When it comes to producing wartime film classics, the works of producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielbergs are unparalleled.

They collaborated to produce three of the greatest World War II screen dramas ever made - the 1998 World War II film “Saving Private Ryan,” in which Hanks starred; the 2001 television miniseries “Band of Brothers”; and “The Pacific,” a 2010 World War II miniseries.

The list of accolades and achievements of actor/producer Hanks are endless. Highlights include two Academy Awards out of six nominations; seven Primetime Emmy Awards for his work as a producer; a Life Achievement Award in 2002; and a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014 as well as the French Legion of Honor.

But the cancel culture proponents of critical race theory have now targeted Hanks after he penned an essay for The New York Times regarding the Tulsa race massacre and other atrocities. In it, he appealed for changes to the way history is taught in schools and by the entertainment industry.

This was not enough for NPR columnist Eric Deggans who rebutted with his own piece headlined “Tom Hanks Is A Non-Racist, It’s Time For Him To Be Anti-Racist.” Deggans said he was not calling Hanks racist but that it is time for folks with his stature in the film industry to be “anti-racist.”

Cancel culture had struck again, this time against one of America’s iconic personalities in the film industry, and the attack brought a swift backlash from conservatives. Television commentator Joe Concha called Deggans a perpetual protester and that no matter what Tom Hanks does, it will never be enough.

While Hollywood has been a hotbed for critical race theory, it is also firmly entrenched in academia. Conservative lawmakers have come to realize that it presents a negative picture of the United States and is designed to make students feel badly about their country.

Former NFL football star Burgess Owens, now a U.S. representative from Utah, has introduced a bill and a resolution that reveals underlying failures of critical race theory, stating that it focuses on skin color, “preserves” racist thinking and “undermines civil rights.”

Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, head of the Republican Study Committee, said CRT is “teaching students to be ashamed of our country and to judge each other based on their race is wrong and divisive.”

Rep. Rick Allen of Georgia said CRT “aims to indoctrinate Americans into believing our nation is inherently evil.”

Even Jonathan Haidt, a New York University social psychology professor, has stated that “every situation needs to be analyzed in terms of the bad people acting to preserve their power and privilege over the good people.”

“This is not an education. This is induction into a cult,” Haidt wrote.

In Florida, conservative leaders like Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Byron Donalds have made CRT a front-line issue by recently banning critical race theory from the state’s classrooms. The rule specifically targets The New York Times’ 1619 Project, which is another initiative that has been condemned by conservatives.

The Sunshine State’s new rule would also ban any suppression or distorting of historical events such as the Holocaust, slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the civil-rights movement, and the contributions of women, African Americans, and Hispanic people to the country.

Rep. Donalds, a black conservative who has co-sponsored legislation to keep critical race theory from being taught in schools, said if critical race theory is to be discussed as an academic theory, it should be done in the halls of academia.

“When it comes to actually teaching history, I firmly believe that all American history should be taught,” Donalds stated. “There shouldn’t be things that we pull back, we should teach all the history, it should be very explicit. It should be very detailed. That way, our young people have an immense understanding of not only the history of our country but also the progression of our country as we move forward to be that more perfect union.”

Rubio tweeted that teaching children that America was founded on racism and is defined by “an oppressive white, heterosexual patriarchy isn’t just a school curriculum, it’s the new institutional orthodoxy.” This “indoctrination,” he said, is not only an inaccurate reading of our history, but it also has a political aim.

The senator also explained that critical race theory at its core is a theory that teaches that Americans are divided between oppressors and the oppressed.

“Oppressors, even though you may not have individually oppressed anybody, (are) inherently evil and need to apologize for things in the past that you had nothing to do with,” he stated.

Like his conservative colleagues and strong constituency in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis believes that teaching American history through a “toxic,” anti-racism lens causes divisions by causing people to think of themselves more as a member of a particular race based on skin color, rather than based on the content of their character and based on their hard work and what they’re trying to accomplish in life. The governor said he doesn’t want to stop children from being taught about slavery or civil rights, but hopes to prevent them from learning a “false history” that would “denigrate the Founding Fathers.”

At least 15 other states are considering or have already signed bills into law that would target the way schools teach American history. On a local school board level, more parents are rising up to confront this concerted effort by the left to rewrite the history of America.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.