In 1957, nine Black students enrolled in an all-white High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Federal troops sent in by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, escorted the children into the school. The “Little Rock Nine” as they came to be known, would become the first instance of racial integration within the American public education system. [1] 63 years later, in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, the issue of racial integration into the school system was brought up again. But this time involving the Critical Race Theory, its position in the school curriculum and the political ploy to end the conversation altogether.
Bills limiting the teaching of concepts like racial equity and white privilege have been proposed or passed and signed into law, in half of the 50 states of the US. [2]
Critical Race Theory, a widely studied subject in graduate school, was introduced as way of studying racism, not as a personal belief, but as a structured phenomenon deeply embedded in American politics and institutions. It argues that the consequence of slavery, Jim Crowe and segregation has been long lasting, resulting in the modern inequalities very much prevalent in the system. [3] The incarceration rates of black Americans are disproportionately higher than white Americans. [4] The Anti-Drug Abuse Act, 1986, levied harsher penalties against the possession of crack cocaine (5 years for 5 grams), used widely in black neighbourhoods than powder cocaine (5 years for 500 grams). [5] A black family with a new baby has a median household income of $36,300, whereas for a similar white family it is $80,000. [6]
In a country where slavery was legal for 246 years and illegal for 155, where it stood as the very foundation of its early economy, the term, “slavery” has been mentioned 104 times in Massachusetts history textbooks, 4 times in Louisiana and twice in Idaho. [7]
So, what is all the aggravation about Critical Race Theory if there is barely a mention in the classroom of the greatest racist exploitation in American history?
In 2020, with the murder of George Floyd and the propulsion of the Black Lives Matter movement, Critical Race Theory, a term never heard before by most Americans made a comeback. In September 2020, Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, in an interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News, spoke out about Critical Race Theory, as being “weaponized against the American people”. His investigation reportedly exposes it as “occult indoctrination” reeking “danger, destruction and division”. [8] The broadcast alarmed several of its ardent viewers – one of them being the then president, Donald Trump. In response, Trump issued a memo warning federal agencies against using taxpayer dollars to fund “divisive, un-American propaganda training sessions”.
"The President has a proven track record of standing for those whose voice has long been ignored and who have failed to benefit from all our country has to offer, and he intends to continue to support all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or creed." - Excerpt from the memo issued by the Executive office
Image Credit: Samuel Corum/Getty Images
The use of the term escalated quickly from there, to include loosely related activities such as diversity training in the workplace and lessons on the civil rights movement The Biden Administration repealed Trumps directive, but a trend ensued among Republican State legislators adopting similar bans but this time, within schools. An entire year later, on September 29th, 2021, GOP lawmakers of Wisconsin voted in favour of a statewide civic bill that would ban teaching concepts such as implicit bias and systemic racism in public and private schools. Though there is no known evidence that these subjects are taught in K-12 Wisconsin schools apart from in academic journals.
Among the topics banned would be: Social Emotional Learning, diversity, equity and inclusion, culturally responsive teaching, anti-racism, conscious and unconscious bias, culturally responsive practices, diversity training, equity, micro-aggressions, multiculturalism, patriarchy, restorative justice, social justice, systemic racism, white privilege, white supremacy and “woke,” among others. [9]
MEDIA AND CRITICAL RACE THEORY
Adopting Critical Race Theory as part of the K-12 curriculum has become a highly contentious issue in American politics, a topic of debate between school boards and parents, between liberals and conservatives, and within the media across the spectrum. Media coverage of race and racism is usually divided right down the middle. The coverage of CRT is not much different.
Much like how BLM protesters are grouped with looters, sending a clouded message to the public about their message and core beliefs, the term CRT has also been used loosely to refer to a blanket of subjects surrounding inclusivity and racial equity. From 2012 to 2019, CRT was mentioned four times on Fox News. In 2020, it was mentioned 132 times. In 2021, the number surged to 1,860, according to the media monitoring service, Critical Mention. [10]
To understand the position of media further we can study the coverage of two outlets on Critical Race Theory. The National Review and The Atlantic - both are on either side of the political spectrum and both execute long form style narrative. Please note the National Review does publish more frequently than The Atlantic, consequently producing more content on CRT.
