The concept of Critical Race Theory—that racism throughout U.S. history has been structural and institutional and not merely a matter of personal prejudice—is theoretical and has been taught in colleges, graduate schools and law schools but rarely in the public schools. (See here and here.) More basic educational lessons in K-12 public schools to help students and educators learn about racism and be more sensitive to the needs and history of people from the different cultures who make up our society are neither frightening nor threatening.
The recent brouhaha, which alleges something dangerous about Critical Race Theory and racial sensitivity training, would appear just to have emerged on Fox News and social media. But if that’s true, how is it that more than half the state legislatures are debating legislation or have passed laws to prohibit discussions in public school social studies classes of sensitive subjects that might make students feel uncomfortable or guilty? And why, last week, did 135 national academic and professional organizations feel compelled to write a letter declaring “our firm opposition to a spate of legislative proposals being introduced across the country that target academic lessons, presentations, and discussions of racism and related issues in American history in schools, colleges and universities.”?
Earlier this week, Judd Legum and Tesnim Zekeria of Popular Information reported: “This didn’t happen on its own. Rather, there is a constellation of non-profit groups and media outlets that are systematically injecting Critical Race Theory (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.”
Legum and Zekeria explain: “Between 2017 and 2019, the Thomas W. Smith Foundation has granted at least $12.75 million to organizations that publicly attack Critical Race Theory… The Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, has recently been at the forefront of the crusade against CRT. It is also the top recipient of cash from The Thomas W. Smith Foundation.” The Manhattan Institute received $4.32 million from the Thomas W. Smith Foundation between 2017-2019. We learn that Christopher Rufo, who appeared seemingly from nowhere on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show and openly claimed he has been working to distort and make toxic an academic theory about structural and institutional racism by conflating any number of topics into what he called “a new bucket called critical race theory,” isn’t merely a documentary film maker, as has been reported. He is a well-paid fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
From Legum and Zekeria we learn: “The right-wing Heritage Foundation, which previously employed Rufo, also receives substantial support from Thomas W. Smith Foundation… In June 2021, the executive director of the Heritage Foundation told Politico that fighting ‘critical race theory’ is one of the top two issues the group is working on alongside efforts to tighten voting laws.'” Between 2017 and 2019, the Heritage Foundation received $525,000 from the Thomas W. Smith Foundation.
The list of organizations receiving funding from the Thomas W. Smith Foundation is lengthy: the American Enterprise Institute, the Alexander Hamilton Institute, the American Ideas Institute, the Center for American Greatness, the Claremont Institute, the Daily Caller Foundation, The Federalist, Heterodox Academy, the Independent Women’s Forum, Judicial Watch, Turning Point, The National Review, PragerU, The Real Clear Foundation, The Texas Public Policy Foundation, The American Spectator, the Federalist Society, and Young America’s Foundation.
Two other significant recipients must be named because of their reach into public policy. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) drafts model laws to be copied and adapted into legislation by any state legislature. And the State Policy Network (SPN) works with ALEC; its mission is to work actively through its network of politically conservative state policy think tanks to promote coordinated legislation across the 50 state legislatures. Legum and Zekeria report: “The American Legislative Exchange Council… has been hosting webinars to help lawmakers draft legislation banning Critical Race Theory (and) has received at least $425,000 from the Thomas W. Smith Foundation since 2017. In December 2020, ALEC hosted a workshop in partnership with the Heritage Foundation on ‘Reclaiming Education and the American Dream… Against Critical Race Theory’s Onslaught.'” With so many of nation’s state legislatures and state boards of education considering similar bills and resolutions to ban public school discussion of so-called “threatening” topics, ALEC’s and SPN’s fingerprints are almost inevitable.
Wealthy philanthropists now use their so-called charitable foundations to shape public policy. Most of us are aware that today, philanthropy is not merely investing in charitable grants to needy causes in response to applicants’ requests for support. The seemingly sudden emergence of the idea that something called “Critical Race Theory” has become a crisis in our public schools is merely the latest example of philanthropic dollars spreading ideology.
As a response, we need to consider the words of the leaders of 135 academic and professional organizations who declared last week: “(T)he ideal of informed citizenship necessitates an educated public. Educators must provide an accurate view of the past in order to better prepare students for community participation and robust civic engagement. Suppressing or watering down discussion of ‘divisive concepts’ in educational institutions deprives students of opportunities to discuss and foster solutions to social division and injustice. Legislation cannot erase ‘concepts’ or history; it can, however, diminish educators’ ability to help students address facts in an honest and open environment capable of nourishing intellectual exploration.”
janresseger 
This is really helpful. What do we do to combat this? I’m at a loss but the message from the 135 organizations is clear. Part of the push back needs to focus on the money. Susie
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Thank you for this, Jan. As I do frequently, I have shared your post on my Facebook page.
Dear Friends:
Across the United States, dangerous attacks on racial justice are spreading like wildfire. These attacks seek to prohibit the teaching and use of vital frameworks like Critical Race Theory and intersectionality, and aim to smother honest engagement with our nation’s racial history.
On Tuesday, over objections from business and education groups, the Texas House voted to pass a bill “that supporters describe as an effort to keep ‘critical race theory’ from being taught in schools.” Within the last week, the Governor of Oklahoma signed into law House Bill 1775, which restricts the teaching of racism and sexism across Oklahoma’s state universities and public school system. In Tennessee, the General Assembly passed a bill that prohibits discussion of racial or gender-based privilege in public schools and any teaching that “Americans are not created equal.” A late amendment to the Tennessee bill prohibits any teaching that “the rule of law does not exist, but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups.”
These three bills form just a small part of a nationally organized, well-funded effort to gag demands for justice and equity. As AAPF Executive Director Kimberlé Crenshaw told Newsweek, “The attacks on [C]ritical [R]ace [T]heory…across the country are evidence of a frightening truth: Republican legislators are using a phantom threat to justify jaw-dropping attacks on racial justice, freedom of speech, and a society’s understanding of its history.”
It becomes clearer every day that we have not seen the end of these repressive bills and the twisted ideology that produces them, as the GOP continues to ramp up fear-mongering tactics against anti-racist teachings like critical race theory. Increasingly, “anti anti-racism” appears to be a central strategy of the right’s 2022 election push. Unfortunately, in the face of this juggernaut, too many of us have remained silent.
To raise awareness about the spread of these dangerous attacks, AAPF’s #TruthBeTold Campaign is bringing together a coalition to defend social justice, and we need your help: All of us who believe in a better, more equal future borne from honest reckonings with our unequal past must come together to defend the ideas, conversations, and knowledge creation that allow us to interrogate past and present forms of systemic discrimination. If you are able, we ask that you consider making a donation to AAPF to help us defend critical race theory and racial justice work. Please help us stay on top of new and developing stories by sending news links and updates to truthbetold@aapf.org.
As the attacks against racial justice intensify, we are glad to have you standing with us.
Warmly,
Kim, Luke, and the AAPF Team
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