An Media Matters analysis of Fox News broadcasts over the last year shows the the network’s pushing of a narrative regarding “critical race theory” has skyrocketed since the inauguration of President Joe Biden, with mentions of it growing nearly 2,700% in just four months.
As with topics like “cancel culture” and the “Green New Deal,” Fox News goes into overdrive to saturate its airwaves with various conspiracy theories and complaints about the subject matter. Entire segments are dedicated to it, in which the network hosts and guests explain how horrible it is, without actually explaining–or in most cases, understanding–what the subject is.
The explosion of mentions of Critical Race Theory, from about twenty times in January to 537 times in May, demonstrates the importance conservative media pundits believe an obscure academic theory will have in the future.
Already, Republican politicians are pushing to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory in elementary and high schools, even though the subject is rarely taught below upper-level college courses or graduate school.
Critical Race Theory, for those who don’t know it, is an academic movement to consider how systemic and historic racism impacts current American society. It’s initial field of study dealt with how such racial preconceptions impacted the practice of law and the function of the American justice system. It’s also being applied to other fields such as health care, where people of different races experience medical care differently.
Such saturation of the airways is meant to drive the political discussion to subjects the media moguls feel give their chosen candidates the best wedge issue in a culture war. Watch for self-appointed “experts” as guests on more of their shows soon.