Wednesday, April 28, 2021

The War On Culture

I mentioned the local school board election yesterday. Early voting ended that day, and turnout so far is probably 3 times what it was 2 years ago.  It seems to be Trump supporters (or that type), urged on by fears of Critical Race Theory and unions, but mostly driven by the loss in November, and a need to recover some of their power in a county that has gone blue.  The school board is a race they can control, or at least agitate turnout over.

But for how long?  Three seats open in 2 years.  Will they be back, screaming about electoral fraud and teaching American history the "right" way and teacher's organizing (against, as I say, explicit state law which forbids any government agency from negotiating over collective bargaining)?

I doubt it.  They don't know what the school board does now.  They don’t even know school curriculum is largely set by the state. Indeed, this success (if it is one) will likely galvanize the voters who have maintained the status quo in this district for decades.  It's a cultural thing, a very specific and localized culture, and any threat to it will wake the sleeping giant that will ensure stability is restored.

Which ain't necessarily a good thing, either.  But the quality of education here is important to many people who do vote (too many don't), and that issue will trump (sorry!) any fears of teaching "critical race theory" or any other curricular issue.

The other issues are just eyewash.  If they win, the supporters of the "conservative" candidate will take their prize and go back to their cable TeeVee, secure in the knowledge the elephants have been kept away once more.

I still predict much the same thing for the country, for the foreseeable future.
This stuff is shaking out at the extremely local level, which means it won’t last much longer.
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