How I successfully shut down the CRT issue in my town election

[berni_mccoy]

Our town in western Massachusetts has about 29 thousand people and the town open forum on FB is active. Most of the people running for office posted their request for voter support on the town forum.

You should also know that this town is not blue but slightly red and it went for Trump in the 2020 election by about 1%.

One of the local Trumpers decided to post on the town forum what the stances were of candidates for school committee and town council with respect to CRT.

There were a mix of responses from town folk, much of what you would expect. Then one of the candidates for school committee spoke up and it was clear he was also a Trumper. I know the person who posed the original question and I suspect he posted it for this candidate, but that is speculation.

This candidate was also a history teacher.

My response was this: if you’re a teacher, you know very well that CRT is not taught in our schools and you could have said that. Instead you chose to divide the people of this town using a racially charged issue. With all of the problems we face I’m sure the people of our town are more interested in knowing what you plan to do about those issues versus a manufactured crisis from a political party that has nothing to offer but division and lies.

One townsperson responded that we don’t teach CRT now but we want to make sure it doesn’t end up getting taught.

My response to her was that it would never happen since it is a high level college study and has prerequisites that are not taught in high school.

I also noted that it was better to teach as many concepts as possible, even ones that may be hard to accept since knowledge brings us power. I shared the link of General Milley responding to Gaetz about CRT in the military.

The candidate had the gall to respond saying most people in town aren’t like me and that they would support candidates who disavowed CRT.

My final response was that our town is full of caring and respectful people who want the best for their kids. Using an agenda item from a national party to divide the people of the town would not go over well here.

And I was right. This candidate and two other Trumpers received the fewest votes of any candidates running for office in yesterday’s election.

[chia]

1. You are a hero.

[MLAA]

2. Super well done! You had a hand in the success!

[Claustrum]

3. Thank you for countering their CRT BS and show that it's doable.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Tell the DNC of your strategy accusing them of division and lies with national propaganda

Anything to tempt DNC to pay attention to what actually happens on the local level.

[soldierant]

35. +1000

[blm]

5. Thank you.

[bullwinkle428]

6. Some dumbass Trumpanzee attempted to play "Gotcha" with one of our local

school board (incumbent) candidates, by posting on the school board member's Facebook page, "CRT - yes or no?".

The board member posted in response along the lines of, "If you would like to give me a call, or discuss in person at a board meeting, I would be more than happy to have that conversation with you! I don't think back-and-forth posts on social media are the best way to reach a mutual understanding on the issue."

BOOM!! DONE.

BTW, this board candidate (who I voted for) comfortably won re-election!

[RobertDevereaux]

7. BRAVO!

[ananda]

8. Well done you!

Many thanks.

[ancianita]

9. THIS. A model public argument for local elections. Let's use this.

You really are a hero.

[Zambero]

10. Well done!

It's good to hear that relentlessly repeated unfounded talking points from the school of MUS (Made-Up-Shit) can be debunked. The final results in your town speak volumes.

[niyad]

11. Well done indeed.

[CaptainTruth]

12. Thank you! We ALL need to be doing things like this! Saving America is OUR responsibility too.

Don't count on the media or Washington pundits to do it for us, WE the people must do it.

[SYFROYH]

13. Good job on shutting down the attack, but I have mixed feelings.

We are indeed beginning to teach middle and high-school students that it's more important to address systematic and institutional racism rather than individual instances of racist actions or intentions. And we should.

[FakeNoose]

15. Yes it should be taught in the high schools

However it should not be called CRT.

There needs to be a non-political name attached to the program that sounds safe and uncontroversial. Maybe something like "Respecting Our Neighbors" - I'm sure someone smarter than I will have an idea for a name.

Triggering the Repukes is exactly what we don't need.

[multigraincracker]

14. Great job.

Another great question for TFG supporters might be this.
I know that many of those on FOX are now promoting "Replacement Theory", include Tucker Carlson, do you support the teaching and the practice of that theory? A great example of this are those at the Charlottesville demonstration carried tiki torches and chanted "Jews will not replace us".

[vlyons]

16. Good for you?

You nipped the RWer hatred and lies without you yourself resorting to disrespectful hateful and divisive words.

[Hekate]

17. Excellently done.

[progressoid]

18. Our local CRT candidate also received the least amount of votes.

Yay!!!

[Catherine Vincent]

19. I applaud you

[gademocrat7]

20. Thank you

For your intelligent response to the rethugs lies.

[calimary]

21. Good on YOU, berni_mccoy! And SHAME on that history "teacher."

Glad he lost! They ALL need to.

[Raven123]

22. Please inform the DNCC of your tactic. Communication on this issue seems lacking

[Ohioboy]

23. Good for you!

[liberalla]

24. Well done!

Thank you for keeping the balance, civility and sanity in your town's election and/or discussion!

[SunSeeker]

25. Great response. And yes, General Milley' response to Gaetz about CRT in the military was great too!

[mahina]

30. Squashed him like a bug. Apology to bugs.

That was beautiful. Thanks.

[Initech]

26. Most people who are against CRT don't even know what it is.

They just know they are against it because that's what Tucker and Hannity said that you should be outraged about. It's the outrage du jour.

[Deminpenn]

27. Carry a copy of Jelani Cobb's New Yorker story

on Derek Bell who began thinking differently about race/racism after being part of the ACLU team that argued and won Brown vs Board of Education. He later came to think that Brown had been wrongly decided.

Link:https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/09/20/the-man-behind-critical-race-theory

Bell spent the second half of his career as an academic and, over time, he came to recognize that other decisions in landmark civil-rights cases were of limited practical impact. He drew an unsettling conclusion: racism is so deeply rooted in the makeup of American society that it has been able to reassert itself after each successive wave of reform aimed at eliminating it. Racism, he began to argue, is permanent. His ideas proved foundational to a body of thought that, in the nineteen-eighties, came to be known as critical race theory. After more than a quarter of a century, there is an extensive academic field of literature cataloguing C.R.T.’s insights into the contradictions of antidiscrimination law and the complexities of legal advocacy for social justice.

[grantcart]

28. Excellent post

[mahina]

29. That is how!

We have got to stand up to this bullshit. Perfect response!

[murielm99]

31. I am printing this and saving it, Berni.

Thanks!

[Escurumbele]

32. "most people in town aren't like me" that is like saying "most people are stupid"

I guess they didn't like being called stupid

[dixiechiken1]

33. Thoughtful and VERY well spoken...

And impactful. Wow. Thank you!

[malaise]

34. Seriously fabulous

Rec

[Marcuse]

36. They are probably against the teaching of homological algebra as well.

[zentrum]

37. You did great. Run for office.

[LymphocyteLover]

38. THANK YOU for your service!

[Iris]

39. Excellent!

[sazemisery]

40. Central MAss here.

My small town of +/-5000 is very Red and I constantly am having to defend my position to the GQP members here. 10 years ago, I moved from Oklahoma to Massachusetts hoping to finally find a home with like-minded people. Boy was I mistaken.

[Roy Rolling]

41. I'm taking notes

Some things are just noteworthy. I’m a former school board member in a parish of 300,000 and know the mobs that descend on school board members acting as proxies for a national political party. I was planning a visit to a meeting in case CRT is on the agenda.

It was said by my middle school teachers that states had the freedom to run their schools without federal government control. It made some sense. But the real puppet masters are national political parties that begin with the letter “R”. They need to keep their hands off of young minds.