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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,
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culture, experience, and history impact how individuals navigate the world, including the education system. We provide education on specific social identity groups and how a history of bias and discrimination has impacted (and in some cases still impacts) the way students experience education at-large. However, our youth programming does not include Critical Race Theory as a component.”
Good luck convincing the parents who spoke at the meeting Thursday. They claimed to “see through” the rhetoric about diversity and inclusion and “social and emotional learning.” Multiple commenters, echoing Zawistowski, referred to the JEDI program as “Marxist” and “Communist.” Many expressed fears that their children were being brainwashed into hating the United States and white people. Some expressed the belief that matters of race, gender and sexuality were more suited for the home than the classroom. Others were more extreme.
“This is very similar to what happened in Nazi Germany,” said one commenter, following in the ironic footsteps of MAGA politicians comparing the Covid vaccine (and other things they don’t like) to the atrocities of Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust. “Hitler’s brown shirts were thugs and intimidators, much like today’s BLM and Antifa activists. This country has forgotten the lessons of Adolf Hitler.”
Others noted that Superintendent Michael Shoaf serves on the board of directors of the Diversity Center, and suggested that the district’s $72,000 contract with the organization represented a clear conflict of interest. The Diversity Center did not respond to a voicemail and emailed request for comment. Shoaf, at the conclusion of the comment period, merely said he thought it’d be a good idea to arrange a meeting with representatives of the anti-CRT group to discuss their concerns.
A representative from the organization Ohio Value Voters spoke as well. Ohio Value Voters was present at a recent Ohio Political Summit in Strongsville and is making opposition to “Critical Race Theory” central to its advocacy efforts statewide. Those efforts are bearing fruit. The Strongsville GOP has formed a committee to review the curriculum in the Strongsville schools to determine if there are elements of so-called Critical Race Theory there as well.
It’s no surprise that this paranoia reached the Ohio Statehouse, one of the nation’s most fertile fields for demented ideas. Last month, Rep. Diane Grendell (R-Chesterland), introduced a bill targeting Critical Race Theory and other “divisive concepts” in Ohio curricula. Her bill would ban state school systems and other state entities from “creating feelings of discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress in individuals on account of his or her race, color, nationality, or sex.” Weeks later, another bill was introduced targeting CRT specifically.
Not for nothing, but this is exactly the sort of snowflake language Republicans purport to despise. Legislating against white discomfort? Surreal.
Rightwing candidates have also been using the specter of censorship from big tech to rile up their base, but are now supporting legislation that would effectively censor all interpretations of history in which white people are implicated. Free speech for me but not for thee, etc.
Further afield, attacks on Critical Race Theory are getting results in spite of their groundlessness. Boise State University, in Idaho, suspended a suite of diversity courses after a complaint from a prominent community member, who’d alleged that he’d seen a video of a white student being forced to apologize for their whiteness in front of their class. The allegations were investigated by a major local law firm and could not be substantiated. Nikole Hannah-Jones, lead author and architect of the New York Times’ 1619 Project — the main target of the anti-CRT camp’s ravings — was last week denied tenure at the University of North Carolina when the university’s Board of Directors intervened on explicitly political grounds and overturned the recommendation of the journalism department.
It’s unclear how significant the anti-CRT crowd is in Rocky River, a 95% white community that voted for Joe Biden in 2020. The commenters Thursday promised that they were only the bravest constituents from a large number of families concerned about the JEDI curricula and the scourge of cultural sensitivity broadly. Other residents told Scene that they suspected this was likely a small, though certainly noisy, minority.
Cleveland Police Officer Previously Investigated for Use of Deadly Force, Using N-Word, Now Suspended for Simply Failing to Do Job
Cleveland police detective John Kraynik has been suspended by the city for failing to complete work on cases assigned to him.
“Director of Public Safety Karrie D. Howard announces that a Cleveland Police Detective has been suspended without pay for ten (10) days following an internal investigation which began after it was discovered that he failed to properly investigate and/or complete multiple cases assigned to him,” the city of Cleveland said in its daily news release last night. “Detective John Kraynik, 56, was hired in 1996. He is currently assigned to the Fourth District.”
Further details were disclosed in Kraynik’s suspension letter: Kraynik “failed to complete 15 investigations” with 12 lacking a felony review form and 13 lacking a final clean-up report.
“In failing to complete these reports, you did a disservice to those victims and violated community trust and expectations,” Director Howard said in the letter.
