Human rights org applies Middle East anti-radicalism strategy to combat critical race theory in US

FIRST ON FOX: Hardwired Global, a human rights organization based in Richmond, Virginia, that has crafted curricula to promote peace and pluralism in the Middle East and North Africa, is launching a new effort to combat "divisive curriculums and teacher training programs" based on critical race theory (CRT).

"Divisive curriculums and teacher training programs based on CRT and similar frameworks that are currently being sold to schools are rooted in Marxism and discriminatory ideas," Tina Ramirez, president and executive director of Hardwired Global, told Fox News Digital. "From my work around the world and my extensive human rights background, I’ve seen firsthand that this only leads to more division and hate, and worsens existing problems."

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"We are countering that with what we have seen work: a framework based on the freedom that we are all inherently hardwired for that is rooted in the same values that America was founded upon," Ramirez added.

On Wednesday, Hardwired Global announced that it is launching a new initiative, the Peaceful Garden Project, which aims to provide teachers with an alternative to divisive curricula such as those involving CRT – a framework that involves deconstructing aspects of society to discover systemic racism beneath the surface. Critics say CRT divides Americans, characterizing Whites as oppressors and Blacks as oppressed. 

Proponents push CRT as a tool for racial equity. School districts often deny that CRT has any influence in curricula or training, insisting that it is a college-level or law school-level course. Even so, parents contend that CRT ideas have infiltrated curricula and trainings, and public documents support this contention.

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Ramirez is constructing the initiative based on the work Hardwired Global has done around the world since 2013. The organization promotes an understanding of human rights, human dignity, and pluralism in countries such as Iraq, Nigeria, and Sudan, according to a press release first provided to Fox News Digital. 

The initiative aims to provide "support for concerned parents, grandparents, elected officials, teachers, and others in our community who want to act, but need the resources to support change in their local schools." The initiative will train teachers across the Commonwealth of Virginia "to counter divisive curriculum with a pedagogy grounded in America's founding values – inalienable rights, human dignity, freedom of conscience, speech and expression."

"The name for the Peaceful Garden Project comes from one of the children’s books I published last year through my organization, Hardwired," Ramirez said in the statement. "The book was inspired by the story of a teacher in northern Iraq whose Yezidi family was displaced when Islamic State militants ravaged his village and home. Through a beautiful lesson, he teaches a group of displaced children how a garden is beautiful and complete because of the diversity of its flowers."

She said the Peaceful Garden Project aims to counter divisive curricula with "what we know works: a program based on inherent inalienable rights, human dignity, and respect for the freedom of conscience of every person."

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Virginia became ground-zero in the nationwide battle over CRT and sexuality in public schools, with parents speaking out at school board meetings in Loudoun and Fairfax Counties, coalescing a movement that partially boosted Republican Glenn Youngkin into the governor's mansion last year.

Ramirez, a former candidate for U.S. House of Representatives, was redistricted out of the race. She is currently running for Virginia state Senate in the 12th District.