By: Sarah Johnson
These days it feels like you cannot walk two steps without hearing something about the intense debate that has bubbled around the nation related to whether or not teachers can teach “Critical Race Theory”. This week, a brief overview on what “Critical Race Theory” is and look at a passed Texas bill that has gotten quite a bit of attention.
What is Critical Race Theory
Encyclopedia Britannica defines Critical Race Theory (CRT) as an “intellectual movement and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour.”
The American Bar Association released A Lesson on Critical Race Theory in January this year. This article is a comprehensive dive into how CRT started and what it means. They say CRT “critiques how the social construction of race and institutionalized racism perpetuate a racial caste system that relegates people of color to the bottom tiers” and also acknowledges the history and “the legacy of slavery, segregation, and the imposition of second-class citizenship on Black Americans and other people of color continue to permeate the social fabric of this nation.”
Here are a few key tenets of CRT outlined in the article:
- Recognition that race is not biologically real but is socially constructed and socially significant. It recognizes that science (as demonstrated in the Human Genome Project) refutes the idea of biological racial differences. According to scholars Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, race is the product of social thought and is not connected to biological reality.
- Acknowledgement that racism is a normal feature of society and is embedded within systems and institutions, like the legal system, that replicate racial inequality. This dismisses the idea that racist incidents are aberrations but instead are manifestations of structural and systemic racism.
- Rejection of popular understandings about racism, such as arguments that confine racism to a few “bad apples.” CRT recognizes that racism is codified in law, embedded in structures, and woven into public policy. CRT rejects claims of meritocracy or “colorblindness.” CRT recognizes that it is the systemic nature of racism that bears primary responsibility for reproducing racial inequality.
- Recognition of the relevance of people’s everyday lives to scholarship. This includes embracing the lived experiences of people of color, including those preserved through storytelling, and rejecting deficit-informed research that excludes the epistemologies of people of color.
CRT was coined in the 1970s, but has recently come back into the public conversation because of the findings of the The 1619 Project. Th 1619 Project was published by The New York Times and “aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.” In other words, it presents how the fabric of the United States is deeply impacted by the slavery of African people dating back 400 years ago.
What does this Texas bill say?
TX HB3979 was signed in mid June this year. This bill changes teaching standards in Texas schools relating to topics of race and civics. The new curriculum standards in the bill require teachings on the Declaration of Independence and The Federalist Papers, but remove teachings authored by people of color and women – curriculum proposed by Democrats.
One section of the bill proposed two of the most controversial items:
- “A teacher may not be compelled to discuss a particular current event or widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs.”
- “A teacher who chooses to discuss a topic described by Subdivision (1) shall, to the best of the teacher’s ability, strive to explore the topic from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective.”
What this has been interpreted to mean is that if a teacher decides to discuss a current event with their class, they must present “contending perspectives”, or multiple viewpoints on the issue, regardless of their relevance/ethics. If a teacher were to teach about something like the January 6th Insurrection on the Capitol, they are required to present the viewpoints of the rioters along with others on equal ground.
The bill also appears to prohibit teaching students about the concept of implicit bias. Another section states teachers are prohibited from discussing the idea that some people might be “inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” Further, the bill prohibits teachers from introducing lessons that could cause a student to “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual’s race or sex.” Many have pointed out that learning the reality of our history and how White Americans have oppressed and harmed minority groups may cause students, especially White students, to feel discomfort, guilt, or anguish.
There is also language in the bill that dissuades students from civic engagement efforts, stating: “a school district, open-enrollment charter school, or teacher may not require, make part of a course, or award a grade or course credit, including extra credit, for a student’s: (A) political activism, lobbying, or efforts to persuade members of the legislative or executive branch at the federal, state, or local level to take specific actions by direct communication; or (B) participation in any internship, practicum, or similar activity involving social or public policy advocacy.”
Finally, the funding for the development of the new Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for civics and social studies education by the State Board of Education required by the bill is confusing. The bill states this new TEKS program will be developed for the 2022-23 school year and teachers will receive a stipend paid by the state for it. However, the bill states that the items in the bill will go into effect for the 2021-2022 school year. This means teachers’ districts will likely have to cover the cost the first year for this TEKS program and anything else the bill requires teachers be trained to align with its requirements.
Conclusion.
The Brookings Institution said it best, in my opinion:
CRT does not attribute racism to white people as individuals or even to entire groups of people. Simply put, critical race theory states that U.S. social institutions (e.g., the criminal justice system, education system, labor market, housing market, and healthcare system) are laced with racism embedded in laws, regulations, rules, and procedures that lead to differential outcomes by race
Teachers are professionals and it is important they be able to teach an accurate history of the United States. It is so curious to me that so much of the conversation around CRT and the “indoctrination” narrative is focused around White people. Minority children deserve to learn about their history, not only because it happened, but also for them to feel seen. Completely ignoring huge parts of our history that is still impacting how children grow up today is unacceptable. When it comes to how students process this in the classroom, teaching kids how to have uncomfortable conversations and how to sit with things is an incredibly important life skill.
We have to learn from our history. We have to understand how we got here today. If we can’t reconcile our past, we are going to continue to fail at addressing systemic racism in this country. Part of being an American should be to be sad, disappointed, and heartbroken at our nation’s past, to process it, and then to engage with our government to improve our country. We all need to go through this process to have the empathy and understanding of why we are here today.
On a side note, one of the things I remember most fondly from my American history class is writing my Senators and the President. It is so sad to me to think that teachers will not be able to show our kids how the government is here for them. That they should take an interest in and engage with the government. And, how important their engagement in government leads to the betterment of our society.
Cover Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
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