Dear Mirada editors,
Re: “Rio Grad Chris Rufo Wields Power in Washington”
I read with interest the recent article about Rio alum Chris Rufo (’02) and his rising influence over conservative thinking and politics. In the article, Mr. Rufo states that “although his education at Rio covered race issues, Critical Race Theory played no part in it.” I would like to point out that Critical Race Theory is a Graduate-Level concept, and has never been taught at the high school level in the United States, so of course it was not taught at Rio. Mr. Rufo is purposely conflating CRT with concepts of Anti-Racism, equity and historical accuracy in order to deceive the masses. Mr. Rufo was a student of mine for four years at Rio. He was an intelligent and reasonably talented student. I consistently taught lessons in his band classes (especially as related to Jazz) that he and his cronies would now incorrectly label “Critical Race Theory.” My only regret is that I was not as forceful then in my teaching of those historical concepts and facts as I am now. I won’t make that mistake again. I consider Mr. Rufo and his views a grave danger to the nation and the greatest embarrassment and failure in my 28 years of teaching.
Respectfully submitted,
Josh Murray
Band Director since 1998
Rio Americano High School
