USA TODAY Opinion

Trump said lay down your life to stop critical race theory. But what about…Oxford commas?

Rex Huppke, USA TODAYMarch 18, 2022, 9:18 AM·4 min readIn this article:

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• Donald Trump45th President of the United States
• Tate Reeves65th governor of Mississippi

I was told by former President Donald Trump that I must be willing to lay down my life to prevent my son Tanner from going to school and being turned socialist by critical race theory.

At a rally last weekend, Trump said: “Getting critical race theory out of our schools is not just a matter of values, it’s also a matter of national survival. We have no choice, the fate of any nation ultimately depends upon the willingness of its citizens to lay down, and they must do this, lay down their very lives to defend their country. If we allow the Marxists and Communists and Socialists to teach our children to hate America, there will be no one left to defend our flag or to protect our great country or its freedom.”

I don’t know what critical race theory is – if I did, I would surely be a Socialist or Marxist or Communist, or possibly all three – but I do know it’s the most important issue America is facing. So I hereby accept Trump’s call: I will gladly die in a hail of chalkboard erasers hurled by middle-school history teachers if that’s what it takes to make sure my son’s school curriculum includes only subjects of which I approve.

Alabama, Mississippi take on CRT

Fortunately, I’m not alone in this fight. On Thursday, lawmakers in Alabama’s House of Representatives passed a bill banning “divisive concepts” in the state’s K-12 history classes. (Why doesn't this also apply to math classes?!? Nothing divides us more than fractions.)

Republican Rep. Ed Oliver said that while the bill doesn’t specifically mention critical race theory, that theory could be considered a divisive concept: “Very simplistically, (the bill) is to prevent kids from being taught to hate America and hate each other.”

Perfect! Critical race theory – which, again, I can in no way identify or define – must be stopped, because thinking about things critically, thinking about race and learning about theories all sound like pathways to hating America. We should stick to teaching our kids the Three Rs: “Reagan, pRayer and I foRget the third one.”

(editor：)