Loudoun County in Virginia has been the center of a growing movement by parents and educators against schools that teach critical race theory. This philosophy categorizes individuals into groups or oppressors based on race.Michael Rivera, a Loudoun County father of two, is against critical race theory, and other leftist policies proposed by the Loudoun County Schools Board.Rivera said that it is not possible to atone for being oppressed. Rivera also says that there are no solutions to the systematic issues without completely tearing down the social structures and education.Rivera joins The Daily Signal Podcast as he discusses how leftist policies have impacted him and his family, and what he and other parents are doing in order to fight back.These stories are also covered by us:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said that fully vaccinated individuals are protected against COVID-19 variants and don't need to wear masks.President Joe Biden issues directives to address wildfires in West. He also announced that the administration would hold annual briefings when wildfire season begins.Miss Nevada is awarded to the person who has identified as transgender for first time.Listen to the podcast or see the slightly edited transcript below:Doug Blair: Today's guest is Michael Rivera, a father-of-two from Loudoun County in Virginia and an outspoken opponent to the proposed leftist policies for the county schools. Michael, welcome to the show.Michael Rivera: Many thanks. It's a pleasure to be there. I'm glad that media actually looks into all that is going on.Blair: We wanted to speak to you about this. You actually met Blair at an anti-[critical] race theory rally in Loudoun County where you made a speech decrying critical race theory. That speech moved me so much that I wanted to chat with you on the podcast.My first question is for Michael: Can you tell us about the current situation in Loudoun County and how parents like yours are responding?Rivera: Yes. I'm embarrassed that Im so late to the game. In the last four to six weeks, I have only been involved. The school board apparently contracted out to The Equity Collaborative for close to half a millimillion dollars for critical race theory-based training.It is important to remember that they continue to say they are not using critical race theory or teaching it. There is a lot of bait-and-switch in terms of terminology. When I speak of critical race theory, I mean all of their derivatives and all the names they use.I discovered that the Loudoun County School Board had completely ignored the pleas of Loudoun parents to stop teaching this harmful indoctrination.Parents wanted to start a dialogue so we could compromise, talk and understand each other. As you can see, the school meeting was contentious. They ended the meeting by cutting off any speech from parents.Blair: This seems like something the school board wants to force parents to do, or deny.Your speech about CRT and your children was one of my favorite parts. Your children were biracial. You mentioned that your son looked a lot like his mother, who was white. However, your daughter, who looks more Hispanic than you, doesn't have white privilege.Did you find that their teachers have changed the way they are taught or treated at school?Rivera: I'm not certain, but it concerns me to know that this is the basis on which the school, teachers and administrators operate.As I dig deeper into the academic writings of critical-race theory, it becomes more worrying and scary. It doesn't seem like there's any point at all where oppressors can be atoned for, nor is there any way to solve the problems that are supposed be systemic without basically tearing down all the social constructs such as government and education.But it's not clear to me. I don't see the endgame. It doesnt seem to be in anyone's best interest, and certainly not our children.Blair: Yes. This is one of those subjects that really affects children in a way I don't think we can fully explain to them. They just aren't listening.On a similar note, how are your children treated? What have you observed as a parent in schools that promote critical race theory and other far-left policies. These are the things teachers explicitly teach, I'm sure we've touched on it a bit. Can you share with our listeners a specific example of something that you have observed in schools that raises red flags?Rivera: Yes. Rivera: Yes, absolutely. So what caught my attention was the video my wife brought to me. It would have been lost if she hadn't been very diligent in reading the emails from school.The cartoon video featured some professionals. They were depicted as white people, including a doctor, lawyer, and police officer. It then went on to discuss statistics about how the little girl of color isn't going to be as successful as her little brother and how she will have fewer opportunities at college. She will make less money than either the white boy or white girl when she gets a job.It was, I guess, a little depressing to see this 13-year old looking at it.A few weeks ago, we received a weekly email by the principal. It said, Hey, these were the topics that we were going to discuss in a homeroom setting. Monday is the first topic. You have no recourse to phone anyone and tell them that you would prefer that your child not be there.Monday morning's first video featured one of the teachers talking about gender pronouns with the children. All I can think of is what kids think when someone tells them, "I'm not a he/she." Is it a they or a they? They don't have the basis to form this idea because their brains aren't equipped to grasp more complicated ideas about gender curiosity.Blair: It almost seems like they want to add more gender and transgenderism policies to the school system, along with the critical race theory.Rivera: Yes, that is correct. Policy 8040, which Loudoun County has proposed for transgender students in Loudoun County, states that teachers will refer to a child's gender by the preferred pronoun. Girls who decide to be boys can use the girls' bathroom, and vice versa.It was interesting to me that I didn't hear much about boys using girls bathrooms, but the exact opposite. I also