On Wednesday evening, after Joe Biden had been sworn in earlier in the day as President of the United States, Discovery Institute researcher Christopher F. Rufo, who has done yeoman’s work for months exposing the growing and pervasive use of “critical race theory” in institutions and in education, announced he was forming a coalition of legal foundations and attorneys to fight against the use of critical race theory.
Rufo, noting that Biden announced he would end the Trump administration’s 1776 Commission, which was created to fought against the implementation of critical race theory, tweeted, “Today, President Biden doubled-down on critical race theory in the federal government. In response, I am announcing a new coalition of legal foundations and private attorneys that will wage relentless legal warfare against race theory in America’s institutions. The fight is on.”
Today, President Biden doubled-down on critical race theory in the federal government.
In response, I am announcing a new coalition of legal foundations and private attorneys that will wage relentless legal warfare against race theory in America's institutions.
The fight is on. pic.twitter.com/JZJYpjla1k
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) January 20, 2021
Former Fox News anchor and current podcast host Megyn Kelly tweeted her strong approval of Rufo’s move, writing, “THIS IS THE ANSWER. THE LAW. These indoctrination sessions are unlawful. Studies have shown they create *more*, not less, racism. Good for you, @realchrisrufo.”
THIS IS THE ANSWER. THE LAW. These indoctrination sessions are unlawful.Studies have shown they create *more,* not less, racism.
Good for you @realchrisrufo. https://t.co/JtHOkGWaCi— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) January 21, 2021
In his press release, Rufo wrote, “Critical race theory is a grave threat to the American way of life. It divides Americans by race and traffics in the pernicious concepts of race essentialism, racial stereotyping, and race-based segregation—all under a false pursuit of ‘social justice.’ Critical race theory training programs have become commonplace in academia, government, and corporate life, where they have sought to advance the ideology through cult-like indoctrination, intimidation, and harassment.”
Join the email list for updates on the campaign.https://t.co/rBln8Elceq
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) January 20, 2021
“The Discovery Institute’s Center on Wealth and Poverty is leading the effort with help from the Southeastern Legal Foundation, Upper Midwest Law Center, Jonathan O’Brien with Schoolhouserights.org, The Pivtorak Law Firm, Wally Zimolong of Zimolong, LLC, and Eric Early and Peter Scott of Early, Sullivan, Wright, Gizer, & McCrae,” Fox News reported.
As National Review noted of the 1776 Commission, “Former President Donald Trump established the commission in an executive order in November that aimed to promote ‘patriotic education’ and to push back against accusations that the country is ‘irredeemably and systemically racist.’ The move was seen as pushing back against historical claims made in The New York Times‘ 1619 Project.”
President Trump issued the executive order banning critical race theory training from the federal government, as Fox News noted. In the order, Trump wrote, “Without our common faith in the equal right of every individual American to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, authoritarian visions of government and society could become increasingly alluring alternatives to self-government based on the consent of the people.”
For a report on Rufo’s work exposing a City of Seattle training session for white employees called “Interrupting Internalized Racial Superiority and Whiteness,” see here. For a report on Rufo’s work showing the San Diego Unified School District was holding training sessions where teachers were told of their “white privilege,” that they were racist, and they were part of an oppressive white power structure, see here.
For a report on Rufo exposing Seattle public schools giving a training program to teachers that instructed them to “bankrupt their white privilege,” as well as “commit to the journey” of anti-whiteness while discussing “spirit murder,” the idea that Americans schools “murder the souls of Black children every day through systemic, institutionalized, anti-Black, state-sanctioned violence,” see here.
For a report on Rufo detailing an elementary school in Cupertino, California, where a teacher of third graders instructed them to deconstruct their racial and sexual identities, then create rankings based on their “power and privilege,” see here.