KENNEWICK, Wa. — Rep. Dan Newhouse wants to stop "critical race theory" being taught in schools
The Sunnyside Republican is cosponsoring two pieces of legislation aimed at stopping the government from promoting "critical race theory," he said. He was joined by Utah Republican Rep. Burgess Owens in sponsoring the two bills.
Critical race theory emerged in the 1970s and was promoted by legal scholars Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw and Richard Delgado, among others. It was an effort to examine the law in how it serves the interests of people in power at the expense of others.
Newhouse is among a number of conservatives who see efforts to introduce diversity training and other equity efforts as a way to create divisions among groups of people.
They equate that with the concept of critical race theory and claim it opposes the goal of preventing discrimination and is intended to undermine the nation's economic system and sew hatred of its institutions.
"Teaching students to be ashamed of our country and to judge each other based on the color of their skin is wrong and divisive," Newhouse said in a statement.
But others contend that there is a ongoing national reckoning with systemic racism following the death of George Floyd and others, which sparked nationwide Black Lives Matter protests.
"It is critical that the teaching of American history and civics creates learning experiences that validate and reflect the diversity, identities, histories, contributions and experiences of all students," said a new grant priority for the American History and Civics Education program.
One of the measures supported by Newhouse would reinstate a September 2020 executive order by Donald Trump. The order prevents federal agencies from acting on any idea that anyone is "inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously."
The resolution said the executive order was intended to promote unity, economy and efficiency, and "to combat offensive and anti-American race and sex stereotyping and scapegoating."
President Joe Biden revoked the executive order after taking office.
History lessons
The second measure from Newhouse and Owens is a bill intended to prevent critical race theory being taught in schools. It comes after the Department of Education issued priorities for American History and Civics Education programs.
Those are aimed at "supporting teaching and learning that reflects the breadth and depth of our nation's diverse history."
The regulation lays out the selection criteria for federal grants to improve history instruction, according to Education Next, a Harvard University-based journal. It uses those criteria to hand out about $2 million a year. Typically that funds up to three projects that last about three to five years.
"President Biden has abandoned his commitment to equal treatment under the law with his most recent proposal to fund critical race theory programs," Newhouse argued.
While the resolution doesn't specifically reference the new priorities, it does present several examples of what they see as critical race theory cropping up in school districts.
One includes the Seattle School Board's 2017 direction in Washington state to develop an ethnic studies curriculum, which the resolution says was meant to "counteract systems of oppression such as patriarchy and capitalism."
