The backlash to critical race theory, gender ideology and what is often called “wokeness” in schools represents a rare example of bipartisan agreement during a hyper-polarized time. While this might not fit the mainstream narrative, journalists and politicians ignore what is happening at their own peril.
The growing resistance is easy to miss on the surface. There is much more pressure on the Left to toe the ideological line in public and hide one’s real opinions in the safe harbor of DMs and text messages to trusted friends and allies.
But conversations with parents, students and teachers reveal that even self-described liberals and lifelong Democrats are extremely alarmed by what they see as dogmatic classroom activism and outright discrimination in the name of diversity, equity and inclusion.
I have spent the past two weeks reading through submissions to Parents Defending Education, a new group we launched recently to fight back against the “woke” ideology in our children’s schools. We are getting letters daily from concerned parents and teachers about what they describe as a “racially divisive curriculum,” “blatant activism in the classroom,” “infantilization of students and staff of color,” “sanctioned discrimination,” “radical gender ideology” and “racist poison.”