World News: Critical race theory and loving America can coexist

Thursday, June 24

FILE - In this June 10, 2021, file photo, Ben Frazier, the founder of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville chants "Allow teachers to teach the truth" at the end of his public comments opposing the state of Florida's plans to ban the teaching of critical race theory in public schools during the Department of Education meeting in Jacksonville, Fla. Laws setting guiderails for classroom instruction on race passed this year in Republican-controlled states have left some teachers worried about how they will be enforced. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP, File)

Good morning. Don't look now, but it's Thursday and we have more of that great opinion content for you.

Let's get things jumping by examining critical race theory, the ongoing fraudit in Arizona and how one contributor thinks Congress can help schools get some much-needed upgrades.

Ready? Here we go.

My journey with CRT

Sally Kohn is the author of "The Opposite Of Hate: A Field Guide To Repairing Our Humanity." Today she offers a column on critical race theory, a very heated topic across the country.

"As a white person, learning about the depths of racist brutality intertwined with the history of the United States wasn't an act in self-loathing but empowerment. You have to understand a problem to be able to help solve it, and I wasn't raised to see racism as a current problem in our nation, let alone understand the depths and severities of the past. That changed because of critical race theory, and I'm a better American – and a better human – because of it. To understand why, it's important to understand the focus of the criticism in critical race theory."

Today's editorial cartoon

Mike Thompson, USA TODAY

USA TODAY

•	Race in America cartoon gallery

No fraudits allowed in Colorado

Jena Griswold, a Democrat, is Colorado's secretary of state. She writes about her decision to ban fraudits to make sure her state doesn't end up like Arizona.

"Fraudits, or fraudulent election audits, started in Arizona, where Republican legislators hired a partisan firm with no election experience to conduct a faulty, insecure audit.

We have stopped fraudits in Colorado, but the attacks on democracy are not ending. That's why in 2022, voters can play a big role in protecting voting rights by electing secretaries of state who will expand, not curb, their access to the ballot box. Democracy

will be on the ballot in battleground states, where the same politicians who supported overturning the 2020 election results and who are advancing voter suppression bills are now running to become secretaries of state."

Afghan woman: I risked my life to help America

Seeta Habib is a refugee from Afghanistan and a mother of four residing in Memphis, Tennessee. As President Joe Biden continues his plan to pull out of Afghanistan, Habib is worried about the friends still in the region and what will become of them.

"A Special Immigrant Visa now takes on average 996 days to process, according to recent report by the Departments of State and Homeland Security. That is nearly three years, and often it takes much longer.

I'm worried about the friends my husband and I left behind, those who have risked their lives in support of U.S. troops. The risk to them is very real. I pray that the United States will not abandon them."

How Biden, Congress can fix America's schools

The American Jobs Plan has proposed critical federal support for improving the physical infrastructure of our schools. Additionally, the Reopen and Rebuild America's Schools Act introduced by Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., and Senator Jack Reed, D-R.I., shows how a federal school infrastructure program can work. That legislation is projected to create 2 million good-paying construction jobs.