The Daily Show turns the conservative 'culture war' on critical race theory into a Ken Burns–style documentary

published 30 June 2021

The Daily Show gave the Ken Burns treatment to the conservative "culture war" on critical race theory, including a letter from the front lines. "The battle would rage on," the narrator intoned, "claiming the time and attention of thousands of victims, until their televisions told them to be angry about another thing they had never heard of before."

"Critical race theory: It's made conservatives so mad, they've temporarily forgotten about Ilhan Omar," Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr. said, in a parody of Unsolved Mysteries. "But watching people get all worked up about an obscure graduate-level theory of the American legal system, one can't help but wonder: Does literally anyone on the right actually know what critical race theory is? ... Has anyone even Wikipedia'd this thing?" Pretty clearly, no.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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