The New Witch Hunt

 

Lordy, I wanted to think at least one happy thought this Sunday, but then I started reading the newspapers.

Look at the way Senate President Pro-Tem Phil Berger salted the very ground over his sure knowledge that "critical race theory" has infected at least some of the school systems of North Carolina: “I oppose it, and I will combat it with everything that I have, because I believe the doctrine undoes the framework that produced the most successful ongoing experiment in self-government in the history of mankind.”

Good lord, man! Could you get a little more hysterical for the cameras? "In the history of mankind," a history which just incidentally takes for Phil Berger all its cues from white European cultures, starting with the Greeks and Romans. For Berger (bless his heart!), encouraging students to consider how assumptions about race have shaped our history is tantamount to destroying the very foundation of our civic project. The question hangs there, begging to be asked: Does the truth hurt that much?

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson

Most of Berger's most ardent admirers wouldn't know CRT from SMH. They think the thing -- the goddamn theory -- that has infested all of American culture is too much talk about race, too much whining about equality, and the accommodations for "diversity" where diversity isn't welcomed. Just read the complaints about North Carolina schools gathered up by bully-puppet Mark Robinson, who is our lieutenant governor and a leader of the witch hunt. Robinson, through the power of his elective office, established a hotline for citizens to anonymously call in whispers about nefarious theorizing going on in some of our public schools. The FACTS task force solicited complaints from “parents, teachers, and most importantly, students who are willing to stand up for North Carolina's future by exposing indoctrination in the classroom.” Oops. "Who brought this article from CNN into the 8th grade? Was it you, Teach?" Any discussion of history ain't welcome that isn't the empire version, where great men (white), with a vision from God Hisself, built a mighty nation full of good and true souls (white) devoted to the advancement of individual achievement.

School boards have been spooked all over the state to take steps to censor the teaching of anything destructive of our self-image as an "exceptional" country. Moore County school board and the Cabarrus County board both adopted prohibitions on talk about race that echo the language in a proposed state-wide ban on teaching CRT ... “to ensure dignity and nondiscrimination in schools.” Talking about race is undignified. Who knew?

The Union County school board is considering a policy proposed by board member Gary Sides, who, after a board meeting that featured angry parents yelling about something they truly didn't understand but knew they were against, commented: “As we’ve heard tonight and in previous meetings, we have not only a unique county, but in our state and our country, parents are concerned about bias creeping into their student’s curriculum." It's a big problem when historical fact itself is considered biased.

Wouldn't want to be a public school teacher at this time. How could I resist the urge to risk my job?