[ BLEEP ].
>> THAT WAS SENATOR RON JOHNSON
GETTING BOOED AT A JUNETEENTH
CELEBRATION THIS WEEKEND IN
WISCONSIN.
IT COMES AFTER 14 HOUSE
REPUBLICANS VOTED AGAINST THE
BILL TO MAKE IT A FEDERAL
HOLIDAY.
MEANWHILE, IN FLORIDA,
REPUBLICANS ARE GOING ALL IN ON
THEIR LATEST BOGEYMAN, THE VERY
DISCUSSION OF SLAVERY’S LEGACY
AND SYSTEMIC RACISM.
THE GOP’S CATCH-ALL TERM IS
CRITICAL RACE THEORY, AS IF A
CONCEPT CONFINED TO GRADUATE
SCHOOL CLASSROOMS COULD TEAR THE
COUNTRY APART.
>> CRITICAL RACE THEORY SAYS
AMERICA IS FUNDAMENTALLY RACIST
AND IRREDEEMABLY RACIST.
IT SEEKS TO TURN US AGAINST EACH
OTHER, AND IF SOMEONE HAS A
DIFFERENT COLOR SKIN, SEEKS TO
MAKE US HATE THAT PERSON.
>> CRITICAL RACE THEORY IS
RACISM.
PURE AND SIMPLE.
AND IT SHOULD BE REJECTED BY
EVERY AMERICAN OF EVERY RACE.
>> CRITICAL RACE THEORY IS THE
STUDY OF STRUCTURAL RACISM
EMBEDDED IN LEGAL SYSTEMS AND
POLICIES.
OFTEN TAUGHT IN GRADUATE SCHOOL.
BUT CONSERVATIVES ARE USING IT
AS A PRETEXT TO BAN THE TEACHING
OF SLAVERY AND OTHER ANTI-RACIST
EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
ACROSS AMERICA.
BACK WITH US IS DEMOCRATIC
STRATEGIST AND MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR
JUANITA TOLLIVER.
JUANITA, DO WE HAVE -- AND
JOINING US IS NBC NEWS SENIOR
REPORTER BEN COLLINS.
I THOUGHT BEN WAS LURKING AROUND
OUT THERE.
AND BACK WITH US AGAIN, AS I
SAID, IS DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST,
CONTRIBUTOR JUANITA TOLLIVER.
SO BEN, CRITICAL RACE THEORY IS
USUALLY TAUGHT AT THE COLLEGE
LEVEL OR HIGHER.
IT’S 40 YEARS PLUS OLD, RIGHT?
IT’S BEEN TAUGHT AROUND GRAD
SCHOOLS FOR SOME TIME.
HOW DID REPUBLICANS BRING THIS
FIGHT TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS?
>> WELL, FIRST OF ALL, IF YOU
ASK SOMEBODY RUNNING AN
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, FOR EXAMPLE,
IF THEY’RE TEACHING CRITICAL
RACE THEORY, THEY WILL SAY
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
WE DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE
TALKING ABOUT.
THE REASON IS BECAUSE THEY ARE
NOT.
THEY ARE NOT TEACHING CRITICAL
RACE THEORY.
THERE HAS BEEN A PUSH BY THINK
TANKS, REPUBLICAN THINK TANKS
SPECIFICALLY, TO SORT OF
CONFLATE CRITICAL RACE THEORY
WITH THINGS LIKE DIVERSITY
TRAINING FOR STAFF MEMBERS OF
SCHOOLS.
YOU KNOW, TEACHING THE TRUTHS
ABOUT SLAVERY VERY FREQUENTLY.
THE IDEA IS TO MAKE IT SO LIKE
ONE OF THE PEOPLE AT THESE THINK
TANKS SAID WE HAVE TO DECODIFY
THE CONCEPT OF THIS THING, OF
CRITICAL RACE THEORY, SO WE CAN
TAKE EVERYTHING THAT AMERICANS
FIND ANNOYING RIGHT NOW AND JUST
PLACE IT INTO THAT BUCKET.
THAT’S THE POINT RIGHT NOW.
THE POINT TO DO THAT, BY THE
WAY, IS TO MAKE PEOPLE REALLY
ANGRY AND TO GET THEM TO RUN FOR
SCHOOL BOARDS BASED ON
BASICALLY, YOU KNOW, THE FOX
NEWS AGENDA.
>> IT’S A VERY CYNICAL STRATEGY.
IT IS MIND-BOGGLING TO ME.
IN FACT, JUANITA, THE NEW YORKER
CALLS IT, QUOTE, THE PERFECT
VILLAIN FOR REPUBLICANS TO REV
UP THEIR BASE.
HOW MUCH OF THIS IS PUSHBACK
AFTER LAST YEAR’S RACIAL
RECKONING?
AND WHAT CAN DEMOCRATS DO TO
COUNTER THE GOP’S MESSAGING?
BECAUSE THAT MESSAGING, LIKE WE
SAW WITH DEFUND THE POLICE, CAN
STICK.
>> IT CAN STICK IN SOME
DISTRICTS, MICHAEL.
I WANT TO EMPHASIZE SOME,
BECAUSE WE RECOGNIZE, LET’S BE
REAL WITH THE ELECTORATE
BECOMING MORE FULL OF BLACK,
LATINO, AAPI, AND INDIGENOUS
VOTERS, IT DEFINITELY DOES NOT
HAVE A SWAY OVER EVERY VOTER
BLOC IN THE COUNTRY.