don't hear anyone standing up for women's rights in regards to their bathrooms, privacies, lockers, or sports.What does this mean for young women in sports who fought so hard to have equality in sports and their own programs? And suddenly, you have a biological man competing in your sport.Blair: That's right. And all this brings to mind an instance in Loudoun County with Tanner Cross, a PE teacher. Tanner was suspended from school after expressing dissatisfaction with a policy that required teachers to refer students to their preferred gender pronouns. If a man says, "I want to be called a girl", the teacher must comply or face serious consequences.This leads me to my next question. There are many stories about ongoing conflicts between parents and school boards. They basically say, Enough is enough. We don't want this in our schools. But, I haven't heard much about students' feelings. I would love to hear from you about the opinions of your children or their friends regarding school issues. How do students feel about this?Rivera: It's not something my son has ever said. It's funny because the other day, I was talking with him about gender curiosity and some of these things as well as how trans people live. I noticed that he became very quiet and I then asked him if he had any questions. Although I didn't go into too much detail, I wanted to give him a general idea of what was being discussed. He turned to me and said, Papa. I was uncomfortable talking about that.I was struck by the lightbulb in my head.Blair:Rivera: He does not choose his friends based on their nationality. So I can only guess that the things that he doesn't tell me are an indication that he is grinning and carrying his way through it. However, we try to educate him as much possible.Blair: Yes. It seems like the differences between having these conversations at school and at home are stark.We have been focusing a lot on the problems in Loudoun County, but I wanted to point out some of the positive things and steps that can be taken.Could you highlight the positive actions that Loudoun County parents have taken to hold the school board responsible, as well as any advice you could give to other communities in the country facing the same radical school boards?Rivera: Rivera, well, Loudoun Countys are in the spotlight unfortunately. But, I look at the national scene, and there are many parents doing similar activities in New Jersey, Nevada and New York. These parents are not all white. There are also black parents. There are also parents of Asian descent.They were planning to install cameras in classrooms in Nevada. They had in New Jersey. This is part of a wider issue with political school boards taking liberties and being out of touch in terms of wakingness.Blair:Rivera: We are fortunate to have a lot parents in Loudoun who are encouraged by all that is happening and, let's be real, they are not giving up. There are many rallies taking place. There is a lot of talk.It is sad to say that many people may not have been paying attention to the election. It will sort of take care itself, I thought. It is not that important. The school board will do what is right.As someone stated in the news, I believe that the political boards that are acting as they are have awakened a sleeping giant and it is not going away. It's not going away.We want to get rid of the school board. Loudoun is not represented on the school board. As the Democrats would point out, elections have consequences and we are suffering them right now.Blair: That's right. We can see that the giant is now awake. We have awakened the sleeping giant. We have discovered that school boards do things that were previously hidden. Now that we are paying attention, we will move on it and stop this from ever happening.What would you call a success in Loudoun County for all your efforts? What about the elimination of radical school board members? What about changing the curriculum? Is this the end game?Rivera: I am passionate about the school board. But, in the grander scheme, it is not much. We need to look at local elections and state elections.The fact that the National Archives [and Records Administration] recently declared that their racial equality committee, which was unknown to anyone, found the [Capitol] Rotunda, and the display of Founding Fathers documents to be racist, and that something needed happen, is a sign that this kind of woke critical racism theory type thinking is coming from the highest offices in the country.My conviction is that the country is in danger. It's not just the school boards; it's all the politicians. We must be motivated to vote.So I send a message to people to let them know that they don't have the option to ignore their vote. If you don't like the current situation and then you decide to stay home, you have basically given up your vote. To make sure conservatives vote more coherently and get the best candidates,Blair: That is some great advice. Michael, it is a bit late so I will leave the final point to you. What do you consider the most important thing listeners should learn from this interview?Let's talk a bit more about what listeners with children should do. What should they take away from this interview?Rivera: I took notes at an earlier event and wrote that COVID and home-based distance learning are the reason we're here. We would be here a year or more if there hadn't been distance learning and parents watching over their children, but no one would have noticed.My advice is to get involved and ask questions. It takes some effort, but it will take you out of your comfort zones. We all need to be activists, especially when it comes to our children and families.Blair: Good advice. Michael Rivera, a Loudoun County father of two, was an outspoken opponent to the proposed leftist policies in Loudoun County. Michael, thank you so much for taking the time to speak out against the proposed leftist policies in Loudoun County.Rivera: I am very grateful for your time.Do you have a comment about this article? Send us an email at [email protected] with your comments. We may publish them in our We Hear You section. Include the URL of the article or the headline, along with your name and the town/state.
