More than two-thirds of American voters believe the tenets and teachings of Critical Race Theory (CRT) are only serving to further divide young people, according to a recent national poll.
Conducted for Summit Ministries by nationally renowned polling firm McLaughlin & Associates, the poll shows 69 percent of respondents with an opinion on the issue believe CRT curriculum further divides ethnic groups and races among American youth. Less than one-third (31 percent) say CRT promotes racial healing and reconciliation among America’s kids.
“This eye-opening poll shows that Americans are realizing the truth about Critical Race Theory curriculum–it is designed to create division and stoke racial tensions, ” said Pastor John Amanchukwu, Sr., faculty member at Summit Ministries.
The poll of 1,000 general election voters has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent at a 95 percent confidence interval, according to McLaughlin & Associates.
CRT proponents defend the academic concept that teaches that “race is a social construct,” and that racism is embedded in American legal systems and policies.
But CRT, as the Heritage Foundation notes, was born out of Marxist analysis in forming the sweeping conclusion that racial dominance by whites created “systemic racism.” The philosophy “makes race the prism through which its proponents analyze all aspects of American life.”
CRT critics argue that such focus on race goes against the very teachings of civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose dream was that his children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
CRT — perhaps under the broader umbrella of so-called diversity, equity and inclusion policies — seems to have become embedded in K-12 curriculum. While education administrators vehemently deny CRT is being taught in schools, evidence shows otherwise.
This week, an undercover investigation by conservative advocacy group Project Veritas exposed an educator claiming to circumvent Georgia law by selling public school districts CRT-related curriculum.
Dr. Quintin Bostic, whose teaching license was previously revoked, is a content manager for an equity-focused nonprofit Teaching Lab. He sells U.S. school districts diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) educational materials.
In the video, Bostic tells Project Veritas he sneaks in elements of critical race theory billed as DEI curricula.
“I mean, you can teach kids things under the radar,” Bostic says.
Bostic claims he sells the curricula to Cobb County Schools and Fulton County Schools , two of the largest public school districts in Georgia. Georgia is one of several states that have banned teaching critical race theory in public schools.
As one of her first acts of business, Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders signed an executive order banning critical race theory in public schools in her state.
“Critical Race Theory (CRT) is antithetical to the traditional American values of neutrality, equality, and fairness,” the order states. “It emphasizes skin color as a person’s primary characteristic, thereby resurrecting segregationist values, which America has fought so hard to reject.”
The Summit poll also found 70 percent of voters with an opinion on the issue believe public schools should be investigating more classroom time in teaching standard curriculum such as math, science, and reading rather than cultural curriculum like CRT and sexual identity/transgenderism.
“As we see in this poll, and at school boards across the country, everyday Americans are demanding a national recommitment to reading, writing, arithmetic, science, and history. It’s time that education, not indoctrination, returns as the focus of every classroom in our nation,” Summit’s Amanchukwu said.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “CRT Books” by college.library. CC BY 2.0.
