Critical Race Advocacy Group Targets Diverse Group of CRT Critics

Children hold up signs during a rally against critical race theory being taught in schools at the Loudoun County Government center in Leesburg, Va., on June 12, 2021. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Contrary to the “angry white male” stereotype of opponents of critical race theory (CRT), a strategic plan from a prominent CRT advocacy group showcases a very diverse group of “frontline spokespeople” who are pushing back against the Marxism-rooted ideology.

Christopher Rufo, an author and filmmaker known for exposing the infiltration of CRT into public education, on Wednesday shared on Twitter presentation slides he obtained from African American Policy Forum (AAPF). The group was founded by Columbia University professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, who invented the concept of “intersectionality” and is widely attributed with coining the term “Critical Race Theory.”

The AAFP slides in question, which Rufo described as part of a plan to “mobilize left-wing media and K-12 teachers” in defense of CRT, appears to document individuals and organizations who laid the “infrastructure” for a “war on racial justice.”

One of the slides, titled “The Frontline Spokespeople,” features a group of six social justice critics, namely brown University professor Glenn Loury; author James Lindsay, the co-author of the woke papers that were accepted as legitimate scientific studies; Cornell University professor William Jacobson, who runs a website tracking the presence of CRT in American classrooms; columnist Wesley Yang; veteran journalist Asra Nomani; and Columbia University professor John McWhorter.

The group, as Rufo noted, has a rather diverse demographic in terms of gender and ethnicity. Loury and McWhorter are celebrated black intellectuals, with Loury being the first black tenured professor of economics in the history of Harvard University. Nomani and Yang are from immigrant families. Nomani moved with her Muslim parents from India to the United States at the age of four, while Yang is the child of Korean War refugees.

“It’s truly a work of art that the ‘white conservative activists’ driving ’fear of critical race theory' include two black guys, an Asian guy, and an Indian woman,” wrote Rufo. “It’s amazing how fast multiracial whiteness is growing.”

The AAPF operates a series of programs to teach CRT, including “CRT Summer School,“ a 5-day virtual event that allows participants to ”share and develop strategies and practices to expand multiracial democracy and justice.”

While some pro-CRT advocates and politicians argue that the CRT is an academic framework not meant to be taught at K-12 level, groups like AAPF promote the ideology among K-12 educators in the hope that they incorporate the concepts and practices into their teaching and policymaking.

“Join fellow teachers, journalists, labor unions, parent groups, students, researchers, DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) practitioners, faith-based organizers, and others in this multidisciplinary exploration of CRT to help shape a movement for a robust multiracial democracy,” its website reads.