Comedian and podcast host Bill Maher locked horns with actor Bryan Cranston on whether schools should be teaching critical race theory.
The two discussed whether the hotly debated ideology — which holds that race shapes social and political movements, the media and laws — should be included in school curriculum on Maher’s “Club Random” podcast.
The topic came up after they talked about slavery, and Maher said people like former presidents should not be canceled for having slaves.
“It’s 400 f–king years that we’ve dealt with this, and our country still has not taken responsibility or accountability,” Cranston said.
The “Breaking Bad” actor said he believes critical race theory is “essential” to schools.
“I mean, teaching how the race trade and racism is systemic in everything we’ve done in government, in social activities,” he said.
Maher said that he considers critical race theory to be “one of these catch-all terms” and told Cranston “if you mean more what the 1619 book says, which is that it’s just the essence of America and that we are irredeemable, that’s just wrong.”
The controversial Pulitzer Prize-winning “1619 Project,” developed by Nikole Hannah-Jones and published by the New York Times, says slavery was a key force behind the American Revolution among its other claims that have been widely panned by historians.
Maher said that to teach children that they are oppressors is “introducing ideas about race that are inappropriate for kids that age who can’t understand it.”
Ultimately, Cranston and Maher agreed that there were certain “woke” topics that should be kept out of schools.
