Florida Rep. Byron Donalds spoke out against critical race theory on Wednesday, accusing the progressive education policy of wanting people to be “trapped” by “the scars of our nation” by teaching it in public classrooms.
Donalds, a Republican, claimed progressives such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez want people to be “steeped in this ideology, where you are still trapped by, frankly, the scars of our nation, and we are not trapped by that,” he told FOX News on Wednesday.
In recent weeks, some Democrats have said teachers are not teaching critical race theory in public schools and argue critics of the theory are overwrought in their concerns about whether young students are being subjected to it in classrooms. Still, President Joe Biden’s Department of Education has referenced materials from a radical group known as the Abolitionist Teaching Network in its handbook, which is intended to help schools reopen after the pandemic, using language often associated with critical race theory.
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When asked whether he had heard of the Abolitionist Teaching Network referenced in the Education Department handbook, Donalds said “no” but added: “Unfortunately, a lot of these groups, they’re the ones that are getting these contracts to do diversity and inclusion seminars in schools and corporations, yes in our military, and … a lot of these organizations are steeped in critical race theory.”
Founded in July 2020, the teaching network’s “Guide for Racial Justice & Abolitionist Social and Emotional Learning” is featured in a link inside the virtual handbook. While the group’s website uses language often associated with critical race theory, it does not explicitly mention it.
“Abolitionist Teachers” should “build a school culture that engages in healing and advocacy. This requires a commitment to learning from students, families, and educators who disrupt Whiteness and other forms of oppression,” the group states in its guide.
One of the group’s “demands” listed in its guide includes “free, antiracist therapy for White educators and support staff.”
On Wednesday, Donalds underscored that he does not support the “thought process that the country is irreparably racist and that white people are irrerparably racist, there’s nothing they can ever do, except become anti-racist and address their white fragility.”
“What we should always be teaching is tolerance. Have people be tolerant of one another. Love your fellow man. Of course, that’s what we should be doing,” he added.
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Critical race theory and other closely related ideologies hold that the United States is inherently racist and that skin color is used to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites. Critics claim it relegates all white people to the role of oppressors and all people of color to that of victims.
Debates about the controversial doctrine have happened in school board meetings around the country as some states have taken measures to limit the teaching of critical race theory, while others have championed the ideas or related concepts.
The Washington Examiner contacted the Abolitionist Teaching Network but did not immediately receive a response.
