Legislator Behind Tennessee’s Critical Race Theory Ban Weighs In on Shelby County Schools Racial Justice and Equity Training
Tennessee | June 16, 2021
Tennessee State Representative John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge) offered his thoughts on Shelby County Schools’ (SCS) consideration of implementing racial justice and equity training. Ragan shared with The Tennessee Star that a requirement of this training as a condition of employment could potentially be an issue – it would have to be voluntary.
As The Star reported this week, SCS may invest up to $480,000 for the racial justice and equity training offered by the nonprofit New Leaders. Upon review of New Leaders’ materials, The Star discovered that it encourages participants to adopt “culturally responsive” practices in schools – a synonym for critical race theory. Additionally, materials repeatedly assert the need for white people to be aware of their race, privilege, and power.
Ragan told The Star that critical race theory is an offshoot of Marxism.
“These tenets of critical race theory are just Marxist theory with the word ‘race’ inserted. Marxism is a destructive political philosophy that has never worked in the long term for a single country in which it has been tried. In fact, Marxism, with its lack of recognition for divinely bestowed rights, has eventually ruined every society in which it was introduced,” said Ragan. “Marxism, whether it is hidden in a term like critical race theory, or not, has no place in any of Tennessee’s K-12 classrooms. No intelligent person maintains that our country’s mistakes should be hidden from students. In fact, those facts should be presented impartially and unemotionally so that everyone can learn from them. However, along with the mistakes, our country’s greatest successes and principles should also be presented with equal or greater vigor.”…
(Excerpts from the Tennessee Star)