The Orange County Board of Education (OCBE) called out critical race theory (CRT) during its second ethnic studies forum, debating with differing perspectives on Aug. 24. Moderated by Harriette Reed, five expert panelists gave opening and closing remarks, and answered questions from the board during the meeting. “The motivation for ethnic studies is grounded in the idea that historically underserved communities don’t see themselves in the curriculum, which is a really important goal to address,” panelist Elina Kaplan, co-founder and president of the Alliance for Constructive Ethnic Studies (ACES), said during the meeting. Kaplan’s concern, along with most of the panelists, was the infiltration of CRT in ethnic studies. CRT is an ideology that divides society into oppressors and the oppressed based on racial characteristics. Kaplan said when she first looked at the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) a couple of years ago, it looked “familiar” and reminded her …