Lindsey Simmons (@LynzforCongress): I am a graduate of Marshall High School in Saline County Missouri.
While in school I earned an education that taught me the history of genocide, slavery, and exploitation that is deeply rooted in this country.
It wasn’t critical race theory.
It was American History.
🧵
When I was in college at Missouri Valley (also in Marshall) I enrolled in a Civil Rights History course + African American Literature course.
There I read Morrison, Wright, Angelou, Hurston, Hughes, Baldwin, Ellison, Du Bois and Haley.
That was not critical race theory, either. 2/
In a separate semester, I focused on the loss of matriarchy and matrilineal relationships in American indigenous culture.
I took other literature courses where I read Lahiri, Diaz, Alexie, Tan, Neruda, Erdrich, and Harjo.
Nor was any of this critical race theory. 3/
In law school, I raised concerns about how a property case was portrayed—in that my professor characterized Native Hawaiians as a “monopoly” exerting control over their native land.
But this still was not critical race theory. 4/
Critical Race Theory was a reading group offered to me as a law school student.
Here is what the listing looked like.
Critical Race Theory is an in-depth examination and analysis of legal education and law and how inequality marginalized racial minorities. 5/ https://twitter.com/LynzforCongress/status/1417224394150223873/photo/1
I did not have the privilege of being in that reading group.
But as someone who actually attended a public school in Missouri—where I received an exemplary education that propelled me to Harvard—where critical race theory is actually taught—that I address a few things. 6/
First, racists aren’t conflating the scholarship of critical race theory with general American history.
They’re using it as a dogwhistle to galvanize support against public schools + an educated citizenry. 7/
They’re relying on people’s lack of awareness and familiarity with critical race theory.
Hell, I’d bet good money most of the Patriot LARPers pushing this nonsense can’t even understand the course description I posted. 8/
There is not one high school in Missouri actually teaching critical race theory.
What they’re really trying to do is to control public school curriculum. They’re doing this to both (i) dumb down the electorate and to (ii) funnel more money to private schools. 9/
A large part of their grift is to gut public schools.
That’s why when they hear a school district is including African American Literature as it’s own course they call it critical race theory—despite profound differences in the curriculum. 10/
There’s no evidence of critical race theory in our schools so anything that is about black history or diverse history they’re just lumping together and calling it bad.
Make no mistake—what they don’t want is actual history being taught. 11/
They don’t want to discuss the genocide of indigenous populations.
They don’t want to discuss the inhumanity of slavery.
They don’t want to discuss the exploitation of capitalism. 12/
America—like her people—has had great successes but also great failure.
Learning the whole truth makes each generation stronger—not weaker. 13/
But by controlling what is taught in public school in this first instance, the autocrats can begin to control other aspects.
By suggesting that schools shouldn’t teach a certain subject because taxpayers don’t want to fund those lessons, the authoritarians gut schools. 14/
They gut the curriculum and they gut the funding and in the process encourage wealthy parents to put their kids in private schools.
A long-time goal of the autocrats—and those who believe in segregation. 15/
Meanwhile, working families send their kids to underfunded schools where they’re forbidden from learning of Turner’s Rebellion, Bear River, the Shamokin Uprising, Donora, or January 6, 2021. 16/
Racism is simply the easiest vehicle for them to use to continue subjugating those they see as beneath them.
Loss of history, loss of knowledge of uprisings and resistance and loss of civil rights leaves a citizenry with no defense to authoritarianism. 17/
Second, it’s important to understand how interrelated every single crisis we’re facing is.
Every single one revolves around education and literacy. 18/
If you don’t know the fight for the Voting Rights Act—If you’ve not see a so-called literacy test to vote—If you know not of how the Act has been gutted—well, then you’ll never fight to fix it. 19/
If you don’t learn about Native Reservations—If you don’t learn about internment camps—If you don’t read Korematsu—then you might think the US government would never round up human beings and displace them.
So when they do it again, you won’t see it coming. 20/
If you don’t learn about the deaths in LA or in Donora or in London from toxic fogs—If you don’t learn about the ocean conveyor or what 1.5°C of average global temperature increase means for humankind—well, then you won’t fight for adaptive policies that will save us all. 21/
If you don’t learn about the incredible corruption that has created massive inequity in America + the world you may be left with the notion that some people deserve more power than others.
And, trust me, that’s exactly what the autocrats in Missouri are working to preserve. 22/
There’s a reason critical race theory is an issue championed by so many from the STL burbs.
St. Louis City had major population loss due to white flight. Now those whiter + wealthier + better funded public schools are teaching about the very blackness those families fled. 23/
They’re all up in arms because there’s no safe space for their hate.
So the autocrats in the #moleg try to create one by having a hearing on critical race theory—where the testimony provided was given almost entirely by those opposed to teaching history. 24/
Missouri is a failed state.
The Autocrats in the Mo Leg created a storm around schools + intimidated anyone in support of teaching history into silence.
There’s books on that too—many of which have faced bans + challenges in MO.
https://www.sos.mo.gov/wolfner/bibliographies/bannedchallengedbooks.asp 25/25
BONUS TWEET:
When you close a dozen rural hospitals/clinics + unconstitutionally keep citizens from treatment—you will struggle saving lives in a pandemic.
And when you call a special session for critical race theory, it’s clear you care more about stoping curricula than COVID.