WHAT I THINK ABOUT THIS, IT’S
JUST ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR
REPUBLICANS TO REJECT THE TRUTH
AND REALITY IN WHICH WE EXIST IN
THIS COUNTRY.
AND REALLY TAP INTO THE SAME
RACIST DOG WHISTLE TYPE THEMES
THAT TRUMP LEVERAGES AS
CANDIDATE AND PRESIDENT.
REPUBLICANS ARE RECRUITING NEW
CANDIDATES TO RUN AT LOCAL
LEVELS TO BUILD A BENCH OF A
CANDIDATE MODELED AFTER SOMEONE
LIKE A MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE.
IT SHOWS THE GOP MOVING FURTHER
AND FURTHER INTO THAT EXTREMIST
WING, THAT CULT OF PERSONALITY
WING THAT IS THERE TO DISRUPT
VERSUS TO LEAD AND TO LEGISLATE.
BUT I THINK DEMOCRATS STILL NEED
TO CONTINUE TO BREAK THIS DOWN
AND NAME THE FACT THAT THIS IS
AN UNCOMFORTABLE BUT HONEST
TRUTH ABOUT WHAT THIS COUNTRY
IS.
I THINK THIS VOTE ON THE
JUNETEENTH BILL MAKING IT A
NATIONAL HOLIDAY IS A BENCHMARK
FOR DOING THAT, BECAUSE AT THE
VERY LEAST, THE NATIONAL HOLIDAY
WILL EDUCATE MUCH OF THE PUBLIC
WHO DID NOT KNOW THERE WAS A
TWO-YEAR TIME BETWEEN THE
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION AND
BLACK PEOPLE IN TEXAS FINDING
OUT THEY WERE FREED.
AND ON TOP OF THAT, START
CONVERSATIONS INTO HOW EACH
SYSTEM WITHIN THIS COUNTRY STILL
NEEDS TO BE REMEDIES OF THOSE
INEQUITIES DRIVEN BY RACE AND
WHITE SUPREMACY, SO I THINK
DEMOCRATS NEED TO FOCUS ON THAT.
DON’T EVEN ENGAGE WITH
REPUBLICANS BECAUSE WE KNOW THEY
WON’T ACCEPT TRUTH HERE.
BUT WHERE THEY’RE BUILDING A
BENCH, THAT’S SOMETHING THAT
DEMOCRATS NEED TO CONTINUE TO
DO, AND WE KNOW THAT DEMOCRATS
HAVE MADE A CONCERTED EFFORT
OVER THE PAST MULTIPLE ELECTIONS
TO INVEST IN SCHOOL BOARD RACES,
STATE LEGISLATURE RACES AS WELL,
AND TO KEEP THE DRUM BEAT GOING.
I WOULD NOT ENGAGE WITH A PARTY
THAT, AGAIN, IS NOT FOUNDED IN
TRUTH, GNAW FOUNDED IN REALITY,
AND NOT ACCEPTING OF THE
HORRIBLE HISTORY OF THIS
COUNTRY.
>> JUANITA -- BEN, JUANITA MAKES
A COUPLE REALLY IMPORTANT
POINTS, PARTICULARLY THE ONE
WHERE SHE TALKS ABOUT THIS BEING
GROUNDED IN TRUTH, THIS THEORY
IS REALLY A REFLECTION OF A
REALITY THAT’S 400 YEARS OLD.
BUT IN THIS PARTICULAR SPACE,
IT’S CAUGHT UP IN A POLITICAL
BATTLE AS WELL.
WHAT KIND OF EFFECT DO YOU SEE
THAT HAVING ON TEACHERS, FOR
EXAMPLE?
AND JUST LIKE TRUMP’S BIG LIE,
WHAT ROLE HAS SOCIAL MEDIA
PLAYED IN SPREADING
DISINFORMATION ABOUT THIS ISSUE,
PARTICULARLY CRITICAL RACE
THEORY?
>> YEAH, I MEAN, IN TERMS OF THE
CHILDREN HERE, THEY’RE AN
AFTERTHOUGHT.
WE TALKED TO THIS PRINCIPAL
NAMED JEFF PORTER WHO IS IN
MAINE, WHO RUNS THE BEST SCHOOL
DISTRICT IN MAINE.
AND HE WAS EMBROILED WITH THIS
ONE PERSON WHO WAS REALLY ABLE
TO, HE SAID, HOLD HIS COUNTY
HOSTAGE, HOLD HIS SCHOOL
DISTRICT HOSTAGE WITH THIS FIGHT
OVER THE LAST YEAR.
SO THE KIDS ARE NOT PART OF THE
DISCUSSION.
HE SAID HE WAS TALKING TO
CHILDREN AT HIS SCHOOL DISTRICT,
AND THEY WERE WORRIED HE WAS
GOING TO -- THIS ONE PARENT WAS
GOING TO SHOW UP TO GRADUATION
OR TO A BAND EVENT, AND THEY
WOULD BE IN THE BACKGROUND OF
SOMETHING ON FOX NEWS OR A VIRAL
VIDEO ON YOUTUBE THAT WAS PUSHED
BY RIGHT-WING ACTIVISTS.
THAT’S WHAT THEY WERE WORRIED
ABOUT.
THE CHILDREN ARE NOT THE
THOUGHT.
THIS IS A FIGHT ABOUT POLITICS.
THIS IS ABOUT, AS YOU JUST SAID,
BUILDING A BENCH.
AND IF YOU BUILD THAT BENCH,
OVER TIME, THE IDEAS GET SEEPED
INTO THE SYSTEM, AND THEN YOU
GET MORE PEOPLE TO FIGHT THOSE