The state General Assembly flipped from Republican to Democratic control in both chambers in 2018, following the election of a Democratic governor in 2017. While Republican-led state legislatures across the country have passed laws banning critical race theory curriculum in their schools, Virginia has not. She noted, “CRT dismisses the idea that racism stems from acts of individuals but rather rooted in a system of oppression based on socially constructed racial hierarchy where white people reap material benefits over people of color resulting from misuse of power.” 'Critical race theory, or CRT, is a framework developed in the 1970s by legal scholars that argues white supremacy maintains power through the law and other legal systems,” wrote Dorinda Carter Andrews, a professor and chairwoman for the Michigan State University College of Education. President Joe Biden, however, reversed his order immediately upon his arrival at the White House earlier this year. Trump banned its use by the federal government. Previously isolated to the halls of academia, critical race theory is regularly discussed and debated on cable news programs as an issue particularly important among Republicans. She added, “So to assert that we need to ban critical race theory in elementary school is to really just create a chilling effect to make people fear any teaching of our history around race or African American history and the role that racism played in shaping institutions like Jim Crow.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, told the Washington Examiner that Republicans are “relying on ignorance because critical race theory is a very niche course that is reserved largely for law schools and not even taught widely at law schools in the United States.” 'This is totally made up by Donald Trump and Glenn Youngkin. 'That's another right-wing conspiracy,' McAuliffe responded to Youngkin, according to audio obtained by Fox News last week. We will not teach critical race theory, and I will stand up for teachers and parents against these kinds of cancel culture initiatives,” Youngkin said.ĭemocrats are hitting back, saying that Republicans are sounding the alarm over conspiracy theories or are not defining critical race theory correctly. “As governor, I will stand for excellence in education.

He reiterated his stance earlier this month when Loudoun County Public Schools suspended a physical education teacher for publicly stating that he could not abide by the school policy on transgender students. Youngkin made his views about critical race theory known to Virginia Republicans when he was still running for the nomination.

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