John Oliver explained the Republican hysteria over “critical race theory.” At bottom, as he shows, the GOP goal is to persuade parents to escape “CRT” by abandoning their local public schools and enrolling in charter schools or seeking vouchers. The leading anti-CRT crusader, Chris Rufo, made this linkage explicit, as Oliver demonstrates, as did Betsy DeVos. The big money supporting the anti-CRT campaign is coming from the same people funding school choice. And, as Oliver explains, “school choice” has its roots in the fight to block school desegregation in the 1950s.
The fight against CRT is being used to silence any teaching about racism today. Teachers are supposed to teach slavery and racism as a strange aberration from our founding principles and to pretend that it no longer exists.
But if it really were the terrifying problem that people like Rufo describe, why was there no uprising against it in the past 40 years? Why didn’t George W. Bush speak up about CRT? WhY was Trump silent about it until 2020? Why now? Is it mere coincidence that the anti-CRT madness took off after the murder of George Floyd and the nationwide protests against racism?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Best explanation I have heard on a complicated issue! Going to watch it again! JD
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Really good explanation and John Oliver 100% correct. What most people will likely gloss over is the fact that he mentions some poor curriculum choices/lesson plans that have been made by “some teachers” (the usual throw a teacher under the bus scenario). This is where it gets down and dirty. The lesson plans are coming from DEI curricula that have been poorly planned and poorly implemented in a rush after the murder of George Floyd. This is what parents are complaining about/reacting to and Chris Rufo just took it upon himself to use it to push his agenda of school choice by calling it CRT. Chris Rufo gave it a snazzy, technical name that sounds smart! It makes ALL parents who complain look like right wing, racist zealots looking to shut down public education. The Dems saying there is “no CRT in public education k-12” (a truth) is not enough to stop the culture war. The Dems must come out and admit fault and that they have let outside reformers (people with no education backgrounds) develop DEI curriculum that is inappropriate for ALL children.
Please link to a single real “lesson plan” that was implemented in a real school after the murder of George Floyd that you find so objectionable and damages white students’ psyches so much.
Because my kid didn’t get this and I don’t know any kid who got this mythical awful lesson plan. Maybe I just don’t know those white snowflake children whose parents raised them to be so psychologically damaged if they had to learn about the history of racism.
There were far more damaging exclusions in the white-centric history textbooks kids had to read about how white people made this country great. I don’t hear you demanding that Republicans make a public apology for those history books that told students that only white history mattered.
I don’t understand the motives of anyone who demands an apology for the non-existent sins CRT supposed committed against white students, when those folks apparently don’t believe that anyone needs to apologize to non-white students for the many decades of history books and curricula that suited those white parents just fine.
I would be sickened if Democrats started apologizing to white parents because they don’t want their snowflake kids to learn about racism. Other parents matter, too. Even though recently it seems like the only lives that matter are those of angry white people.
Tsk, tsk. There you again. Asking for real examples. How dare you?!
Hey, it was John Oliver posting pictures of/talking about some bad lesson plans/curricula. Just keep denying that this is going on and watch Trump (or worse) win in 2024 and damage to Senate/House occur in 2022. What happened in VA should be a lesson to Democrats.
a lesson you have to wonder if they understand: it feels as if there is only silence on the left
LisaM,
Are you saying all I have to do is take a photo of a non-CRT bad lesson plan and you will suddenly hate all curriculum that isn’t CRT?
Joy Hakim’s “A History of US” has some problematic passages. I doubt very much you denounce the entire series because of that.
There is an extreme double standard where white folks give a pass to “bad” lesson plans or poorly written paragraphs when it is the history that white parents approve of. But they peruse every paragraph and every phrase in every power point slide to find something problematic that they insist means the entire program must be condemned.
That’s what they did with the 1619 Project, too. Only white approved histories are allowed to have small errors or poorly worded passages or debatable conclusions. The 1619 Project must meet a standard of perfection that no white approved history must meet or could ever meet.
