as an inherently oppressive institution from which we should be liberated. Critical race theory dismisses entry-level work, dismisses earned income as a kind of as a kind of oppressive structure of advanced capitalism used to exploit workers. And then critical race theory and educational institutions, as Lindsay can attest to, are dismantling any kind of merit-based or achievement-based systems. They're getting rid of achievement-based testing, achievement-based college admissions, achievement-based grading even.

San Diego recently said, you don't have to turn in your homework on time anymore to achieve racial equity. So what happens in theory is that, you know, critical race theory creates equity, but in practice, what it would do is undermine the exact institutions that create upward mobility, create opportunity, create true equality that is kind of a function of a really kind of stable and earned success. Critical race theory, in fact, would demolish all of those. And this would impact the poorest families of all racial backgrounds and would really devastate them. We've also seen that through our history. So I think you can really occupy the moral high ground opposing critical race theory because even on its own terms would do nothing to achieve the outcomes it claims. And as Mike explained, in the end, you know, critical race theory promises this utopia, but is kind of, sketchy on explaining exactly how it would work. But they offer some critical clues. Ibram

Kendi, the kind of new age guru of critical race theory, says that you can't be anti-racist without also being anti-capitalist. Cheryl Harris, UCLA law professor, who is one of the pioneers of critical theory, says, you know, we have to basically, property rights are a function of whiteness. And in order to reach equality, we have to basically dismantle whiteness. and therefore dismantled property rights, and then have large-scale redistribution of wealth, land, and resources based on the African kind of decolonial model. And what you get very quickly for a movement that tries in some ways

to maintain an arm's-length distance from Marxism, you get people that when it boils down to it, what are the solutions? It is kind of 19-18-style Marxist redistribution based on, racial lines rather than kind of proletariat and bourgeoisie lines. It's inherently destructive, and I think as Mike and Jonathan sketched out in their paper outlining the lineage, intellectual lineage of this, critical race theory, even in its name, even in its name, is critical theory. It's not a constructive theory. It's not aiming to build or to kind of reconstitute or even to

reform. It's only kind of philosophical function is negation. It's the thing. It's the thing. thrill of destruction, the thrill of revenge, but actually offers people, especially those people at the margins of our society, nothing tangible, concrete, or beneficial that will improve their lives in a meaningful way. And I have no reservations in opposing it, you know, with all of my kind of intellectual and physical and personal resources. Well, I'll tell you, heads off, Hats off to all of you for the work you're doing. And thank you to our participants who are putting questions in the queue. You know, and the questions in the queue are merging right where we are in the discussion now

in terms of looking at where we go from here. Like, what are the solutions? What can individuals do? What can policymakers do? So I'm going to give each of you a chance to get in on the discussion with that in terms of where we go. but I want to incorporate a question that we have from the queue as a part of that, for those of you who want to directly answer some elements of this in this portion of the conversation. The participant says, how can policy, nonprofit sector priorities, tax incentives, etc.,

combined to assist in pushing back against the CRT narrative, and how can the local church contribute to mindset change, hope, and community involvement to make progress? So as we're talking about where we go from here, also incorporate your thoughts to this person's question about the nonprofits and churches being a part in how the community plays a role. Lindsay, let's start with you. Great, thanks, Angela. So I would say if we're thinking about what both individuals and policymakers can do, individuals' parents really have to be on the front lines of combating this stuff in the K-12 system in particular. And I think that really does start with engaging more with school boards.

