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Kevin Stitt explains why he signed more divisive, race-baiting legislation…

2:28 PM EDT on May 10, 2021

As Louis discussed last week, the Oklahoma Legislature recently sent HB 1775 – a signature piece of 2021 Oklahoma race-baiting legislation – to Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt's desk for signature. It's the one that will prohibit schools from teaching any race-based stuff that causes “discomfort, guilt, anguish or psychological distress” to (white) students, and ends mandatory diversity training.

When the bill arrived, the question wasn't if Stitt was going to sign the bill – being a paranoid, right-wing Evangelical, that was a given – but rather what mental gymnastics he was going to perform to justify it.

This video statement gives us the answer:

In case you couldn't make it through the bullshit, this was my off-the-cuff TLDR from Twitter:

Yep, when talking about why he signed a race-baiting, solution-looking-for-a-problem, rightwing-jerkoff bill, Kevin Stitt said "We need policies that bring us together, not rip us apart." I'm going to assume he accidentally forgot to include "starting tomorrow" and "haha. yeah right. as if."

You also have to love that Stitt invoked the words of Dr. Martin Luther King while attempting to explain away a bill that Dr. Martin Luther King would have vehemently opposed. Give Stitt's propaganda bro and princess some credit. They're great trolls. Imagine that!

Naturally, just about anyone who has a critical thinking gene in their body was against the measure. Educators, politicians, church leaders, civil rights groups and others who aren't pandering to right-wing folks opposed the move.

That being said, others were more supportive. The SAE fraternity applauded the decision, saying that mandatory diversity training was making it hard to recruit new members, while State Rep. Brad Boles praised the Governor for protecting "White-colored babies from scary thoughts about their race."

Okay, so I may have made the last paragraph up, but the big national talking point about the bill is that it would basically prevent the politically manipulated divisive wedge issue of 2021– Critical Race Theory – from being taught in Oklahoma schools. It's the "controversial" theory that Stitter and his Derplahoman buddies want you to believe claims that all white people are inherently racist and should feel bad for it.

Here's a more accurate explanation from The Root:

Critical Race Theory is a way of using race as a lens through which one can critically examine social structures. While initially used to study law, like most critical theoryit emerged as a lens through which one could understand and change politics, economics and society as a whole. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic’s book, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, describes the movement as: “a collection of activists and scholars engaged in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power.

Yep, that's what Stitt and his buddies are worried about. Are there probably some well-thought-out hypotheses and conclusions in Critical Race Theory that make some white people – especially ones with their heads stuck in the ground – uncomfortable in their own skin? Sure. But as people like Nathan Dahm remind us, your feelings shouldn't matter when it comes to conversations, right?

Right-wing pandering aside, there are plenty of other reasons to be critical of HB 1775. Like...

1. It's always a bit concerning when states start passing laws to prevent certain theories from being taught in schools. Like, when in history (or fiction) has that ever worked out well? My hypothesis is that when an Evangelical wants to ban a theory from being taught in the classroom – you know, like evolution or global warming or the big bang – it's probably a theory that needs to be taught.

2. Where was all this urgency to protect Oklahoma children from experiencing guilt or anguish over their race over the past, say, 100 years or so? If Stitt and his pals actually cared, you'd think they'd probably do something about sending Native American students to schools nicknamed Savages or Redskins. Or better yet, make sure that Black kids can wear Black Lives Matters shirts to school and not get sent home or forced to turn their t-shirt inside out:

In case you're wondering why Critical Race Theory should be taught in Oklahoma schools, there's your answer.

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