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Critical race theory has become a hot topic at school board meetings around the country – but similar race-based programs, including the New York Times’ 1619 Project and some equity lessons, are also drawing criticism, even as they’ve received a warmer reception in classrooms.
Progressive proponents of the programs view them as a means of addressing what they believe is pervasive and systemic racism in the United States and its institutions.
But some civil rights activists and educational leaders are pushing back in favor of programs that teach about the founding promise of the United States, rather than victimhood and "racial grievance."
BLACK CONSERVATIVE GROUP PENS OPEN LETTER URGING SCHOOLS TO DROP CRT, ADOPT 1776 UNITES
The nonprofit Woodson Center’s 1776 Unites is one such group, and it sent an open letter to the National School Boards Association and school boards around the country urging them to drop critical race theory and embrace civics and objective history.
Charles Love is a radio host, author and the assistant executive director of the Seeking Educational Excellence, a nonprofit group aimed at helping disadvantaged students achieve success. He also signed the 1776 Unites letter.
He told Fox News this week that schools need to get politics out of the classroom and teach students how to take part in their democracy.
"I talk often about the need to get away from politics – keep civics and politics different," Love said. "The engine in the machine is different from whether it has a fancy looking chassis. We’re all arguing over what the outside of the car should look like, and not the functions of the car."
LARGEST TEACHERS UNION SAYS CRITICAL RACE THEORY IS ‘REASONABLE AND APPROPRIATE’ FOR KIDS
In other words, the Constitution and Bill of Rights are what make the United States, not Democrats and Republicans or their positions on political issues.
"If you want to be a social justice warrior, that’s part of the freedom of America and why it’s so great," he said. "The problem is, we don’t teach them a foundation, so they’re arguing, and they’re fighting for these things, but they don’t really understand the underlying basis of civics, what the country is."
And he blasted teachers who promote socialism and Marxism over capitalism.
"Those who are railing against capitalism, if you look at what they’re saying, some of it you may agree with – you may not agree with socialism or communism but you may agree with why they’re upset," he said. "But they’re wrong because no one ever told them what capitalism was. They think a guy cheating is capitalism."
Crooks, scammers and monopolists aren’t capitalists, he said. They’re cheaters.
And he suggested that people with a solid education in civics would be more concerned about his "favorite boogeyman – the unelected bureaucrat."
"The people who run all these divisions of the government, they have full autonomy, and we don’t elect them," he said.
Love has also taken aim at the New York Times’ controversial 1619 Project curriculum, and he has a book on the topic called "Race Crazy: BLM, 1619 and the Progressive Racism Movement" coming out in November.
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"Their overriding premise is the DNA of America is racist," Love said. "They take some facts, which are cherry-picked. They either lie by omission, they make some flat-out factual inaccuracies or, more often, they skew the numbers."
Even so, he questioned whether educational resources should be used on 1619 rather than STEM, civics and reading.
"Let’s assume they’re right: Slavery is bad, it has a long shadow, we’re still feeling the effects today," he said. "How does teaching more of that without extending the school day, without getting reading up to grade [level], help anyone? The answer is it won’t."
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He said he’s more concerned about the 1619 Project than CRT because while there is an ongoing national debate over the latter, the 1619 Project has already been embraced in thousands of schools.
Roughly two dozen states have banned CRT in schools, as have some school boards. Only some of those bans also include the 1619 Project.
Critics in some areas have also warned that components of critical race theory, including claims of systemic racism or allegations that White people are inherently "oppressors," are more likely to be introduced to students than a full course dedicated to the philosophy.
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