Florida mother and school board member slams critical race theory as 'anti-American' curriculum

‘Anti-American’ critical race theory teaches students to judge others based on skin color: Sarasota County school board member

Bridget Ziegler discusses critical race theory’s impact on students across the United States

A Florida mother and Sarasota County school board member reacted Thursday to news that the Florida Board of Education voted to ban critical race theory from state classrooms.

The rule, initially advanced by Gov. Ron DeSantis, instructs Florida schools to be “factual and objective,” and limits teaching of certain ideas regarding race and history. 

The rule reads: “Instruction on the required topics must be factual and objective and may not suppress or distort significant historical events, such as the Holocaust, and may not define American history as something other than the creation of a new nation based largely on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence.”

During an appearance on “America Reports,” Bridget Ziegler said that she does not want her children or their peers to “learn to hate America” through the “anti-American curriculum” of critical race theory (CRT). 

Ziegler went on to assert that CRT “pins students against each other” and teaches them to see and judge each other based on their skin color rather than the content of their character.

“I believe [CRT] creates a further divide for our students when they really need to be learning foundational skillsets to allow them to be successful members of society,” Ziegler said. 

Ziegler, who has three young children, is the only member of the Sarasota County school board that has school-age children and stressed the importance of parent’s involvement in cultivating school policy and curriculum.

She stressed that school boards across the nation are making decisions that are impacting students almost “immediately.” 

When asked by Trace Gallagher how CRT clashes with her families’ values of diversity and inclusion, Ziegler said she wants her children to understand that all Americans have the opportunity to succeed in life and added that everyone should be treated with respect “no matter what their circumstances are.”

Ziegler added that she didn’t want children to “feel guilty” or think that they were inherently disadvantaged based on their race or skin color.

Critics of anti-CRT measures have expressed concern that DeSantis and other Republicans are forcing teachers to whitewash some of the injustices perpetrated against minorities in the U.S.

This line of criticism formed a heated debate among teachers, county officials, and parents in Loudoun County, located just outside of Washington D.C. in the state of Virginia. 

Gallagher likened the county to “ground zero” of the debate surrounding CRT.

A Loudoun County supervisor, Juli Briskman, sent a letter of support to the county’s school board describing the resistance of CRT as “racism evolved” and accused the public school system of a “low level of racial consciousness.”

On the opposite end of the argument, one parent of Asian descent likened the curriculum to Maoist China. 

“You are now teaching—training our children to be social justice warriors and to loathe our country and our history,” the woman said.

“This is indeed the American version of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. CRT has its roots in cultural Marxism. It should have no place in our school,” she later added. 

Fox News’ Sam Dorman contributed to this report.

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