*Opinions expressed in Letters to the Editor are not necessarily those of The Messenger.
Critical Race Theory:
The Hateful Dismantling of Our Schools
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew.
And then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak for me.
Martin Niemoller
Those who kept silent yesterday will remain silent tomorrow
Elie Wiesel (Night)
History tells us that Martin Niemoller and Elie Wiesel never met. One a German Pastor and colleague of a great man of God, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and the other a fourteen years old Jewish boy waiting to be executed at a German prison camp. According to their own words, they would watch silently as loved ones and friends paid the ultimate price for their indifference. They would lament their behavior for the rest of their lives.
Her name is Denise Specht. As the current president of Education Minnesota (once known as the Minnesota Education Association), she is quoted as saying in a recent message to her loyal followers, “The effort to ban Critical Race Theory is a well-coordinated national campaign against the efforts of public schools to increase racial and gender justice within their walls.” Moreover, she would go on to say, “The campaign's tactics are intended to intimidate individual educators and harass school boards. They could lead to laws and policies that deny our students the freedom to learn an honest history of our country.”
One of the things I have always enjoyed as an evaluator of teachers and programs was the opportunity it afforded me to take a close look at the building's classrooms. While this is not meant to suggest that freshly painted walls and newly installed carpets were signs that quality education was taking place in the building, I found that pictures, murals, bulletin boards, quotations, and teacher generated book/reading displays had a way of communicating what kind of instruction was being emphasized in the respective classrooms. In reality, it became a window into who the teachers were and what they stood for.
Over the course of my many years in education, I have had the opportunity to serve four school districts as both an elementary teacher as well as an elementary, middle school, and junior/senior high school principal. More recently, I served as a substitute teacher in eleven Minnesota school districts. While it was not my original goal to critique the personnel and programs in the respective buildings, in the end, it became difficult to ignore what would ultimately become a disturbing look into what is now becoming a common practice in public education. With a boldness that almost defies imagination, teachers belonging to Education Minnesota are perfectly willing to re-write American History at the expense of our children and grandchildren and, ultimately, the future of our nation. I refer you to a small sampling of what I have witnessed during my recent travels:
• A sign posted directly behind a classroom teacher's desk that said, “I Stand With Planned Parenthood.”
• A high school full of rainbows (God's covenant sign with man) and an accompanying text that promotes the claim: “You Are Safe Here.” While we now know what they are trying to instill in our children and grandchildren, in the end, it is an outright assualt on the Biblical teachings of Christianity.
• A sign with the caption: “Change the Culture.” In light of our political climate, this is tantamount to a rallying cry for the kind of behavior we saw in Minneapolis two summers ago.
• A classroom with an enlarged picture of Margaret Sanger displayed as a center piece surrounded by other notable politicians and abortion activists.
• A book entitled: “White Fragility” openly displayed for all to see. Written by one of the heroines of the Marxist movement in America, it included an introductory quotation that said, “A necessary book for all people interested in societal change.”
• A curriculum written by the New York Times entitled: “The 1619 Project.” This is a curriculum whose sole purpose is to teach our children that American History must be rewritten because it is a lie.
• The corner of a high school science wing being used as a “shrine” for Charles Darwin. In talking with high school students in the building, it was learned that “Creationism” is excluded from the curriculum.
• A middle school teacher overheard teaching his students that the reason for the January 6, 2021, riots at the United States Capitol was because, “President Trump wanted the rioters to kill legislators.”
Before we move to Critical Race Theory, let me make a final point in regards to Education Minnesota. When they made the decision to joint the political agenda supported by the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, they left little doubt as to what they have in mind. Now that they have joined hands with an organization that claims to be 'the soul of our nation,' they have taken on the mantle of activism as well as the self-proclaimed starting point: to change our public schools. It reminds me of an old Marxist adage that says, “Give us your children for a generation, and we will change the culture.”
It is happening right before our eyes.
Now that I have given you an indication of what is happening in classrooms across Minnesota, I want to introduce you to a theory that is fast becoming “America's new institutional orthodoxy: Critical Race Theory” (Christopher F. Rufo, Battlefront Research, March 30, 2021). Driven by the United States Department of Education, the Biden administration and, yes, supported by Education Minnesota and the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, “It begins with the presumption that race is the primary way to identify and analyze people” (La Noue, 2020). In addition, “CRT not only undermines and exploits America's unique and very successful fusion of diversity and cultural assimilation, but it makes the declaration that society is a systematically racist white-dominant culture” (Levin, 2021). Sadly, it is now being taught in 3500 classrooms and in all 50 states. So what is Critical Race Theory and why should we be concerned for our children and grandchildren?
