Five black conservatives spoke against critical race theory (CRT), saying it has infiltrated Canadian classrooms and institutions and is actually promoting a different kind of racism and creating division. Jamil Jivani, president of Canada Strong and Free, the non-profit conservative group that hosted the discussion on Feb. 21, said CRT proponents often ignore and dismiss dissenting voices from the people CRT is supposed to help. Mike Ramsay, a trustee at Waterloo Region District School Board in Ontario, said students are taught about white privilege under the broader title of anti-racism education. He noted that when he tried to get a detailed account of how CRT has influenced instruction, he was not allowed to present or participate in board discussions.
Jivani provided a definition of CRT, citing Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, which states that it relates to analyzing how race is produced and how racial inequality is facilitated and how history has created these inequalities. Panelist Kira Davis, a Canadian now living in California and editing for RedState.com, said CRT is based on the idea that there are only so many slices of the pie and, depending on where you sit at the table, you get a bigger piece or a smaller piece or no piece. She said it’s actually another form of segregation and is driven by envy and white guilt.
Ramsay said many parents are worried their children are being taught at school that if they’re white, they’re racist and if they don’t agree, they’re doubly racist. Samual Sey, a blogger at SlowToWrite.com, said many have experienced racism in Canada, but that doesn’t mean Canada is systemically racist. He noted that Martin Luther King Jr. even referred to Canada as a “heaven” awaiting slaves escaping the United States, showing that Canada was a good nation for black people.