Class Is Canceled 

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Lots of people, including Utah's governor and its freshman Congressman Burgess Owens, are reacting passionately—perhaps idiotically—on the subject of Critical Race Theory.

Does it even matter to Owens—someone born in Ohio and raised in Florida, two of our country's more racially diverse states—that lynchings, mass routings and displacements, white invasions of Black communities and horrifying treatment of Blacks in the workplace were the historic staples of the country and time into which he was born?

Owens has made it clear that he was raised in the Jim Crow South, but you'd never know it. In fact, he seems to be on the same side of the issue as the old, stiff-collared, white men who run the Republican Party. It makes one wonder: Who is Rep. Owens, and why does he oppose letting students in on how endemic racism has plagued our nation since its founding?

With the recent explosion of awareness of the Tulsa Race Massacre (over 300 dead) plus a half-dozen other supersize mass murders of Blacks—all done with at least a tacit oversight and blessing of the "law" (such as massacres that occurred in Colfax, Louisiana; Wilmington, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Elaine, Arkansas; and Rosewood, Florida), it's hard to understand Burgess's reluctance to have the impact of racism better known and understood by our kids.

Instead of seeing the blessing of uncensored truth in children's educations, Owens worries that teaching CRT will further divide the country. His narrow, patently clueless adamance doesn't stop just there; he's now making the most intolerant statements of all, going on the warpath and declaring that any Utah teacher or administrator who supports CRT education in the classroom should be summarily fired from the school system.

What Owens should fear most is that the true story of American racism doesn't make it to our young. After all, the fledgling generations are the ones with the greatest likelihood for a more permanent healing of the problem.

During a recent interview with Newsmax, Owens asserted, "By the way, don't take apologies from these people. Fire them. Get rid of them. They are doing what they're doing, and they can say 'I'm sorry,' but guess what? They're going to try again another way to get it done. They have ideologies that's against everything we believe in." Obviously, Owens considers truth to be an unacceptable ideology.

"Do not give them any space to continue doing what they're doing. We need to fire everyone that we can find, and those that we'll fire later on, we'll figure out a way to get rid of them, too."

Considering that Owens is African American, it eludes me how he can wish to hide such an important part of both our past and ongoing history. It's sad, too, how the support of CRT in our schools is rejected, almost entirely, according to party lines. It's the far right; it's the Republicans; it's the evangelicals; it's the maniacal following of the worst presidential has-been in our history, and, don't forget, it's the Mormons.

I also realize that there are both good and bad ways in which to integrate CRT into our schools. Owens certainly scores some points—that it shouldn't be aimed at increasing the tensions between races, nor can it be, from a practical standpoint, a new starting point for broad reparations—something that could initiate a new level of racial disharmony in America.

Owens is also an active participant in trying to revive Donald Trump's executive order, which made it illegal for our government to participate in CRT education, and he seems blind to the rabid racism that Trump embraced.

Blaming it on the hard left liberals, Owens calls CRT education "evil," describing it as a process that can only "lower the expectations for everybody." He topped off his Newsmax remarks with a cautionary warning, integrating "bullies, cowards who hide behind labor unions, who hide behind school boards that no one knows what they're doing." (A zealous attention seeker, you'd think he'd spend just a little bit of time and effort trying to become more articulate, but, then again, maybe we should cut him some slack for the multiple concussions he suffered in the NFL.)

Gov. Cox scores no better than Owens in the quest for honest education for Utah kids, siding with Republican legislators in passing a resolution to study the risk of teaching the "theory" in our schools. Obviously, he considers truth to be an iffy standard. Can Utah's leadership really be that backward? Instead of embracing the reality of our history, our elected leaders are trying to find ways to legitimize the withholding of facts from our kids.

Really, folks! Are we actually so worried about the truth making its way into the classrooms of our state? Do we prefer the sanitized—no, completely sterile—legends of our history—the ones that elicit national pride rather than presenting the defects as they were and as they are?

To me, the answer is clear: Tell kids the truth, and allow those kids to arrive at their own conclusions. Since there's really no way to cover it up completely, it would be a hazard not to teach CRT in the schools. At some point our children will know, and this shouldn't be a rude awakening, far too late, like when the mother of an 18-year-old dumps a shocking disclosure of his real father's identity.

No one actually disputes the reality of critical race theory. America has always suffered endemic discrimination. It's something that persisted from Day 1 of our fledgling republic, and it certainly was nothing new then. The reality is that Critical Race Theory is inextricably woven into the development of the world, our country, our state, and, if not properly exposed and addressed in a positive way, it will dominate humanity for generations to come. When it comes to our children's schooling, teaching about America's mistakes is every bit as essential as extolling its many successes.

Let's make truth Utah's standard for educational excellence.

The author is a retired businessman, novelist, columnist and former Vietnam-era Army assistant public information officer. He resides in Riverton with his wife, Carol, and the beloved ashes of their mongrel dog.