Kaplan has set up an email list and arranged meetings with state legislators. He also recruited people to meet with school boards to discuss ethnic issues. This is representative of Democrat-leaning suburbanites interviewed by POLITICO, six of which are won by Biden. Their school system's new equity initiatives are causing them to be furious. They argue that they are expensive and divisive and encourage students to form groups based on race and support pro-activist positions. The initiatives are seen as a step in the right direction to eliminate systemic racism within the school system, according to their supporters.Democrats insist that national riots over critical-race theory, which has become a political punching box even for unrelated equity programs, are largely the work right-wing activists, who willfully misrepresent it and blame Fox News for inflaming parents' anger."That's another right-wing conspiracy. This is completely made up by Donald Trump, Glenn Youngkin [Republican candidate to governor]," Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Terry McAuliffe stated in June.Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary, stated in May that she didn't think anyone would believe that systemic racism education for youth and the next generation of leaders in the country is indoctrination.These Democrats seem to underestimate the anger of parents in areas where critical race theory is predominant. According to interviews with POLITICO interviewees with school board members, political activists and activists from Democratic and left-leaning communities, including Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., Palm Beach County, Fla., New York's Westchester County, Maricopa County, Phoenix, Ariz., and suburb Detroit, objections to equity plans aren't just the domain of conservatives.Parents who have been attending school board meetings and helped to launch a series of recall elections claim they are angry at a variety of issues. They are frustrated about the lack of diversity at school boards, a myopic focus, and ongoing frustration with closed schools. School lesson plans they feel are too progressive and too fast. Parents say that the root causes of anger are many and being ignored.Andy Barron/Reno Gazette-Journal via APAmanda Litman, the founder of Run for Something, a Democratic organization that works to elect local school board members, knows the stakes. This is a perfect storm that could appeal to or draw in suburban parents who voted Republican in 2016, Democrat 2018 and 2020, and then be drawn back to Republican Party in 2022.Litman said that we are trying to say No, you're mis-defining critical racism theory. People are afraid of what their children are learning.Critical race theory is an academic discipline which was developed at universities and law schools in the 1980s to study institutional racism and challenge existing approaches of racial justice. Opposition activists began using the term to refer to a series of new efforts to fight systemic racism in schools this year.According to polling, the majority of voters are not aware of critical race theory. As the debate continues, both activists and Republican officeholders are able to give voters a negative view of it. A full third of respondents to pollsters at YouGov said that they had never heard of critical-race theory. Only a third also stated that they knew something about its meaning. However, opinions among those who had heard of it were strongly negative. Only 23 percent of those who had heard of it were extremely favorable, while 53 percent were unfavorable.People who identify as Republican and have heard of critical-race theory were particularly negative. 85 percent said they thought their views were very unfavorable. However, this was true for 71 percent of independents. This was the group that helped Biden defeat Donald Trump. The Pew Research Center found that the Democrat was favorably favored by 9 points. Trump narrowly won the group in 2016 over Hillary Clinton. The majority (58%) of Democrats who had heard about critical race theory were very positive, with a small but significant 7% being very unfavorable.One parent from Novi, Mich. is a diverse suburb near Detroit that has renowned public schools. She said that her daughter raised the issue of defunding police and suggested that rioters who looted shops during 2020's Black Lives Matter protests could be justified.Due to the political fervor in Novi, the parent who requested anonymity said that she had voted for Democrats in the past but that she now considers her daughters' ideas radical.She said that based on all I have seen over the past year, beginning with Covid's, I can no longer vote for Democratic candidates in good faith.Loudoun County in Virginia, where there has been a heated debate about the district's plans to implement diversity initiatives, saw two protesters arrested and two board members were recalled. Organizers have also noticed support from people outside of the Republican Party. Public Opinion Strategies conducted a poll in June for Fight for Schools, an anti-critical-race theory advocacy group. It found that 48% of independent voters and 59% of public school parents in Loudoun County saw critical race theory negatively. 