Podcast Summary: The Charlie Kirk Show

Episode Title: “Is Your Baby A Racist? Unpacking Arizona's Insane Education Standards”
Date: March 4, 2021
Host: Charlie Kirk
Topic: Arizona Department of Education’s Equity Toolkit and Broader Cultural and Political Trends

Episode Overview

This episode centers on Arizona’s new “equity toolkit”—an education guideline from the Arizona Department of Education suggesting that racism is present even in babies as young as three months old. Host Charlie Kirk questions the basis and implications of these recommendations, framing them within the larger issue of critical race theory (CRT) infiltrating schools, especially in Republican-led states. Kirk also broadens the discussion to Arizona’s political transformation, critiquing state Republican leadership and drawing comparisons with governors in other states.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Arizona’s Equity Toolkit: Babies and Racism

Kirk introduces the episode with the provocative question, “Is your baby racist?” critiquing the toolkit’s claim that even infants display racial preference ([00:00]).
Toolkit’s Assertions:
- At 3 months, babies look longer at faces that match the race of their caregivers (citing Kelly et al., 2005).
- By age 2½, children use race to choose playmates.
- Racial prejudice “peaks” in kindergarten-age kids.
Kirk opposes the scientific validity of these points:

“You’re trying to tell me that a three month old that is wholly dependent might actually look at the person who is allowing them to continue to survive? Doesn’t that exactly scream racial discrimination?” ([04:15])
Repeatedly refers to these ideas as “activist” and “immoral teaching” with “no evidence.” Asserts the toolkit is inspired by Ibram X. Kendi, whom he labels a “racist” activist.

2. Critique of Discussion Around Race in Schools

Kirk expresses frustration with what he sees as a hyper-fixation on race in education:

“There has not been a group of people that have cared this much about race since the KKK. The people that are teaching your children care more about race than the Ku Klux Klan did.” ([06:17])
He frames the conversation as a form of “cultural Marxism,” positing race, gender, and class as the three axes along which activists try to break down American unity.

3. Historical Context and Conservative Values

Argues that America was “founded on the abolition of slavery” and lists founding fathers’ anti-slavery credentials ([08:00]).
Criticizes CRT and similar programs for undermining Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of judging people not by skin color, but by character ([09:15]).
Personal anecdote about racially diverse high school with minimal racial conflict, without CRT ([09:35]).

4. The Broader “Culture War” - Why Race?

Kirk’s theory: after failed attempts at dividing Americans by class (Occupy Wall Street) and gender (MeToo movement’s political weaponization), activists settled on race as the most effective tool ([10:15]).
Suggests the successful seeding of CRT in Arizona is due to “preying on the best intentions of decent Americans,” since “No one wants to be called a racist.” ([12:30])

5. Arizona’s Rightward Drift and Weak Republican Leadership

Kirk laments that a formerly conservative state is implementing “California-style” policies:
- Raising income taxes through Proposition 208
- Legalizing marijuana
- Maintaining COVID-19 mask mandates
- Allowing CRT into public schools ([14:57])
Criticizes Governor Doug Ducey and former Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake for “governing like Democrats” ([15:45]).

“What are we doing in Arizona to actually prove the difference of conservative courageous leadership versus the typical Democrat governor?” ([15:56])
Cites other Republican governors as examples (Ron DeSantis, Kristi Noem, Greg Abbott), praising boldness and policy clarity.
Threatens to move his organization out of Arizona if the political climate doesn't change ([18:45]):

“If Arizona does not get their act together, we’re leaving. It’s that simple. My loyalty was to the idea of this state, not to the actual roots or the dirt.” ([24:32])

6. Legislative and Policy Response

Dismisses the Arizona Senate’s “Academic Transparency Act” as too weak ([17:30]):

“How about saying, if you teach critical race theory in any school, you’ll be defunded and investigated?” ([17:42])
Advocates for state leaders to “denounce critical race theory in our schools” and use legislative power to bar CRT-inspired content.

7. COVID-19 Lockdowns: Leadership and Consequences

Kirk rounds out the episode by discussing the mental health crisis among children during the pandemic (“the most dramatic increase in mental health complaints in American history,” [27:06]).
Strongly criticizes continued lockdowns and mask mandates, calling them “one of the worst decisions in American and world history” ([27:28]).

“There was no epidemiological or scientific reason for mandated lockdowns… The decision to lock down our country was reckless and foolish.” ([27:30])

Notable Quotes & Moments

On the Arizona Toolkit and “baby racism”:

“There’s such a limited supply [of racism] that now your tax dollars in Arizona are going towards teaching teachers and instructors that your three month old might be David Duke…” – Charlie Kirk ([04:05])
On focus on race in education:

“The people that are teaching your children care more about race than the Ku Klux Klan did. Everything’s about race.” ([06:19])
On weak Republican leadership:

“Arizona was a comfortably Republican state run by people who are Democrats, calling themselves Republicans, like John McCain and Jeff Flake.” ([14:59])
On why CRT gains traction:

