I Hate It When I Agree with a Moron

In this case, it's Juan Williams who states the blatantly obvious when observes that the panic over Critical Race Theory is just another way for bigots to scream n*****.

The American Right in general, and the Republican Party in particular, are constantly searching for new ways to scream racial epithets in a deniable manner.

Still, Williams is a moron (and a sexual harasser), and I feel bad about agreeing with him:

After white supremacists spilled blood in defense of keeping up Confederate statues in 2017, the GOP candidate for governor of Virginia, Ed Gillespie, said the monuments should stay up as a matter of heritage and history.

………

Now Virginia Republicans are back with a new and improved "Culture Wars" campaign for 2021. The closing argument is once again full of racial division — but this time it is dressed up as a defense of little children.

The rallying cry is "Parents’ Rights."

It is a campaign to stop classroom discussion of Black Lives Matter protests or slavery because it could upset some children, especially white children who might feel guilt.

And this time, the Trump-imitating Republicans think they have struck political gold.

Unlike their earlier defense of Confederate monuments, the "Parents’ Rights" campaign message at first glance looks to have zero to do with race.

………

It is not long ago that racist Southern politicians rallied against integration with an argument for “states’ rights,” a call to be free of federal laws seeking to end segregation.

Now the message is that white parents are being ignored when they complain that their children are uncomfortable learning about racism.

………

It is disgraceful. It should disqualify Youngkin and every other GOP smear merchant trafficking in it.

The obscene attack on great writing is gaining strength by being paired with another GOP racial tactic aimed at scaring parents — that Virginia school children might be exposed to arguments about ongoing, systemic racism from the teaching of “critical race theory."

Critical race theory — broadly, a focus on racial disparities as a fact of American life — is not explicitly taught in Virginia’s public schools or anywhere in American public schools. But Republicans nationwide have made it a boogeyman to excite racial divisions and get their base to the polls.

………

But this movement is not about parents. It is about exciting the far-right base by stirring up racial division.

If it works, Republicans will have reason to continue down this dark path to winning elections.

I hate to admit it, but he is right.