National teachers’ union 2018 guidebook embraces CRT

An 80-page “racial justice” resource guide prepared by the National Education Association and recently discovered by the Freedom Foundation describes in great detail the teachers’ union’s support of the tenets of Critical Race Theory and other controversial policies including banning voter ID requirements.

First published in November 2018, the guidebook is an example of how “teachers’ unions have been laying the groundwork” to push for damaging neo-Marxist policies and goals well before they began receiving widespread attention, writes Max Nelsen with the Freedom Foundation.

Below are the principles of Critical Race Theory that the teachers’ union guidebook supports, as reported by the Freedom Foundation.

Structural racism is everywhere

Racial dynamics, disparities and divisions permeate our society, communities, schools and classrooms. Systemic racism is so deeply rooted in our history, culture and institutions that there’s no escaping it. Visible or not, its impacts are ever-present. [Page 12]

Being colorblind is racist

Racism is perpetuated by silence — and silence is complicity. Being “colorblind” often serves as a pretense to downplay the significance of race, deny the existence of racism, and erase the experience of students of color. [Page 15]

Whites are privileged because of their race

If you are white, you may be used to the privilege of not having to think or talk about race, especially your own. [Page 15]

White people are racially privileged, even when they are economically underprivileged. [Page 34]

Only whites can be racist

Systemic racism — inequities and ideas about race based on history, institutions and culture — routinely advantages white people and dis-advantages people of color. Some racism is conscious and intentional, but a lot of racism is unconscious and unintentional (also known as implicit bias). Racism can be intensified by other intersecting inequities, such as gender and class, thus race requires explicit, but not exclusive attention. [Page 17]

…[T]he biases of whites have a broader impact and get reinforced by institution and systems of power in ways that the biases of people and communities of color do not. [Page 23]

…[R]acism is a cumulative and compounding product of an array of societal factors that, on balance, systematically privilege white people and disadvantage people of color. [Page 30]

“Racism” — Historically rooted system of power hierarchies based on race — infused in our institutions, policies and culture — that benefits white people and hurts people of color. [Page 35]

Failure to take antiracist actions is racist

In our own classroom, we are the power-holder, the gatekeeper, and the standard setter. One choice is to unconsciously and passively perpetuate racism, while the other is to consciously and actively pursue racial equity. [Page 13]

Fighting racism = supporting left-wing policies

Initiate a campaign to eliminate resource officers [police] from schools… [Page 52]

Work on campaigns or initiatives that attempt to divest from prisons… [Page 52]

Support Black Lives Matter events and efforts to remove public symbols of racism and white supremacy. Start or support a campaign to remove statues or change school names that celebrate white supremacy or demean people of color. [Page 63]

Start or join a campaign to pass automatic voter registration policies in your state. Start or join a campaign in your state to fight voter suppression, voting ID requirements, criminal re-enfranchisement and gerrymandering. [Page 75]

This summer, the National Education Association publicly embraced Critical Race Theory, approving new business items that endorse CRT and its use in all K-12 public schools across the country. But that hasn’t kept those on the left from denying CRT’s existence in elementary and secondary classrooms.

The bottom line: The teachers’ union has had and continues to have a political agenda rooted in a harmful, divisive ideology that does not serve educators or students.

If you are a Minnesota educator and a member of Education Minnesota (the state’s teachers’ union that has also defended CRT), you are paying dues to the National Education Association and funding this agenda. Let the union know its divisive worldview has no place in education by opting out of union membership here. Don’t delay — You only have until September 30 to make your decision or your membership will be locked in for another year.

Interested in liability coverage? You have options that are free from partisan politics and offer double the protection the union provides for a fraction of the cost of dues.