When looking into the origins of CRT, the common trend is that conservative media brings it back to the 1930s whereas liberal media starts with the 1970s.
The National Review and The New York Post, explain CRT as a radical academic discipline rooted in a 1930s movement pioneered by German Marxist thinkers known as “Critical Theory”. In concise terms, Critical Theory conveys that the nature of society rests in “power dynamics” and is the principle obstacle to human liberation. The theory seeks to liberate humans from the circumstances of such social constructs that enslave them. The National Review says CRT takes this social constructivism and applies it in the terms of race. [11] The link towards Marxism is a tactic to drive the audiences attention to an 'us and them' conclusion, nodding their heads towards Socialism - which is why the article goes on to explain Critical Theory for five whole paragraphs.
The Atlantic and The New York Times account of CRT begins much later, in the 1970s with Derrick Bell, the late Harvard Law professor deemed the father of the discipline. Connecting American law with race, Bell resigned from his post due to Harvard’s discriminatory hiring practices. In 1981, his black students, with Kimberlé Crenshaw at the forefront, led discussions on Bell’s book “Race, Racism and American Law.” Their approach to anti-racism went beyond civil rights, affirmative action and other measures and instead embraced historically racist practices that is embedded within current American institutions. [12] The article does not mention Critical Theory in the same way the National Review does not mention CRT as studying racism from an institutional perspective rather than at the individual level.
The ongoing narrative antagonizing CRT has been obsessively adopted by conservative media and the GOP state legislatures. It is a clear agenda setting tactic by conservative media, to tackle the indisputable protests against police brutality and racial bias. The narrative has shifted towards looters, rioters and a distorted logic of CRT. In the National Review article “How Critical Race Theory Works”, the reporter explains author and activist, Ibram X. Kendi’s work on “How to be an Anti-Racist” as, “…unless and until black Americans discriminate negatively against white Americans for as long and to the same degree as black Americans have been oppressed themselves over the past 400 years, white people can have no legitimate objection to the policies that critical race theorists want to pursue”. [11] To the contrary, Kendi writes that “An antiracist policy is any measure that produces or sustains racial equity between racial groups.” [13]
The narrative has shifted towards looters, rioters and a distorted logic of Critical Race theory.
Another article in the National Review “Tracking Critical Race Theory”, is worded very harshly against the left, “… (On CRT) a lunatic doctrine propounded by obscure leftists at overpriced northeastern colleges…” It goes on to warn its readers about CRT’s proliferation in K-12 education and how it moved beyond mere lunacy to being outright dangerous. [14] But what is interesting is that, it provides a link directed towards parents, to track the nature and extent of CRT at 200 colleges. Within this link, one can click through to see ‘primary school resources’ for K-12. The majority of resources provided criticize CRT and illustrates how to tackle it. [15] There is no explanation of the actual CRT curriculum or its subject matter. In fact, the CRT curriculum is regularly omitted from their articles.
The National Review also brought to light a video of Sam Richards, Sociology professor at Penn State “publicly shaming” a white, male student for the benefit of having white skin. Another video calls out Michelle Leete, a staffer for the Virginia PTA, condemning opponents of CRT to death. As the audience watch these videos, they latch onto a very negative idea of what CRT is. And once the grave is dug deep enough, it is very hard to get out. Teachers are growing more hesitant to discuss life lessons of racial equity and diversity in class. [16]
“To be antiracist is to think nothing is behaviourally wrong or right- inferior or superior- with any of the racial groups. Whenever the antiracist sees individuals behaving positively or negatively, the antiracist sees exactly that: individuals behaving positively or , not representatives of whole races. To be antiracist is to deracialize behavior, to remove the tattooed stereotype from every racialized body. Behavior is something humans do, not races do.”
― Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist
Image Credit: Stephen Voss
Since there is no clear answer of what a CRT curriculum entails in the context of K-12 education, the balance of media coverage is heavily weighted in favour of conservative media.
Contributing writer for The Atlantic, Ibram X. Kendi sets the record straight in “There is No Debate Over Critical Race Theory.” He writes, “politicians have created their own definition of CRT and set about attacking it.” Beyond that, critiques of CRT are making up not just their claims but also the sources on which they base their claims. Although clarifying what CRT entails is a recurring theme in The Atlantic and The New York Times, Kendi seems to have lost hope in this regard, “What we write doesn’t matter to the people arguing with themselves.” Kendi calls out inconsistencies, misquotes and misinterpretations in the works of journalist Matthew Yglesias of The Washington Post and columnist Ross Douthat of The New York Times.
