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An associate professor for urban and multicultural studies who was appointed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s education department to craft a new curriculum for “ethnic studies” called for the “overthrow” of the United States.

Macalester College Professor Brian Lozenski made the comments during a spring 2022 Zoom meeting related to the debate around critical race theory (CRT), according to a report from National Review.

“The first tenet of critical race theory is that the United States as constructed is irreversibly racist,” Lozenski said. “So if the nation-state as constructed is irreversibly racist, then it must be done with, it must be overthrown.”

“We can’t be like, ‘Oh no, critical race theory is just about telling our stories and diver[sity],’” Lozenski continued. “It’s not about that. It’s about overthrow. It’s insurgent.”

According to National Review, Lozenski “has been the leading voice advocating the addition of a radical version of ‘ethnic studies’ to Minnesota’s social-studies standards (citizenship and government, economics, geography, history, and now ethnic studies).”

“Lozenski is also the key organizer and thought leader for the radical leftist advocacy groups that Governor Walz has effectively put in charge of rewriting Minnesota’s social-studies standards,” the magazine reported. “For years, conservative voices in Minnesota have sounded the alarm over the extremism of Lozenski and his allies. Maybe now, Walz will have to answer for putting Lozenski and his friends in charge of education in the state.”

Walz will have that opportunity Tuesday night in the one and only vice-presidential debate with Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio. The Minnesota governor is reportedly nervous about the prime-time forum hosted by CBS News, warning incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris in his summer interview he is bad with debate. The failing state of education in Minnesota is an area of vulnerability for the governor, who was eager to implement strict lockdowns throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Minnesota Post, nearly a third of all students were “chronically absent” throughout the 2021-2022 school year, while math and reading scores plummeted from pre-lockdown levels. The number of eighth-graders who are not proficient in literacy jumped from 62 percent to 68 percent from 2019 to 2022.

Aiden Buzzetti, the head of coalitions and candidate recruitment for the 1776 Project PAC — characterized as the “NRA of education,” told The Federalist that while student performance suffered across the country under lockdowns, “Minnesota is still doing worse.”

“Basically, since he was elected governor, the overall educational scores in his state have fallen more than the national average,” Buzzetti said, while Walz has remained “pretty focused on the ethnic studies curriculum that they passed along.”

State lawmakers approved legislation last year to require schools implement ethnic studies curriculums by the 2026-2027 academic year. According to the Minnesota Department of Education website, “‘Ethnic studies’ means the interdisciplinary study of race, ethnicity, and indigeneity with a focus on the experiences and perspectives of people of color within and beyond the United States.”

“Ethnic studies analyzes the ways in which race and racism have been and continue to be social, cultural, and political forces, and the connection of race to the stratification of other groups, including stratification based on the protected classes,” the state website reads.

In the controversial 2022 Zoom call, Lozenski professed “the United States needs to be deconstructed, period.”

“You can’t be a critical race theories and be pro-U.S.,” Lozenski said. “It is an anti-state theory.”

“Deconstructing the U.S.,” Buzzetti told The Federalist, “is just code for implementing a true racial hierarchy where they value a certain people over others.”

“If this is the type of person who is writing educational standards in the state,” Buzzetti added, “things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better.”

Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com. Sign up for Tristan’s email newsletter here.