It seems the entire community is talking about the current school board elections for Bend-La Pine Schools—a strange turn for a May election, which oftentimes is barely a blip on voters’ radars. While we have already commented on the disservice rendered to local voters when candidates opt not to engage in the non-partisan forums and interviews offered locally, it’s become clear that there’s something more concerning at work here.
Pay attention to the choice of words of some of the candidates in the BLPS school board race and you’ll notice that they closely mimic the words used by other candidates in other races around the country.
This is a coordinated effort to subvert the will and the trajectory of local politics in favor of fear-based national talking points that have no bearing on what is happening in our community.
Coincidence? Nope. This is a coordinated effort to subvert the will and the trajectory of local politics in favor of fear-based national talking points that have no bearing on what is happening in our community.
During their appearances on Fox News this month, candidates Wendy Imel, Maria Lopez-Dauenhauer and Jon Haffner used the terminology, “critical race theory” to try to describe what they erroneously believe is being taught in Bend-La Pine Schools. These candidates, along with candidate Gregg Henton, want you to believe that CRT is a guidepost and a waypoint that all teachers in the district are using—and that only they, these four school board candidates, can “save” our students from this indoctrination.
Nonsense.
Critical race theory is not being taught nor encouraged in Bend public schools—but by raising this issue, these candidates are actually introducing it to students, parents and community members who might not have otherwise even known what it is.
The only reason that we are now having a community-wide discussion about critical race theory is because somewhere, some of the more conservative elements of our national body-politic have decided that this is the latest boogeyman plaguing schools nationwide. They’ve spread this fear far and wide across the nation, calling on far-right conservatives to sound the alarm. The call-to-arms being spread by this faction would be laughable if not for its total departure from the truth and the traction it is giving candidates, as some voters seem to be buying it hook, line and sinker.
The four candidates touting this lie are banking on your ignorance and fear. Don’t let them cash in.
These candidates have decided that far-right extremist news outlets such as Fox News are their safe harbor—but it doesn’t take a genius to see how far off base national news outlets can be when they try to cover your own town. When Lopez-Dauenhauer and Imel appeared on Laura Ingraham’s show, they barely had a chance to get a word in edgewise, with Ingraham instead supplying them with most of what she assumed they wanted to say. Ingraham kicked off the segment by stating that Bend was “ultra-liberal”—an assessment that shows how little homework she and her producers actually did. When a city such as Bend, with a near-even split between Republicans, Democrats and non-affiliated voters, is painted as “ultra-liberal,” it shows the enormity of their assumptions. This is just a glimmer of the inaccuracies perpetuated when national outlets try to dip their toes into what should be local politics.
It’s easy to continue this lie and to perpetuate these myths when you have a one-way megaphone. By speaking only to national media, by only answering a paltry few written questions by a single local media outlet, and by largely relying on social media to spread their untruths, these candidates avoid the tough and more detailed questions.
But when it comes to these candidates, misstatements and shades of truth appear to be the name of the game. As zealous advocates of reopening schools—something we also advocated for—they’d like you to believe that BLPS school board chair Carrie Douglass dragged her feet in pushing for reopening. The truth is, Douglass was out front, being among those who signed an early letter to the governor—along with many local leaders—advocating for reopening. Also, schools are open. Without that as a main campaign promise, the four candidates had to resort to race-related fearmongering to get anyone to pay attention.
READ: Local leaders’ letter to Gov. Kate Brown pushing for reopening, from December 2020:
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Letters to the Editor 12/10/20
But it’s easy to continue this lie and to perpetuate these myths when you have a one-way megaphone. By speaking only to national media, by only answering a paltry few written questions by a single local media outlet, and by largely relying on social media to spread their untruths, these candidates avoid the tough and more detailed questions that would come from people who actually know the area and know the issues, and who would ask the pointed questions that could force them to speak the truth. This past weekend, they even canceled an outdoor Q&A, organized by themselves, after the Central Oregon Peacekeepers said they’d attend. The candidates said they had been “threatened.” Accountability to your local community is not threatening. It’s reality.
Elected officials serve locally and are accountable to local voters. By now, it should be abundantly obvious that Lopez-Dauenhauer, Imel, Haffner and Henton possess none of the local accountability that is required of an elected position.
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This article appears in May 12-19, 2021.
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CRT–as I understand it–simply examines in a rigorous, academic way the historical, cultural, and psychological foundations of racism in our society. How can we understand the way we are without educating ourselves about how we got here? No big whoop there. Unless, of course, the idea is to engage in fear mongering. Thank you for another excellent editorial.
The idea that “Critical Race Theory” is not a false doctrine that promotes the idea that America is an inherently racist country, founded by White Supremacists, and is something that is widely accepted and sought after by parents who want it taught to their children certainly IS fake news.
It’s good to see candidates actually taking a stand against the ideas of the left wing cabal, including the left wing media like The Source, and not allowing Bend to be turned into political cesspool cities like Portland, or Seattle.
