The obscure foundation funding "Critical Race Theory" hysteria

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
Judd Legum
@JuddLegum
1. In 2020, Critical Race Theory was an obscure academic theory

In 2021, a chorus of voices claims CRT an existential threat to the country

Who is financing this effort?

We've identified an obscure foundation funding at least 21 groups attacking CRT

The obscure foundation funding "Critical Race Theory" hysteria
Critical Race Theory (CRT), once a little-known academic concept, is now at the center of the national political discussion. CRT is discussed incessantly on Fox News. It is featured in campaign...
popular.info
5:40 AM · Jul 13, 2021

https://popular.info/p/the-obscure-foundation-funding-critical

Critical Race Theory (CRT), once a little-known academic concept, is now at the center of the national political discussion. CRT is discussed incessantly on Fox News. It is featured in campaign advertisements. And legislation banning it is advancing in statehouses around the country.

This didn't happen on its own. Rather, there is a constellation of non-profit groups and media outlets that are systematically injecting CRT into our politics. In 2020, most people had never heard of CRT. In 2021, a chorus of voices on the right insists it is an existential threat to the country.

A Popular Information investigation reveals that many of the entities behind the CRT panic share a common funding source: The Thomas W. Smith Foundation.

The Thomas W. Smith Foundation has no website and its namesake founder keeps a low public profile. Thomas W. Smith is based in Boca Raton, Florida, and founded a hedge fund called Prescott Investors in 1973. In 2008, the New York Times reported that The Thomas W. Smith Foundation was "dedicated to supporting free markets."

*snip*

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. Mmmmm, his greater point holds, but CRT was not an "obscure" academic theory in 2020.

[Nevilledog]

2. Obscure to the general public perhaps

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. Sorry to detract from the main point. K&R, in any case. :)

[ShazamIam]

4. You can find more information about the Thomas W. Smith Foundation by linking the search with the

words, koch network

Here are some of the results of such a search. Of course if it has to do with voting suppression and promoting racial division the Koch will be part of it.

Macdonald is the Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, which describes itself as “a leading free-market think tank focusing on . . . Race, & Urban Policy”

MacDonald’s research attempts to debunk the “myth of criminal justice-racism”
Heather Macdonald AEI.png

from this link:
https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180224/koch-funnels-millions-into-brown-riling-left

These also mention the Thomas W. Smith Foundation.

https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/thomas-w-smith-foundation,473862135/

https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180224/koch-funnels-millions-into-brown-riling-left

Edit: add a link and an excerpt.

[rickyhall]

5. The repugs trying to ban it brought attention to it as usual. Many holes in repugs' feet.

[crickets]

7. Oh, look! They're buddies with ALEC and the Heritage Foundation as well. Ugh. nt