A newly released investigative report from the state superintendent of Virginia has found numerous “critical race theory [CRT]-based materials” and teachings that have been distributed throughout the state’s education system. The report’s findings dispel the narrative continually pushed by legacy media that CRT is not taught in Virginia schools.
Issued by Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, the interim investigation’s findings include a page taken from the “EdEquityVA” program on the Virginia Department of Education’s website, which provides a list of the “Basic Tenants of Anti-racist Education” sourced directly from Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility” and the Urban Institute’s “Structural Racism in America.” Included in the list are statements claiming that “[a]ll members of society have been socialized to participate in racist systems” and “[w]hite people benefit from racism, regardless of intentions.”
The report also documents several resource recommendations by the state’s Office of Equity and Community Engagement, which refers individuals to books such as “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi, “Foundations of Critical Race Theory in Education” by Edward Taylor, David Gillborn and Gloria Ladson-Billings, and “Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools” by Glenn Singleton.
Other resources provided on the state Department of Education’s website are links to multiple CRT-based materials for Virginia teachers, such as “Educate to Liberate: Build an Anti-Racist Classroom” from Edutopia, “How to Be an Antiracist Educator” from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and “Moving Schools Beyond Anti-Racist Words to Action” from Education Week Teacher, among others.
While such resources and programs are now officially rescinded, Balow notes that critical race theory and other divisive concepts have become so widespread throughout the state’s education system that the education department “will need to proactively review policies, practices, and pedagogies around the state to uphold the Civil Rights Act and comport with Executive Order One.”
“We must continue to ensure that no student in Virginia is taught to judge or treat others differently solely on the basis of their race, skin color, ethnicity, sex or faith,” wrote Balow in a letter to Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Education Secretary Aimee Guidera. “As the work continues, we will engage stakeholders in an ongoing dialogue about how all resources and initiatives from the Virginia Department of Education must permit and encourage school divisions to build a culture of compassion, acceptance, opportunity, and positive change.”
Youngkin, who barred the teaching of CRT and related concepts via executive order upon taking office, reacted positively to the release of the report, while saying “[t]here is much work to be done.”
“All Virginia students should have the opportunity to receive an excellent education that teaches all history including the good and the bad, prioritizes academic excellence, and fosters equal opportunities for all students,” he said in a statement. “This is the first step in improving Virginia’s education system, restoring high academic expectations, equipping our future generation to be career or college ready, and providing equal opportunities for all Virginia students.”
The investigation’s findings put to shame numerous members of the legacy media, who have repeatedly claimed that critical race theory does not exist in Virginia’s education system. While discussing Youngkin’s gubernatorial victory on election night last year, for instance, CNN national politics reporter Eva McKend alleged that the “issue of critical race theory, even though it is not being taught in Virginia public schools, became so core in this race.”
MSNBC executive producer Kyle Griffin tweeted several days before the Virginia election that “Virginia Republican Glenn Youngkin is calling to expunge the teaching of Critical Race Theory from Virginia’s schools—but the theory isn’t mentioned in the state’s learning standards and even Loudoun County has said it doesn’t teach CRT.”
Other corporate media outlets that perpetuated the false narrative that CRT wasn’t in Virginia public schools include NBC, CBS, and PBS, among others.
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