Critical race theory has hijacked the US education system on every level. Parents, students, educators, and policymakers must know and support the truth about American history and reject this divisive and anti-American theory’s obsession with skin color and prejudice.
The problem with our nation’s schools today is not just the low test scores in basic reading and math—which are an obstacle for the economy, not to mention students’ futures. The challenge is that K–12 instruction has been hijacked by Critical Theorists who are “skeptical” of representative government, freedom, and the American Dream.
Students and adults are woefully unprepared to fulfill civic responsibilities. Civics—the study of the rights and duties of citizens—is simply not taught enough, and Critical Theorists have been filling this intellectual vacuum with their revisionist history and odious ideology, teaching young Americans to judge people by the color of their skin.
The debates over the retelling of America’s past, on display in local school board meetings as well as conflicts between the New York Times’ 1619 Project and President Donald Trump’s 1776 Commission, involve not just historical facts, but how Americans define their nation. This battle over our national identity is a cultural battle, involving schools—cultural institutions—and the ideas we all need to share to get along with our neighbors, raise families, and pursue the American Dream.
Jonathan Butcher is the Will Skillman Fellow in Education in the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation, and a Senior Fellow at the Goldwater Institute. He has researched and testified on education policy around the US. In 2021, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster nominated Jonathan to serve on the board of the South Carolina Public Charter School District. In 2019, Jonathan coedited and wrote chapters for The Not-So-Great-Society, which provides solutions to the problems created by the ever-expanding federal footprint in preschool, K–12, and higher education. In 2018, the Federal Commission on School Safety cited comments from his testimony in the commission’s final report to the White House. He has appeared on local and national TV outlets, including C-SPAN, Fox News, and HBO’s Vice News Tonight. His commentary has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Education Week, and National Review Online, along with newspapers around the country.
Jim Seybert is an author, an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator, and a SAG/AFTRA member. He anchored radio news broadcasts from 1974 through 1992, led marketing for a nationwide group of independent bookstores, and is the PA announcer for a Collegiate League baseball team. A 2018 SOVAS Award nominee for Best Narration, he has published two books in leadership. He and his wife make their home in Arroyo Grande, California.