John McWhorter: Condoleezza Rice’s criticism of critical race theory is ‘dead right’
Columbia professor and author John McWhorter discusses Condoleezza Rice’s criticism of critical race theory on her last appearance on ‘The View.’
Columbia University professor and author John McWhorter said on Friday that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's criticism of critical race theory was correct.
"She's dead, right," the author of "Woke Racism" told "The Brian Kilmeade Show."
The former secretary of state, who served during the Bush administration, denounced the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) in schools, declaring that Black children could be completely empowered without making White children feel bad for their race.
Keynote speaker, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, is introduced at the 76th Annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
During a guest host appearance on ABC's "The View," Rice, the first Black woman to head the State Department, cited her experience growing up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, as she argued that young children didn't need to be taught CRT and parents needed to have a say in their children's education.
Rice clashed with co-host Sunny Hostin, who claimed, without evidence, that some parents were seeking to prevent their children from learning the "real" history of America and reaching a point of "true racial reconciliation."
"Come on now," Rice said.
"People are being taught the true history, but I just have to say one more thing: It goes back to how we teach the history. We teach the good and we teach the bad of history. But what we don’t do is make 7- and 10-year-olds feel that they are somehow bad people because of the color of their skin," she added. "We've been through that, and we don't need to do that again for anyone."
McWhorter said that it is "true" that critical race theory was originally formed by legal scholars in 1981 and that is not the version being taught in schools. However, he explained further that the "underpinnings of the ideology" are being pushed in public education.
"And Condoleezza Rice is not crazy to refer to that. I'm not crazy to gather the news, stories, and the countless anecdotes I have from schools at practically every state of this country, saying that that sort of thing is influencing the way things are being taught," he added.
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McWhorter said that calling out the issue of teaching critical race theory is unfairly seen by some as "not battling racism."
"So you're supposed to pretend that it isn't happening. But it is, and I don't want my children affected by it, and I don't want this country's intellectual culture to be based on that one thing. It's not that the one thing isn't true. There was slavery. There was racism, and there's still some now. But for that to be the main thing that an education is about, instead of teaching people to think. I say no, I as a Black person do not need that transformation on the behalf of Black people who need help, and neither do they," McWhorter said.
Fox News' Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.