UPFRONT NEWS
Photo by Eric Sandy
Crazed Rocky River Parents Prove “Critical Race Theory” Means Whatever the Heck You Want It To
A PARADE OF RABID Rocky River parents called for the resignation of schools superintendent Michael Shoaf at a school board meeting last month and sharply criticized a contract with the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio for a series of courses on diversity, equity and inclusion. The so-called “JEDI” program, which the Diversity Center has taught in Rocky River schools since 2013, has lately been seized upon by conservative political groups as a high-mileage wedge issue. A faction of verklempt parents and community members in the western Cleveland suburb conveyed their beliefs that this program is indoctrinating students with hatred of white people and the United States. Like others in Trump circles and Republican-led legislatures around the country, these parents are decrying the JEDI program as an example of “Critical Race Theory” being taught in schools. The frequency and variety of that term’s
usage at the meeting, however, demonstrated just how rapidly it has been evacuated of meaning. Within weeks, Critical Race Theory has become little more than a battle cry, a buzzword to signal anti-wokeness, white persecution and the like. CRT can now infect any person, policy, college course, piece of journalism or speech with poisonous ideas about diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice (which are, in these quarters, bad by definition). Even acknowledging that race exists, and that people of different races have experienced different realities in the United States, is evidently a product of Critical Race Theory. In Rocky River, the JEDI program was the subject of controversy early last month when the district announced that it would expand the courses to younger students. The program, according to its own description, is designed “to empower students to feel confident in who they
are and have the skills to recognize and intervene when others aren’t being included...To enable educators and administrators to engage in conversations about issues that are affecting their students and families... and to engage families and caretakers in gaining the skills to offer solutions to make their school feel more inclusive to all students.” It wasn’t long before certain ideologues and opportunists began encouraging parents to identify the JEDI course for what it really was: a radical Marxist curriculum aimed at overthrowing the United States. Before Rocky River voters voted down a new school levy in April, they received a robocall from Portage County Tea Party leader Tom Zawistowski, who railed against the JEDI program in language so hyperbolic and unhinged it’s astonishing anyone took it seriously. The school district had been infiltrated by “radical Marxist teachers, staff and administrators,” Zawistowski alleged, “who want to
implement the racist, anti-American, nonsensical Critical Race Theory, which indoctrinates your children and grandchildren with race-based hatred of white people, of American history, and of capitalism, with the goal of the communist takeover of our nation.” The JEDI program, for what it’s worth, anticipated (or else responded to) these ravings by explicitly denying that it teaches Critical Race Theory in its online FAQ. The Diversity Center “focuses on shifting behaviors and not beliefs for cultivating inclusive and equitable environments that celebrate differences in the school community,” it says. “DCNEO programs do not: Tell everyone that they are racist. Indoctrinate people into one way of thinking... “DCNEO youth programming focuses on building awareness, understanding, and skills for cultivating a sense of belonging in schools and youth-serving organizations. Social identities, | clevescene.com | June 2-8, 2021
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