Double standard.
When the 1619 Project isn’t good enough for you but you haven’t bothered to peruse every page of the textbooks and other material your kid gets in class that is white-approved, it is implicit racism.
The inability of people on the left to concede that any of this is bad is probably a signal that they think all of it is good.
FLERP, that’s a logical fallacy. CRT is taught in college and law school. Laws banning it are meant to ban all teaching about race and racism.
FYI, I saw examples in Joy Hakim’s well-respected middle school history book series “A History of US” that were problematic.
But I don’t use them to make nasty innuendoes about how every history book ever used is bad.
Your contempt for the 1619 Project has been duly noted, FLERP!
You think the 1619 Project is UNACCEPTABLE so what exactly do superior white folks like you allow to be taught in class?
What meets your approval (beyond anti-trans therapy to tell trans teens that they have a mental disorder)?
NYCPP, why are you so consistently angry and nasty? I’m trying to be a good boy here.
FLERP!,
The inability of people like you on the right to concede that any of this is good is probably a signal that they think all of it is bad.
Happy now that I am being “nice”?
^^and we already know that flerp! believes the 1619 Project is bad.
NYCPP, it may disturb you to know that I’m not on the right. I’m what people on the far left like to call the worst of all people — a moderate Democrat.
FLERP!, it may disturb you to know that I’m not on the left. I’m what people on the far right like to call the worst of all people — a moderate Democrat.
And I think that the 1619 Project is a good addition to the curriculum.
Do you?
I only know what you are against, FLERP!. You are against some bogeyman you call “CRT”, you are against allowing trans teens to be taught that they aren’t all mentally ill, you are against the 1619 Project.
I wish I knew what it is you are for, other than the status quo, or getting rid of anything that the far right mischaracterizes as “too woke”.
I think we’ve been over the 1619 Project already. You want to go over it again?
FLERP!,
I want to remind everyone here how much contempt you have for the 1619 Project.
I noticed that you held it to standard that no history textbook ever meets. Including those written by Princeton professors who hold their own works up as beacons of perfection.
Today this public school teacher had to learn about the six stages of white racial identity development among other topics chosen by professed advocates of critical race theory. The state of CA mandated this training because our district is “over identifying “ minority students for special education. We’ll be having these trainings all year.
Ponderosa,
Given the tone of your post, it is clear it was wasted on you. Too bad. Maybe someone else at the workshop actually stopped being defensive and started listening.
Of course, many white people are completely unconscious of their privilege and thus feel offended that they would have to spend even 15 minutes twice a year learning something that they know they don’t need.
LisaM—I agree that in a few places here & there across the country, there have been inappropriate lessons delivered based on some poorly-developed DEI consultation. Most of those that hit the press were actually DEI lessons delivered to faculty, or (in the case of infamous Rufo tweet) a suggested reading list for schdist supts. I’ve found only 2 or 3 so far that were delivered in pubsch classrooms. Of course those were only the ones that hit the press; there must be more. Still, I’m guessing we’re talking about a miniscule—nanoscule—proportion of the multiple millions of classes delivered to our 50+million pubschstuds. [OTOH there were at least a dozen pricey privschs that hit the press for delivering this stuff to studs of parents who paid for/ wanted it, & probably many more not publicized, but who cares?]
I would tend to look at this phenomenon, where it actually occurs, as a misstep—a mistake in pubsch pedagogy. The sort of thing which, if your kid brings it to your attention (or you become aware of it by other means), you take up with the teacher, or the admin if you get no results there. No results there, you’ve got a topic for your next local BOE meeting. Think of it as one of similar issues, like too much homework, or not enough phonics/ too much whole language.
