Republicans' dishonest war against 'critical race theory'

Conservatives are suppressing free inquiry about American history

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For years now, conservatives have been spinning a narrative that the left is trying to destroy academic freedom. Easily "triggered" liberal "snowflakes" on campus are too sensitive to the rigorous arguments of speakers like Milo Yiannopolis and Ben Shapiro, and so "woke mobs" shout them down instead of engaging with their facts and logic.

It's a load of nonsense. But meanwhile, conservatives (naturally) are waging an actual assault on academic freedom. They are whipping up a frenzied moral panic about something they call "critical race theory," attempting to use state power to muzzle left-wing academics and suppress the study of history and racism, which they intend to supplant with their own delusional propaganda.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.