Shawn McBreairty: Maine dad fights critical race theory in daughters' school, says it's 'indoctrination'
A parent from Maine alleged that he was banned from his daughters’ graduation over his views on Critical Race Theory. For some time now, Critical Race Theory (CRT) has been a touchy topic in the US.
The intellectual movement seeks to study and transform the relationship between race, racism, and power. The core idea is that racism is a social construct — it is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but rather embedded within society through legal systems and policies. One of its earliest proponents, Kimberlé Crenshaw told TIME in 2020 that CRT was "an approach to grappling with a history of white supremacy that rejects the belief that what’s in the past is in the past, and that the laws and systems that grow from that past are detached from it." However, CRT has its opponents who think it is too radical and should not be taught in schools.
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Who is Shawn McBreairty?
The Maine chapter head for No Left Turn In Education, a pressure group that pushes back on so-called “the Leftist agenda sweeping into public education”, McBreairty has been vocally against Critical Race Theory on social media as well as offline. He is the parent of twin girls who study in schools under the Maine School Administrative District #51, which serves the communities of Cumberland and North Yarmouth.
On May 24, 2021, he created a GoFundMe campaign to aid his fight against Critical Racism Theory in the Maine classrooms. As per the campaign, this is a fight “against the many teachers and school administration that have been indoctrinated over the last two generations from liberal arts colleges. Or, more recently, by the ‘woke’ people indoctrinated by the ‘race-grifters’ selling the color of one's skin, vs. the content of your character.”
McBreairty, speaking on ‘The Faulkner Focus’ on Fox News, said that he had clashed with school officials for the last year over their district’s curriculum and that he was banned from his kids’ graduation following that. Earlier, he had also appeared on Tucker Carlson's show on the network.
This was an opportunity of a lifetime and meeting @TuckerCarlson live was an honor. Asking @SuperMSAD51 and put down the insults and heal the @CumberlandMaine community. But he’s gotta know he’s doing CRT now. That’s the root cause of the problem. https://t.co/W6isrc1pc1 pic.twitter.com/CMfA06uR7r
— Shawn McBreairty (@ShawnMcBreairty) May 28, 2021
"I can’t speak for Martin Luther King Jr, but I think he’d be extremely ashamed of what this administration is doing," McBreairty said. "They’re teaching young kids as young as kindergarten to essentially hate their white skin." He said further on the show, "And frankly I was brought up as the content of your character is the biggest piece, it doesn’t matter what the color of your skin is.”
McBreairty told Harris Faulkner on the show that he has been pushing back against his daughters' school district for allegedly sending the community "an equity letter" following the murder of George Floyd, which he said "basically called us all white supremacists in Cumberland, North Yarmouth."
As per the text of the said letter (that he tweeted), the Equity Leadership Steering Committee of MSAD #51 said: “As a majority white school district, we stand in solidarity with Black Movement leaders. We call for justice for George Floyd and for the many other Black lives that have been taken by white supremacy in our nation.” It also said, “We will work to assess our curriculum, educate our community within and outside of our school campus, dismantle the anti-Blackness all of us have internalized by living in a society built on white supremacy, and provide tools to interrupt anti-Black racism.”
One year ago today @SuperMSAD51 sent out this offensive letter, penned by Ann Maxymowicz. There has never been a retraction, nor healing efforts made for @CumberlandMaine or @north_yarmouth. @dbongino @RealCandaceO @TheLeoTerrell https://t.co/yehpWjfoZA
— Shawn McBreairty (@ShawnMcBreairty) June 2, 2021
McBreairty said that he responded in a letter to the superintendent, complaining about the language used in the message. "The woke mob, the trolls, they go after everybody," he said on Fox News. "I got pushed and I pushed back pretty hard."
McBreairty reportedly has a criminal trespass order against him, which prohibits him from entering or remaining on the property of all schools and properties in the school district unless he has permission from the superintendent. MSAD #51 Superintendent Jeff Porter reportedly said that McBreairty was never banned from attending graduation, just from being on campus and could request to attend school events on a case-by-case basis.
In fact, McBreairty reportedly asked to attend graduation and Porter granted his approval last week. Porter said the only expectations he had of McBreairty attending the event are “the same expectations that everyone else has to follow. We just don’t want him to be disruptive at his kids’ graduation.” Porter also said the criminal trespass order was issued after McBreairty repeatedly violated district rules and after several warnings about padlocking a sign to a school fence. He further said that McBreairty had disrupted several school board meetings and had distributed flyers on the students’ desks without permission.
MSAD #51 officials released a statement saying: “After reviewing the individual’s request to attend graduation, approval was granted earlier this week, with expectations forthcoming. Though the district has reason to limit this individual’s attendance at school-related events, the importance of graduation in the life of a family was the overriding factor in making an exception in this case.”