By: Mark Glennon*
Illinois’ political establishment is far out of touch with the general public on the racial dogma now forced on students from kindergarten through college. Yet a stunning two-thirds of Illinoisans say they don’t speak up, thereby ceding control to an intolerant, extremist minority.
The proof is in a poll released last month that was mostly buried and ignored by the press. It primarily addressed what schools now teach as unquestionable truth: critical race theory, also called anti-racism or wokism.
Illinoisans don’t like it. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni, which commissioned the poll, summarized their findings this way:
A majority of respondents favor equipping teachers to develop core skills and competencies over the encouragement of progressive political activism. Illinoisans also favor a curriculum that focuses on “American founding principles and . . . documents” over one that incorporates key tenets of the New York Times’ 1619 Project. At the post secondary level, strong majorities oppose reducing police presence on campus; support viewpoint diversity; favor a merit-based application process; and prioritize reducing the cost of tuition over expanding diversity and equity programs.
That’s completely at odds with mandates from the state’s politicians and education officials. The Illinois State Board of Education recently approved woke teaching standards with its “Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning Standards” for K-12 education, and the state earlier made “implicit bias” training required by law for Illinois teachers.
Among the survey’s specific findings:
- Sixty-two percent of Illinoisans say it’s more important to expose students to a variety of perspectives, compared to just 23% who want teachers to embrace progressive viewpoints and perspectives; 15% were not sure where they stood. The view was shared by a plurality of Democrats (49.6%) as well as majorities of Republicans (78%) and Independents (69%).
- Illinoisans reject a core piece of woke teaching, 1619 Project published by The New York Times, which aims to “reframe the country’s history” by putting slavery and its enduring consequences “at the very center of our national narrative.” Forty-eight percent of respondents favored a focus on “American founding principles and . . . documents,” compared to 38% who favored “new curriculums that teach children to understand that America is founded on slavery and remains systemically racist today.”
- 57% of respondents said training programs should focus on making teachers better equipped to help students develop core skills and competencies, not on social justice or progressive politics. Just 34% said the priority should go toward teaching progressive viewpoints and social justice advocacy to help teachers overcome their own biases and build more inclusive classrooms
- “A resounding 84% of respondents,” according to the poll’s sponsor, said that “all people should be treated equally on merit” when the question was posed in general terms. When asked to think about the college admissions process specifically, 63% answered that “all people should be treated equally based on merit, even if that results in less racial diversity at selective colleges and universities,” including 89% of Republicans, 62% of Independents and a plurality (47%) of Democrats.
The polling was done by a reputable firm, Eighteen92, which surveyed 800 Illinois residents.
That last bullet point above is particularly striking because it means Illinoisans even oppose affirmative action, and it’s affirmative action that is systemic in most of America, not racism as claimed by the woke.
Perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising since even Californians oppose affirmative action. In November they voted overwhelmingly to retain their constitutional ban on affirmative action, which is another story that was buried. “The margin of defeat, 56 to 44 percent, was striking to students of political history, because it suggests that race neutrality is more popular now than when it was initially mandated by a 1996 ballot initiative that passed by a slightly smaller margin,” said The Atlantic, which did cover it.
Most significant of all, however, is that over two-thirds of Illinoisans say they are afraid to speak up on these issues.
Why?
Because they fear the mob.
Sixty-four percent of respondents reported that they stop themselves from expressing their opinion on controversial political and social issues “often” (30%) or “sometimes” (34%), with an additional 18% doing so “rarely,” according to the survey sponsor. No surprise there. National surveys, as the sponsor wrote, “have repeatedly shown that political correctness has silenced important discussions—among students on college campuses and in the broader marketplace of ideas.”
Of those who reported self-censoring, 22.4% said the main reason they do so is because they are worried about unfair criticism, while 22.0% answered that they are “worried about professional or academic consequences” for saying the wrong thing.
This must end.
Critical race theory is perhaps the most pernicious and destructive movements our age. It is a doctrine of hatred and division designed purposefully to stoke racial division, just as countless autocratic movements throughout history have inflamed racial division to divide and conquer.
