One of the creators of Critical Race Theory (CRT) says he and his wife, who co-authored the controversial academic theory, have been inundated with hate mail and death threats in recent months.
Richard Delgado, 82, and his wife Jean Stefancic, 81, wrote the book 'Critical Race Theory: An Introduction' two decades ago, back in 2001. Together, they have published several books on CRT and are considered its founders.
But in recent months, the theory has increasingly come under fire as racial tensions come to a head in the United States, and school board meetings across the country have erupted in debates and measures implemented banning the academic theory from being taught to students.
'We get some of the grossest telephone messages that you can imagine... Some of the stuff is hard to believe. It's full of venom,' Delgado told Axios on Friday.
The University of Alabama law professor said he had never received such threats in his 50 years of teaching - until this past year.
Delgado said he and Stefancic have been flooded with emails and voicemails accusing him of eating children, wanting to destroy the United States and hating white people. Delgado is Mexican-American and his wife is white.
Richard Delgado and his wife Jean Stefancic have been flooded with death threats and wild accusations in recent months as Critical Race Theory has become a hot button issue
Delgado (left) and Stefancic (right) are considered founders of the controversial academic theory which teaches students that racism is ingrained in American society and systems
The couple co-authored 'Critical Race Theory: An Introduction' in 2001
'Before then, critical race theory had had a pretty easy glide path. We wrote our books. We developed our theories. We taught our classes. We published law reviews,' Delgado said.
He points to those who are upset with Donald Trump's loss in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic and Black Lives Matter as to why CRT has exploded into a national debate this year.
Delgado claims that the pandemic, coupled with the BLM movement and protests, gave parents time and a reason to discuss race, which led them to discover that younger generations generally hold more liberal views.
'Parents lost it. They blamed the teachers for indoctrinating their kids, even though the kids are growing up in a more diverse world,' Delgado told Axios.
CRT has come under the national spotlight in the past year as conservatives claim that the academic theory is anti-white.
The theory teaches that racism is systematically ingrained into American society and is intended to teach students to view history and society through a critical lens.
'We get some of the grossest telephone messages that you can imagine...Some of the stuff is hard to believe. It's full of venom,' Delgado said
