Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic nominee for governor in Virginia, lectured Anita Blanton, an African-American anchor for WAVY News 10, during an interview that aired on Wednesday night, telling Blanton that discussion of critical race theory in public schools is “racist, it’s a dogwhistle.”
Blanton originally asked McAuliffe how he defined critical race theory. He responded by stating that “I answer this question very clearly. It’s not taught in Virginia, it’s never been taught in Virginia. And as I’ve said this a lot: It’s a dogwhistle. It’s racial, it’s division, and it’s used by Glenn Youngkin and other — this is the same thing with Trump and the border wall — to divide people.”
When Blanton pressed him on his definition of the term, though — and one would need a definition in order to prove it’s not taught in the state — McAuliffe again refused to provide one, repeating that it’s not relevant since it’s not taught.
Blanton continued to pry for a definition at which point McAuliffe explained to her “it’s racist, it’s a dogwhistle.”
“But if we don’t have a definition, how can we say it [discussion of critical race theory in the context of public schools] is racist?” asked an exasperated Blanton.
When asked how he defines the racist Critical Race Theory, Democrat Terry McAuliffe refuses and instead scolds the host for daring to ask him. pic.twitter.com/2Jdltb7N55
— MediaResearchCenter (@theMRC) October 8, 2021
Originally confined to the realm of postgraduate education, critical race theory, which views all of American society as a power competition between races, has increasingly been incorporated into K-12 education over the past year.
Forty-seven percent of Virginians would support a legal ban on critical race theory in public schools, while 36 percent would oppose such a policy.
McAuliffe’s comments on critical race theory come in the context of his stated opinion that he doesn’t “think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” Polling shows that by a nineteen point margin, Virginians believe parents should have more control over classroom curriculums than school boards.
Source: National Review
