On July 1st, the Hartford Courant editor implied that the Guilford parents complaining about CRT instruction in their schools are racist and akin to the KKK. Given the passionate loathing of racism and the KKK, this is the most hurtful, untruthful, and potentially dangerous allegation I could imagine.
We want to thank Michael D. Breen, Ph.D. for this Op-Ed. If you have an Op-Ed or LTE
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Why are these maligned parents objecting to CRT in their schools?
Schools are charged with educating students with judiciously gathered, truth-tested, science grounded, continuously updated, and routinely peer-reviewed knowledge. Regardless of what marketing labels CRT employs for the fiscally incentivized and intellectually naive, its dogma is far outside these standards.
CRT is not a knowledge set or a “theory.” It is an unverifiable extremely subjective belief system posing as scholarship, and as such, it is far outside the legitimate role of education.
Its evidence-free articles of faith [such as all whites are inherently racist, and only whites can be racist, are racist dogma taught under the guise of an otherwise laudable goal of teaching about racism, discrimination, slavery, and topics of this ilk.
CRT distorts history. It denies the noble self-sacrificing changes in America to include its civil rights era legislation and affirmative action programs that served as models for the world. It substitutes America’s unrivaled history of assisting racial minorities with assertions that generally range from the unconfirmable to the demonstrably false.
In sum, CRT’s standards relative to objective truth fall short of those of the Salem Witch trials.
It is CRT’s racist beliefs, alongside its denunciation of science and rationality in public policy formation, our constitution, our genuine history, our belief in equality among citizens, enlightenment values, western culture, masculinity, and the civil rights tenets of Martin Luther King, that drives the objections of citizens.
Assemblages of bipartisan and multiracial citizens across our country object to CRT, not due to their philosophical affiliation with the KKK, but due to CRT’s irrational and racist beliefs. So far, thirty states are in the process of or have passed, legislation protecting students from CRT. Federal legislation to ban ongoing CRT training in the military has been introduced and corporations such as Coca-Cola and Disney have stopped their CRT training.
To genuinely understand CRT philosophy, a review of its foundational “scholarship” from which school lessons are derived, is required.
- Anderson and Hill-Collins:
“The idea that objectivity is best reached only through rational thought is a specifically western and masculine way of thinking.” [Yes, among CRT’s many radical post-modern oddities, its radical literature repeatedly questions the value of rationality itself.]
- Delgado & Stefancic:
“Critical Race Theory questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law.” [Yes, in addition to concepts such as representative democracy with equality among citizens and rationality, it’s the rule of law principle that really troubles these them.]
- Noel Ignatiev:
“The key to solving the social problems of our age is to abolish the white race.” “If you’re a white male you do not deserve to live, you’re a disease, you have never contributed anything positive to the world.” [Subtle “anti-racist” comments, huh?]
- Robin Diangelo:
“White identity is inherently racist.” “I strive to be less White.” [Ms. Diangelo also contends that every single human interaction is race based.]
- Ibram X Kendi:
“The only remedy for past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy for current discrimination is future discrimination.” “In order to truly be antiracist, you also have to truly be anti-capitalist.”
[Mr. Kendi, and the racist concept of “anti-racism” is specifically cited in President Biden’s guidance for DOE grants. Kendi contends that only whites can be racist, but also contends that anyone not actively in lockstep with his vision of our future is also “racist.” He envisions a totalitarian “federal bureau of anti-racism” to nullify any federal, state or local law not deemed sufficiently “anti-racist.” In sum, this self-proclaimed “anti-racist scholar” would simply like to eviscerate the economic and political foundations of the most beneficial governance in human history; not too much to ask, huh?]
The Hartford Courant’s assertions that this group of Guilford parents’ well-founded objections to CRT’s racist philosophy are “racist dog whistles” allied with KKK beliefs was made without ever meeting these people or understanding their complaints. This style of harming innocent families for exercising their free speech via innuendo is an unmitigated failure of American journalistic and editorial standards. They can’t fix the harm they have done to these families but their ethical responsibility is clear nevertheless. At the very least, common decency demands that for now, an immediate retraction and robust apology is appropriate and wise. The Hartford Courant should attempt to regain its ethical bearings.
Respectfully,
Michael D. Breen, Ph.D.
President, No Left Turn in Education, New Hampshire Chapter
Michael Breen holds an MPA from the University of Hartford and a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. He is a retired Police Lieutenant from East Hartford Connecticut and has worked in an array of conflict zones for the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Department of Justice. He provided training and technical assistance to Haiti during its initial transition period under President Aristide. He provided training and technical assistance to South Africa during its initial transition period under President Mandela and provided human rights assistance after the last Balkan war. He has been published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Connecticut Chiefs of Police, The International Association of Chiefs of Police the National Sheriffs Association among others. He is well versed in civil and human rights, frequently lectures on the issue of Critical Race Theory, and is President of No Left turn in Education in New Hampshire.
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