In a manner that would make Loudoun County, Va. blush, the city of Rochester, Minn. has cemented itself as the latest battlefield in the war against teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) to children across America.
Rochester, which is located about 90 minutes southeast of Minneapolis and is home to 115,000 people, held its semimonthly school board meeting on Tuesday evening. Parents and other attendees poured into the meeting, which was otherwise going to address mundane summer business, carrying signs against a number of left-wing ideas, including CRT, mask mandates, and Black Lives Matter (BLM).
— Jordan Shearer (@Jmanassa) July 13, 2021
Several attendees decorated their vehicles with these signs. Pro-Trump organizer Brian Braaten displayed signs likening BLM (which her called “Burn Loot Murder”) to the Nazis. Another even decked out their SUV to look like a SWAT van, complete with the modified text of Matthew 5:9 on the right rear window.
Based on the parking lot, it could be quite the school board meeting tonight pic.twitter.com/n28L1VjPNm
— Jordan Shearer (@Jmanassa) July 13, 2021
This is another car in the parking lot of the school board pic.twitter.com/clGnpya5qj
— Jordan Shearer (@Jmanassa) July 13, 2021
According to Post-Bulletin reporter Jordan Shearer, the meeting was quickly filled to standing-room only. Attendees began taking the podium during the meeting’s “public comment period” to directly voice their disapproval to the board members, but not before shouting the United States Pledge of Allegiance in unison.
Among the speakers were two women who railed against CRT and mask mandates, respectively.
— Jordan Shearer (@Jmanassa) July 13, 2021
— Jordan Shearer (@Jmanassa) July 13, 2021
But the evening’s most impactful speaker was a man whom Shearer identified as Wes Lund. In his impassioned speech to the board, Lund implied that there were “deep state characters” present at the meeting, and that supporters of CRT are racists who only intend to create divisions.
One of the most vocal members from the crowd before he had a chance at the podium himself pic.twitter.com/gFEFPY26h3
— Jordan Shearer (@Jmanassa) July 13, 2021
“Let me clarify, that on no uncertain terms, that those who oppose critical race theory and the organization called ‘Black Lives Matter’ are not racist,” Lund said to applause. "We do not see ourselves as being better than anyone else. We value all lives and the rights of every person, whether or not we have the same level of melanin in our skin.”
Before leaving the meeting, the attendees recited the Lord’s Prayer.
Everyone was about to leave, and a member of the audience suggested reciting this before they left pic.twitter.com/Z5gmw91a3V
— Jordan Shearer (@Jmanassa) July 13, 2021
The meeting was also the first for the new superintendent of Rochester Public Schools, Kent Pekel. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Pekel seemed to dismiss the CRT debate, saying that the curriculum is “not even something being taught or even discussed right now in Rochester Public Schools.”
.@RPS535 Superintendent Kent Pekel talking about critical race Theory at Tuesday’s school board meeting pic.twitter.com/WkZedZhJkq
— Jordan Shearer (@Jmanassa) July 14, 2021
Rochester Public Schools will convene again on July 27. It is unclear whether this meeting will be open to public attendance.
Despite the controversy, the attendees’ disruptions are generally indicative of Americans’ attitudes toward CRT. A June 16 poll conducted by The Economist and YouGov found that 58 percent of those familiar with CRT find the curriculum either “somewhat” or “very unfavorable.”
The origins of CRT date back to the 1970s, and its teachings were furthered by Harvard Law professor Derrick Bell in the early 1990s. Bell’s CRT lectures, which then-student Barack Obama sat in on, explored the concept of “white privilege” and asserted that all of America’s legal institutions inherently discriminate against minorities.
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