By Ed Wallace, Publisher / July 30, 2021 / Updated 8/3/21

As you may know, the Utah Legislature and the GOP State Central Committee recently passed resolutions against the teaching of “Critical Race Theory (CRT)” in Utah schools. But, the issue is not going away and is gaining traction.

CRT’s intolerance can be found in schools, the workplace, and the entertainment sector, “normalizing” the belief in systemic racism for the average American.

In an effort to inform policy-makers and the public about the motives and dangers or CRT, Utah Standard News, along with the “Alliance for Utah’s Future” and “Utah Parents United”, is co-sponsoring a Zoom Forum on “Critical Race Theory (CRT)” next Tuesday, August 3, at 7pm. Guests will include: Utah State Representative Travis Seegmiller (HD62), Natalie Cline – Utah Board of Education Member, Alvin Jackson – former Utah State Senator, and representatives from Utah Parents United – Utah’s largest and most effective grassroots advocate for parents and children.To join in the forum, simply go to https://zoom.us/, click on “Join a Meeting”, and type in the meeting ID#: 856 2579 5746. The passcode, if needed, is: 431642.

The forum will focus on the history of CRT, how it is being inserted into the workplace, and the moral, societal and political impacts. This will include a synopsis of these three related disciplines: Critical Theory (CT), the immediate forebearer of Critical Legal Theory (CLT), and how CLT begat CRT, and leads to a divisive civic and political culture.

There will also be information on the ways policymakers and educators are integrating CRT’s and CT’s core tenets into K–12 instruction and how it has led to the free speech crisis on college campuses today. We will also consider policy recommendations that are aimed at restoring the concepts of judging people not by the color of their skin but by their conduct and the need to protect liberty so that everyone, regardless of ethnicity or background, has the opportunity to pursue the American Dream.

The origins of CRT can be traced to the 1937 manifesto of the Frankfurt School which modeled itself on the Moscow-based Marx-Engels Institute. Originally, the school’s official name was going to be the Institute for Marxism, but, that had to be downplayed because Critical Theory was an unremitting attack on Western institutions and norms in order to tear them down so they could teach the workers how to think.

After the riots and violence of the Civil Rights era and the anti–Vietnam War Movement, the proponents discovered a new agent of change: minorities. Thus, the theory of Critical legal studies (CLS) was hatched which states that the law is necessarily intertwined with social issues, and that the law has inherent social biases.

From there, it was a short step to Critical Race Theory which makes everything about race the prism through which its proponents analyze all aspects of American life and underpins identity politics, while reimagining the U.S. as a nation riven by groups, each with specific claims on victimization.

Proponents are commitment to dismantle all aspects of society through unremitting criticism because the law “systematically privileges subjects who are white,”. The real target is a free-market system that rewards hard work, ability, and other virtuous traits.

America is no longer a country where the individual is the central agent in society, who, because of his very existence possesses individual rights. Instead, membership in the official categories becomes the identity that matters when it comes to rights (mostly positive rights, not natural ones), responsibilities, and everything else. Identity politics has become the new paradigm under which many Americans now operate. Victimhood is what commands attention, respect, and entitlements, seen as compensatory justice.

Forum participants will include:

State Representative Travis Seegmiller (HD62) has taught in Higher Ed for 17 years and began studying CRT under national leaders of the movement twenty years ago when it was required of him during his doctorate program. He quickly became disturbed as he was taught plainly their goals to alter America as we know it. Ever since then, Travis has fought in support of fairer-minded values that oppose CRT’s hierarchical slicing and dicing of all Americans. He is a proponent of “E Pluribus Unum” and asserts that a nation divided against itself can not stand. He is currently preparing Legislation to remedy some of the problems caused by CRT-type thinking in Utah’s public education system.

Natalie Cline is a member of the Utah Board of Education and has been deeply involved in the fight for religious freedom, pro-life legislation, pro-American, and family-friendly education policy for the past decade. She has lobbied and testified locally in favor of parental rights, student data privacy, and the protection of our children’s innocence. Her work has taken her to the United Nations on several occasions.

As a registered nurse, Natalie had the privilege being part of the Utah Hospital Task Force rescue mission to Haiti after the devastating earthquake of 2010. Natalie seeks to restore freedom in America by ensuring every student in Utah is educated in the principles of freedom. Natalie loves spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren reading, hiking, skiing, gardening, and serving together. Natalie’s family is her greatest joy and proudest accomplishment.

Mr. Jackson began his career in Washington, DC in government relations, as he lobbied on behalf of the defense industry before both the Legislative and Executive branches of the federal government. After 16 years of his career in Washington, DC, he and his family moved to Utah. During his time in Utah, he served in the Utah State Senate.

Mr. Jackson has a BS degree in Aviation Business Administration from Embry-Riddle University and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. He serves on Brigham Young University’s Marriot Business School National Advisory Committee. He also serves as national faculty for the Thomas Jefferson Center for Constitutional Studies. Mr. Jackson serves as a bishop of a young single adult congregation in Washington, DC.The Jackson family splits time between Virginia and the Washington, DC area with one of their five children, Marie, 13; Kayla, married and a candidate for law school; Mary Alice, a junior at the University of Utah; and Alvin, III, a junior at Lone Peak HS, all reside in Utah; Franklin lives in Michigan and plays for the NBA, Detroit Pistons.

Utah Parents United exists to educate and empower parents in Utah to advocate for their children and are committed to protecting the parent-child relationship in law and education. UPU monitors state and local legislation and has called upon Utah leaders to enforce the Civil Rights Act by banning CRT in Utah’s Schools. The group wants to promote cultural diversity by teaching students how to love other cultures, but Critical Race Theory undermines those goals. UPU also advocates for parents to have the choice whether or not to send their child to school in a mask.

The “Alliance for Utah’s Future” is the largest association of conservative political activists and groups in Utah.

The forum will include a question and answer period following the panel discussion and will be live-streamed on USN’s Facebook page