Don Lemon and Leyla Santiago, correspondent for CNN on Friday, condemned Florida Governor. Ron DeSantis was accused of banning Critical Race Theory math textbooks. When giving examples, including a bar graph alleging conservatives are more racist than liberals, it was still DeSantis that was accused of culture warring.
Lemon introduced a video of Santiago by taking a Democrat’s word that CRT is not a real thing in Florida schools, “Florida education officials rejecting dozens of elementary school math textbooks, claiming that they contain objectionable material, including Critical Race Theory, which one Democratic lawmaker points out is not taught in elementary schools. Education officials now releasing four images from math books that they claim prove their point.”
At the beginning of her video, Santiago showed four examples released by the state to prove this isn’t a made up controversy, “One of the images, which the Department of Education says were sent to them by the public, shows a bar graph measuring racial prejudice by political identification.”
What Santiago didn’t say, but what the picture showed was a bar graph showing alleged racial bias in different political groups as measured by the Implicit Association Test with conservatives coming across as more racially biased than liberals and moderates.
A similar example was highlighted, but not discussed in greater depth, “Another, adding and subtracting polynomials, a section that begins with ‘What? Me? Racist?’ The article continues to discuss racial bias and measurement.
These two obvious example of left-wing culture warring were still pinned on DeSantis, “Public school textbooks just the latest battleground in the culture war waged by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.”
If CNN was a real news network, they would have got a differing perspective that would have informed them that the IAT is junk science that doesn’t measure bias so much as reflex times measured in milliseconds, meaning that if you take the test multiple times, you will get different results each time.
After the examples, Santiago highlighted a couple of activists to decry the removal of the textbooks as politically motivated, something she herself agreed with, “A New York Times review of 21 of the rejected books found many of the textbooks included socioemotional content but found little that touched on race or Critical Theory, perhaps not a focus in the textbooks, but a focus for the political playbook of a potential 2024 presidential candidate.”
Technically, CRT might not refer to the IAT, or any other state examples, but schools should not teach public school students that one of two main political ideologies in the country is more racist then the other. This is especially true in math classes. CNN has never provided any reason for this to be included in the public school mathematics curriculum.
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This transcript is for the 22 April show.
CNN Don Lemon Tonight
4/22/2022
11.31 ET
DON LEMON: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill restricting how schools, businesses and individuals can discuss race and gender.
Florida’s education officials rejected dozens of math books for elementary school students, saying they contained objectionable material. One Democratic lawmaker pointed out that Critical Race Theory isn’t taught in elementary schools. Now, education officials have released four photos from math books to support their claims. CNN’s Leyla Santiago is here.
LEYLA SANTIAGO – These images were released by Florida’s Department of Education. They show examples of things it considers too objectionable for public school mathematics books. A bar graph used to measure racial bias by political identification is one of the images that the Department of Education claimed was submitted by the public.
Another section, subtracting and adding polynomials. This starts with “What?” Me? Racist?” The article then discusses racial bias and measurement bias. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ latest cultural war is now in public school textbooks.
RON DESANTIS : They are doing some really crazy things by using Critical Race Theory basically to put ideology and political action at the forefront of education.
SANTIAGO, Florida’s Department of Education said that it has rejected attempts to indoctrinate students by the publisher. Most of the problematic materials that they found were intended for students from kindergarten through fifth grade, was their overwhelming conclusion. According to the department, some books did not conform with state standards. Some books included prohibited topics and unsolicited strategies.
SUMI CHO: It is quite fascinating to observe this growing umbrella of fearmongering campaigns that uses Critical Race Theory in education.
SANTIAGO – Another reason why textbooks were not accepted was the inclusion of Social Emotional Learning (math) in them. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning describes it as a support of the social side to learning and the emotional needs of children.
TIM SHRIVER – This fight is about absolutely nothing. Many of these are motivated by political differences and political advantage. This country has a large industry that divides us by using hatred and contempt. I believe that sometimes this industry uses schools to further its own ends.
A New York TimesReview of 21 books was rejected found that many textbooks contained socioemotional material, however, there were few references to race and Critical Theory. This is a concern for potential presidential candidates in 2024.
DESANTIS – Nobody needs this stuff. The Americans are being forced to eat it. Florida is not the place to do that.
SANTIAGO When I asked the press office where exactly these photos came from, they didn’t respond. Talking to math teachers in Florida has been a great experience. They are concerned that the back-and-forth that is taking place in the appeals process for publishers could cause delays in getting these materials. Don?
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