Critical race theory (CRT) has dramatically undermined the academic value of policy debate and education itself over the years, according to a senior writer with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Writer and former high school debating coach Roy Maynard said that he has witnessed a shift over the years in school debating tradition in the United States.
According to Maynard, who taught policy debate for about 20 years, elements of CRT are now being used by students as a “blanket argument” in high school debates to “claim victimhood” and demand a ballot go their way.
“In cross examination debate, there’s a single topic every year … and within each topic, teams make a case. Under normal debate theory, the way that you counter that plan is you bring up negative evidence against it. That’s how it used to be,” Maynard told NTD’s “The Nation Speaks.”
“About 15 years ago, CRT started creeping in. The argument is called a ‘kritik’ from the German spelling,” Maynard explained. “Instead of arguing the affirmative case, the negative team will come in and argue the legitimacy of the United States itself.”
“It will argue the value of debate, it will argue that nothing that the affirmative plan wants to do will work because we’re [the United States] so inherently racist. The country is so irredeemable, that in the interest of social justice, the judge must vote negative. And that’s a very destructive kind of argument.”
Maynard said that the tradition of students researching a topic for a high school debate has now been set aside because CRT means you “don’t have to research anything, you can just walk in, use that argument, claim victimhood and demand the ballot go your way.”
“It’s really undermined the academic value of policy debate,” the Texas Public Policy Foundation senior writer said.
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