Kraynik last appeared in headlines in 2018 when an internal affairs investigation into a separate target eventually involved his personal cell phone, on which investigators discovered multiple texts where Kraynik used the n-word to describe Ohio State football players. Because the messages were sent from his personal cell phone and while off duty, Kraynik faced no discipline besides attending diversity training.
In 2005, Kraynik was one of two Cleveland police officers who shot and killed 15-year-old pizza deliveryman robber Brandon McCloud in a 5 a.m predawn search of his family’s house. The officers claimed McCloud lunged from a closet with a knife. A grand jury declined to indict them for shooting the teenager 10 times in his bedroom.
-Vince Grzegorek
18 Apply for Ken Johnson City Council Seat
By last month’s deadline, eighteen residents of Cleveland’s Ward 4 submitted applications to complete the remainder of Cleveland City Councilman Ken Johnson’s term.
The Cleveland Probate Court had been accepting applications since April 22, after Johnson was officially suspended by a panel of retired justices appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court. Johnson was arrested on corruption charges in February. The panel determined that Johnson›s charges related to his official role and that the public would be adversely affected were he to continue serving as councilman.
The Probate Court’s Presiding Judge, Anthony J. Russo, will make a decision based on interviews with the applicants. The court’s magistrate, Jennifer Alexander, told Scene that Russo hopes to make a decision soon.
“Judge Russo has found the process to be quite interesting,” Alexander wrote in an emailed statement. “Many qualified candidates with a strong commitment to the ward have applied.”
Of the 18 applicants, nine have also pulled petitions at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, signaling their intention to run for a full fouryear term.
Lashorn Caldwell, James Gay, Craig Willis, Michael Shomo, Cecil Ekechukwu, Rowland Mitchell, Antoine Tolbert, Deborah Gray and Daniel Sexton are those who have pulled petitions and also applied for the appointment. (Deborah Gray is the twin sister of Delores Gray, who was just appointed to replace Phyllis Cleveland in Ward 5.)
APPLICANTS FOR WARD 4 COUNCIL
1. LaShorn K. Caldwell 2. Barbara A Cole-Deberry 3. Dontea T. Gresham 4. James A. Gay 5. Craig E. Willis 6. Shafron E. Hawkins 7. Michael Shomo 8. Marion Gardner 9. Marcia L. McCoy 10. Darnell T. Brewer 11. Jeff Burger 12. Dontez Taylor 13. Cecil Ekechukwu 14. Rowland Mitchell 15. Antoine Tolbert 16. Deborah Gray 17. Daniel Sexton 18. Steven Charron, Jr.
Currently, 17 people — including Ken Johnson himself — have pulled petitions to run in the Ward 4 city council race, which has more candidates than any other ward in the city. Johnson, who is still getting paid his $87,000 per year salary while suspended, intends to appeal his suspension.
“We’re normal!” yelped County Executive Armond Budish during his sixth State of the County address, a 30-minute prerecorded video delivered virtually Thursday, April 21, at the City Club of Cleveland.
Budish was citing Cuyahoga County’s abundance of fresh water and its historical avoidance of natural disasters and framing these as selling points for business attraction. Why should high-tech manufacturers in need of a reliable supply of fresh water be located in the drought-afflicted states of California, Nevada and Arizona, he wondered? He also mentioned two other “potentially huge” businessattraction projects in development: a microgrid, which would provide continuous electricity to companies even during power outages, and a lakefront plan centered on bike and pedestrian trails.
The speech was interspersed with videos and marked by Budish’s overly expressive speaking style. Its purpose was to recapitulate the highs and lows of Cuyahoga County’s Covid response — PPE distribution, food distribution (via the Food Bank), small business grants, etc. — and its tone was generally upbeat, if not exuberant. Budish favorably compared the county’s GDP to peer cities and said the region was positioned to emerge from the pandemic “with strength and vitality.”
He stressed that over the past year, the county has begun, at his urging, to apply an “equity lens” to all county projects. For example, he said that in addition to regular road repaving, the county was devoting additional paving resources to historically redlined neighborhoods. He promoted the recently opened mental health diversion center, operated by Oriana House, which he said would remove 500 people per year from the county jail, and highlighted county partnerships that have improved the digital divide and ensured that minority communities had access to Covid testing and the vaccine.
One new initiative Budish announced was something he called the “Neighborhood Surge.” The County will be allocating a “surge” of resources to Cleveland’s Central neighborhood. These will be designed to improve internet access, physical infrastructure, (including the local rec center), and job opportunities. KeyBank will also host regular financial literacy programs there. The goal, Budish said, was to have a “transformative and lasting impact” on one of the county’s poorest and most historically marginalized areas.
