Legal watchdogs battle CRT-inspired racial segregation in public schools, federal agencies

As critical race theory is being implemented in public schools and the federal government, the Southeastern Legal Foundation, a pro-limited-government legal watchdog organization, is fighting to preempt it through the courts.

Kimberly Hermann, general counsel for SLF, told the John Solomon Reports podcast on Tuesday about SLF's lawsuits against school districts and the federal government regarding critical race theory.

One of SLF's clients, a teacher in the Evanston, Ill., school district, filed a complaint with the Department of Education in 2019 saying that the district was violating the Civil Rights Act. After investigating it for 18 months, the department found in January of this year that the district was segregating students and teachers by skin color, which violates federal law.

When the Biden administration came in, they rescinded the department's letter of finding without explanation, Hermann relates, which is why SLF filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop the school district's implementation of critical race theory.

"[I]n trainings, they're actually putting non-white teachers in one room, white teachers in another room, and training them with different lessons," Hermann said. "And then they're doing that in the classroom."

Hermann described one of the books used for pre-K through eighth grade, titled "Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness," as picturing "a white person dressed as a devil, holding up what it calls a contract binding you to whiteness, and it says that whiteness gets you the opportunity to mess endlessly with the lives of your friends, neighbors, loved ones, and all fellow humans of color. And then it asks the students to sign this."

She said that according to a recent executive order, the Biden administration is going to require affinity groups in government agencies, where people are segregated.

"[J]ust this week, right, a new executive order came out where they're going to actually be requiring affinity groups in our government agencies," Hermann said. "So what we're fighting here, the federal government is trying to actually federalize through all of our government agencies, and then trickle that down into the schools.

"So make no mistake about it: This is not just a local school issue, the federal government is trying to mandate this throughout our country. We have literally gone backwards, and I don't understand why they want it other than for power and money, to be honest."

The SLF has represented Just the News founder and Editor in Chief John Solomon in public records requests.