Former right-of-center commentator S.E. Cupp told CNN that she learned about the physical brutality and moral evil of slavery as a child — inadvertently refuting a common assertion that schools have “whitewashed” the subject, taught the “Confederate” view of the institution, and would be barred from discussing the slavery or racism unless school boards adopt Critical Race Theory (CRT).
When the battle over teaching CRT in public schools began to heat up this year, CRT’s proponents claimed that schools would not be able to teach historical incidents of racial discrimination, like slavery or segregation, without incorporating the controversial theory in its curriculum. Yet Cupp rebuffed that notion on Friday’s episode of CNN “Don Lemon Tonight,” while denouncing a Texas law that bars CRT from being taught in the public schools.
“It’s really backwards, as are most censorship projects, especially ones that stem from this kind of, you know, outrage culture and position of politics, right?” said Cupp.
“And it’s not all that controversial, Don,” she continued. “I mean, I don’t know how you grew up, but I grew up learning that slavery happened, and it was awful. It was a scourge. This is not news.”
That directly contradicts comments made by left-wing cable news hosts, including Lemon, who tied the teaching of slavery to the acceptance of a CRT-themed curriculum.
“What [public schools are] teaching is a whitewashed history,” said Lemon on May 5. “Mostly our history is taught to elevate some people and to diminish other people. And the diminished part is mostly people of color.” Likewise, MSNBC’s Joy Reid claimed in June that “currently, most K-12 students already learn a kind of Confederate Race Theory, whereby the Daughters of the Confederacy long ago imposed a version of history wherein slavery was not so bad.”
Reid did not specify which curriculum taught that “slavery was not so bad.”
Many other hosts have attempted to conflate CRT with America’s past history of racial injustice and prejudice. “Can they not teach American history correctly?” asked an incredulous Chuck Todd, host of “MTP Daily,” on June 15 about teachers restricted by anti-CRT laws. “Republicans claim they support the holiday [of Juneteeth] while simultaneously passing laws to make sure your kids can’t learn about it in school,” Reid falsely claimed two days later on “The ReidOut.” The same night, CNN’s Don Lemon warned ominously that unspecified people on “The Right … don’t think that the full history of our country should be taught in schools.” On July 8, CNN’s highest-rated host, Chris Cuomo, said that “teachers in America are being bullied from teaching students accurate history about race. It’s not just about talking too much about race. … [T]his is about really suppressing any talk about it.”
Cupp’s testimony establishes that America’s public schools taught that slavery is “a scourge” well before the most recent controversy over CRT.
Cupp said that Texas state legislators oppose teaching the controversial, collectivist doctrine to minors at taxpayers’ expense only because they had successfully passed pro-life legislation. “There are two reasons why this is happening right now: one is 2022 and the other is 2024,” she said. “Republicans in Texas are trying to get voters there outraged about something, and in this case it’s Critical Race Theory, and teaching racism in schools, and culture wars and that issue, you know, to the hilt.”
“What’s interesting is that Republicans sort of shot themselves in the foot with that really barbaric abortion law in Texas,” she said, referring to a law that protects unborn children with a detectable fetal heartbeat from being aborted. “Abortion has reliably been a very motivating, energizing issue for voters in Texas for Republicans, and they essentially took it off the table by passing that archaic law. So they’re stuck having to do stuff like this.”
Only 38% of Americans had a favorable view of Critical Race Theory in a poll released in June by The Economist/YouGov.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.