It expressly rejects the goals of color blindness and the melting pot, which have been among the most noble aspirations of America and most all of the Western Hemisphere. By asserting that race, not character, fundamentally defines all humans, it rejects, at its core, the most basic premise of our society – that all men are created equal.
Yet it gains momentum every day. “When I say that critical race theory is becoming the operating ideology of our public institutions, I am not exaggerating, wrote a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute this week in City Journal. “[F]rom the universities to bureaucracies to K-12 school systems, critical race theory has permeated the collective intelligence and decision-making process of American government, with no sign of slowing down.”
What the majority lacks is courage. Courage to stand one’s ground in the face of a mob. Courage to speak up to politicians, administrative officials and school boards. From that City Journal column:
Above all, we must have courage, the fundamental virtue required in our time: courage to stand and speak the truth, courage to withstand epithets, courage to face the mob, and courage to shrug off the scorn of elites. When enough of us overcome the fear that currently prevents so many from speaking out, the hold of critical race theory will begin to slip. And courage begets courage. It’s easy to stop a lone dissenter; it’s much harder to stop 10, 20, 100, 1,000, 1 million, or more who stand up together for the principles of America. Truth and justice are on our side. If we can muster the courage, we will win.
“I Refuse to Stand By While My Students Are Indoctrinated.” That’s the title under which a New York teacher last week published his case for why children “are afraid to challenge the repressive ideology that rules our school.”
Read his column. Find your own way to show the courage he has. Do not stand by while our children are indoctrinated.
*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.
Earlier Wirepoints articles on this topic:
- Political Indoctrination In Illinois Schools Would Be Mandatory Under Pending Rule –
- Compulsory Political Ideology for Illinois K-12 Teachers And Classrooms Moves Closer To Finalization –
- Politicizing the classroom: 9 things to know about Illinois’ pending ‘culturally responsive’ K-12 teaching mandate –
- They Aren’t Telling The Truth About Illinois’ Pending ‘Culturally Responsive Teaching Standards’ – February 14, 2021
- An Exceptionally Sad Day For Illinois –
Cower is silence, then take what your overlords force on you! Act like a sheep , you will be sheared like a sheep!
The racist want to teach racism. The racist want to cancel our culture, ban our books, stop freedom of speech, and take our guns. We must stand strong against such communism
It is indoctrination pure and simple. Glad my kids are out of school but worry for my grandkids. It should be elective only when kids can make informed decisions. Mandatory is wrong. Wokism is just bullshit and it will cause division.
Move OUT of ILLINOIS. Simple as that
speak for yourself, we have appeared at board meetings, tried to recall the board. campaigned with other parents.
“equity” is part of the fourth reichs destruction of public education. After they seized power last year under the covid coup they rammed this racist theory into the school boards using their foundations.
Bravo to you. Don’t give up.
Others may be timid to speak out against this type of socialist brainwashing, but I am not. I don’t have kids, but if I did they (the teachers) would get an earful from me to stay the boof away from my kids with that drivel. Fighting racism by being racist? Only a left leaning liberal loon could come up with that one.
People better find their cajones and start to push back and speak up. These Leftists nut jobs will do whatever they like unless you stop them. Don’t wait until it’s too late!
Totally agree……lived here since 1980, but the public mismanagement of finances (pension liabilities), and education and criminal justice is depressing….
5 years left in this state… Friends, who are able, are leaving earlier… Can’t wait to see how the state weathers the flight of makers…
I have family to care for. When that time comes to an end, I too am out of here.
What kind of people prey on children this way? What kind of society finds it not only OK but imperative that 6 yr olds be taught that they are guilty of the original sin of racism? What kind of society proposes that their children pay reparations for the sins of their ancestors, over 150 years ago? What kind of society allows its children to be held hostage to political groups looking to advance themselves under the guise of helping children? What kind of society incurs massive debts that their children must pay, so that 55 yr olds can enjoy retirement… Read more »
A sick society.
