UPDATED
Video surfaces of professor saying he supports critical race theory because it’s ‘anti-state’
A professor appointed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to help lead a public education project has called for the “overthrow” of America, arguing the country is “irreversibly racist.”
Macalester College education Professor Brian Lozenski (pictured) made the statements during a 2022 event online, National Review reported Wednesday.
With Walz as the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, his decisions about state leadership are attracting renewed scrutiny.
Lozenski was appointed by “Walz’s state education department to help write the statewide ‘implementation framework’ (similar to a curriculum) for Minnesota’s new ‘ethnic studies’ standards,” according to the report.
In the video from the May 27, 2022 event, Lozenski said he supports critical race theory because it is “anti-state” and anti-U.S.
The online event involved the promotion of his new book at the time, “My Emancipation Don’t Fit Your Equation.” The host, The Solidarity Group, is an organization “committed to dismantling the ideology of white supremacy.” The original video of the event, posted on the group’s YouTube page, appeared to be removed Thursday.
“The first tenet of critical race theory is that the United States as constructed is irreversibly racist,” Lozenski said in the video. “So if the nation-state as constructed is irreversibly racist, then it must be done with, it must be overthrown, right.”
He cautioned advocates against saying “critical race theory is just about telling our stories and divers[ity].”
“It’s not about that. It’s about overthrow. It’s insurgent. And we, we need to be, I think, more honest with that,” Lozenski said.
The professor also said conservatives “actually tell some truth” when they say critical race theory “is anti-state” because “you can’t be a critical race theorist and be pro-U.S.”
“It is an anti-state theory that says, the United States needs to be deconstructed, period. … I think it’s an interesting argument there. And that’s why I’m a critical race theorist,” he said, ending the remarks with a laugh.
Responding at National Review, Ethics and Public Policy Center Fellow Stanley Kurtz said Lozenski is not alone in his extremist views.
He is “the key organizer and thought leader for the radical leftist advocacy groups that Governor Walz has effectively put in charge of rewriting Minnesota’s social-studies standards” for public schools, Kurtz wrote.
“While Lozenski’s call for the overthrow of the United States is the clearest expression of his radical stance to date, it’s hardly surprising,” Kurtz wrote.
“For years, conservative voices in Minnesota have sounded the alarm over the extremism of Lozenski and his allies. Maybe now, Walz will have to answer for putting Lozenski and his friends in charge of education in the state,” he wrote.
Walz, despite receiving “glowing praise” from some teachers, has faced criticism for his education decisions. Among them, he signed a law mandating “free period products” in boys’ school bathrooms.
Despite being a high school social studies teacher and politician, Walz also has been criticized for saying the First Amendment does not guarantee “free speech on misinformation or hate speech.”
Editor’s note: The story was updated to reflect that, since publication, The Solidarity Group appears to have removed the video from YouTube.
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IMAGE: Brian Lozenski/YouTube
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