On Tuesday, September 21, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted 6-0 to denounce Critical Race Theory and the 1619 Project. 

Critical Race Theory and the 1619 Project have been a hot topic of discussion in public school systems across the nation recently, and if one thing is obvious from those discussions, it is that most people have no idea at all what “Critical Race Theory” actually is.

So what is Critical Race Theory? Critical Race Theory is a graduate-level concept, primarily used in law schools, focused on analyzing how racism in the United States has impacted the country’s laws, public policy, and judicial system. It emerged in the 1970s as a result of the compiled works of an array of legal scholars who articulated the various sets of circumstances in which racism in America has created over centuries that remain systemically entrenched throughout our nation. The theory is applied in these settings in order to give future lawyers and policymakers a greater understanding of how systems in America continue to perpetuate racism and inequality. 

What is the 1619 Project? The 1619 Project is a long-term project created by the New York Times in conjunction with journalist Nikole Sheri Hannah-Jones. According to its page on the New York Times website, the project “aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States’ national narrative.” The project serves as a way to begin combatting faulty narratives about slavery. There are legitimate criticisms of the 1619 Project, and that should not be ignored, but there are more dangerous types of misinformation on the internet as well as in our school curriculum. There are still traces of propaganda from the “Lost Cause” in public schools. 

The fact of the matter is, despite what Republicans like Glenn Youngkin suggest, Critical Race Theory is not, nor has it ever been, taught in Virginia’s public schools. Why? Because it is not applicable to a K-12 setting. We are talking about graduate-level theory; it is not exactly curricula that most third-graders could wrap their minds around.

And it seems that the Stafford County Board of Supervisors, much like a group of third-graders, cannot comprehend the reality of Critical Race Theory. Or, worse, they are purposefully attempting to fear-monger their constituency in order to create a common enemy and eventually leverage the situation for reelection. But if I had to guess, I would say that the truth lies somewhere in between those two possibilities.

The champion behind this denunciation of the elusive concept is none other than Hartwood District Supervisor Gary Snellings. 

“I’ve personally been called a racist because of this, and I resent it,” Snellings lamented at the meeting. He claimed the statement was “nothing more than following state law” and “protecting our children.” 

Snellings might resent being called a racist, but his objection to the descriptive doesn’t make it less true. His actions indicate otherwise. There are no laws in the Virginia Code that reference Critical Race Theory or the 1619 Project. Further, Snellings’s resolution also included that teachers should not be allowed to ask students for their preferred pronouns. There is no reason other than ignorance and bigotry to group Critical Race Theory with preferred pronouns. And there is certainly no reason for a local board of supervisors to denounce either. It is notable that this occurred at a meeting when Griffis-Widewater District Supervisor Tinesha Allen, the only Black member of the Board, was absent. Snellings can complain about being called a racist, but actions speak louder than words, and his actions are those of a transphobic racist. 

The resolution also gives the Board of Supervisors the authority to reduce funding to any school that teaches Critical Race Theory. Given their fictitious version what the concept is, their ability to withhold funding based on it should scare members of the community. They can claim that anything they do not like is part of Critical Race Theory, and they can use that to take money away from public education in the county.

If Snellings and other members of the Board cared about preventing misinformation or ensuring all students are comfortable and safe in Stafford County Public Schools, then they would not be wasting time talking about Critical Race Theory when Stafford’s schools are 64th out of the Commonwealth’s 132 school districts. According to School Digger, an interactive online tool that uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the state and federal education departments, Stafford’s school system has been on the decline since the 2012-2013 school year when the district was ranked 16th statewide. That has nothing to do with Critical Race Theory.

Stafford County should stop worrying about the make-believe boogieman that is Critical Race Theory and start focusing on what they can do to save the school system that’s failing their children. If Snellings cares about “protecting” children, then he should be focused on protecting them from a bad education system.

Stafford County is the same place where, until less than a year ago, motorists on I-95 were greeted with a gigantic Confederate flag not far from the exit for Stafford Courthouse. Black students in Stafford County Public Schools are disproportionately suspended and expelled compared to white students. The school division made national headlines when they displayed gross negligence and discrimination against a transgender student. Instead of moving the county forward, Snellings and the rest of the board are purposefully and aggressively leaning into a racist, transphobic past. They do not care about the safety of their community or students; they care about alienating members of the LGBTQ+ community and further amplifying the far-right rhetoric that has turned Critical Race Theory into an eldritch abomination.

The right-wing charge against Critical Race Theory is nothing more than fear-mongering. White people are told that this is an attack on their children, a way to make them hate themselves, but there is no microscopic truth to that. It is simply a way for them to stir up anger, fear, and hate from nothing in order to create a distraction and disrupt progress.