Mark Reinhardt- Boise Idaho
Currently in Idaho, as well as nationwide in the United States, a debate has been raging about the teaching of Critical Race Theory in the nations Public Schools. What is it really? According to Britannica.com it is defined this way, “intellectual movement and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour.”
https://www.britannica.com/topic/critical-race-theory
According to Britannica, the movement itself had started its first workshop in 1989 with roots going back to the 1960’s through 1970’s. This was verified by Columbia University who described the beginnings of Critical Race Theory, “Critical race theory was a movement that initially started at Harvard under Professor Derrick Bell in the 1980s. It evolved in reaction to critical legal studies, which came about in the 70s and dissected the idea that law was just and neutral.”
Later in the blog post on the University website it described how legal scholars of color widely adopted its tenants. Describing a concept familiar to political discourse in 2021, “Although the scholarship differs in emphasis and discipline, it is united by an interest in understanding and rectifying the ways in which a regime of white supremacy and its subordination of people of color in America has had an impact on the relationship between social structure and professed ideals such as “the rule of law” and “equal protection.”
https://news.columbia.edu/news/what-critical-race-theory-and-why-everyone-talking-about-it-0
Idaho Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin created what is known as a Education Indoctrination Task Force. The task force was designed to root out teachings of Socialism, Communism and Critical Race Theory. Legislation was passed by the Idaho State Legislature banning the teaching of CRT, however, the Idaho Freedom Foundation thought the legislation does not go far enough.
In a post on the Idaho Freedom Foundation's website, it highlighted remarks from an African American mother, who they say is a Conservative. She describes the education situation within the state in the following fashion, “We can do all of this because we live in an incredible country. America that offers us limitless possibilities for all people who are willing to dream and work hard. That is why I love this country and that is why I oppose critical race theory and anything that resembles it. “
In her remarks she described an organization, which was not identified in the video posted by the group, as seeking to destroy America under the guise of Social Justice causes. Critical Race Theorists do not describe themselves as a Social Justice Movement. They do describe themselves as a scholarly legal study looking at institutions and their impact on race relations.
the Idaho Freedom Foundation's media policy statement reads, "The Idaho Freedom Foundation has found most of the legacy news media to be agenda-driven propagandists working to shift public opinion toward socialist ideas. The IFF will not help legitimize biased, unfair pseudo-journalism by responding to requests for comment."
Historically, according to the book Manufacturing Consent by Professor Noam Chomsky, the propaganda model of american legacy media leans to the side of corporations and right-wing policies.
As the debate over race relations and CRT continue to occur across the country, a great deal of Americans are increasingly turning to the online world for information.
