Republicans are banding together to orient policy and directives aimed at undermining critical race theory by engaging the culture war.
In a new memo, Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks urged more than 150 RSC members to reject the Democrats’ “revolutionary posture” and “lean” into the culture war. The RSC is the largest conservative caucus on Capitol Hill.
“We are in a culture war. On one side, Republicans are working to renew American patriotism and rebuild our country,” Banks wrote. “On the other, Democrats have embraced and given platform to a radical element who want to tear America down. ”
One of the first ways the GOP can interject itself into the cultural battles facing American society is to “reject the racism essentialism that Critical Race Theory teaches,” the memo suggests.
“We believe that individuals should be judged based on the contents of their character, not their skin. And we believe that America’s institutions should be colorblind, just as our Constitution is colorblind. This is the same vision shared by civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.,” Banks noted.
The backlash against the racist curriculum, the memo continues, is evident in the communities that legislators represent which is why they suggest Republicans act quickly.
“As House conservatives, we should be sending a signal to these concerned parents. We have your back,” Banks wrote.
GOP governors and state legislatures have begun to introduce and pass policies dedicated to fighting the indoctrination of children with racist curriculum and Democrat talking points.
Change is also happening on the federal level. Just this week Texas Sen. Ted Cruz introduced a measure to prohibit federal funding of critical race theory trainings. A month earlier, Utah Rep. Burgess Owens introduced a similar bill in the House
“The federal government has no right to force a political agenda onto Americans, especially one that aims to tear down our institutions and divide us based on race,” Cruz said. “Critical Race Theory originated out of the critical race studies movement. It is a Marxist ideology that sees the world as a battle, not between the classes – as classical Marxism does – but between the races. This is inherently bigoted.”
