Winnebago County Republican Party/Facebook
June 30, 2021, 7:18 am*
A Wisconsin-based GOP Facebook group is facing accusations of racism from both sides of the political aisle after sharing a tasteless meme to their page.
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The Winnebago County Republican Party came under fire after making a post about “the warning signs of white supremacy” on June 23.
The signs, per the meme, consist of full-time employment, literacy, a degree, attending church, having car insurance and good credit, and no criminal record.
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According to WISN, the meme was shared to the page by Republican Party Chair Ed Hudak, who shared it on his personal Facebook a day earlier. When the post on the Winnebago GOP page was flooded with comments condemning the blatant racism, Hudak pushed back, claiming it was somehow a critique of critical race theory.
“You should be shaking because this is the kind of racial theory that has invaded our universities and now our local school,” he replied to one commenter, per a screenshot that circulated before the post was deleted entirely. “When you study the Critical Race Theory the post above is how it plays out in our society and schools.”
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Republicans have been throwing around criticisms of “critical race theory” as of late, the same way they threw around criticisms of “cancel culture”—without understanding it at all but knowing the way they twist it in the media will rile their base up. While it actually refers to the idea that racism is baked into the history of the United States and has influenced the way society and laws have been shaped over the centuries, Republicans prefer to insist it simply means teaching white people to hate themselves.
Regardless of which interpretation we go with—the correct one or the Republican one—Hudak’s tying the meme to critical race theory makes zero sense.
Instead, it seems to be reinforcing existing beliefs in white supremacy, by claiming that white people fulfilling this itemized list of positive things is, in fact, proof of supremacy.
Although the post was eventually taken down from the Winnebago GOP page, Hudak seemed to stick to his guns, insisting to WISN that people “didn’t read the whole post” and that “Facebook will not allow me to expand.”
He posted the meme a second time on his personal page, writing that “Critical Race Theorist call these people White Supremacist because their achievements were the result of white privilege,” which appears to be his own fantasy and not how critical race theory works at all.
*First Published: June 30, 2021, 6:10 am
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