Democrats are woefully unprepared to fight the next manufactured conservative outrage, argued one columnist.
Conservative activist Christopher Rufo, who stoked the hysteria over critical race theory, has cooked up a new scheme to drive out Republican voters by pushing "curriculum transparency" bills through state legislatures that would require schools to post descriptions of what's being taught and teacher training materials, and conservative columnist Charlie Sykes argued for The Bulwark that it's a trap.
"This issue is a stone cold winner for Rufo & Co.," Sykes wrote. "My advice: don’t take the bait here, because fighting 'transparency' is not the hill you want to die on."
Rufo, as he usually does, admitted up front that he's playing rhetorical games for partisan advantage and daring Democrats to fight back.
"The Left will expect that, after passing so-called 'CRT bans' last year, we will overplay our hand," Rufo tweeted at the start of the year. "By moving to curriculum transparency, we will deflate that argument and bait the Left into opposing 'transparency,' which will raise the question: what are they trying to hide?"
The Left will expect that, after passing so-called "CRT bans" last year, we will overplay our hand. By moving to curriculum transparency, we will deflate that argument and bait the Left into opposing "transparency," which will raise the question: what are they trying to hide?— Christopher F. Rufo \u2694\ufe0f (@Christopher F. Rufo \u2694\ufe0f) 1641579201
Sykes argued that openness about classroom curriculum is a good thing, which is why many school districts are already transparent about teaching materials, and he urged Democrats to take a big rhetorical swing at these bills.
"The pivot should be easy; instead of opposing transparency, the smart move would be to embrace openness and then flip the script and go on the offensive about banning books and 'offensive words' like 'equity,' and 'multiculturalism,'" he wrote.
Sykes also encouraged Democrats to expose Rufo's transparent ploy.
"Expose the hypocrisy of Rufo’s embrace of 'transparency,' when his acolytes are actually trying to ban things like a book about Ruby Bridges, the first Black child to integrate a segregated New Orleans school when she was six," Sykes wrote. "In Pennsylvania, Rufo-ites banned one of Grace Lin’s 'A Big Mooncake for Little Star' which 'simply tells a sweet story about a mother, a daughter, and the phases of the moon. The only political statement it makes is that an Asian child can be a main character in a book.”
"Embrace it, and then turn it around on the Rufos of the world: What do they want to hide? What are they afraid kids will read?" he added.
