Topic: Media Research Center
We've noted that the Media Research Center has posted more than 132 articles referencing critical race theory, which is typically attacked with hate, invective and extremism. Let's go back and take a look at a few more of those.
A June 11 post by Kayla Sargent declared that Twitter was "seemingly taking its orders from the left" because it had suspended a right-wing think tank's account after it "posted resources combating Critical Race Theory." Her accusation of order-taking came from the suspension happening after "leftist group" Media Matters "called the toolkit “a conspiracy theory about the overthrow of America’s constitutional system," adding that Media Matters "also somehow drew an arbitrary connection between the toolkit’s language and what the organization called the “infamous white nationalist march in Charlottesville, Virginia.'" Actually, it was not arbitrary at all; Media Matters detailed how the group's literature "echoes the 'Great Replacement' conspiracy theory, which posits that white people are being systematically “replaced” by people of color through mass immigration at the behest of shadowy elites, often referring to Jews."
Abigail Streetman ranted on June 15 in a post complaining that the media wasn't swallowing right-wing narratives about CRT:
Critical Race Theory has been all the rage this year, literally. The media have adopted its language and assumptions, while companies, governments and even the U.S. government have inflicted the ideological poison on their personnel. And yes, it has crept into some schools. the mainstream media can’t stop talking about it. Conservatives have had enough of the left-wing indoctrination and many states have stepped up by creating legislation that prohibits schools from teaching curriculum that paints one race as superior to another. But now the backlash is sparking a backlash of its own, as progressives swear up and down they don't see what the big deal is.
Nicholas Fondacaro went on a massive anti-CRT tirade in a June 23 post, calling the educational concept "poison":
In a disturbing segment of Wednesday’s World News Tonight, ABC came out in support of poisoning the minds of students with Critical Race Theory. And instead of showing the parents of Loudoun County, Virginia rising up against their radical school board who wanted to teach it to their kids, the network promoted Joint Chiefs Chairman, General Mark Milley defending the teaching of the racist theory to West Point cadets.
Foncacaro further screeched that "Milley disgustingly defended Critical Race Theory by suggesting it would help cadets understand why the Capitol Riot happened."
A June 25 post by Joseph Vazquez touted how a new "education organization" has declared its "commitment to fighting against woke school boards indoctrinating students" in the form of a $1 million ad campaign opposing "the despicable movement propagating hate-filled critical race theory in schools." Vazquez didn't ask where this group got its money from.
On June 27, Alex Christy complained that NBC's Seth Meyers called the CRT controversy an "astroturfed moral panic" and insisted that CRT is really about how "the CRT adherent starts with a provocative conclusion and then shoehorns evidence to fit that predetermined conclusion. It's this backwards reasoning that leads to everything from math to pedestrians on sidewalks being cited as examples of systemic racism." Or, you know, how the MRC starts with the conclusion that "the media" has a "liberal bias" and shoehorns evidence to fit that predetermined conclusion.
When Meyers pointed out that anti-CRT laws would prohibit certain teachings of history and that the frist most Americans heard about the Tulsa race massacre was on the TV show "Watchmen," Christy retorted: "Of course, people learn all sorts of history from TV and movies that they didn't learn in school. One could argue the Mountain Meadows Massacre could be taught alongside the Tulsa race massacre, but that is a Mormon bloodbath, and isn't useful for a perpetual-systemic-racism narrative." Given that the Mountain Meadows Massacre was perpetrated in 1857 in Utah territory -- so, technically not part of the U.S. at the time -- by Mormon militia members against a wagon train of settlers seeking to move to the West, it's utterly irrelevant to talk about systemic racism.
On July 12, Streetman sneered that actor John Leguizamo is "another left-wing Hollywood star who thinks being famous makes them an expert" and complained that he "has joined CRT-enthusiasts in the fight to indoctrinate our children." In the great MRC tradition of belittling actors who weigh in on political issues by portraying them as emblematic of a part they once played, Streeman insisted that Leguizamo is "famous mostly for his voice role of Sid the Sloth in Ice Age" and called him "John 'Sid The Sloth' Leguizamo" in the headline, going on to dismiss him as "Sid the socialist sloth" later in her piece.
Kyle Drennen melted down in a July 19 post over a "left-wing Florida teenager" who supports CRT running to join his local school board, whining that NBC gave what "amounted to an in-kind political donation" by doing a story on him (as if teenagers running for political office were not newsworthy). Drennen did not counter any of the statements regard CRT made in the interview; instead, he further, complained: "When can NBC viewers expect the network to offer similar free campaign advertising to one of the numerous conservative candidates running in local school board races across the country?" As if the MRC's "news" division, CNSNews, were not in the habit of doing exactly what Drennen demands.
Bridget O'Neal complained in an Aug. 3 post:
PoliticsNation, host Al Sharpton warned that conservatives are showing up to school board meetings, and encouraged his left-wing viewers “to rise up together and show up to those same meetings, demanding that our children get a full and accurate history curriculum.”
[...]
What Sharpton doesn’t seem to understand is that parents who are fighting against critical race theory are already paying attention to their child’s education. The reality is, teaching students that America is inherently racist is historically inaccurate, and parents have every right to stand up and voice their concerns. The liberal media are just upset that parents are fighting against the left, not with them.
O'Neal did a fine job of spouting right-wing talking points. The MRC has indocrinated her well.
