Charles B. Johnson, the major owner of the San Francisco Giants, recently gave $5,000 to a political action group that calls on individuals to report educational institutions that are “promoting critical race theory.”
Johnson has a history of supporting right-wing politicians and organizations, and new electronic records from the Federal Election Commission reveal that he donated to the Project 1776 PAC on November 21 of last year.
According to the PAC’s website, proponents of critical race theory are “incredibly hostile to white people” and seek to restructure society to suit their “Marxist vision.” The website’s store offers t-shirts, hats, and bumper stickers with slogans like “Girls sports belong to girls,” “I survived public school indoctrination,” and “Make education sane again.” There is also an option to report specific schools that teach critical race theory.
Until recently, the paradigm for legal analysis taught in law schools was usually described by the term “critical race theory.” But in recent years, the notion has been weaponized and turned into a catch-all word that conservative activists and lawmakers use to refer to nearly any topic that deals with race in the classroom.
In contrast, the 1619 Project, a 2019 New York Times Magazine initiative that explores the role of slavery in the formation of the United States, is an example of a subject used to advance a political agenda. The PAC’s website, for instance, claims that the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King Jr. are not examples of critical race theory and are acceptable subjects.
The 91-year-old Florida-based millionaire Johnson is well-known for his political contributions.
He has financially supported divisive Republican politicians such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert, and former President Donald Trump. Johnson declared he would no longer back congressmen who disagreed with the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election, even going so far as to threaten to demand reimbursements from those he had donated to, shortly after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Later on in the year, SFGATE revealed that he had continued to give financial support to other politicians he had earlier disavowed.
The deadline for candidates and political action committees to publicly reveal any contributions made in the last three months of 2023 is this Wednesday at the latest.