Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a hot topic right now and I believe that misunderstanding what CRT is is the cause of much hostility in our country right now.
I am concerned when I read about parents taking their children out of critical thinking classes because they don’t know the difference between critical thinking and critical race theory. I’m concerned watching footage of parents at school board meetings (including counties in Virginia) demand that CRT gets banned from our schools.
How did we get this deep into hostility against CRT? How did CRT get distorted in the minds of parents as a “racist curriculum?” If CRT is a lens to view how public policy institutionally upholds racism and warns us about how our legal structures boost white supremacy, then how is CRT racist? My understanding is that CRT points out racism in our public policies.
My fear, stemming from parents’ visceral reactions to teaching a curriculum that honestly portrays how our country was founded upon and is upheld by racism, is that banning CRT will not only silence law researchers on how racist structures are deeply integrated into the foundation of our nation, but that it will also pave the way to erasure of African American history. And our education systems and curriculums already teach African American history as if it somehow not part of U.S. history.
My concern goes deeper still as Rep. Matt Lockett (R-Nicholasville) is a primary sponsor of a bill that would limit discussions about racism in public schools and universities. Do not support this bill or any bill proposed that is similar to this one.
We need to talk about racism. How can we smash racist systems without talking about racism? And limiting discussions of racism in our universities is a slippery slope, a silencing of POC voices, and setting a limit to educational resources accessible to students.
Do not support any legislation that strips away access to education. We need our critical thinking classes. Our country needs a reckoning with its racism.
