NE Franklin News

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci criticized the use of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) coursework in universities across the state, citing this curriculum as evidence that Gov. Mike DeWine is not a "true conservative."

The state's education department's Ohio Transfer 36 document lists requirements for Ohio's public colleges and universities, which include DEI coursework, The Daily Wire reported.

Listed outcomes for the DEI courses include, "Recognize how sociocultural status and access to (or distribution of) resources are informed by cultural practices within historical, social, cultural, and economic systems," and, "Describe how cultures (including their own) are shaped by the intersections of a variety of factors such as race, gender, sexuality, class, disability, ethnicity, nationality, and/or other socially constructed categories of difference."

The curriculum was developed in partnership with the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU), which supports teaching critical race theory (CRT), The Daily Wire reported.

"They have to elevate antiracism as an institutional priority by calling out institutionalized racism, whiteness as the accepted norm and white supremacism," Tia Brown McNair, vice president of the AACU, told Inside Higher Ed regarding school administrators.

DeWine's Chancellor of Education, Randy Gardner, approved the curriculum, The Daily Wire reported.

"DeWine's approval of this woke curriculum is a shocking betrayal to parents, taxpayers, and Ohio Republican voters," Renacci said in a statement. "Taxpayer money should not be spent on teaching this Leftist identity garbage, but DeWine is allowing it to happen. If there was any remaining doubt that DeWine is not a true conservative, it's now gone. Between his school board appointees voting for critical race theory in 2020 and now this, Republicans clearly can't trust DeWine to lead this important fight for our future. Make no mistake, this Leftist curriculum would not have been approved by a Renacci Administration. As Governor, I will make rooting out this woke nonsense from Ohio's schools a top-priority."

Renacci has previously called out DeWine for failing to condemn CRT in Ohio schools after DeWine told The Plain Dealer that he seeks to understand the impacts of slavery and discrimination, West Cleveland News reported.

"If DeWine didn't watch so much CNN, he would know that critical race theory has nothing to do with teaching history and everything to do with leftist propaganda that devalues our children based on the color of their skin," Rennaci said in a statement.

Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro told The Statehouse News Bureau that he is unaware of any public grade schools in Ohio teaching CRT.

"It's not a K-12 curriculum," DiMauro told The Statehouse News Bureau in August 2021. "Critical race theory is a theory that comes out of higher education, mostly out of the realm of law, that looks at the impact of inequity and racism on the law and how that has had an impact on opportunities for students throughout the years. We see that in the form of segregation and redlining and things like that has a direct impact on schools but that's not part of our curriculum."

Encyclopaedia Britannica defines CRT as the idea that race is not biological, but socially constructed. CRT teaches that race was constructed in order to oppress and exploit nonwhite people. Theorists believe that the law in the United States is inherently racist and was designed to create and maintain white supremacy. CRT's roots are in critical legal studies, which taught that legal institutions benefit the wealthy at the expense of the poor. CRT rejects the idea of "color blindness," or treating all races equally under the law, as a solution to racism.

Renacci is a businessman and former U.S. representative for the 16th Congressional District running against DeWine, a fellow Republican, in the 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary on May 3, Ballotpedia reported. The winner will go on to appear on ballots for the general election on Nov. 8.