Thank you for this excellent editorial piece. I do not want this slate of conservative candidates having any say in my children’s education. This is a very important local election and I do not believe they represent what our community is about or stands for. Please read about all of the candidates and vote, even if you don’t have children in BLPS. It is too late to vote by mail, but the ballot boxes are there for you until May 18th and our children’s education depends on it. We need the candidates voted in that believe in equitable education for all children.
Critical Race Theory is an attack on the history and legacy of the United States. Of concern is the fundamental recasting of the Revolutionary War, from the truth of the fight for independence all our ancestors fought against the British Monarchy, into a fake war based on whites’ fight to own slaves. That is false.
The Civil War, not the Revolutionary War, was about slavery (remember President LINCOLN?!), and the victorious fight to abolish all slavery. The Civil War was won by the Union, thereby abolishing slavery in the United States.
Parents, engage and read about about CRT as it applies to your children’s education. It is not liberalism or republicanism, conservatism or liberalism Do not be fooled by oversimplification, or obfuscation of Critical Race Theory.
The idea that leftist indoctrination aka critical race theory is coming to Bend schools is of no surprise. It’s happening in public schools nationwide. Its intent is to shame white students into believing that they are the problem. It’s a sham created by academia to punish the “deplorables.” If it’s not happening yet in Bend schools, that’s great. But making sure that it doesn’t is imperative. Let’s get clear on each candidate’s agenda. Education is power.
Third paragraph of this article . How disingenuous! “Well, I would say Thank God people are bringing up CRT or as you say if they hadn’t been warned about the inherint falsehoods in this absurd theory, . . . You’re right! Those parents wouldn’t have even known they were being duped into having their kid’s be brainwashed into thinking that they,their parents their grandparents etc,etc are ALL RACICTS. Nice Try. Be ware Parents!
Hi. The Source is a great help in starting my wood stove. Couldn’t miss an issue to start my wood stove. When this is over the entire school board will be fired and a good percentage of the so called teachers in Bend/La Pine. Make no mistake. This is coming. Most of Bend residents do not buy into your reporting bullshit!
Steve 97702
This is arguably the most cognitively detached screed I’ve ever read! …and I write shit while high on LSD! I mean right off the bat they’re trying to frame the issue as “local vs federal”… but then… CRT is a FEDERALLY pushed and promoted curriculum.
It’s like they’re too stupid to know which side of the argument they’re even on. Or maybe it was written by Bizarro.
Oh but the deranged hypocrisy doesn’t end there! They also go on to accuse people of using “talking points” IMMEDIATELY AFTER providing a pre-fab link tweet that… literally tweets out a generic talking point.
I guess maybe it’s like… rules for we, but not for thee? I mean, if you’re going to whine about other people doing something… maybe don’t do it yourself first.
It gets weirder! After whining about other people doing what they themselves are doing IN THE VERY ARTICLE where they complain about it, they then turn around and claim that CRT doesn’t exist at their schools and that raising it as an issue is bad because it makes students aware of its existence.
I mean… that’s like saying you shouldn’t warn kids about strangers because as long as you don’t tell them about the danger then it won’t exist.
AM I TAKING CRAZY PILLS HERE?! WHAT IN THA’FUCK IS THIS?!
Since when does ignorance magically nullify the existence of something?
And if it’s such a “boogeyman” then… why not simply prove that? Instead they just gripe about how they think Fox News is “far-right extremist”, painting THEM up as a proverbial “boogeyman” and then immediately whine about how Fox News called their city “ultra liberal”… the irony stacked on top of irony stacked on top of even more and more irony completely lost on them I’m sure.
They also whined about the screen time, claiming that Fox News is some kind of “one-way megaphone”, which of course is hilarious when they themselves claimed their city to be completely partisan and yet… well I only see “one-way megaphone” style local coverage from this particular publication on the subject.
It’s also hilarious given that Fox News is pretty much the ONLY national/mainstream news outlet that leans toward the right, so obviously it couldn’t have been a “one-way megaphone” at that level.
And beyond that… uh… oh, the article ended. Strange, even with all the time in the world and their own one-sided, one-way megaphone of a publication… they STILL couldn’t actually prove that it’s a “boogeyman” and not a serious issue plaguing our nation’s school system.
I guess it’s just a “boogeyman” because they say so… oh wait, that’s fake news… ironically the very thing they’re accusing others of. Guess that’s just the iron cherry on top!
…of course, we all know what a collection of ironies is called… idiocy.
Matthew please put down the pipe and step away from the keyboard.
Put down the self-destructive pedo-anarchist driven Neo Marxism Geoff… doctrine that teaches you to hate yourself or others isn’t something you should follow.
Hating yourself is the only way to damage your soul which in turn is the only way evil can take hold of you. Likewise hating others only serves as evil influence to try and destroy more souls… this is how evil breeds… it’s in you, right now. All of you, to some degree.
Recognize the evil, ignore the labels that Distract from EVIL… focus on the actions, the ideals, the goals, the destructive intention. Call evil out for what it is… you don’t even need to be religious to do it.
it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person
I just read an this assignment on how the Native American view Thanksgiving for a social studies class for my 8th grader at Pacific Crest… CRT is in fact in our schools.