“The Critical Race Theory movement preys on the best intentions of decent Americans. No one wants to be called a racist. Therefore, they're willing to do whatever it takes to not have the R word slapped on them.” ([12:30])
On GOP’s need for courage:

“The only difference between Governor Ron DeSantis and the rest of these governors, including in Arizona, is courage. That’s it.” ([16:35])
On policy drift and migration threat:

“If things don’t start to change in Arizona, we will close up shop and go to Florida. It’s that simple.” ([18:45])
On COVID-19 lockdowns:

“Any Governor, Republican or Democrat, that has not fully opened their state—no mask mandate… you are now at this point, contributing to a mental health crisis and one of the most immoral decisions of government in American history.” ([27:28])

Important Timestamps

00:00–05:00: Introduction, Arizona equity toolkit details, Kirk’s initial reaction
06:00–12:30: Discussion of CRT, roots in activist ideology, problems with race-based curricula
14:57–18:45: Arizona’s political evolution, criticism of state leadership, comparison to other states
24:32–26:00: Warning to Arizona about potential organizational relocation, commentary on policy and “loyalty”
27:28–30:00: Critique of COVID-19 lockdowns, children’s mental health crisis, leadership during the pandemic

Overall Tone

Charlie Kirk adopts a combative, unapologetically conservative tone throughout, focusing on what he sees as the dangers of leftist ideology in education and the failures of moderate Republican leadership. He frames the episode as a rallying cry for “courageous conservative leadership” and parental activism against what he terms as the “division industrial complex” of racial politics.

Listener Takeaways

The Arizona Department of Education’s equity toolkit is sharply criticized for suggesting babies can harbor racial biases.
Kirk encourages listeners to pressure state leaders for bolder action against CRT and to resist leftward drift in policy.
The host links cultural and educational trends to broader debates over freedom, individual character, and American values.
The episode is a case study in conservative concerns around education, race, and the direction of Republican governance.

Note:
Skip times with advertisements and non-content as requested. All timestamps correspond to episode content.

Transcript

Charlie Kirk (0:00)

Hey everybody, is your baby racist? The Arizona Board of Education has new guidelines, a toolkit designed around teaching your child that when they were a baby, they are racist. That is the new Arizona Department of Education equity guidelines. We dive into that and so much more. What is happening in Arizona? Why is Arizona becoming a Democrat state? We have an exclusive look of a state we know very well. Email us your questions freedomarliekirk.com if you want to support our program and our team of researchers, editors and the hustle of our team, go to charliekirk.com support that's charliekirk.com support. Check it out and support us if you can@charliekirk.com support I want to name off some of our supporters that have really gotten behind us in the last couple days. I want to thank Sam from Idaho who says keep up the good work, Charlie. God bless you. I want to thank Deborah from Washington. Thank you for all you do and God bless you and your soon to be wife. Thank you guys so much. Charliekirk.com support get involved with Turning Point USA@tpusa.com Is your baby racist? Find out. Buckle up everybody. Here we go. Charlie, what you've done is incredible here. Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus. I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk's right running the White House, folks.

Guest or Co-host (1:29)

I want to thank Charlie. He's an incredible guy. His spirit, his love of this country. He's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point usa.

Charlie Kirk (1:40)

