As several states move to ban toxic critical race theory from indoctrinating students, the state of Washington is leaning in.
The race-obsessed framework isn’t relegated to schools in Seattle, where you’d expect a victim-centered ideology like critical race theory to flourish. Thanks to the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature, a trio of bills just signed into law mandates critical race theory training for all public school teachers. Another even requires training for medical students, teaching them it’s as essential to be social justice activists as it is to treat patients.
While the critical race theory mandates go into effect in the 2022-2023 school year, many districts are already jumping on board. The Issaquah School District vows it will fight racism by “identifying and removing bias and systemic and institutional barriers that create marginalization,” while Bellingham Public Schools pushes training to guarantee “inclusive education” for students.
At Seattle Public Schools, they’ve even developed a “Racial Equity Team,” a group of far-left educators seeking that schools make all of their decisions through a racialized “equity” lens. To effectively carry out this mission, they say, staff need training. Highline Public Schools, a majority-minority district south of Seattle, has mandated similar training for years, even holding an annual race symposium where staff express their displeasure with being “privileged” and white.
“I felt like yesterday I realized that I’m white and that I have all the advantages of being part of that group,” one white staffer says. “Privileges that I don’t really think I fully understood until yesterday. I was reading ‘White Fragility,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, OK.’ I think I’m taking that next step in my journey to understanding what’s happening, what equity is about, what racial equity is about, what anti-racism is about, and what racism is about.”
During hours-long sessions, staff learn race is a social construct that has “been adapted to meet the needs of white supremacy culture.” If you get defensive at being labeled a racist, facilitators say it’s an example of white supremacy in action.
Staffers learn that black people cannot be racist because they don’t have power, that whites benefit from white privilege even if they experience “high poverty,” and that virtually every American institution is founded in white supremacy.
Just north of Seattle, administrators in the Edmonds School District force staff to sit through hours of critical race theory training on equity and institutionalizing racism. The most recent focus was on so-called microaggressions.
First, there was first a “land acknowledgment” to shame and guilt staff about the “stolen” land the district occupies. Then, staff received a lecture on the proper use of personal pronouns, including “Faer” and “Hu.” Finally, non-white staff were offered breakout rooms closed to white people, meant to be “safe spaces.”
Training facilitators told staff they might suffer from bias without even knowing it, and this contributes to institutionalized racism. They were instructed to select books for their students on the basis of the book character’s race. They were told to include photos on their classroom walls that better reflect diverse heroes. Suggestions including President Barack Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris, Justice Sonia Sotomayer, and actor Billy Porter.
Indifferent to political decisions that don’t affect you? Won’t challenge a racist joke? Deny white privilege altogether? The critical race theory training in Edmonds explains you’re engaging in white supremacy.
Indeed, while critical race theory training is pitched as a way to ensure “equity” in the classroom, in truth, it’s far more sinister. Activists believe systems of oppression stand in the way of true racial equity and must be dismantled. Recruiting the next generation into the cause starts on campus. In Tacoma, one adjunct teacher offering an elective titled “Environmental and Social Justice” openly recruited students to join leftist political campaigns. The district saw no problem with it.
“I specifically am working on the New Green Deal with Washington state,” the teacher told students. “So especially for young folks who want the opportunity to work on some policy during this time, please email me. It’ll be really fun and exciting. There’s a lot of people who are going to be running for Washington state Senate who support the New Green Deal that’ll be looking for interns. Whether that’s people to help with the community outreach side or whether that’s people to help with these campaigns.”
It’s even more explicit at the state’s two publicly funded medical schools. A new law requires medical students to enroll in at least one course at the University of Washington or Washington State University medical schools that focus on “eliminating structural racism in health care systems.” They’re being trained to become social justice activists, instead of competent doctors.
What’s worse, by law, both schools must create “goals” to increase the diversity of the class because the legislature believes patient outcomes are best predicated on whether their doctor looks like them.
“Research points us to that if you have a provider who either shares your background or experience or is sensitive and understanding of the culture from which you come, … you are more likely to follow the care recommendations of that physician,” notes Sen. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton.
Randall points to research claiming black men are more likely to listen to medical advice “if they had a Black physician or if they were able to connect with that physician about cultural experiences.” But these “goals” are more like quotas.
The schools can now offer special consideration to minority applicants. But when there are limited seats available, the only way to take race into consideration is to limit the seats from going to the races that occupy the most seats: whites and Asian Americans.
The “why” on critical race theory is quite clear: encourage teachers to deliver the ideology to students and maintain the so-called antiracist training throughout their educational careers. Upon graduation, you’ll have eager young adults ready to address those mythical systems of oppression. It’s indoctrination in its truest and most dangerous form.
