Dr. Petra Lange is a Language Arts Teacher at Valley High School in Des Moines, Iowa. She additionally teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Education at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. Dr. Lange made national headlines for bragging about circumventing Iowa State Law in order to teach her high school students Critical Race Theory.

As Ben Shapiro writes in Breitbart News, “Critical Race Theory is an intellectual branch of Marxism that views America and all of its institutions as being infected with white supremacy”—to the point of some, including Nikole Hannah-Jones, even claiming America’s real founding was in 1619 when the first slave stepped foot in North America, and not 1776 when the American colonies declared independence from England.

Iowa has prohibited the teaching and promotion of Critical Race Theory in public schools and government agencies. In June of 2021, upon signing the bill into law, Iowa governor Kim Reynolds described Critical Race Theory in a press release as focusing disproportionately on “labels and stereotypes”:

“Critical Race Theory is about labels and stereotypes, not education. It teaches kids that we should judge others based on race, gender or sexual identity, rather than the content of someone’s character”.

The Iowa bill—tilted House File 802—prohibits the teaching of 10 “ specific defined concepts” listed below:

-That one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex. 

-That the United States of America and the state of Iowa are fundamentally or systematically racist or sexist. 

-That one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex.

– That the United States of America and the state of Iowa are fundamentally or systemically racist or sexist. 

-That an individual, solely because of the individual’s race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously. 

-That an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of the individual’s race or sex. 

-That members of one race or sex cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race or sex. 

-That an individual’s moral character is necessarily determined by the individual’s race or sex. 

-That an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex. 

-That any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of that individual’s race or sex. 

-That meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by a particular race to oppress another race.

Despite the law, Dr. Lange has continued to openly promote Critical Race Theory in her classrooms.

Dr. Lange’s comments were originally captured by the Twitter user Mythinformed MKE during the online forum “​​UnBan Anti-Racism Education In Iowa.” In the clip, Dr. Lange boasts about allegedly exploiting a loophole in the law.

In her remarks, Dr. Lange tells her students that despite the law, they may still ask questions regarding Critical Race Theory; if they were to ask if America is a systemically racist nation, she will then be able to answer in the affirmative.

The full tweet is embedded below.

Iowa teacher proudly explains how she is circumventing the Critical Race Theory ban.

Instead of teaching CRT, she reviews the CRT concepts that are called out in the law, and encourages her kids to ask questions about the concepts.

This is her CRT ban workaround. pic.twitter.com/U7fzmJqDw2

— Mythinformed MKE (@MythinformedMKE) September 18, 2021

 

The Professor Watchlist team reached out to Dr. Lange for comment but have not received a reply by publication.

 

Students and Parents may contact West Des Moines Community Schools at (515) 633-500 or Simpson College at (515) 961-6251.

 

Updated – September 28, 2021