The 1619 project would have us get in the South Africa condition which is in fact, racism. Slavery was not the center of American history nor was it, ‘slavery’ that built the nation. Also there were white ‘indentured servants’ many never lived through their seven year period as such, often the time was much longer than sever years. That aside the real aim is power to take from others. It was echoed by both rioters and blm as ‘justifacation’ to steal and destroy other’s property and hard work without even the slightest consideration for others. The same has happened to… Read more »
The 1619 project is like critical race theory. Both are a lie .
As pleased with the survey results as I am, I’d like to see the actual survey questions.
Wording of questions can sway responses.
Also, short of the ballot box, exactly what means should the everyday citizen use to impact the policies that are being jammed down our throats?
FOUND the questions – should have looked before I asked!
Spent a considerable amount of time trying to absorb the raw data; no luck.
However, the way the questions were asked appears to be fair.
Guess I’ll have to rely on the recap!
A good friend makes SJW statements to me when I comment about crime in my neighborhood, or that shoplifting isn’t “equity”. If I note SJW hypocrisy, I’m chastised, from safe distance of a gated-community in an upscale out-of-state suburban community of $750,000+ homes where their household can work remotely and cosseted. This SJW friend fled Illinois last summer, abandoning a beautiful Streeterville condo, which hasn’t sold in 9+ months and maybe five showings total.
As you’ve easily picked up, watch what they do, not what they say. I firmly believe many SJW’s and democrats are neck-deep into the deception game. They say things to appear virtuous, but are only deceiving others or themselves about their true thoughts. These people would make a fascinating study for a psychologist.
I love the downvotes. There is nothing more pleasing to me than an angry democrat who has been given a nice dose of the truth. Lash out to your heart’s content, but keep reading! 🙂
Was listening to wgn and they had Scott Walker on who now runs Young America’s Foundation (YAF)to try and fight all the woke/crt stuff in schools to universities nationally. Site seems pretty good. https://www.yaf.org/
Makes sense, people are very obedient these days. If someone cant shed a mask out of fear, they can never be expected to stand up to a school board.
Good piece of writing. However; how about some suggestions to those not afraid, and those who can suck it up, to do the right thing. Make sense? What are your suggestions or plans for action?
You must be new here Roger. Most people on this site have no intention about coming up with real solutions. They just like to call the governor fat, hate on public union employees, and pretend that the last election was stolen. They also enjoy entertaining vaccine conspiracy theories and pretending that they can throw out the governor in 2022 election. Anyone that doesn’t agree with their fringe ideology is a Rino. It’s quite pathetic when they throw their tantrums but it’s like a car accident where you can’t help but watch. If only they had more yard signs or fundraising… Read more »
Now, GQP, perhaps it’s you who is new here. Below is an offhand list of some of the real solutions we have researched and proposed on this site. And as to your claim that we have “fringe ideology,” I’d say most of these would win easily in IL if they were ever put up for a vote or tested in a quality poll, True, Illinois voters for some reason don’t vote for candidates who act on these things, but if you think they are “fringe,” well, just as with the topic covered by this article, it’s our leadership that is… Read more »
The name alone, GQP, is bad faith. People like him just troll for the sake of trolling. And that’s OK.
In reality, this site is far better about making fun of JB than Cap Fax was during the rauner years. They were relentless, angry and had the worse vitriol
With all those ideas Mark you would think that Republicans would run on those ideas and try to win some elections. Maybe your ideas are not what the Illinois voters want? Or is it that you just need more yard signs? Bwahahahhaahaaa.
The people don’t want what you’re selling.
Some people in Illinois seem to not be interested in rational solutions. They seem to be more interested in what makes them feel good or what lets them virtue signal to all their leftist friends.