I mentioned that earlier, identifying those local school board meetings to attend throughout the year, mark up your calendar with them, stay abreast of local school board activities, read their meeting minutes. They post them online after their meeting. meetings, big into this school district budgets, drafts and questions about how they're spending money. And I would look at your school board's mission statement as well. Most school boards across the country have their mission statement listed on their websites and those can be quite illuminating, ask them about the assigned textbooks and curricular

materials that they're using. For state policymakers, I would say there are three concrete steps they need to take. As I mentioned earlier, and this is based off of Jonathan's work that he has done throughout the past year, state lawmakers should require public schools to make their curricular materials available for public review. Parents or taxpayers, the moment that they want information on what district schools are teaching their children, that should be made available to them. Second, and this might sound a bit far afield, but alternative teacher certification, we mentioned in passing the grip that colleges of education have on content, the content,

critical theory oriented content that is making its way down from academia into the K-12 classroom is largely a function of colleges of education. One of the most assigned textbooks in colleges of education across the country is pedagogy of the oppressed. So if we want to break the grip of schools of education, we have to start with providing alternative routes into the classroom for teachers. And then finally, and I would argue most importantly, is school choice. Parents need options outside of their child's assigned district school. And so every state across the country, and this has become more critical than ever during the pandemic, should fund children directly and allow them to select into learning environments that reflect their needs and the values that their families hold.

So, Jonathan, let's just keep going with K through 12 higher education in terms of what you want to talk about in terms of some of the solutions. Well, sure, and that's such an important question right now. I think that there are a number of organizations around the country who are working on this too. The Goldwater Institute has worked on free speech on campus alongside Heritage. I think that there are models that state lawmakers can use to require public university systems to allow people to listen and be heard if they are lawfully present on campus. I think that's a very important thing for lawmakers to step in and do when university administrators refuse not to. The Goldwater Institute has also worked on this issue of curriculum transparency as well.

I would say, too, that those in churches and community groups in the workplace, I would cast a very careful eye to these things that go under the guise of diversity trainings. I think that anything that is calling for people to or casting accusations or calling for people to apologize for simply their identifications or their category, that removes hope, right? So there is no hope. You are what you're born into, and there are certain things you are guilty of, of which there's nothing you can do

except apologize for, and in some cases have taken to the extreme, pay for in some way. So we should really cast a very critical glance on this because it goes under the guise of something that's sympathetic. In a book, I know that many people probably watching this have read, those on the panel have read by James Lindsay

and Helen Pluckrose, they talk about how it's, sort of like a cereal box, right? On the outside, it looks like it's fine and healthy, but when you look at what's actually in it, that's not what it's calling for, right? That's not what they are saying. They are not looking for that kind of reconciliation. So what I would just leave with is that we don't have to analyze what is in critical race theory to have this conversation. So what we have said here, if you've noticed, those watching, okay, is that we have quoted directly from their text. We have quoted from them.

This is what they say. They're not hiding it, right? From Mark Hughes and on, right, to those writing for colleges of education. This is this, the skepticism of the liberal order, the removal of free speech rights for some, right? That is what they are calling for. Thank you, Jonathan. Mike, jump in here as well. Tell us, you know, what are solutions?

What, all the individuals on the phone, what can they be doing right now? Well, I mean, one immediate thing is if you don't hear something in the homily or a sermon, let your minister know, let your priest now. I know I do. The other day, my 12-year-old said, Daddy, why are you arguing with the priest after mass? Because I've heard something I didn't like. So one of the worst things this does is that it hijacks one of our best human impulses, which is to be compassionate. And they sell itself as this is, you know, we're taking care of the marginalized. Chris Rufo and Jonathan were completely right.

This does the opposite. In fact, the proponents of critical theory and critical race theory admit openly. Again, Jonathan and I did not quote almost a single conservative source. We quoted only the left in our paper. They openly admit that the individual can improve his lot in life, can improve the condition of his family. But they don't want to do that because in the words of Angela Davis, when you do that, you're joining the system.

