After Donald Trump and the Republicans’ landslide victory over Democrats on November 5, we might mistakenly think that the left is going to go off to sulk in a corner and continue to grumble about “the end of democracy!” and orange man bad. Nothing could be further from the truth. They are not sulking; they are regrouping. What they can’t get past the American people, they will try to slide under the radar. In Oklahoma, they are not only trying to sneak their agenda by but could be outwardly defying the law.
At the University of Oklahoma, they can’t seem to quit diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Even though Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) issued an executive order in December of 2023 which stated that any institutions of higher learning in the state could not:
“…mandate any person to participate in, listen to, or receive any education, training, activities, procedures or programming to the extent such education … grants preference based on one person’s particular race, color, sex, ethnicity or national origin over another’s.”
But the university is not letting a little thing like an executive order from the Governor stop them from requiring undergraduate education majors to take a class that portrays white people as purveyors of institutional racism and trains them as future educators who will give minority students special treatment. The sliding-under-the-radar part is the innocent-sounding title of the class, “Schools and American Culture.” What could go wrong there? Turns out, plenty.
Once students sign up for the class and are in the door, liberal indoctrination is on full display. Roughly one-third of a student’s grade is based on developing a “social justice curriculum.” The description in the syllabus of what that entails contains all the DEI buzzwords. Students will focus on “centering the needs, histories and realities of marginalized and minority populations.”
Things only go downhill from there. About the fourth week of class, good old-fashioned critical race theory is introduced, as well as something called “critical whiteness in education.” What in the blue hell is critical whiteness in education? The Oxford Research Encyclopedia defines it as a study that attempts to:
“…reveal the invisible structures that produce and reproduce white supremacy and privilege” and “examines the meaning of white privilege and white privilege pedagogy, as well as how white privilege is connected to complicity in racism.”
Week five of class sends Oklahoma’s future teachers into even more DEI indoctrination and, better yet, how they can perpetuate it in the classroom. They are required to read a 2017 academic paper entitled “Critical Race Theory and the Whiteness of Teacher Education.” The paper argues against “color blindness” by declaring that “‘neutral’ structures, like teacher testing, ‘reinforce whiteness and white interests.’”
Another required textbook for the class is called “Teaching When the World is on Fire.” It contains one selection called “Teaching Politics in the Age of Trump.” It doesn’t necessarily violate state law but is obviously critical of Trump. The glaring question for these future educators from the parents of their future students might be, why are you “teaching” politics in my child’s classroom?
In what seems like an obligatory move, the course syllabus tells students they must comply with state laws and issued a statement saying,
“The University of Oklahoma is committed to ensuring its courses meet and follow applicable laws. OU never shies away from complex or difficult topics. We are committed to the presentation of materials that are viewpoint-neutral and non-discriminatory and we continue to be dedicated to teaching our students how to think, not what to think. The rich history of the United States is complicated and unique, and it’s appropriate that coursework reflects that.”
However, they appeared to have another view at the time Stitt issued the order and posted on X that it “evokes deep concern and uncertainty about the future.”
The University of Oklahoma might be fine with flouting the law, but many universities are being more subtle and are still pushing DEI but have gone underground. However, it’s a reminder that even though we won, the left is not going quietly.
