President Donald J. Trump recently proposed a ban on critical race theory and racial bias training that is used in schools and corporate institutional settings. This is Trump’s answer to the whole “Hey, Mr. Trump, are you a racist?” PR war: to ban a movement that directly challenges racist ideas. Slam dunk, Mr. President. Totally stuck it to those “loony liberal leftiesTM.”

Critical race theory (CRT), put in simple terms, is a scholarly method that attempts to put into context the disenfranchisement of racial minorities by the institutions they live under. CRT––which got its start in the 1970s during America’s civil rights movements––is the censorious examination of America’s very foundation. The idea that the First Amendment does protect hate speech, and that the inequities of the status quo are directly propagated by the founding fathers’ ideals.

So, where does President Trump fit into all this? Well, Trump has a bit of a problem––that problem being that he’s kind of sort of super racist. It’s something that his detractors have been calling him on since the early days of his 2016 election campaign––with the “Mexico is sending us rapists” soundbite. I think you’d be surprised to find out that Trump has actually been this way since the 70s; whether it was violating the Fair Housing Act or taking out ads in local New York City papers calling for the return of the death penalty, specifically for the execution of the “Central Park Five”––four Black teenagers and one Latino teenager falsely accused of raping a jogger, and later exonerated in court. 

Now, I may be a bit of a soy-drinking Commie beta leftist––at least according to the dudebros with Tyler Durden and Joker profile pictures in my twitter mentions––but I think I can see why this CRT ban is such a supported idea among right-leaning spheres.

CRT is actually a rather scary idea for a patriotic right-winger. It asserts that this country that they love so much has deep systemic problems at its core and that maybe America’s founding wasn’t as pure as it was made out to be. Thanks to the misinformation given by known grifter and liar, Tucker Carlson, and his ilk, CRT is being branded as “anti-white” and “racist.” Truthfully, I don’t think we should blame whole groups for their ancestors’ actions. But, acknowledging the hand we all have to play in propagating hurtful structures in our society––even in regards to all forms of oppression––is important and vital towards making America truly the “land of the free.”

So, where do we go from here? Well, unrelated but Trump has banned TikTok and now he’s trying to ban critical race theory. Personally, I’m considering giving free lectures on critical race theory using my TikTok account––sort of a two-birds-with-one-stone scenario. “The easiest way to combat ignorance is with knowledge,” is something that some boring philosopher who died of syphilis in the 1600s likely said. So please, do yourself a favor and educate yourself on the truth behind critical race theory. There’s a Washington Post article by Victor Ray––Professor of sociology at the University of Iowa––that is a good place to start.