You're not destroying the system. And what they want to do is destroy the system. So Abram Kennedy, that Chris referenced, all of them, Robin DiAngelo, they'll openly admit. Yes, the individual can succeed. But they don't want that. They want to change the country. They want to change the country's institutions. Yeah, Mike, you know, and it's interesting because as we keep talking about these issues

and we're offering up the solutions, Chris, Chris, we're seeing more and more from across the movement of people really just want those practical, what can I do to change this? So, Chris, what do you say to that? Your mic is muted, Chris. There's a couple different things you can do. First off, parents, find out what is in your child's school curriculum, and then raise the alarm. There's a number of parent groups, and I'm working with another organization.

that's launching later this year to help parents push back against critical race during the classroom. So there are resources and allies out there to help you. But the first step is identifying what they're teaching your kids. And then there's two things you can do. You can push back with the school. And if that doesn't work directly and discreetly, then you can push back in the media. Because the fact is, a lot of this stuff is indefensible and is only supported by a very tiny group of activists. and when it's exposed to sunlight, when, you know, your normal everyday middle class parents see what they're teaching,

they're going to fight back in all but the most extreme school districts. So there's that. Second, if it's happening at work, provide them with background and context information of why this isn't appropriate and why in some cases it could be illegal. And if it's bad enough, again, reach out to me. You can drop my proton mail in the comments, Chris Rupo at protonmail.com. I'm going to be also making some announcements in the coming weeks, but there's legal recourse available, and there are legal efforts that are being organized.

That's about as much as I can say. But, you know, these programs are likely a violation of the U.S. civil rights app of 1964. If they're trafficking in racial stereotypes, if they're trafficking in a kind of race-based harassment, and then if they're, especially if they're, you know, adopting segregation policies, the courts are going to have to sort this out. It's all very new, but I'm convinced that we can win in the courts. And then third, you know, I think the most important thing is to not be cowed into silence because the fact is, you know, for many Americans, Americans, especially people of kind of European descent, so white people like me.

The greatest fear that they have is to be called a racist or a white supremacist or a bigot or a fascist. And this rhetoric has been amped up by the left over the last four years to such an extent that it's created a culture of fear and people are scared to speak out even against the most degrading and demeaning and, frankly, disgraceful things that are happening within the institutions. So it's going to take courage. And if you don't like what's happening, it's up to you to have the courage to speak up.

Do it in a way that's substantive, that's kind of optimistic, that is respectful, that is dignified, but push back hard and you're going to have to take some risk. And frankly, if people in these local communities, in these 14,000 school board districts, districts don't take the risk and have the courage to fight back. We're not going to win this fight. And it's going to get a lot worse. So I think the time is now. I think we have the kind of morally justified and politically justified position.

It's going to be up to all of the people in this country of all racial backgrounds to stand up and say no. And to redirect our institutions towards something that would actually improve. people's lives. Wonderful. As I said, the question queue has a few more questions in it and we're coming up on our time. And Chris, thank you for those

solutions. But I'm going to combine two questions together now that we're kind of at the end of our time for you all to use and to kind of pair your last closing, robust statement for people to take with them.

So it's kind of two prongs here. One person is saying, you know, what is really going on here? What are the cultural features that's making the generation, this generation so susceptible to this intellectual nonsense? And then you take that and you pair it with, you know, how do we retain the positive meaning and benefit of critical thinking? So how do we get our children and the next generation to be able to think critically so they are not susceptible to intellectual nonsense. And so I'd like to start here. Chris, let me just go back to you and then I'm going to work my way back around and end with Lindsay on that. And again, remember, this is going to be your closing powwow,

robust statement while incorporating some thoughts about those two issues. Yeah, well, you know, first of all, you know, critical race theory has the word critical, but actually reject critical thinking categorically. It basically says the enlightenment tradition of kind of critical theory and reason is actually a camouflage for white supremacist racial domination. So don't be fooled by the language. Oftentimes they say one thing, but if you dig a little bit, it actually means another. And I think we have to be very careful because language is now being perverted. And I think, you know, honesty and integrity and courage are the key virtues that we need to show right now. And I think especially that final one is courage. And I think what you'll find is that when you

