The Battle Rages on in New Hampshire

Dan Richards grew up, was educated and played football in New Hampshire. He is a successful entrepreneur and the father of two young elementary school children. He and his wife chose to return to New Hampshire specifically because of the quality schools. However, like many other parents around the country, he recently discovered some of the outrageous, anti-American ideas being promoted in his school district. After a very troubling experience, he’s decided to go public and fight back through television appearances, writing op-eds, and working with legislators.

We caught up with Dan and asked him a few questions about his experience. 

Q: What were your kids learning in school that concerned you?

A: My kids are young (5 and 7) and I don’t have a clear window into what they’re learning daily in the classroom. Unlike others, I didn’t happen to catch the school teaching this stuff on a video call.

Q: Why did you start pushing back?

A: I knew something was wrong when our new elementary school associate principal sent the community an intro email that talked only about “equity,” a term she was unable to define, and the need to teach for “social transformation” at the school. She didn’t mention academic excellence or anything else, although she highlighted the “difficult” conversations she was going to have with our children as well as a book group she’d launched. The only title selected compared the U.S. to Nazi Germany.

We also received the syllabus for an “Exploring whiteness and becoming an anti-racist activist” class being taught which led with a quiz that stated that the Declaration of Independence was primarily responsible for creating “white supremacy.”

After reading what was occurring around the country, my wife and I decided to try and get more information. It has come at high price as many of our requests have gone ignored, we have been shouted down and asked to leave meetings and vilified by school staff.

Q: What do you want other concerned Americans around the country, parents or otherwise, to know about your efforts?

A: Critical race theory is the divisive, indoctrinating and discriminatory neo-Marxist philosophy driving this movement. It seeks to make race and discrimination present in every academic discipline starting with kindergarten. The goal of “anti-racism,” in the words of Ibram X. Kendi, the foremost scholar on the topic, is more discrimination. If this sounds crazy and extreme – it is. It is also very real.