We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives. And we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country. That's why we are here. This is the Arizona Department of Education. This is not New York. This is not Malibu. This is not Chicago. This is Arizona. Arizona has released a new equity toolkit intended to help families and teachers tackle racism among children. It advises that even babies as young as three months old can show racial prejudice. Their evidence. They look at more faces which match the race of their caregivers. According to the toolkit, by the age of two and half, kids use race to determine who their playmate should be. Expressions of racial prejudice often peak at ages 4 and 5, it says by kindergarten, children show that many of the same racial prejudice often peaks at that age. The toolkit is largely inspired by an activist fool, a racist. Ibram X Kendi, you see, we've gotten to a point in our country where we are so decent to one another that there's an incredible supply and demand problem when it comes to racism. The great Douglas Murray makes this comparison. There's an unbelievable demand to find racism. There's such a limited supply that now your tax dollars in Arizona are going towards teaching teachers and instructors that your three month old might be David Duke, that your three month year old child might actually have deep, racist, bitter resentment. Now the chart that Arizona is using, the Arizona Department of Education, which of course is all rooted in critical race theory. This is incredibly flawed, divisive, immoral teaching that the tax dollars of Arizona are going towards the Arizona Department of Education. It says at birth babies look equally at the faces of all races. But at three months, babies look more at the faces that match the race of their caregivers. Kelly et al. 2005. This is the study that they're citing, which again does not imply racism at all. You're trying to tell me that a three month old that is wholly dependent might actually look at the person who is allowing them to continue to survive? Doesn't it exactly scream racial discrimination? For me it continues by saying by 30 months most children use race to choose playmates. The guiding principle that the Arizona Department of Education believes in is young children notice and think about race. Adults often worry that talking about race will encourage racial bias in children. But the opposite is true. Silence about race reinforces racism. By the way, there's no evidence of any of this. This is written by activists for an activist purpose. This is not scientific. There's no studies. By letting children draw their own conclusions based on what they see, teachers and families can play a powerful role in helping children of all ages develop positive attitudes about race and diversity and skills to promote a more just future. But only if we talk about it. One of my least favorite things, we must have a conversation about race. Actually, no, we shouldn't. You see, one of the methods, strategies, tactics used by the postmodernists, by the people that are teaching your children right now. Yes, even in the once conservative state of Arizona. For all my friends listening on AM960, the answer the Patriot is to hyper fixate on race. There has not been a group of people that have cared this much about race since the kkk. The people that are teaching your children care more about race than the Ku Klux Klan did. Everything's about race. In fact, the curriculum that children in Arizona Department of School Education schools are being taught is they're not too young to talk about race. They want to lead with race. Why? One of the most simple ways to destroy a prosperous country is dividing people in Three ways. Class, gender, and race. So in America, because of a vibrant free market system, it's very hard to divide people based on class. They're trying to. There's some legitimacy to some of the economic anxiety happening in our country, but those concerns can be alleviated rather simply through public policy measures. How about on gender? They've tried me too. Believe all women. Many of these movements kind of fizzle out as soon as evidence, cross examination, due process, nuance gets brought into the conversation. But race, that's the one that the cultural Marxists have focused on. You see, since America abolished slavery, since America was founded on freedom and not on slavery, Thomas Jefferson, in his original draft of the Declaration of Independence, denounced slavery and blamed King George for it. George Washington said no new slaves in the Northwest Territories. Thomas Jefferson disallowed new slaves from bringing to the United States. Vermont abolished slavery in 1777. America was founded on the abolition of slavery not immediately, but eventually. John Quincy Adams, America's sixth president, was a fierce anti slavery advocate. And America eventually accomplished that moral good of which every civilization, every country participated in slavery. From the Greeks to the Romans to the Chinese to the British Empire. On 4th, slavery was the norm. America was the exception. But because we even have that in our history, the people who wish to divide us, the people that want power at all costs, they have realized they've hit a chord that gives them a platform which is to emphasize endlessly the race struggle in our country. The class struggle failed under Occupy Wall Street. The gender struggle failed under MeToo. The race struggle is succeeding. And it's not enough just to say that we should have a country where we don't judge people based on skin color. You see the people that are putting forward this critical race theory, this curriculum that's being taught in the Arizona Department of Education, saying that your three month old might be racist. They're of the belief the only way we can get rid of racism is get rid of the entire system. So instead of trying to create a country that respects people's character, how they act, there is a heavy emphasis on race. Nine years ago I was in high school and our high school was very racially diverse. It was 53% English as a second language, 53% Hispanic, and kids made stupid jokes here and there. But generally, as a rule, we got along very well. There was not any need for critical race theory in the curriculum. There was not a need for an abolition of whiteness. By having dialogue, discussion, the correct amount of friendships, life went on. And the idea of race was a Non issue. This was always Martin Luther King Jr. S dream. He wanted a country where people were looked at based on character, not skin color. So there's a couple different ways to foment the rage necessary to overthrow a system. We have gone through, in great detail, different successful revolutions of the last 100 years. The Cuban Revolution, the Chinese Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the French Revolution, which predated that. That was more than 100 years ago. However, typically revolutions happen based on class complaints, gender complaints, or race complaints. Over the last decade, there have been many different attempts at trying to incite the rage to justify a permanent power grab. Occupy Wall street was the first attempt at that. Now, why did Occupy Wall street fail? Occupy Wall street failed because America has such a flourishing, vibrant, and strong economic middle class. Now, it's been under attack in recent years. The middle class is struggling. But generally, when you try to persuade tens of millions of people to go overthrow the entire United States financial and banking system, people say, yeah, there might be some things wrong with the system in general, but I at least have some faith that when I work hard and play by the rules, I'm gonna see some form of a reward. And then the MeToo movement happened in 2017, 2018, as a way to try to destroy Trump, as a way to try to start a gender war in our country. Interestingly enough, the left doesn't believe in genders at all. They think it's a social construct. And they tried it with Brett Kavanaugh, they tried it with Donald Trump. And the only real successes they've had, I would probably say Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, and Kevin Spacey, who I don't think anyone would argue as being worthy of defense or protection, considering what they did. Al Franken might be another example of that. You see, but the forces that wish to divide us, almost Neo Marxist forces, having failed starting an economic war, having failed starting a gender war, they now are being incredibly successful, surprisingly successful, starting a racial conflict in our country. Not based on evidence, not based on facts, not based on history, not based on reason or logic, but instead based almost solely on emotionally driven arguments. And my theory on how Arizona and the Arizona Department of Education. The Arizona Department of Education says that your baby is racist. This is in the curriculum in Arizona, the equity toolkit funded by the Arizona taxpayers. Critical race theory. The state's supposed to be run by Republicans. So how are the critical race theory activists being so effective? What is their secret? The Critical Race Theory movement preys on the best intentions of decent Americans. No one wants to be called A racist. Therefore, they're willing to do whatever it takes to not have the R word slapped on them.