Kendall Stanley: We allow zealots to fan the culture war flames

If you have ever wondered how hot button issues like school curriculum, critical race theory and other conservative topics gained their oxygen in the national consciousness, look no further than Gig Harbor, Wash.

Therein resides one Christopher Rufo, a one-man activist best known for his efforts to make critical race theory (CRT) a rallying cry for the nation’s conservatives along with the recent issue of sexuality in schools.

Not only has Rufo worked hard to make sure critical race theory is not taught in schools (it is normally a law school program) but he has sought to ban it from governmental programs and from businesses.

He was, according to a story in The New York Times, on hand for the signing of a bill with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis known as the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” which bars teaching in workplaces and schools that anyone is inherently biased or privileged because of race or sex. He said that discussions of systemic racism were now illegal in the state of Florida.

Not that some forms of systemic racism don’t exist, just that you can’t talk about it.

And with sexuality, Rufo feels he’s got another hot button issue that is more potent than CRT in the cultural war trenches.

Or as the Times noted, “Mr. Rufo is convinced that a fight over LGBTQ curriculums — which he calls gender ideology — has even more potential to spur a political backlash than the debate over how race and American history are taught.

“The reservoir of sentiment on the sexuality issue is deeper and more explosive than the sentiment on the race issues.”

As is the case with many polemics, he manages to make a point but with without context. In his battle with Disney over their diversity and equity efforts, he posted on Twitter pictures of Disney employees charged in sex abuse cases, based in part on reporting from CNN in 2014.

Horrible, horrible. Except none of the cases involved children at Disney properties nor did they indicate Disney’s response — the arrests were one one-hundredth of 1 percent of the 300,000 Disney employees during that time.

He now says schools have become hunting grounds for teachers and parents have every reason to worry about grooming of their students in school.

He often writes in City Journal, a publication of the Manhattan Institute which Charlie Sykes, one of the founders of the anti-Trump conservative The Bulwark says gives him “intellectual cover.”

“It gives him this veneer of being a conservative scholar,” Sykes told the Times. “He basically says ‘anything you don’t like about race becomes CRT. Now, all of your anxieties about sexuality or gender become grooming.’”

Rufo denies he broadly equated critics of the Florida law with groomers and said the word should be used with great responsibility.

The problem with a Rufo is while he may eschew believing his critics are groomers, his followers have no such compunction. And “groomers” fits into the QAnon conspiracy theory that a cabal of “deep state” Democratic pedophiles exists, a conspiracy embraced by any number of Republican whackos on the political scene.

More: Kendall Stanley: Sad days ahead

More: Kendall Stanley: Spring better get its act together

More: Kendall Stanley: The horrors of Ukraine

Let us not forget that one man or woman under the right circumstances can change the shape of the country.

As the Times notes, “Critical race theory — and a broader ‘parents’ rights’ movement — helped drive Republican victories in school board elections and the Virginia governor’s race last year. Seventeen states have passed laws or issued orders to restrict critical race theory or limit how public-school teachers can discuss racism and sexism, according to Education Week.”

Hang on for Rufo’s next round of the culture wars.

In the Times article Rufo said that “to maximize voters’ anxieties about gender issues,” he plans to write a series of articles on classroom practices he deems outrageous.

“You have to provide the vocabulary for people to talk about,” gender issues. “Once that happens, it’s going to be explosive.”

If you’re a cultural war fan, Rufo is getting ready to give you some more red meat. If you’re not a fan, at least you’re forewarned.

— Kendall P. Stanley is retired editor of the News-Review. He can be contacted at kendallstanley@charter.net. The opinions expressed in this column are those of the writer and not necessarily of the Petoskey News-Review or its employees.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Kendall Stanley: We allow zealots to fan the culture war flames