Amid the backlash to anti-racist teaching and activism — symbolized by the assault on Critical Race Theory — one claim stands out as the principal lamentation of aggrieved conservatives. Namely, the idea that anti-racist educators and activists believe white people are inherently racist and oppressive.
You’ll hear it time and again. Those challenging anti-racist curricula insist their children are suffering psychological harm because the materials teach white kids to hate themselves. One parent in Tennessee even has a Go Fund Me to pay for counseling she says her 7-year-old needs after being exposed to in-depth discussions of the Civil War and the misdeeds of white Americans.
That the parent is lying about what the child was taught is almost certain. Seven-year-olds are not exposed to such material in 1st grade anywhere, and especially not in Republican-dominated Williamson County. Plus, the particular curriculum she criticized includes no such graphic recounting of racist mistreatment or war. But that doesn’t stop such arguments from being amplified by right-wing media and finding purchase with millions of people who think Antifa is coming…
