Anti-CRT Campaign Funded by "Dark Money"

Jul 22, 2021, 1:30 PM

(from Open Secrets) A deep-pocketed “dark money” group is spending “well over $1 million” on an ad campaign against the inclusion of racial justice topics in K-12 curricula. The funding follows Republican furor over critical race theory (CRT), a much-discussed but little-understood academic theory that suggests the legacies of slavery and segregation influence institutional and systemic racism today. The Concord Fund is a conservative dark money group better known as the Judicial Crisis Network. It registered Free to Learn Action as a “fictitious name” — or legal alias — in late June. Free to Learn announced it will air four TV ads “advocating for classrooms independent from political influence.” One clip addresses a national audience while another takes aim at elite New York City private schools.

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