actually make a stand, there are so many people behind you that are just looking for leadership. And it's going to take leadership at every level from the smallest school district in Kansas to the most, to the mightiest office in the United States Senate. And if we can all mobilize into the greatest of our own capacity. This, I think, is a house of cards. We can topple it. And as we expose it to more scrutiny, we're already seeing it kind of starting to crumble at the edges. So keep pushing, keep fighting. And I think that in due time, it's a fight that we can win. Jonathan, your last words. Thanks. Well, I think like everything that's been said about school choice policy and the things that state lawmakers can do, it does come back to parents being able to fill in the gaps when they

know what their child's learning in school and they're not pleased with what's being presented to them. I think being in contact with their child's teacher, I think being in contact with the school is very important, but so is what parents do to read to their children, what they expose their children to, is all very important. It comes back to that individual agency and to that family as the central institution that builds communities and on which we can build right, a sense of agency for everyone and the American dream. I really would leave with just the big ideas here, right? What happened last Wednesday at the Capitol was unacceptable, right? There is nothing in the conversation here that somehow excuses what happened, not in the very

least. At the same, by the same token, right? Racism is there, right? It's an issue it was. It is, it shows up today. And so I think it is our responsibility to address it for. for what it is, to be ready to pose solutions, to talk about it in terms of creating human flourishing, to talk about it in terms of giving people opportunities. And at the same time, we have to also be very honest, right, about this concept of critical race theory that is trying to pose as something that would be a solution

when what it is leading to is a cancel culture. It's leading to a fearful culture. It's putting us in a place where we are rejecting those on the shoulders of whom we stand, right, to understand both our history and our present and to make way for the future. Thank you, Jonathan. Mike Gonzalez. I can answer the question of what's going on here very briefly.

We're in the middle of regime politics. As I wrote in an essay for the Philanthropy Roundtable last month, we have a, what critical theory and identity politics have done, they have introduced a novel. way of thinking about how the country should be constituted, one that denies most of the amendments in the Bill of Rights, that denies the 14th Amendment, that denies a lot of the background in our Constitution and replaces it with a rival constitution. Regime politics, as we're sadly seen, are inherently unstable. And we're going to, until we can agree, half the country believes it is acting under the 87 constitution, the other half of the country, things I know a lot of the amendments and the 87 constitution itself needs to be replaced, but it's another way of thinking about how the country should be constituted.

Until we come to an agreement, we're going to have regime politics, which are inherently unstable. I'm sorry to say, Lindsay. Yeah, thanks, Mike. So in the K-12 space, there is this, I think what we're seeing is a detachment between, where the woke elites are and parents and schools across the country. But I'm optimistic as I think all of our panelists are. And if anything has come out of this pandemic, it's that with virtual instruction right now for all of its faults, parents are in the classroom with their children. They are hearing what their children are being taught and are I think going to in the future

become much more engaged on that point. Angela, you know, you mentioned critical thinking a few minutes ago, there are networks of schools that do this really, really well. And so to Jonathan's point, getting back to this solution of school choice is critical. Look at schools like Great Hearts. Great Hearts is a network of classical charter schools. They are grounded in the Socratic method, no better way to instill critical thinking in your child. And so it all comes back again to giving families the tools to actually be able to select into learning environments that reflect their values and aspirations for their children. Thank you all. This has been a very engaging conversation discussion and the work that you all have done is just absolutely incredible.

It seems that our participants in the webinar are enjoying this conversation. We are up on our time, and I just want to reiterate that critical theory, critical race theory, it's trying to be in the bloodstream, and we've got to get it out. But on behalf of our President K. K. C. C.C. James, thank you for joining us for the new intolerance, critical race theory, and its grip on America webinar. And we hope that you'll look out for additional programs we'll have this year discussing these issues and updates about things people are doing to combat the dangers of critical race theory. Thank you again. And we hope you, we hope to see you soon. Bye, bye. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thanks for listening to

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