Thread by @deonteleologist

I am struggling to focus on my coursework because I keep thinking about the conservative media's engineered CRT panic based almost entirely on a total lack of respect for racially oppressed groups and a total disregard for reality.

So: a thread illustrating a prime example. 1/9

This is an article by Chris Rufo. It is one of *fifteen* he has released on CRT in the past 4 months. It's average for him in terms of its spin, dishonesty, sophistry; Rufo always plays no defense, only offense. But this article is far from his worst. city-journal.org/philadelphia-f… 2/9

It opens with strong accusations. As we know from Hitler & Goebbels, nothing scares the masses more than a racialized Other engaged in a communist plot to destroy society. They don't want their children to "praise" or "celebrate" those thugs--or worse, to praise communism. 3/9

We can trust Rufo, right? He just wants to defend the children. No need to inspect the whistleblower documents ourselves...

Once we do, though, it becomes obvious just how much Rufo is relying on his audience not to. Everything he writes about the lesson on Davis is false. 4/9

Again, extremely strong accusations here. A teacher forcing students to do this would not sit well with many parents, to put it lightly.

Here is all the evidence provided. These images could have come from anywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if Rufo staged them himself. 5/9

Though neither Newton nor Davis were convicted, Rufo knows mentioning their criminal charges will rile up his readers. (I bet he has no problem with murals of actual slaveowners and agents of genocide.) All that matters is creating as many anti-CRT activists as possible. 6/9

Note also the total lack of evidence for the highlighted claim. Wait, I forgot--he provided it already. Well, he didn't, but he said he did, and he hyperlinked to "whistleblower documents," which was enough for his readers to take his word for it. That's all that matters. 7/9

Strategic move: hyperlink to the "Antiracism Declaration," but not the alleged memo recommending racially segregated teaching programs.

And the video? Not from union, and the teacher says literally none of the things Rufo represents as quotes: 8/9

By the end of the article, a casual reader has the impression of an indoctrination mill where complacent teachers suck up the education budget without ever teaching their students a thing except conformity to their own political agenda. Rufo is salaried to do this every week. 9/9