Pro-Trump group presses Biden officials for records on critical race theory

A pro-Trump legal group filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Education Department over any efforts to teach critical race theory (CRT) throughout the programs it administers. 

America First Legal (AFL), a group led by former Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller, filed the FOIA suit requesting a slew of documents and communications regarding the theory, which the group dubbed a “radical idea.” The suit is also requesting information regarding federal grants for “projects that incorporate racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse perspectives.”

“America’s schoolchildren have tragically borne the brunt of the pandemic lockdowns with their schools closed for months on end – denied crucial access to education, interaction and socialization during their most formative years. Critical Race Theory has infiltrated our workplaces and our government — but subjecting young minds to this bigoted indoctrination is perhaps the most morally reprehensible of all. CRT quite emphatically wishes to demolish the institutions and pillars of our society,” Miller said in a statement. 

AFL’s efforts center around an executive order President Biden signed on his first day in office that rescinded a Trump-era rule that restricted the federal government and its contractors from using curriculum that includes critical race theory.

AFL said it was pursuing the suit to “understand, and share with the public, how and why the Biden-Harris Administration has chosen to pursue CRT despite its controversial nature.” 

The suit is just the latest in a string of efforts by Republicans to fight against teaching the theory, which posits that racism is embedded in U.S. history and current laws and seeks to challenge that racism to promote equity. 

Several GOP-led states are also taking up measures that would ban or limit the teaching of critical race theory in public schools. 

“CRT is hate speech that does not belong in our schools or our country. AFL will not relent in the fight to defend and uphold fundamental civil rights in America,” said Miller.

Defenders of the theory have said that teaching it is critical to understand how racism still impacts everyday life in the U.S., particularly amid national attention over criminal justice inequities and high-profile police killings of Black Americans.

The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding AFL’s suit.