Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin doubled down on his commitment to get rid Critical Race Theory (CRT) from the state’s schools.
An executive order banning Critical Race Theory was one of the 11 executive orders that Youngkin signed when he took office Saturday, according to a press release.
As part of his first executive order, Youngkin vowed to end “the use of inherently divisive concepts – including Critical Race Theory – in public education,” and his second order seeks to “empower Virginia parents in their children’s education and upbringing by allowing parents to make decisions on whether their child wears a mask in school.”
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.
“There’s not a course called critical race theory,” Youngkin said on Fox News on Sunday. “All of the principles of Critical Race Theory, the fundamental building blocks of actually accusing one group of being oppressors and another of being oppressed, of actually burdening children today for sins of the past, for teaching our children to judge one another based on the color of their skin, yes, that does exist in Virginia schools today, and that’s why I signed the executive order yesterday to make sure that we get it out of our schools.”
He criticized those who “obfuscate the issue” by claiming that CRT does not exist in schools. (RELATED: Ahead Of Youngkin’s Inauguration, Virginia Parents Are Skeptical He Will Follow Through On His Campaign Promises)
“But, in fact, there are absolutely the tenets of CRT present in the schools, and that’s what our executive order went at yesterday,” Youngkin said. “Anyone who thinks that the concepts that actually underpin Critical Race Theory are not in our schools has not been in the schools.”
“I think the school systems in Virginia, and particularly Loudoun County, have been doing everything they can to try to obfuscate the fact that the curriculum has moved in a very, very opaque way that has hidden a lot of this from parents,” he said.
Youngkin said he plans to increase transparency for parents so that they can see what their children are being taught, instructing the state’s board of education and its education administration officials to analyze state curricula and remove divisive concepts.
“Yes, we will teach all history, the good and the bad, because we can’t know where we’re going unless we know where we have come from,” he concluded. “But, to actually teach our children that one group is advantaged and the other disadvantaged simply because of the color of their skin cuts across everything we know to be true.”
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