Critical Race Theory, Fox News, the Conservative Echo Chamber, and the “Southlake” podcast
I’m not sure how many of us watch Fox News, but, because I live in Wyoming, I am constantly surrounded by Republican messaging, talking points, and outrage at how the U.S. is going to hell in a handbasket (from its 1950’s ideal before all the unkempt hippies and commies started to take over in the 1960’s, and the “halcyon” days of Saint Reagan–i.e., Ronald Reagan and his presidency from 1981-1989). One of Fox News’s hobbyhorses of late has be the teaching of critical race theory in K-12 schools. It has become such a familiar talking point for their viewers, that they often just shorten the term to “CRT”.
Yesterday, I was flipping between MSNBC (my preferred daytime news channel) and Fox News (my grandmother’s), and I saw a longer version of this report on Fox, but, unfortunately, they edited down the video so that it no longer includes a Black woman who succinctly stated that CRT is not an attempt at changing American history, but rather is telling students a fuller version of that history from multiple perspectives as opposed to the mono-narrative that has been taught for decades if not centuries in the United States and in settler colonial societies around the globe (e.g., Australia, Canada, and Aotearoa New Zealand). This segment made me think about the comment that Katie made in class about all of us teaching social justice in our classrooms. I one-hundred-percent agree that that is what we should be doing, but we also need to be aware of the backlash and vociferous opposition from some parts of society (read: a disturbingly large plurality of White folks). This is the “tunnel of oppression” that they reference in the report that has happened (and may still continue to happen at Boise State University.
Then when I flipped back over to MSNBC, almost as if in direct response, there was a commercial for NBC News’s new podcast called “Southlake” which is about the phenomenon of White outrage regarding CRT being taught in school and the specious, wholly erroneous claims of “reverse racism” being carried out. Their claim is that the actual racists are the teachers who are teaching about and acknowledging the existence of racism. I guess their feeling is if we don’t talk about racism (and sexism, heterosexism ableism, classism, etc), then it will just go away. Why, people?! Why?!
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