The Atlantic’s “The GOP’s ‘Critical Race Theory’ Obsession”, is a refreshing read as it provides examples and context of institutional racism in past public policy decisions. It sheds light on the Federal Housing Authority’s role in redlining and racial covenants, something that was banned 60 years ago but still affects the gap in homeownership. It counters the common assumption that black people are reduced to their blackness and white people to their whiteness. It confirms the academic position CRT was meant to take - as moving beyond racist tendencies and actions of the individual and confronting it as an institutional system.
“The problem is not bad people. The problem is a system that reproduces bad outcomes.” - MARI MATSUDA, LAW PROFESSOR AT UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII, AN EARLY DEVELOPER OF CRITICAL RACE THEORY
The reality of the situation is that about a dozen bills have been introduced in their respective State Legislatures in the past year, barring schools and organizations from endorsing “divisive concepts”. [2] The language of these bills is just as elusive as the media coverage of it. It holds the serious threat of impeding a much-needed discussion among children in a safe, moderated environment on the topics of identity, culture, inclusivity, understanding and respect for their country and its true history. The introduction of such bills paired with media’s assault and disregard for ethical journalism threatens to ravage the First Amendment of the American Constitution and the very future of the United States of America.
Project by: Ayilya Thampuran
Bibliography
[1] History.com Editors. (2020, February 10). Little Rock Nine. HISTORY; A&E Television Networks. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/central-high-school-integration
[2] Map: See which states have passed critical race theory bills. (n.d.). NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/map-see-which-states-have-passed-critical-race-theory-bills-n1271215
[3] George, J. (2021, January 12). A Lesson on Critical Race Theory. Www.americanbar.org. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/civil-rights-reimagining-policing/a-lesson-on-critical-race-theory/
[4] Gramlich, J. (2019, April 30). The gap between the number of blacks and whites in prison is shrinking. Pew Research Center; Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/30/shrinking-gap-between-number-of-blacks-and-whites-in-prison/
[5] Difference Between Crack and Cocaine: Ingredients & Effects. (2019). American Addiction Centers. https://americanaddictioncenters.org/cocaine-treatment/differences-with-crack
[6] Lieber, R., & Bernard, T. S. (2020, June 16). The Stark Racial Inequity of Personal Finances in America. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/your-money/race-income-equality.html
[7] What do students learn about slavery? It depends where they live. (2019, August 29). Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/08/28/what-do-students-learn-about-slavery-it-depends-where-they-live/
[8] Critical Race Theory Has Infiltrated the Federal Government | Christopher Rufo on Fox News. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBXRdWflV7M&t=45s
[9] Journal, R. V. | W. S. (n.d.). Wisconsin Assembly passes ban on teaching critical race theory. Madison.com. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/wisconsin-assembly-passes-ban-on-teaching-critical-race-theory/article_1e53044a-8047-58c7-9560-368ae54fb588.html
[10] Kendi, I. X. (2021, July 9). There Is No Debate Over Critical Race Theory. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/opponents-critical-race-theory-are-arguing-themselves/619391/
[11] How Critical Race Theory Works. (2021, May 8). National Review. https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/05/how-critical-race-theory-works/
[12] Harris, A. (2021, May 7). The GOP’s “Critical Race Theory” Obsession. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/05/gops-critical-race-theory-fixation-explained/618828/
[13] Ibram X. Kendi defines what it means to be an antiracist. (n.d.). Www.penguin.co.uk. https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/june/ibram-x-kendi-definition-of-antiracist.html
[14] Tracking Critical Race Theory. (2021, February 5). National Review. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/tracking-critical-race-theory/
[15] K-12. (n.d.). Critical Race Training in Education. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://criticalrace.org/k-12/
[16] Critical race theory: What you need to know in Michigan | Bridge Michigan. (n.d.). Www.bridgemi.com. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://www.bridgemi.com/talent-education/critical-race-theory-what-you-need-know-michigan
Title Photo Credits: Bettman/Bettman Archive and CNS/Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein