Two weeks ago (April 13th, 2021), the Idaho House of Representatives voted 34-34 after a contentious debate on an appropriations bill. HB354 was supposed to fund K-12 education in the state, including salaries and benefits for teachers. Lacking the necessary majority support, it failed to advance.
Critical Race Theory (CRT) is nothing new and has been around for decades, but it seems to have been suddenly thrust into the mainstream debate within the last year or so and branded as public enemy #1 by its critics who call it Marxist ideology or some sort of communist conspiracy ‘pushed’ by liberals and Democrats in an effort to make students ‘hate America’. I don’t doubt that liberals and Democrats tend to be more supportive of CRT, but to confuse it with Marxism or some sort of nefarious plot is just silly in my opinion.
Recently, I received the following text from a family member eager to share a compelling video they had viewed. This isn’t the first time I’ve been sent a link to QAnon-related content, but it has been a while (especially since I ditched social media) and I was a little surprised that this stuff is still making the rounds. I don’t know if this is due to the conspiracy theory gaining something of a ‘second wind’, or if it just never really subsided like I had imagined, but either way I’ve finally decided—reluctantly—to address it here and share some of my thoughts.
I came across this photo and thought the slogan was genius. It perfectly describes the true motive behind a lot of right-wing punditry and ‘talking points’ pushed by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity et al., and the so-called ‘news’ outlets in defense of the capitalist status quo and as an explanation for all of the woes and ills in our society.
