Here’s just one story of how the schools are being invaded by racist cranks and conspiracy theorists. This is Stephen Balch. He’s a conspiracy theorist who called Biden’s election a “literal coup” and pushes White Replacement Theory. The Texas State Board of Education just picked him to revise our social studies standards. The Big Lie is coming to a textbook near you. Balch is a former professor who claims the 2020 election was stolen. He urged Trump to “lead his followers into America’s streets” and “stretch institutional bonds.” He shouldn’t be anywhere near our social studies standards. Balch has espoused White Replacement Theory, a white nationalist ideology that says immigration policies are designed to replace white people. Balch said Biden has “thrown open” the border as part of “a larger project to transform our civic order through demographic change.” Balch also called the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage an “attack on our constitutional system of government”. So he’s also willing to “stretch institutional bonds” to protect heteropatriarchy in addition to white supremacy. Balch has already recommended changing our standards to: -Erase Mexican-Americans deported during the Great Depression -Replace “mass incarceration” with “high incarceration rates.” Putting a positive spin on mass incarceration & racist deportations is historical whitewashing. This appointment comes just months after Republicans passed a historical whitewashing bill to limit discussions of race in schools. Their “critical race theory” bill removed the language I wrote requiring students learn “the history of white supremacy.” But that wasn’t … Continue reading Extremists in the schools