After Virginia, GOP toots the dog whistle even louder
After Virginia, GOP amplifies debate over race and education
WASHINGTON (AP) Republicans plan to forcefully oppose race and diversity curricula tapping into a surge of parental frustration about public schools as a core piece of their strategy in the 2022 midterm elections, a coordinated effort to supercharge a message that mobilized right-leaning voters in Virginia this week and which Democrats dismiss as race-baiting.
Coming out of Tuesdays elections, in which Republican Glenn Youngkin won the governors office after aligning with conservative parent groups, the GOP signaled that it saw the fight over teaching about racism as a political winner. Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, chairman of the conservative House Study Committee, issued a memo suggesting Republicans can and must become the party of parents. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced support for a Parents Bill of Rights opposing the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework about systemic racism that has become a catch-all phrase for teaching about race in U.S. history.
Parents are angry at what they view as inappropriate social engineering in schools and an unresponsive bureaucracy, said Phil Cox, a former executive director of the Republican Governors Association.
Democrats were wrestling with how to counter that message. Some dismissed it, saying it wont have much appeal beyond the GOPs most conservative base. Others argued the party ignores the power of cultural and racially divisive debates at its peril.
https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-elections-education-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-fc8501fa2b0ef655933f4cce27bf4c9a