Montana State Superintendent Asks State Attorney General to Investigate if Promoting Critical Race Theory Violates Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Montana State Superintendent of public instruction Elsie Arntzen sent a letter to Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, requesting an investigation into whether promoting critical race theory violates the Civic Rights Act of 1964.

Journalist Christopher Rufo tweeted in support of the investigation offering to help the state in, “any capacity”.

“BREAKING: Montana @SuptArntzen asks the state attorney general to investigate whether promoting critical race theory in the classroom violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by “treat[ing] individuals differently based on race” and creating “a racially hostile environment… My legal coalition has argued that critical race theory curricula compel speech in violation of the First Amendment and constitute racial discrimination in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We are happy to assist Montana in any capacity.”

My legal coalition has argued that critical race theory curricula compel speech in violation of the First Amendment and constitute racial discrimination in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

We are happy to assist Montana in any capacity.

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) May 12, 2021

In the letter which can be seen in the tweet above, Arntzen writes “The most troubling aspect of the proposal is the incorporation of so-called “antiracist” teachings and “Critical Race Theory” into classrooms. The proposal notes that “schools across the country are working to incorporate antiracist practices into teaching and learning.” 86 fed. Reg. 20349. It explains:

As the scholar Ibram X. Kendi has expressed, “[a]n antiracist idea is any idea that suggests the radial groups are equals in all their apparent differences—that there is nothing right or wrong with any racial group. Antiracist ideas argue that racist policies are the cause of racial inequities.” It is critical that the teaching of American history and civics creates learning experiences that validate and reflect the diversity, identities, histories, contributions, and experiences of all students…

Ibram Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist is quite radical. It contends that “the most threatening racist movement is… the regular American’s drive for a ‘race-neutral’ [state].”.

She also cites the city of Seattle’s “race and social justice” training “which required White employees to examine their relationships with “white supremacy, racism, and whiteness” and explain how their “[families] benefit economically from the system of white supremacy even as it directly and violently harms Black people.”

She then jumps to a school district in Illinois that started to develop a “Black Lives Matter at School” curriculum, set to create a new generation of allied activists. The Superintendent continues on with her examples.

In her final paragraph, she concludes, “these materials may cause a racially hostile environment under Title VI… Thus if a school allows students to be judged, labeled, or assigned guilty according to their race, that could create an impermissible hostile environment.”

Rufo was one of the cited sources in her letter, has offered to help the state if they move against Critical Race Theory.

Idaho made a move against Critical Race Theory, prohibiting forcing a belief system onto students that claim a group is superior or inferior to others. While other states move to push what they call the “Anti-Racist” doctrine which many people is just anti-White policy and rhetoric.

Hopefully, soon we will see a response from Montana’s Attorney General and what action if any he takes on the matter. Many are watching to see what our public servants do when it comes to these radical ideas being so strongly pushed by the left.