The Cupertino CA 3rgr classroom equity-game fiasco (one of the 3 pubsch examples press covered) was handled this way. By the time it hit the press, the principal had already shut it down based on two parental complaints.
bethree5….you’re correct. The problem is that by the time it hits the press, it’s already festered and been allowed to turn into a huge mess….thus lots of angry and ill informed parents screaming at school board meetings and the media being invited along to produce click bait. The other thing that happens is that the kids start talking about these issues right away on social media and that is a HUGE problem that starts real trouble…between kids at school and then the parents get involved. Why don’t school systems come right out and nip it in the bud? Why don’t school systems explain that this is called DEI and they have brought in companies or purchased cheap curriculum(sometimes inappropriate) to implement it? By not telling the whole truth it gives parents the impression that they are being lied to.
This is an entertaining analysis of CRT and all the hysteria surrounding it. i learned about poverty and systemic racism in college in the 1960s by reading Johnathan Kozol’s “Death at an Early Age.” Of course, this was before CRT, but the message I got from reading the book was that racism and poverty are real and devastating. BTW Kozol is 85 and still opposed to segregation in public education and vouchers. He understands that school choice is anchored by racist social engineering.
While we all know about the MLK quote about judging people by their content of their character and not color of their skin, his revision of this statement gets far less attention. Oliver points out MLK admitted that that this earlier statement was well intentioned, but naive. His revised statement is rarely quoted by the media. In 1967 MLK said, “White Americans must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society.” —Where Do We Go from Here? 1967
retired teacher,
The reason that most people know one MLK quote and not the other is that white people approve of history books that emphasize the quote that they believe is most important.
And white scholars decide that it is “fact” that only the quotes that they deem important are important. How dare someone challenge their “truth”!
^^and unfortunately, there are far too many white teachers who legitimize the approved right wing narrative — that they should be allowed to find their own supplementary material without any input from those “pro-CRT” folks who might think the 2nd MLK quote is important.
After all, that 2nd quote is probably “too divisive” and probably makes white kids feel bad.
Somebody on his staff seems to have read your books.
I just hope public school parents are paying attention to the “contribution” to public schools here.
They used your students and schools as a campaign launch location to attack your schools and promote private school vouchers.
The public schools and public school students? They got absolutely nothing positive out of it- just cynically used by political actors to promote privatization.
If you’re hiring or electing these folks, you’re a sucker. They return nothing of value to your students and schools. You should demand better. You’ll get it. There are lots of people who support and value public schools and public school students. You don’t have to settle for political hacks.
Jennifer Berkshire of the old Edushyster blog and current @HaveYouHeardPod fame, and author (w/Jack Schneider) of Wolf At The Schoolhouse Door was a consultant to John Oliver for this episode. That’s why it’s good. Check out her latest article in the current issue of The Nation. https://www.thenation.com/article/society/teachers-covid-culture-wars/
Jennifer Berkshire is wonderful!
That’s so fantastic!!
Jon Stewart needs to hire her, too.
Last Week Tonight is correct as usual. It’s all about privatization. Always was, always will be. Nearly everything we discuss here on this blog has to do with standing up for the preservation of public institutions in the face of greedy billionaires. This topic is no exception.
JO is a teacher.
YES!
Roll call: Who, among commenters and our host, thinks there’s anything problematic about teachers being required to sit for professional development in which they learn about “the six stages of white racial identity development”?
Who is capable of saying this kind of thing goes too far?
Well this will be my last comment here ever. The previous comment by the poster who made the comment to which you refer seems pretty suspect to me. But what it really comes down to is the both of you are damaged people who use this blog to spew crap that I’m sure you would never say in public. The criticisms they have say nothing about public policy but reveal everything about themselves. After all, who becomes suicidal because of blog comments and then pathetically spills in on us? I truly regret any comments of compassion I made back then. I should have written, fuck you and good riddance. But I’ll rid myself of this garbage now. Next time, have some guts and find the courage of whatever convictions you have and follow through.
Greg,
I do not accept your resignation. I want to hear from you. No reason to make your “last comment here ever.” That would be very unfair to those of us who appreciate your wisdom and experience.
Yes, Greg, please don’t go, we need more of your “wisdom” such as this wonderful comment.
