Report: Critical Race Theory May Sway Independent Suburban Voters Away from Democrats

Classroom with students with hands raised
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Critical Race Theory and its related philosophies may push independent suburban voters away from Democrats, according to a Politico report Monday.

Politico highlighted California mother Elina Kaplan:

An immigrant who came to the United States from the Soviet Union, she is a registered Democrat from San Mateo County, Calif. And she’s alarmed over her state’s new model ethnic studies curriculum, which cites critical race theory as a “key theoretical framework and pedagogy.”

“I firmly believe that if the vast majority of Californians and Americans knew about this, and about the content of this type of curriculum, this would not be happening. We would not be having this conversation,” Kaplan told the site.

The establishment media and leftists in the education realm attempt to dismiss parental concerns by suggesting they are misinformed or do not want the history of slavery and racism in the United States to be taught.

As parents attend school board meetings across the country to vocally oppose Critical Race Theory seeping into curriculum under the guise of “equity” and “culturally responsive teaching.” As the Philadelphia Inquirer framed it:

A major talking point in conservative media and staple in Republican campaign messaging, critical race theory has increasingly become a focus of public comment at area school board meetings. Many public school leaders say they aren’t teaching the concept — a legal framework that dates to the 1970s and examines racism as embedded in institutions — but are working to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, efforts that have been underway for years.

Their critics — who have been organizing on social media — argue schools are foisting a political belief system on students, and sowing division by excessively focusing on race.

Some Democrat politicians also dismiss those concerns.

“That’s another right-wing conspiracy. This is totally made up by Donald Trump and [Republican candidate for governor] Glenn Youngkin,” Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe (D) recently said, Politico reported.

“Glenn Youngkin is focusing his campaign on divisive attacks and controversies about things that aren’t happening in Virginia schools because he doesn’t want voters to know the truth about his agenda,” Virginia Democrat party spokesman Grant Fox said. “If Glenn has his way, he will gut funding for public education in Virginia and leave our teachers and students out in the cold.”

Politico claimed Democrat dismissals “appear to be underestimating parents’ anger in places where critical race theory is top of mind,” and listed several areas that swung towards Democrats in 2018 and 2020, including, “the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.; Palm Beach County, Fla.; New York’s Westchester County; Maricopa County covering Phoenix, Ariz.; and suburban Detroit.”

“We’re trying to argue ‘No, you’re mis-defining critical race theory,’ and that’s not the point,” Amanda Litman, founder of the leftwing organization Run for Something, said. “The point is that people are scared about what their kids are learning.”

There is perhaps no better example of the simmering pot blowing up in the leftists’ faces than a recent school board meeting in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Board members demanded silence from the capacity crowd and when upset attendees refused, the meeting was adjourned and members left.

A sheriff’s deputy then took the microphone to declare it an “unlawful assembly” and told everyone to get out or be subject to arrest for “trespassing.” When at least one man refused to leave, he was arrested, according to video posted by Loudoun Now:

“Tell me what I did wrong,” he said as officers put his hands behind his back. “You gotta tell me what I did wrong.”

Loudoun Now said two attendees were injured and required medical attention. Another man was arrested, another video showed.

The crowd’s opinions did little to sway elected officials.

“We will not back down from fighting for the rights of our students and continuing our focus on equity,” board chairwoman Brenda Sheridan told NBC 4.

She demanded an end to “politically motivated antics.”

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