Courtesy Vox
But I CAN. Culture warriors UNITE! You have nothing to lose but your cause. -KWC
I had never heard of CRT, and both my wife and I have BAs. My wife: History Education. I was a sub for a while a few years ago: nada. Of course; despite warrior spin: it’s not in public schools, so why would we?
The CRT nonsense highlights how culture warriors often bring about changes they DON’T want. They have had a few, minor, successes. (“Defund” anyone? The mis-frame that keeps giving.)
Culture warrior wars almost always fail, unless we help them 
with poor phrasing. Considering how bad these attempts are; they deserve to fail. Spiro Agnew’s “nattering nabobs” comment may be one of the first most notable shots I remember in a cultural war. It failed. They got “better.” Culture warrior wars MIGHT win an election. Culture warriors WILL lose their war in the long run.
One of the first times I actually became aware of this repetitive pattern of failure was with Bush II when gay marriage became their big culture war issue. The long haul reaction? Many states started making it legal. I remember arguing with a person on the right on a debate site: Volconvo, that they were achieving the exact opposite of intent. Gays were coming out, demanding to get married. If the intent was to intimidate them into staying in hiding; they lost.
Millie and I have had several gay friends, a few in our family. Most just wanted to live out their lives together without interference. Most just wanted to be accepted for their talents. Most didn’t want all the noise, didn’t want to be targeted.
Then culture warriors blew their wad and lost their war state, by state, by state.
Let’s get back to our more current war: critical race theory. Something taught in college. Not public schools. When taught well it is taught through mutual effort: professors and students learning from each other. Students who wish to challenge the accuracy of a narrative, of a story, can bring in their own evidence. No one was asking for all this attention on an old method used to challenge college students.
Enter evil Don Quixote culture warriors trying to defeat windmills that challenge college grads. Windmills warriors frame as horrific dragons eating children.
They did us all a favor; something I’m sure they DIDN’T want. So much to learn still not taught in schools; except in college. Missed by most white citizens until culture warriors attacked. After the war started I noticed a flood of documentaries on events that otherwise might never caught such a big spotlight.
Thanks for the heads up, culture warriors!
Example: I recently learned of “Fort Negro” in a part of Florida that I thought I knew somewhat well. Neither of us learned about this historical event in school; not even Millie: the history major. Escaped slaves and natives, women, children, trying to live free and in peace. Pursued by the government just for being ex-slaves, being natives not wanting to live on reservations. (I could frame them as “concentration camps,” but I won’t. Clever, ain’t I?) “Fort Negro” was blown apart by troops: murdering children and women too, because President Jackson: a supporter of slavery, believed in white supremacy, as many people did back then. Yes, THAT Jackson. Trail of Tears Jackson.
CRT coupled with 1619 is a way to learn about dark moments in history rarely if ever mentioned in history courses. Whole towns have been exterminated because they were run by blacks. Not escaped slaves. Post Civil War, even last century. Together a powerful tool that was mostly for grad students. The whole teaching it to young public school children a red herring to turn CRT into a culture war with the war cry, “What about the CHILDREN???”
What about teaching actual HISTORY?
”HORRIBLE!” cry out the warriors.
The war targeting CRT is predictably NOT going well, so what do offended snowflake culture warriors turn to? What ALWAYS works; the writer types with intentional sarcasm: banning books. Demanding they be pulled from classes, from libraries. The recent push to do this has been hard and might be laughable if it wasn’t so historically predictable. And historically inevitable to fail. Don’t hold your breath. The result has been more than resistance, more than a hard push back on book banning bullies. Resulted in demands that libraries: even in public schools, have those books.
”Holy Huck Finn, Batman! When it comes to truth and cultural warriors seems this is where the… TWAIN… always meets. LOSING.
How many rhetorical Gettysburgs do they need to lose to learn culture wars are always eventually lost?
Certainly you have heard of Road Runner cartoons. Why do cultural warriors keep auditioning for the role of Wile E. Coyote? Dare I point out with CRT; once again, your own culture warrior shtick achieved what you DIDN’T want? I dare! I dare! And don’t let that culture war cliff keep you from running your culture warrior campaigns!
Your cynical loyal opposition thanks you.
-30-
Inspection is a column that has been written by Ken Carman for almost 50 years, first published in fall of 1972. Inspection is dedicated to looking at odd angles, under all the rocks, and into the unseen cracks and crevasses, that constitute the issues and philosophical constructs of our day: places few think, or even dare, to venture.
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