43 percent of Republicans in new survey oppose teaching ‘history of racism’

Forty-three percent of Republican respondents in a new poll say that they oppose schools teaching about the “history of racism.”

The Monmouth University poll released Wednesday found that 43 percent of survey-takers that identified as Republicans said that they are against the teaching of historical racism in public schools, as opposed to only 5 percent of Democrats who said the same thing. Ninety-four percent of Democrats and 54 percent of Republicans said they were in favor of teaching about the history of racism.

When respondents were asked about whether they approved of the teaching of critical race theory, 78 percent of Republicans disapproved, with only 16 percent saying they were in favor of the practice. Seventy-five percent of Democrats said they approved of teaching critical race theory while 15 percent said they disapproved. 

The poll comes as the issue of teaching critical race theory — a decades-old academic idea that racism is rooted in the nation’s founding and that systemic racism continues to negatively impact people of color in today’s society — has turned into a controversial debate across the country.

In the Virginia gubernatorial race last week, viewed as a bellwether for the 2022 midterm elections, Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin (R) seized on the issue after Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe said in a debate that he did not believe parents should tell schools what to teach students.