Far-left activists and establishment media outlets have begun moving the goalposts on critical race theory (CRT), claiming that conservatives don’t know what it is and that anyone who opposes it is against teaching children about slavery.
Slate published an article titled, “Critical Race Theory Is A Convenient Target For Conservatives,” in which they cited the director of “Antiracist” Research at Boston University Ibram X. Kendi saying, “Republicans specifically chose to attack critical race theory because they felt that they could define it more easily than other terms.”
Slate tweeted, “Conservatives want to cancel critical race theory. But they don’t know what it is.”
Conservatives want to cancel critical race theory. But they don’t know what it is. https://t.co/sArEQ3SOfK
— Slate (@Slate) June 12, 2021
Political commentator Tariq Nasheed claimed on Twitter that nobody can define critical race theory. (RELATED: Meet The Opponents Of Critical Race Theory The Media Does Not Want You To See)
Notice how no one can clearly define what “Critical Race Theory” is…
— Tariq Nasheed ???????? (@tariqnasheed) June 11, 2021
Nikole Hannah-Jones, the New York Times journalist who was the lead author of the 1619 Project, claimed that reporting on critical race theory should expressly explain that there is “a well-planned Republican misinformation strategy” around CRT.
“Like, basic reporting would demand that we make Republicans define critical race theory, and then we fact check that against what CRT actually is and whether CRT is actually being taught where and how Republicans claim,” she said.
Like, basic reporting would demand that we make Republicans define critical race theory, and then we fact check that against what CRT actually is and whether CRT is actually being taught where and how Republicans claim.
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) June 9, 2021
MSNBC host Joy Reid not only claimed that Republicans can’t define critical race theory, but also moved the goalposts to make it seem like conservatives opposed to critical race theory just don’t want their children to learn about the history of slavery. She said people would rather teach that “slavery was actually a blessing and there is no racism.”
We’ll be back in Scopes Trial territory soon. Teachers being told to wear body cams, so some unnamed authority can monitor their lessons to ensure they’re teaching only “patriotic history” — droning out dirges about how slavery was actually a blessing and there is no racism…? https://t.co/6zhSq93dZt
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid ???? (@JoyAnnReid) June 11, 2021
She added that “hysterics can’t even define” what critical race theory is.
And with all of their mortal panic that white & nonwhite kids might discover that this country indeed has a violent history which explains a lot of our national pathologies — and yes, some heroic parts too — the critical race theory hysterics still CAN’T EVEN DEFINE WHAT IT IS.
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid ???? (@JoyAnnReid) June 11, 2021
CRT holds that America is fundamentally racist, yet it teaches people to view every social interaction and person in terms of race. Its adherents pursue “antiracism” through the end of merit, objective truth and the adoption of race-based policies.
James Lindsay, bestselling author and founder of the media site New Discourses, told the Daily Caller that proponents of critical race theory want to make its critics look ignorant because their goal is to frame CRT as the only correct way to teach history.
“Beneath that is the drive to install this cult programming at every level in our society beginning with our children in schools, consistent with every Cultural Revolution that has ever been attempted or succeeded in history,” Lindsay said. “People who want to fight against this narrative unfortunately have to embarrass its peddlers by repeatedly and clearly demonstrating that they do know what critical race theory is, that it isn’t anything like teaching history honestly, and that the people pushing this narrative are either too ignorant to be justified in pushing it or are brazenly dishonest, if not both.”
Writer and filmmaker Christopher Rufo, who has been active in fighting against CRT, described the response as a “meltdown” in a conversation with the Daily Caller. But he added that people are rebelling against CRT all over the country and “there’s nothing the legacy media can do to stop them.”
“They are attempting to deflect by claiming that conservatives don’t understand critical race theory, that it’s not being taught in schools, and that the legislation would ban teaching about racism and history. All of these claims are obviously false,” Rufo said. He said conservatives fully understand what critical race theory is, which is why people are pushing to ban it.
“It’s absolutely being taught in schools, as my investigative reporting has shown with documented evidence,” he continued. “And the legislation does not ban teaching about racism and history—it bans teachers from promoting racist ideas and manipulating children.”