Conservatives bark at CRT like junkyard dogs. But what are they protecting?

Back in the 1950s, a popular scare tactic in fighting the Civil Rights Movement was the threat that if integration was successful, sex-starved Negro men would be swarming through the streets marrying the white man’s sisters. Renowned African American writer James Baldwin commented on this idea with puzzlement: “Why, for example—especially knowing the family as I do—I should want to marry your sister is a great mystery to me.”

Unfortunately, scare tactics work. Mostly against children and those who think like children.

But who wants to scare Americans? Anyone who wants to manipulate people in order to get their money and/or their vote. Televangelists shriek about the devil and hell to frighten the dollars out of their terrified viewers. Politicians cry out about immigrants, trans people, vaccinations, and Critical Race Theory (CRT). And it brings in millions in donations and panicked votes.

Critical Race Theory is the new Red Threat, echoing back to when politicians promised that Communists were everywhere trying to hand the country over to Russia. Any protest was considered communist-inspired, which is why J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI branded Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement as communist and worked tirelessly to discredit them. Today, that same tactic is employed, except using “socialist” in place of communist. Every time a conservative pundit says “socialism,” their audience nods in fear and loathing—and reaches for their credit card.

Back during Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s congressional hearings, in which people were encouraged to turn in their friends and family members under threat of imprisonment, there were only 50,000 Communists out of 150 million people. Yet, politicians ranting against them frightened people into giving them votes. Compare that to today when over 12 million people believe that lizard people run the U.S. Yet, there are no hearings, no investigations, no legislation banning these creepy lizard people. However, the number of states banning critical race theory is increasing daily, with Republicans using it as a major fund-raising talking point.

And it worked a few weeks ago in Virginia where Republican Glenn Youngkin was losing the race for governor until he zeroed in on CRT and scared the white women of the state, who at first supported former governor Democrat Terrance McAuliffe. The fear of CRT shifted white women’s support from 53 percent to 43 percent, though Black women voted for McAuliffe at 86 percent and Latino women at 75 percent. That disparity tells us who is frightened, but not exactly why.

Like the lizard people, CRT is a non-existent threat similar to the boogey man under the bed or the monster in the closet. But the U.S. has a history of over-reacting to non-existent threats from people who don’t look like, love like, or worship like the supposed societal norm. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banned the immigration of Chinese laborers and the 1942-45 internment of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry during World War II are examples of our default hysteria. In the 1850s, in reaction to the wave of Irish immigrants, the American Party formed on the ideals of being anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic. Their party elected 8 governors, 100 congressmen, and mayors of Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago, among others. They mandated the reading of the King James Bible in public schools, confiscated weapons from the Irish, and deported almost 300 Irish back to Europe. All that is part of our history, and knowing about it should make it less likely that we will do it again.

We do have the capacity to learn, to rise above our fears. In 2016, Colin Kaepernick took a knee to protest police killings of Blacks—and President Trump frothed at the mouth, the NFL blacklisted Kaepernick, and rich, white people tweeted condemnations of his anti-American behavior. Four years later, up to 26 million Americans agreed with Kaepernick and marched in the streets in support of Black Lives Matter, the largest protest movement in U.S. history.

In truth, CRT means nothing more than teaching this: racism has been such a consistent part of American history that it has leached into all of our most cherished institutions, from the justice system to the education system to the health system. It is a destructive rust that is just as dangerous to our country as actual rust is to our decaying infrastructure. Bridges between people are just as necessary for a healthy country as bridges between shores. And bridges between the past and the present guide us to a better future. But those waving the anti-CRT flag want to burn all those bridges.

Systemic racism in our society still affects People of Color in a profound way. Every major study supports that conclusion. The evidence from reputable sources is so overwhelming that it can’t logically be disputed (except by the lizard people). And yet, in an effort to increase systemic racism by ignoring it, states are trying to ban their children from learning the truth. From building those bridges.

New Hampshire passed a law this past summer that places restrictions on how teachers can discuss race in their classrooms. Within days, a conservative group called Moms for Liberty tweeted: “We’ve got $500 for the person that first successfully catches a public school teacher breaking this law. Students, parents, teachers, school staff … We want to know! We will pledge anonymity if you want.” If a student doesn’t like a lesson, they can collect $500 by turning in their teacher. In 1850, the U.S. offered bounties for turning in runaway slaves. Anyone remember that the Nazis offered bounties for turning in Jews? The governor denounced the Moms for Liberty’s bounty incentive. Looks like those Moms could have used some CRT when they went to school.

The irony is that CRT is barely taught anywhere. Most states that pass laws banning CRT admit that they are doing so as a preventative measure. Conservative media will blare occasional headlines that it’s rampant in our schools and our white children are coming home weeping in guilt over past atrocities. Soon watermelon will replace turkey at Thanksgiving. Tap dancing will be required at proms. The National Anthem will be rapped. Run for the hills—Beverly Hills.

CRT to politicians is a means to scavenger votes—nothing more. To parents, it’s a means to control their children’s education, not so the quality is higher, but to prevent them from thinking on their own. They don’t want children who are critical thinkers that might lead them to happier, more successful lives. They want clones of themselves who think, worship, and vote the same as they do. An educated child might do all that on their own eventually, but by limiting the information their kids get, they are more likely to brainwash them into intellectual obedience. At graduation, instead of diplomas, they should just hand out pillows with needlepoint that says, “Ignorance Is Bliss.”

I get it: no parent wants to hear their child disagree with them about some political issue—and be smarter, more articulate, and more persuasive. But that’s the price you sometimes pay for your children’s happiness. And if they are all those things, maybe you should listen to their opinions for a change.

Parents are not educators. Having gone to school doesn’t make them experts in curriculum or in teaching methods. In 1981, in response to parental pressure due to sex education classes in public schools, Congress passed the Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA), also known as the “chastity law,” that promoted teaching Abstinence Only Until Marriage (AOUM). Conservatives hailed this as a victory for parent involvement in schools. Unfortunately, a 2017 review of U.S. sex education programs by 13 leading experts on adolescent sexuality research and policy, including one from the Guttmacher Institute, concluded that AOUM programs, which the U.S. has spent over $2 billion on over the past two decades, are ineffective, stigmatizing, and unethical. A 2019 study showed that AOUM programs, promoted by former President Trump, increased teen pregnancy in conservative states. Withholding knowledge from children is never a good education policy.

Life expectancy in America has dropped by nearly two years because of COVID-19. The murder rate in the U.S. went up 30 percent, the highest in 60 years. The richest Americans became 40 percent richer during the pandemic. The Canadian pipeline company Enbridge paid police $2.4 million to surveil and arrest protestors. Each of these stunning facts should be enough to bring Americans’ outrage to a boiling point. Instead, what many Americans will actually get worked up enough to shout and write nasty emails and comments about is Critical Race Theory. Conservative politicians use this trigger phrase to distract people from the fact that they are amassing personal wealth while doing almost nothing to help their constituents economically. It’s a bit like someone standing on your porch telling you your neighbors are plotting against you, while their buddies are inside stealing your valuables. Sadly, it’s working.

But it doesn’t have to. Don’t let school boards be overwhelmed by the uninformed and fearful. Be active in supporting educators committed to providing education that includes critical thinking and our real history. Pointing out the potholes on your street doesn’t mean you hate your neighborhood, just that you want to improve it.