It didn’t take long for Republican senators to go back on their promise that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation “wouldn't be a circus.” During his questioning of Jackson, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) devoted ample time to accusing her of pushing so-called “critical race theory,” a major culture-war flashpoint for conservatives, on elementary school students. Noting that the judge is a board member of her kids’ private school Georgetown Day, the senator began pulling out books, including Antiracist Baby, in order to claim the school is definitely teaching CRT. “There are portions of this book that I find really quite remarkable. One portion of the book says babies are taught to be racist or anti-racist,” Cruz bellowed, displaying an enlarged page from the book. “Do you agree with this book that is being taught with kids that babies are racist?” Pausing to take a deep breath, Jackson then answered: “I do not believe that any child should be made to feel as though they are racist or though they are not valued or though they are less-than. That they are victims. That they are oppressors.” She also noted that her understanding was that “critical race theory is an academic theory is taught in law schools.” Cruz’s grandstanding performance came mere hours after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) stormed out of the chambers after questioning Jackson about defending Guantanamo Bay detainees.