Diane, I don’t want to come off like an overly sensitive man, but Greg’s comment here is easily the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen on this blog. (Even more disgusting than his previous comments wishing I would die from Covid.) The standards of your living room have fallen far.
FLERP,
I try my best to keep it civil without imposing homogeneity of thinking. Greg has a depth of knowledge about Europe and other topics that I find enlightening. As you must have noticed, I try to tamp down or block name calling.
In case you didn’t read past the first line of his comment, Diane, Greg here is telling me that I should commit suicide.
FLERP, that is not true. I read Greg’s comment three times, and no, I didn’t see what you claim.
Open your eyes, Diane.
First, he mocks that I have noted that I have struggled with depression and suicidal ideation.
Then he says that when he read that comment of mine, instead of saying something compassionate, he should have written “fuck you and good riddance.”
Then he says that the next time I am feeling suicidal, I should “have some guts” and “follow through” on it.
I didn’t read it as you did but I understand why you were offended. I would like to maintain a lively debate on the blog without personal attacks. There are times when I’m inclined to close down the blog, or block all comments. But often I find the comments informative, when readers are not insulting one another.
There’s only one way to read it, and it’s the way Greg meant it.
I’m not offended by it. And I don’t want you to delete the comment. I want it to stay up for all to see.
Jumping off the Staten Island Ferry has long been my retirement plan, but Greg’s wise bloviations will have no impact on that timeline.
Tell me about the six stages and why teachers should be required to learn about them.
Diane Ravitch,
I actually took the time to read what the six stages of white racial identity development was, which is why I replied to ponderosa.
The irony is that no one is more in need of understanding that idea than an arrogant white guy who is certain they don’t have a racist bone in their body and are equally certain that it is “debatable” whether systematic racism even exists in our wonderful perfectly non-racist country.
But I definitely acknowledge that if you are a white person who is absolutely certain of their own superior judgement of whether or not they are racist (newsflash – they never are), they are highly unlikely to get anything out of it.
But guess what? There ARE people who aren’t quite as certain of their own superiority and who might even start listening to what that presentation is all about. I challenge anyone to actually read about it.
And flerp, reading and trying to understand the ideas of something that is being presented to you is very different than looking closely for a few words you can take out of context and make fun of to belittle the entire thing. (As we know, flerp specializes in linking to twitter feeds that do just that).
Too far? Did you even try to understand what that is about, or did you just look for some phrase you could offer up to dismiss the whole idea. Teachers on here might be reminded of that arrogant student who sits and waits for the teacher to make some little mistake so they can crow about it to try to make the teacher look bad. Those students don’t learn much because they are too busy looking for something in the lesson that they can make fun of. But that’s okay because they are already certain they know it all.
“with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes…”
ha ha, flerp, who is this woman Providence who is protecting these folks and why are these people pledging their lives and fortunes to one another — are they in love and are we sure it is heterosexual love or could it be trying to teach students to be gay? We must ban any mention of the Declaration of Independence from all schools.
If I am an arrogant person who only listens to what I want to hear because I am certain I already know everything, I can present the Declaration of Independence as a laughable document that has no value to anyone. Look at that funny phrase. That funny phrase makes the entire document worthless, right?
Or I could listen. Something that people who are in privileged positions have to remind themselves to do because they often already believe that they are always right. Why? Because those in power confirm it to them every day.
^^^I wrote this before I saw the rest of the conversation. I do want to have a discussion about this because too often people don’t even try to listen. flerp!, I think you could be a thoughtful person if you made any effort whatsoever to understand what being “woke” really is about. It took me a long time, too, but you refer to your kids, and I bet they could help if you listened to them explain it.
Since you’ve looked into it, and you appear not to think it “goes too far,” I’d like to hear your explanation of how “the six stages of white racial identity development” is a sensible thing to require teachers to learn about.
LOL! Do you even realize how often your posts reveal the same biases that learning about the six stages talks about?
