Road warriors

‘Raise Our Standards’ tour draws substantial crowds, support.

The Raise Our Standards tour that challenges Critical Race Theory and revisionist history is mobilizing Minnesotans who oppose the efforts of Gov. Tim Walz and his education officials to favor the cultivation of politically correct attitudes over academic achievement. And support for Center of the American Experiment events has been so overwhelming that future dates are still under consideration.

The tour coincides with the Department of Education’s proposed revisions to social studies standards so history in K-12 schools is taught through a lens of Critical Race Theory. American Experiment, part of a nationwide trend in protesting CRT and revisionist history, began its events on June 8 in Winona and continued them through June 30 in Burnsville. The tour was scheduled for 17 cities, with Policy Fellow Catrin Wigfall the featured speaker at each one.

“The urgency couldn’t be more obvious,” Wigfall says. “Parents, grandparents and concerned Minnesotans must activate on the grassroots level to stand up against the politicizing of our schools.”

The tour stops in Greater Minnesota averaged about 100 attendees per stop. At the time of publishing, the four Twin Cities events each had more than 200 people signed up to attend.

These gatherings are important, Wigfall says, because they are a way for like-minded Minnesotans to connect, something American Experiment will enhance through online tools that facilitate communication about schools across the state. Wigfall hopes the publicity of the tour will inspire activists to become more involved in education, to review textbooks, attend other meetings and events, and perhaps run for school boards.

The impact has been so great that leftists pressured three venues to back out.

Duluth’s stop was canceled — twice — when the Northland Country Club reneged two days before the event, and then the Holiday Inn backed out after agreeing to take the country club’s place, citing scheduling conflicts.

The Elks Lodge in Hibbing followed suit by canceling less than 24 hours before a scheduled event. This stop was then rescheduled for JJ’s Coffee & Cream.

It was Black Lives Matter and the NAACP who tried to shut down debate via social media by absurdly labeling American Experiment’s opposition to CRT as “hate speech” and “overt racism.” And at the Moorhead stop, one woman was arrested for disorderly conduct after getting into a scuffle with an elderly man who was wearing an “All Lives Matter” button.

“The Left in Minnesota are afraid of a free exchange of ideas so they are trying to shut us down instead,” American Experiment President John Hinderaker says. “It won’t work. Many hundreds of Minnesotans have participated in the Raise Our Standards tour, and we will not be deterred by these tactics. We thank the Moorhead police officers for helping us restore order at the Moorhead event and Duluth will be rescheduled as soon as we find a venue with the courage to host the event.”