Ben Carson, Moms for Liberty headline anti-critical race theory conference in Franklin

Conservative groups Moms for Liberty Williamson County and Be the People launched a two-day event to oppose critical race theory in Tennessee schools Friday evening. The American Dream Conference featured speakers including Ben Carson, the former Housing and Urban Development Secretary under Donald Trump, and former Vanderbilt University professor Carol Swain.

The event was held three days before Martin Luther King Jr. Day and advertised as a conference that "examines the American Dream of Dr. Martin Luther King and features a number of national speakers who continue to warn about the dangers of critical race theory."

Critical race theory, a framework to understand and address inequality and racism in the United States, is not formally part of K-12 school curricula in Williamson County or anywhere else in Tennessee.

"We have to push back against those forces that are trying to divide us," Swain said. "The civil rights movement was positive, but what they do is, they cherry-pick history."

Swain read from King's 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech at the start of the event. She praised the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 1965 Voting Rights Act and 1968 Fair Housing Act, saying that "systemic racism ended with the passing of those three major civil rights acts."

Swain omitted 30 percent of King's original speech, including the following lines:

"This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual."

Carson delivered a 40-minute keynote speech addressing his own background, American history and the dangers of "indoctrination" in the classroom.

"You have a combination of white guilt and minority victimhood, and it leads to some of the most absurd policy making that you can possibly imagine," Carson said in a 40-minute keynote speech. "We're seeing the results of that, and that's why it becomes so important for us to push back against those kinds of things."

Bernice A. King, King's daughter and CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, condemned the event soon after it was announced on Jan. 5.

"Even beyond #MLKDay, some individuals, organizations & groups misuse my father & take his words out of context to promote ideas that oppose his teachings," King tweeted.

Musicians Larry Gatlin and John Rich performed to kick off the event, which was attended by around 400 people. The conference is set to continue Saturday with panels addressing critical race theory.

Cole Villena covers Williamson County at The Tennessean, part of the USA Today Network — Tennessee. Reach Cole at cvillena@tennessean.com or 615-925-0493. Follow Cole on Twitter at @ColeVillena and on Instagram at @CVinTennessee.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ben Carson headlines anti-critical race theory conference in Franklin