GQP – no elements of your narrative apply to me. I come here for the numbers, since Wirepoints is one of the few entities that report in detail on Illinois finances. By the way, I agree that Republicans in the state are either uninspiring or incompetent. But that does not mean that voices like Wirepoints are irrelevant. The failure of the progressive tax to pass is one example where entities like Wirepoints make a difference. In a state that went for Biden by a large margin, the progressive tax was defeated by that same margin. Moreover, it lost because of… Read more »
GPQ, I repeat my claim that a majority of IL voters likely do want most of the reforms we advocate for. If you could take them one by one and put them up for a vote or poll, after letting pro and con make their best case, I think most of those reforms would win. Election results don’t reflect that for a variety of reasons: Lots of people intensely disliked Trump and Rauner; Media and big tech lies and distortions probably stole 10% of the vote across the board; IL Dems have a powerful legalized bribing system by buying off… Read more »
They do run on those ideas but all the dems need to do is claim they are the policies of the Bad Orange Man and the ideas are rejected. On youtube Kaitlin Bennett had a video explaining Trumps policies to a number of young voters and she attributed those policies to Bernie. All the young people thought they were good policies. Can’t find that particular video but she has a number of videos and they are all entertaining. Watch a few of her videos and you’ll see how uninformed a lot of these young college kids are. I think the… Read more »
youre probably a public union teacher so go hide under your bed and whine about people not wearing masks cuz the covid is gonna getcha!!
lol,looks like the public union cry babies are down voting again,lol,go back under your beds and hang out with the wimp jessie sharkey and worry about the covid monsters!-youre all a joke!!
lol,too predictable,oh wait,most of the public union employees have to look up the word predictable to see what that big word means!-laughable
GQP- You are a fool!
No; I’m not new here. Just seems logical, reasonable to present suggestions,plans for action; and solutions e.g. Illinois Pensions as has been presented.
gqp-generally queer people!!
Fantastic writing–Mark!! For me, the new social phenomenon of–“the mob” is SOCIAL MEDIA and the fact that we are all glued to are i-phones 24/7. The #1 sociological phenomenon one has to understand about social media is that its fantastic at isolating, compartmentalizing users into identifiable, easily manipulated groups. Everyone wants to be part of a group, a tribe, (even if initially they don’t agree with the mob). People are lonely. Fear of being left out of your little social media world trumps “facing the mob” and isolation. And if your side can mobilize and control those groups you win. Thats what… Read more »
The woke mob will cancel anyone who disagrees, calling them racist, but they themselves are the true erase-ists. WTF if you’re not a racist you’re an erase-ist?
Hard to speak out when the woke left have nearly universal corporate sponsorship. People don’t want to be permanently unemployed. We can also show courage by voting with our feet and wallet. It will be difficult to move away from your roots, but it’s the least worst option for Illinoisans at this point.
Most people after they make the leap and leave Illinois, soon realize they waited to long.
Keep voting democrat Illinois fools!
I’m wondering about the survey method. If it was done by robocalls they’re getting a biased sample. Even if live interviewers were used, what incentive does anyone have to participate? How do their indications of voting status and stated party affiliation compare to totals from other sources?
That’s answered in the release. https://www.goacta.org/resource/new-acta-survey-finds-strong-opposition-to-politicizing-k-12-teaching-in-illinois/. Third paragraph. Looks legit to me. Detailed cross tabs are linked with full survey results.
Mark, you are doing a great job and public service running Wirepoints, thank you. Your success appears to be bringing out trolls.
If a majority of the Illinois residents disagree with how the liberal/socialists are running the state then why do they keep voting them into office and expecting a better result? Isn’t that the definition of insanity? Also, what does that say about the people that stay in Illinois year after year?
Election fraud
Here are the reasons, in my view, respecting Illinois: 1) the last two election cycles were distorted by a high degree of personal hostility to Trump and Rauner (though their policies were mostly popular) 2) the press, particularly the national press, and big tech have successfully painted an entirely dishonest set of perceptions; 3) Democratic organization and groundwork are far superior to Republicans’ and Republicans have fielded few good candidates; and 4) to the point of this article, the sane middle and right have been intimidated into silence by a mob that’s loud, vicious, organized and effective, so they avoid… Read more »
Mark, all valid points, however Inside the voting booth there is no mob. They are safe to vote for their preferred candidate, yet as a group they still vote for more of the same expecting a better result.
Yes, but if you are afraid of the mob you would avoid the public activities that help win elections, like contributions, yard signs, attending candidate events, etc.
I agree. Parents should be parents & take care of their children mentally and physically. If you don’t, how will they learn to stand up for themselves as adults?