The theme of the day seems to be people calling other people liars. Democrats are saying that Republicans are lying about CDVID-19. Republicans say Democrats are lying about a long list of subjects including the Steele dossier, COVID-19, the economy, inflation, the situation at our southern border, and critical race theory. Here’s an example of that last one. In his Washington Post column Marc Thiessen says that Democrats are lying about critical race theory:
It has become a refrain on the left and its media echo-chamber following Republican Glenn Youngkin’s victory in the Virginia governor’s race: Critical race theory is not being taught in schools. PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor recently accused Republicans of winning by “lying about critical race theory.†Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) declared “there is not a school in Virginia that teaches critical race theory.†Those who say otherwise, we are told, are “dishonest,†hyping a “fake CRT threat,†promoting an “imaginary†issue to “manipulate low information people,†engaging in “race-baiting lies†and blowing a “racist dog whistle.â€
This is demonstrably false. Virginia’s Loudoun County Public Schools, which were ground zero in the debate over the role of parents in their kids’ education, paid $314,000 for critical race theory coaching for its teachers from the Equity Collaborative — a consulting firm that turns critical race theory into practices for “building more equitable learning environments.†In its presentation “Introduction to Critical Race Theory†the Equity Collaborative instructs teachers that racism is “an inherent part of American civilization†and attacks “ideas of colorblindness, the neutrality of the law, incremental change, and equal opportunity for all†for maintaining “whites’ power and strongholds within society.†It also questions “the idea of meritocracy†which “allows the empowered … to feel ‘good’ and have a clear conscience†and concludes with a breakout session for teachers to discuss “How might you use CRT to identify and address systemic oppression in your school, district or organization?â€
One Loudoun country parent filed the public record request to find out what took place in these sessions and obtained a set of talking points used by the Equity Collaborative to train Virginia teachers. They were encouraged not to “profess color blindness,†but rather to admit their own “racist, sexist, heterosexist, or other detrimental attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and feelings†and acknowledge that “addressing one’s Whiteness (e.g., white privilege) is crucial for effective teaching.â€
It’s not just Loudoun County. In 2019, Virginia state superintendent of public instruction James F. Lane sent a memo to all school districts promoting critical race theory training materials, and declaring “CRT has proven an important analytic tool in the field of education, offering critical perspectives on race, and the causes, consequences and manifestations of race, racism, inequity, and the dynamics of power and privilege in schooling.†And as Manhattan Institute senior fellow Christopher Rufo points out, “Right now, on its website, the Virginia Department of Education recommends ‘Critical Race Theory in Education’ as a ‘best practice’ and derives its definitions of ‘racism,’ ‘white supremacy,’ and ‘education equity’ explicitly from ‘critical race theory.’â€
This is true in other states as well. In New York City, school administrators were required to undergo training sessions where they learned that “objectivity†and “individualism†were elements of “white-supremacy culture.†In California, students as young as six are being taught CRT-inspired lessons in white privilege and structural racism.
It no longer appears possible to be mistaken or to convince someone that they are in error. They’ve got to be lying.
I’m not sure that any of these things meet the standards of a lie (telling of an untruth with the intent to deceive). That’s not to say that there aren’t any inveterate liars out there. There are but they’re mostly the usual suspects. I don’t see any of this as a recipe for comity.
With respect to CRT while I do think that junior high and high school students should be taught the truth about slavery and Jim Crow on the other hand I don’t think that CRT or DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) has much of a role in education at any level but I don’t think that people are lying about it, either. I think they’re repeating what they’ve been told uncritically and trying to put the best possible face on things but they aren’t lying as such.
Nearly every example I see says that teachers are being taught CRT, not students. I would be more concerned if there were examples of teaching CRT to students. No, I dont believe a teacher will necessarily teach students just because they were taught. Math teachers probably took calculus at some point but they dont teach it in 4th grade. Besides which half the teachers wont believe it anyway.
One of my issues with the woke people, and we really arent dealing with it where I work, is the lack of evidence that what they want to teach actually results in any measurable change. I talked this over with my boss jus tin case we have to deal with theist some point and we both are going to insist on it being evidenced based just like we do with medicine. (I am lucky in that even though he is a very conservative Christian, the kind you can tell without having to ask, he still believes in reading the literature and requiring scientific evidence.)
Steve
And the devil is in the details. A course for teachers on CRT is not the same thing as teaching CRT to students.
I think it’s pretty clear that concepts based on CRT which I would put under the DEI rubric, are growing in K-12 education. Does that mean that CRT is being taught in schools? How different does the derivative product of DEI have to be?
As usual, such subtleties are lost and unwelcome among two sides committed to quasi-religious dogmas and mantras.
BTW, Matt Yglesias has two great articles on his substack regarding this.
John Ratcliffe has unequivocally stated that members of the Intelligence Committee (Adam Schiff) were aware of the bogus nature of the sourcing for the dossier. And that he has turned over a tremendous quantity of documents to Durham to that effect. Further, that Obama, Biden and Clapper were all briefed on H Clinton’s plan to dirty up Trump using her operatives to peddle the inflammatory information to Steele and the FBI. And that Peter Strozk was aware of the suspect nature of the claims, yet kept that quiet for the purpose of obtaining FISA warrants.
Both versions cannot be true. Someone is lying. This is not an error.
Yes, people lie for political gain. There is no excuse for Adam Schiff.
By now anyone who does not understand that this was a staged and bogus Clinton op and carried by the FBI, media and politicians cannot be taken seriously.
As for CRT. You might as well say that Clinton was telling us the truth when he did not engage in sex “as I understood it to be defined.”
Drew,
My understanding is the much of the dossier depended on the single source that’s recently been indicted for lying to the FBI.
While that is the final nail in the coffin of the Steele Dossier, I am skeptical of claims that any politicians knew this person was lying long before he was indicted. The more plausible explanation is confirmation bias. And if politicians like Schiff did have inside information into the investigation, then it was entirely appropriate that they not expose it until the investigation was complete and the indictment was filed.
So the bottom line is that the Steel Dossier is BS, but politicians don’ know squat and are believing what they want to believe.