Let me begin by saying that CRT is an academic discipline based on Marxism. Formulated in the 1990s by a small group of Marxist law professors, it is built on totalitarian elements of coercion and suppression of dissent. 'Its goal is to redefine human history as a struggle between “oppressor” – white
people – and the “oppressed” – everybody else – similar to Marxism's reduction of history to a struggle between the “bourgeois” and the “proletariat.” It labels institutions that emerged in majority – white societies – as racist and “white supremacists,” and has gradually proliferated in recent decades from academics to government structures, school systems, and the corporate world.' Moreover, it makes the claim that 'an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously and that an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex' (Peter Svab, As Reported in Epoch Times, June 2-8, 2021). If this does not get your attention, just take a look at some examples of how CRT is being applied in our nation's schools. It is as follows:
• In Cupertino, California, an elementary school forced first grade students to deconstruct their racial and sexual identities, and rank themselves according to their “power and privilege.”
• In Springfield, Missouri, a middle school forced teachers to locate themselves on an “oppression matrix,” based on the idea that straight, white, English-speaking, Christian males are members of the oppressor class and must atone for their privilege and “covert white supremacy.”
• In an Illinois school district teachers compared their white students to the devil.
• In Atlanta, Georgia, a school segregated classes to keep their white students away from their black students.
• In a Maryland county school teachers told five year old students that white people are a disease creating a pandemic of racism.
• In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an elementary school forced fifth grade students to celebrate “Black communism” and simulate a Black Power rally to free 1960s radical Angela Davis from prison where she had once been held on charges of murder.
• In Settle, Washington, the school district told white teachers that they were guilty of “spirit murder” against black children and must “bankrupt their privilege in acknowledgment of their thieved inheritance.”
In the end, “Critical Race Theory prescribes a revolutionary program that would overturn the principles of our Declaration of Independence and destroy the remaining structure of the Constitution” (Christopher F. Rufo, Battlefront Research, March 30, 2021).
As we look back to a time when there was a visible righteousness taught in our public schools, it never occurred to me that there would come a day when the majority of our teachers, administrators, and school board members would become the outright enemies of our children and grandchildren. Driven by an agenda that is flush with labor union influence, the same people who claim to be 'the soul of our nation,' have attached their “dark” star to a belief system that is in the business of dividing the masses and destroying public education forever. And if that is not bad enough, Education Minnesota has been joined in the CRT movement by the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, the Minnesota Association of Secondary Principals, the Minnesota Elementary School Principals' Association, and the Minnesota School Boards Association. Trust me people, they are not our friends.
So where do we go from here? How do we protect those who have no hope without our help? While there is no doubt that our first step is to restore God to His proper place in our lives, over a century ago Abraham Kuyper provided us with a rallying cry when he said, “When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling, and peace has become sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith.” I have a feeling that Dr. Kuyper's message was meant for people like you and me.
Before I share a final thought, I would like to remind the public that we are not alone. Due to the past 18 months of Distance/Virtual Learning, scores of parents and legislators have had the chance to see what their children and grandchildren are being exposed to by the public schools. As a matter of fact, their growing legions include large numbers of teachers and other staff members who are now privy to what the political Left's game plan really is. Just recently, a group of Minnesota State Senators and Representatives, including Republican Senator John Jasinski of Faribault, discovered that the social studies standards being review by The Minnesota Department of Education were promoting a specific political worldview. Working behind the scenes, they were taking liberties at the expense of historical events like the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Holocaust, and notable historical figures like President George Washington. Contrary to what is being reported in some venues, Critical Race Theory was being covertly embedded into the standards. Thanks to these legislators, the standards have been put on hold for two years. There is still much work to be done...and it starts with the public.
In conclusion, it is time to stop the politicians, unions, school boards, and their false narratives and threats from determining the fate of our children and grandchildren. While I appreciate the fact that this is not an easy assignment, it is time to show a collective courage and begin challenging the enemy when and where we can. Just remember, if you let these people destroy the future of our children and grandchildren; if you let your local school boards to go unchecked, you will allow them to destroy our great Republic. And if you allow them to destroy the Republic...there is a high probability that it will not pass this way again.
And then they came for our children and grandchildren, and this time I spoke out--
because I believe in a dream that once belonged to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A dream worth fighting for....
Silent No More
Dr. James Russell Lehman
Kenyon, MN 55046
