CNN Newsroom host Erica Hill welcomed comedian and documentarian W. Kamanu Bell onto the Thursday program to discuss the latest season of the network’s United Shades of America. During their conversation, both would lament all the alleged “misinformation” surrounding Critical Race Theory and claim it is all just a way to avoid teaching accurate American history.
Hill introduced a preview clip of the series, “Oh, you know the buzzwords, woke culture, Critical Race Theory. They have been frequent targets of the Republican Party and in the all new season of CNN’s United Shades of America, W. Kamau Bell isn’t shying away from the controversial issues.”
Immediately, it was clear that CNN was the dishonest one as he conversed with three women, “Right now there’s arguments about should we teach kids a more accurate history of America?”
All three of them agreed that teachers shouldn’t be able to inject their views into history lessons on Nazism and slavery. Additionally, a second segment showed a fourth woman recoiling at Bell’s suggestion that history lessons on “Slavery, genocide of Native Americans” should be included.
This is something that should be noted. These women are not experts. These women aren’t experts and they don’t have the capacity to be legislators. Bell may have only interviewed a few people, so it’s possible that he cherry-picked the most damaging answers to confirm his story.
Still, back in studio, Hill was happy to see her beliefs supposedly confirmed, “Very clear there. We should teach more about American history, but not the stuff that makes us look bad, not the stealing the lands, the genocide, the slavery.”
Hill then lamented all the supposed misinformation surrounding a problem that supposedly doesn’t actually exist, “And they really, one of the things that shocked me and yet didn’t at the same time is that a number of the people that you spoke with, you know, their—their– basis for their, quote, unquote, facts for Critical Race Theory being pushed in their schools which we know isn’t happening was what they find online and it’s the amount of misinformation fueling all of this that people see as fact.”
CRT critics don’t oppose the teaching of slavery. Bell was in Arizona and there is nothing in that state’s anti-CRT law that suggests teaching that slavery was wrong and the Nazis were evil is now prohibited.
Hill then wondered if Bell sees anyone “pushing back,” to which Bell replied, “we talked to young people from the schools in Arizona a lot of them LGBTQ and they know they are being played a distraction happening, so they are fighting back against it, but we can’t just sit back and go ‘young people are the future’ because there’s young people in other parts of this country that are learning quite differently.
Despite repeatedly butchering many facts during this segment, Hill wrapped up by declaring “Yeah, they are which is why it’s important to stick to the facts, as we like to say the facts first.”
Narrative first, facts second.
This segment was sponsored and produced by SoFi.
This transcript is for the July 7, 2009 show.
CNN Newsroom with PoppyHarlow and Jim Sciutto
7/7/2022
10:00 AM ET
ERICA HILL: Oh, you know the buzzwords, woke culture, Critical Race Theory. They have been frequent targets of the Republican Party and in the all new season of CNN’s United Shades of America, W. Kamau Bell isn’t shying away from the controversial issues. This is a sneak peak.
W. KAMAU BELL: Right now there’s arguments about should we teach kids a more accurate history of America?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN – Race theory
BELL: What’d you say? Here you go.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 2: What is race theory?
BELL: The race theory.
UNIDENTIFIED BOMAN 2: Does it matter what race you are?
Critical Race Theory. Your thoughts?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 3: You can teach it without having an opinion.
BELL: But is it okay if a teacher says “I think slavery was bad?” Is that okay?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN:
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN3:
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 2: No—I–.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN3: No, if–
BELL: But what if they do?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN : There is nothing wrong.
BELL: Nothing’s bad?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN:
BELL: And if the latter is how you heard about it first then I’m not surprised you’re confused which is why I grind my teeth when I sleep.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 4: It’s totally manipulation and manufacturing a crisis.
BELL: Who’s manufacturing it?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMMAN 4: Democrats It is so annoying that there are always race cards. We need to teach children to compete when Chinese probably know more about American history than we do.
BELL: So, we should teach better American history here.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #4: Oh, yes.
BELL: America’s history.
Unidentified Woman 4: America’s history.
BELL: Slavery, genocide of Native Americans.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #4: Well, it’s not.
BELL: What is that stuff anyway?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN 4: Not the whole story.
HILL: W. Kamau Bell is now with me. That was quite clear. We should teach more about American history, but not the stuff that makes us look bad, not the stealing the lands, the genocide—
BELL: No, no, no.
HILL — The slavery. This episode is amazing.
BELL: We are grateful.
HILL: One of many to come.
BELL: We are grateful.
HILL: What’s your biggest take away from it? Because your conversations in this, and all of them, are remarkable.
BELL: I mean, I think a lot of times we sit online and see people say things like that, you go, well that’s not a real person, that’s a bot, nobody really thinks that way. Well, I went to Arizona or, as I call it, Desert Florida, and people actually think that way.
HILL: And they really, one of the things that shocked me and yet didn’t at the same time is that a number of the people that you spoke with, you know, their—their– basis for their, quote, unquote, facts for Critical Race Theory being pushed in their schools which we know isn’t happening—
BELL: No.
HILL: — was what they find online.
BELL: Yeah.
HILL: And it’s the amount of misinformation fueling all of this that people see as fact.
BELL: Yeah, I mean, the GOP in this country has done a great job of confusing what’s important in this country and I think a lot of the leadership of that party has begun out of its way to conflate, to use buzz words, and scary things like woke and CRT when really what they don’t want to do as that woman said is teach an accurate rendition of history to our kids.
HILL: And that’s it’s–it is a distraction—
BELL: It’s a distraction.
HILL: — frankly. This distracts attention from more pressing issues.
BELL: Yeah, I don’t know if you know we got a lot going on in this country right now.
HILL
BELL: Yeah, so maybe we should just teach kids history and all of the rest of the things.
HILL: Do—do—you sense a change anywhere that’s brewing? Do you want to go back?
BELL: In this episode, we talked to young people from the schools in Arizona a lot of them LGBTQ and they know they are being played a distraction happening, so they are fighting back against it, but we can’t just sit back and go “young people are the future” because there’s young people in other parts of this country that are learning quite differently.
HILL: Yeah, they are which is why it’s important to stick to the facts, as we like to say the facts first—
BELL: Yes.
HILL: — keep reading, and it’s also really important to watch your show.
BELL: We are grateful.
HILL: Because it’s fantastic, so I’m excited for the new season.
About Post Author