The tenor of the audience Q&A could not have been more divergent. Fielding questions relayed by City Club CEO Dan Moulthrop, Budish was evasive and vague.
On the question of how residents could participate in assigning priorities for American Rescue Plan dollars, Budish said he hadn’t yet learned the rules, but was “open to” citizen participation. On the question of declining public transit ridership and the fact that many of county’s top employers aren’t accessible via public transit, Budish spoke about other elements from his climate action plan. When pressed, he said he wasn’t in charge of public transit. On a series of questions about the proposed new county jail,
DIGIT WIDGET
255,000
Doses of the Pfizer vaccine delivered at the CSU Wolstein Center mass vaccination site over its 12-week run.
$35 million
Amount of federal HUD grant awarded to CMHA to redevelop the Woodhill Homes in BuckeyeWoodhill, one of the first and oldest public housing developments in the country.
12.9%
Year-over-year increase in Cleveland home price sales.
3.5%
Proposed increase in water rates in 2024 now being considered by Cleveland City Council. Suburbs would face steeper hikes.
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Budish affirmed that the county had the debt capacity to build and pay for a new facility, but provided no meaningful details about the process. On a question about organized labor, and recent actions by the Cuyahoga County Library that may eliminate unionized janitorial jobs, Budish pleaded ignorance and said he had a history of supporting unions.
-Sam Allard
Admit it. Gov. Mike DeWine’s Vaccine Lottery is Brilliant
Gov. Mike DeWine faced an embarrassment of riches. After 19,000 deaths, Ohio’s Covid vaccine supply finally outstripped demand.
Still, less than 40 percent of the population was fully vaccinated. Now came the hard part. If we were to ever reopen schools and stores, put people back to work and resume our former lives, he would have to convince the recalcitrant to get their shots.
Every state was facing the same predicament, though it was especially acute in conservative lands. Those who understood the value of medicine charged the gates when the first doses appeared. Yet now he had to cultivate those on the sidelines of civic life: People too busy with jobs and kids to take the time. Non-English speakers struggling under all the noise. The young who’d been impervious to health concerns since time immemorial. The poor who assume that healthcare is a luxury. (The shot is free.)
Then came the defiantly ignorant. Or more accurately, DeWine’s own party. They’d fought him every step of the way, from protesting outside his health director’s home to denouncing the slightest safety precautions. The result was the strangest resistance movement in U.S. history: Masses dead-set on harming themselves and those around them, if only to own the libs.
Their fearmongering would make the Chinese secret service proud: The vaccine caused sterility and miscarriages. It contained microchips and “nanotransducers.” More people died from the vaccine than Covid itself.
If you were a low-information citizen, the kind who clung to the first thing that crossed your Facebook feed, you believed. Doctors were out the get you.
But while they might call themselves “patriots,” this was more fashion statement than committed philosophy. The good of the country was nowhere to be found in their semi-articulate rage. It was all about “rights,” “liberty,” Me. Beneath all the bluster, they were little more than garden-variety narcissists.
As anti-vax Dr. Elizabeth Laffay recently put it in testimony before the Ohio Legislature: It was not her “responsibility to put the health of the greater good before the health of myself as an individual.”
The rest of us assumed that reason, science, and study would eventually carry the day. We were morons. DeWine held a keener grasp of human nature. He would bribe them.
The governor announced a lottery for the newly vaccinated, with $1 million winners and college scholarships for the young. Vaccinations surged. So did the harrumphing.
“I do not support using game show gimmicks with our federal tax dollars,” said state Rep. Jon Cross (R-Kenton).
“Using taxpayer dollars to incentivize something of this nature is an abuse of public resources,” added Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland).
House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes (D-Akron) called it a “a grave misuse of money that could be going to respond to this ongoing crisis.”
Yet DeWine was responding to the crisis – with artful prudence. Amid Ohio’s $69 billion biennial budget, a few million was couch cushion change. Especially compared to the cost of hospitalizing all those who would otherwise be sick or dead.
More to the point: It worked. Ohio’s vaccination rate rose 28 percent. He was literally saving lives. Countrywide, the infection rate is now on a five-week decline. But when you remove the vaccinated from the stats, the death and affliction rates are the same as they ever were.
If you’re a true patriot — rather than the fashionista variety — you know “we all do better when we all do better,” as the late Sen. Paul Wellstone liked to say. By appealing to pure self-interest, DeWine showed us a faster way of getting there. -Pete Kotz
scene@clevescene.com @clevelandscene clevescene.com