31% and 39% of the respective groups had positive views.Loudoun County was won by Biden by 62 to 37 percent, while Trump was defeated by Fairfax by 70-28.While I understand that Democrats have a base of concern, dismissing [concerns over critical race theory] can fire people up even more," said Ian Prior, an ex-Trump Justice Department spokesperson who is a Loudoun County parent and Loudoun County resident. Prior has been focusing his efforts on recalling school board members through Fight for Schools. Democrats are missing an opportunity for Democrats to say, "Okay, let's hear you out."Loudoun was a magnet for critical race theory criticism and comments to the school board became more vexatious. Atoosa Reser, one of six Loudoun School Board Members who are facing recall, stated that the potential recall could be caused by these comments. The local Democratic Party supports all six of the members being recalled.Even those who helped you think you should be recalled if you have a D after you name, Reaser stated. He noted that parents have lost support for board members over a series a uproars that began during the pandemic and which saw many parents concerned about their children's learning. This was followed by increased public scrutiny of Loudouns actions plans.Reaser stated that the battle in Loudoun makes it difficult for school boards to plan for next school year.Reaser stated that it is actually harmful for [critics] in fraying our ability to concentrate on the important matters like how can we bring back students next year and give them mental health support.When asked about Virginia's critical race theory debate, Grant Fox, spokesperson for the state Democratic Party, pointed out Youngkin, the candidate for governor, who had spent considerable time opposing it.Fox stated that Glenn Youngkin has been focusing his campaign against divisive attacks on and controversies over things that aren’t happening in Virginia schools, because he doesn’t want voters to learn the truth about his agenda. Glenn will cut funding for Virginia's public education and leave students and teachers out in the cold if he has his way.Palm Beach County voted for Trump in 2020 by 56 to 43 votes. A statement that was intended to increase equity in the area was quickly criticized by parents. The district made a five-paragraph statement in May, and it quickly became a contentious issue. Several parents gave testimony at a school board meeting, where they demanded the removal of white advantage.Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via APOne parent informed the school board that my children would never be taught to apologize or be ashamed of who they are because their skin color.The majority of Democrats on May's school board voted to remove the phrase "white advantage" from the equity statement. The local Democratic Party took swift action and censured the school board members, stating that they had betrayed party values. Two members of the school board declared that they would be leaving the party.Omari Hardy is a Palm Beach County candidate for Congress who helped pass the censure resolution. She said Democrats should stick to their guns and not make politics with anti-critical racism activists.Hardy said that moderate Democrats are known for compromising on non-negotiable topics. It is not possible to make the angry mobs who are circulating the country talking about critical racism disappear by compromising with them.Jin Hee Lee, senior deputy litigator for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, stated that there is also a greater moral obligation to protect racial progress.Lee stated that it is no coincidence that this occurs on the heels of the most significant civil rights moment in American history. This was when anti-Black racism and systemic racism were so prominent. This is a reaction to the amazing movement that sparked a national reckoning over our systemic racism.Bion Bartning is a self-described independent who co-founded Eos lipbalm. He became involved in the controversy over critical race theory when his daughter's private New York City elementary school implemented changes that required students to watch each other in video and check for bias.Bartning, a mixed-race 5-year-old, stated that this is the exact opposite of what you would tell a 5-year old. I was raised with liberal values and believed in the principle that we should judge one another by their character, not our skin color.Bartning is now the founder of FAIR (Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism), which aims to offer alternative education about race and corporate DEI trainings, and not use anti-racism ideas that have been popular in recent decades. Bartning is not interested in politics and FAIR's board of advisors deliberately includes Democrats like Steven Pinker (a Harvard University professor who was a donor to Bidens presidential campaigns).Kaplan, a Democrat based out of San Mateo County had just quit her job in nonprofit when her friends began sending links to California's proposed ethnic studies curriculum to Kaplan. This framework was for teachers to be useful to Kaplan since she grew up in the former Soviet Union.Kaplan believed there were many issues with the model curriculum. For example, drafts included critiques of capitalism. One draft referred to capitalism as a system that gives power and suggested students learn how capitalism is used to oppress people. Although the first draft did not include any anti-Semitism, it included examples of teachings about Palestine that upset Jewish leaders.Kaplan is now a major opponent to the curriculum, but she denounced the political football that has become critical race theory debate, and said she and others are focusing on making real changes on the ground.Kaplan stated that many people oppose CRT in schools because they are opposed to discussing racism. We strongly believe in the importance of teaching against racism and in the need to confront racism.However, Democrats must not overlook the potential power of critical race theory. Litman, of Run for Something, said that critical race theory anxiety can be compared to the fear of death panels in 2009's Obamacare debate.Litman stated that the Republican Party has historically used panic in a positive way. They have been able to combine a number of different anxiety components, including racial anxiety and anxiety about schools.Litman concluded that it doesn't matter what the facts are, but how people feel about them.
