The World Economic Forum came under fire online, being accused of promoting “divisive” propaganda after it released an explainer pushing critical race theory along with an accompanying essay describing racism as “persistent and prevalent” everywhere.
Against the backdrop of classrooms and racial protests, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) video published on Tuesday begins by asking what critical race theory (CRT) is and why it’s “so controversial.”
CRT supporters say “it’s a way to understand and tackle racial inequality,” the video explains, while opponents say it “does the opposite.”
The nearly two-minute clip defines CRT as a theory “first developed by US legal scholars in the 1980s” that “argues that the laws, rules and, regulations that govern society today have been shaped by the historical subordination of people of colour and that this is a driving force behind racial inequality today.”
The short-form clip lists only one example of such supposed inequality: the high number of incarcerated black males throughout the country.
“Take the US criminal justice system, for example,” it says. “While everyone is seen as equal under the law, Black Americans are imprisoned at 5 times the rate of white people.”
“CRT says this disparity is a legacy of America’s racist past,” it claims, adding that opponents complain that it “paints all white people as bigots.”
The video asserts that CRT supporters maintain that “a system doesn’t need racists working within it to produce racially imbalanced outcomes” and that the theory serves as “a lens through which to view racial inequality today.”
“Most importantly, it recognizes that racism is not a relic of the past and that by understanding its underlying causes we can start to build a more just society,” it states.
The clip, which has received over 230,000 views on Twitter as of Thursday evening, concludes by asking viewers, “What do you think about CRT?”
However, the post immediately links to an essay for readers to “learn more about racial equality” in which racism is described as “persistent and prevalent in every community, country and continent,” with “systemic and structural barriers hav[ing] long denied access and opportunity for leaders of colour.”
In response to the clip, many big names called out the Switzerland-based globalist organization, accusing it of pushing Marxism and propaganda.
“Insane pro-CRT propaganda video,” wrote author, writer, and researcher Christopher Rufo, who is also a senior fellow and director of the initiative on CRT at the Manhattan Institute.
“Ah yes, the world economic forum promoting a radical departure from the current relations of power,” wrote video essayist and author Peter Coffin.
“This PROVES CRT is the revolution. I’ve been wrong this whole time!” he mocked.
“Run from the WEF working class people,” warned clinical psychologist and psychology professor Dr. Jordan Peterson.
“Why would the World Economic Forum come out in support of Critical Race Theory?” asked author and mathematician Dr. James Lindsay, who warned last month that CRT activists aim to dismantle the U.S. and establish “a total dictatorship” of the so-called “anti-racists.”
“Because they’re the ones who want to divide our society with this Marxist Theory or any other tool they can use to break the world and seize power,” he said.
Being that CRT is demonstrably “divisive,” “based on a false premise,” and is “detrimental to social cohesion,” conservative commentator Calvin Robinson wondered why the WEF is “producing a propaganda piece promoting an ideology that is harmful and damaging to Western values?”
“I can’t believe you’re advocating for ‘equality’ at the expense of equity” in 2022, wrote Omri Ceren, the national security advisor for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). “You’re either on board or you’re not. Be better.”
Others on Twitter also criticized the international group and its latest clip.
“Nice to see the @wef has taken a break from the Great Reset to promote CRT,” wrote one user.
“It’s a disaster when major organizations support an idea they don’t understand, ignore its fatal flaws, and stand by it because it looks good to appear anti-racist,” another wrote. “So much is missing in this video…”
“Absolutely insane propaganda,” one Twitter user wrote. “Keep your Race Marxism and your Great Reset (aka the Cultural Revolution 2.0).”
“Those who want us to own nothing and be happy defend CRT,” wrote another user in reference to a 2017 WEF clip that predicted that by the year 2030, “You’ll own nothing. And you’ll be happy.”
“Massive propaganda piece from the WEF,” another wrote. “These are the elitist undermining our Constitution & national sovereignty.”
“WEF’s endorsement of Critical Race Theory, is probably the best argument against it’s concepts being taught to educators & then put into practice in your child’s classroom,” one Twitter user argued.
“If you ever needed more proof that the WEF are evil communists that want to divide and tear apart our society, here they are promoting critical race theory,” another Twitter user wrote.
“The communists have many tools to destroy your society. This is their current favourite method,” another claimed.
“I thought critical race theory didn’t exist? Blatant communist propaganda,” wrote another user.
“This is how ‘Deep State Globalists’ divide and rule,” another wrote.
“If you were wondering why corporations have become full blown racist, it’s because the WEF has been pushing it,” one Twitter user suggested.
“WEF are preaching CRT,” wrote another. “Still want the WEF to run your country without even being elected?”
“Why does the World Economic Forum have a well-produced video extolling the virtues of CRT?” one user wondered.
The clip comes as growing controversy over CRT in schools has resulted in nationwide tension over recent months.
The theory, which is promoted by many on the left, claims that American institutions — the government, economy, and culture — are based on racial hierarchy and aim at maintaining the dominance of white people, and even that which appears race-neutral is, on closer inspection, rooted in racism.
As a result, it urges reform in virtually all of the country’s institutions.
The theory’s architects have argued that the U.S. was founded on theft of land and labor, with federal law maintaining the unequal treatment of citizens by their race.
CRT advocates have also expressed the belief that race is culturally invented, not biological.
Last month, a report revealed that over 230 of America’s colleges and universities have mandatory CRT training for students and faculty.
Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, a CRT co-founder, called for youth to “understand the ground upon which we stand is ground that’s soaked in blood of theft,” while warning of the outcome if the “other side gets its way,” declaring “the road to authoritarianism will be paved through white supremacy.”
In November, a whistleblowing middle school teacher said she faces a “culture of intimidation” after being forbidden to teach — despite a shortage of teachers — due to her exposing her school district’s “radicalized” CRT curriculum, which is manifest “absolutely everywhere” throughout the school’s culture as well as its reading materials.
She warned it was causing “great harm and racial divide and hostility between children” and that the country would soon be unrecognizable if it is not stopped.
In June, a former Democrat congressional candidate called on Americans to listen to black parents who oppose CRT “indoctrination” in schools, while calling on black Americans to reject the Democrat Party’s race narrative and, instead, realize “that their skin color is not a barrier to their progress,” adding that Democrats use race to galvanize black electorate support though many black Americans actually “have conservative ideals.”
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein
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