Sensible? Are you saying it is NOT sensible for teachers to ever have to think about unconscious biases they might have because it might make them uncomfortable or feel too bad about themselves? I can understand that it might not be important to a parent of white kids whether a teacher had unconscious biases, or whether police had unconscious biases, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important.
Or do you profess to support the ideas behind making teachers aware of unconscious biases they have, but you believe the six stages isn’t the right plan. Maybe the critics have a better secret plan that is locked up in the same vault as the Republicans’ secret and perfect plan to replace the Affordable Care Act.
Is seeing a “six stages” presentation going to change everyone? Of course not. So what? Different teachers may respond to different presentations, and there is nothing inherently awful about using the six stages approach.
I repeat again that always holding up things white people don’t believe has any value to some unachievable standard that the things white people do believe has value never have to meet is a good example of implicit bias.
Maybe you recommend a presentation (about anything!) given to teachers that meets your standards of perfection?
Or maybe you could actually read about the six stages and see if any parts of anything apply to you. FYI, no one size fits all. But the ideas in it are quite sound and I can certainly see when I myself exhibited some of those things and sometimes still do.
Tell me about the six stages and why teachers should be required to learn about them.
Your implicit bias is showing. I’m not here to be your conscience. If you want to continue to believe you can’t possibly hold any implicit bias, having me obey your arrogant order to explain to you won’t change your mind.
You cited that teachers are “required” to learn these stages and I would like to see some evidence of that because like most of what you say, you generally try to mislead in that disingenuous Tucker Carlson “aren’t I so smart” way.
In fact, it was clear that the teacher on here wasn’t “required” to learn anything. She was exposed to the idea in a workshop and had the choice of listening and thinking about what those stages were or decide they were worthless. She seemed to choose the second but maybe not.
People talk about the six stages of moral development or the six stages of change or the six stages of grief or six stages to a strong self-image, even six stages of parenthood.
I get it. It’s fun to sit in the back and demand proof that anything in the lesson has value. It’s typical adolescent/teen behavior.
I understand that people with implicit biases who believe that it is impossible for any action or thought they have to be racist because they know they aren’t racist are exhibiting their usual double standard. Anything that challenges your world view must be held to some unattainable perfection because your world view is always right.
Throughout our lives we are presented with different ideas in professional or personal settings. I watched a presentation about the six stages of grief once and I didn’t demand evidence that every person in the world went through those stages in exactly the way they were presented. I didn’t look for some reason to discredit the entire presentation. I looked for the interesting parts of it and considered if that idea might be something I or someone I knew had experienced.
And when I read about the six stages of white racial identity development I found some interesting ideas, and it made me think about my own biases. But I have no doubt that if my goal was to listen for something I could make fun of, I could have done that, too. With any idea, including whatever presentation you hold in the very highest esteem, flerp!
I challenge you to link to any presentation that meets your supposedly high standards. But I doubt you will. I am sure I could tear it down.
I don’t believe that you really feel strongly that trans kids need to be taken from their misguided parents and given anti-trans therapy or that you believe your kid spent all of middle and high school being exposed to dangerous CRT ideas that shattered their fragile white psyches. I doubt you really care about whether other parents kids wear masks more than you care about whether other parents kids have enough to eat or are being suspended and demonized for being a normal 5 year old with academic struggles or are turned away from hospitals because they don’t have health insurance.
I have no idea why you like to troll and present yourself as a person more concerned about right wing manufactured controversies than about real issues like class size or asbestos in school or ANYTHING. It’s all trolling about whatever the latest right wing outrage is.
I don’t get it, but carry on. I have no desire to be your conscience. You will have to find your way back to it yourself. I actually believe you could, but hey, maybe I’m wrong. If I thought you were like our resident Putin-defender, I would not even bother replying.
Again, can you please tell me about the six stages and what you found so valuable about them?
You elsewhere recently said that you found some DEI presentations “problematic.” What DEI presentations did you think we’re problematic and why?
Also, do you have a view about your pal Greg’s comment above in this thread?