What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack?

[diehardblue]

Is “critical race theory” a way of understanding how American racism has shaped public policy, or a divisive discourse that pits people of color against white people? Liberals and conservatives are in sharp disagreement.

The topic has exploded in the public arena this spring—especially in K-12, where numerous state legislatures are debating bills seeking to ban its use in the classroom.

In truth, the divides are not nearly as neat as they may seem. The events of the last decade have increased public awareness about things like housing segregation, the impacts of criminal justice policy in the 1990s, and the legacy of enslavement on Black Americans. But there is much less consensus on what the government’s role should be in righting these past wrongs. Add children and schooling into the mix and the debate becomes especially volatile.

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05

[rampartc]

1. it is the current boogie man to "teach communism to our children"

right up there with "common core" "cancel culture" and "political correctness" for meaningless catch phrase,

incredibly, there were a few good quotes at the rwnj site "hot air" ....

https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2021/05/19/critical-race-theory-and-the-paradox-of-the-heap-n391156

I have some critiques of critical race theory. But I think what we’re really arguing about isn’t even critical race theory, especially when we’re talking about the use of CRT in schools. It’s a proxy war, not a genuine disagreement. An academic theory has become a weaponized catchall term for Republicans to rail against whatever they think “wokeness” is and retain the status quo.

[janterry]

2. again, I disagree

it's how it's being taught.

The theory is fine. I am okay with teaching many theories in schools. But making kids (or adults) have to stand up and say yes I am racist because I am white. (Yes, that happens). Also having to identify yourself by race/gender/religion (yes, yes, yes, I had to do all of those things in my CRT class - and more).

Honestly, the lack of understanding is really disheartening.

As I've written before, CRT is interesting. Potentially illuminating. The way it is being taught in some places? Absolutely not. BTDT

otoh, quite a robust debate in the comment section. That is good for us all.

[OneGrassRoot]

4. Was that teacher following Robin D'Angelo?

Curious whose recommendations/guidance encouraged that approach.

[janterry]

6. I was on the earliest wave of this

in graduate school. (in the late 90's). So, imagine my shock to read that the same essay we read (Unpacking the invisible backpack) was being read in CRT today. A starting point, if you will.

I don't remember D'Angelo - I think she picked up the wave later. TBH, it was so long ago.

But I for sure remember that we all were basically told that if we didn't say we were racist (if we were white), we wouldn't get a good grade. It was explicit. That is what is happening in some classes today.

I remember saying something like I did have privilege and was part of a racist culture because I'm white but somehow didn't say *I'm* racist.

I got a B+, my only B in grad school.

Anyway, I'm not sure where that approach came from - but it's not uncommon. (Can't say for sure how common it is - it would be nice to know). D'Angelo's approach (from what I can see) absolutely does make you 'come out' with all your so-called identities and 'own' your racism.

If I were out and working right now - I wouldn't want to do that to my colleagues. (Hi, I'm this age, this sexual preference, this background, this religion). Oh, and racist, privileged, part of a racist culture.

That seems over the top (too revealing, too forceful). That is common in all CRT classes, work 'seminars' today. If you fail to do that, keep quiet or try to keep some parts of yourself quiet - you are told that is privileged and wrong (called out in the seminar for making a 'power' move).

[RobinA]

34. I Could Have Written

your post. I graduated from grad school in 2005 (I was much older than your average student.) I was in undergraduate during the looking at samenesses rather than differences era. In grad school I took diversity class during my last semester. I had done my internship (I was in psychology) and was glad to be taking diversity class because now I was going to learn about the differences in outlook between various ethnic groups so I could better help them. I was particularly interested in the differences between Asian cultures, because I had run into various Asian ethnicities during my internship.

HA, was I wrong. Diversity class was about me and what a racist I was because I was white. How racism is unique to whites, etc. And how whites were hopeless in this respect. The entire text book was on that note. I already knew that racism wasn't limited to whites, in fact, I already knew that ganging up on the minority group wasn't limited to humans. That loud bang? My mind slamming shut. I remember wondering what the half of the class who was black was supposed to get out of the experience. Did the class tell me ANYTHING about how Cambodians versus Koreans looked at the world, which is what I had hoped for? Nope, not a thing. And yeah, certain responses were expected or you were down graded. And it was my only B in grad school. So did this experience make me go out and try to atone for my white horribleness? Nope. It made me mostly unwilling to engage on the subject of race at all. So my opinion of CRT, which has only gotten more off-putting, is that it is very divisive.

[hunter]

36. My wife, a "woman of color," always calls me out whenever she sees me exercising my white privilege.

Sometimes she'll kick my shins, hard, under the table.

I've been bruised.

Any similar criticisms I've suffered in my university or work experience seem trivial.

I'm white. I grew up white in a community that was 99% white.

Even though I haven't lived in majority white communities for two thirds of my life now, I still screw up on occasion.

There's a lot of baggage that comes along with being white.

I accept it, discard the worst of it, and move on. It takes some energy not to be the clueless white guy in the room.

[janterry]

39. so would you like to see this in the workplace?

You'd be requiring people to disclose some (and perhaps all) of the following:

personal information related to their family history, their current family makeup, their sexual orientation - perhaps medical conditions. Religion, too.

And how often? Yearly? (Most trainings are yearly).

[hunter]

41. I saw all sorts of weirdness when I worked as an employee.

When I was a teacher some of the mandatory staff meetings were surrealistic -- the latest educational theories presented as a game of cumulative error. A game of Telephone or Chinese Whispers.

Holy shit! Can I say that?

At another place I worked everyone was gathered together on the factory floor at 7:00 A.M. each morning, from the top managers to the night janitors, for a weird pep-talk followed by this stretching exercise yoga thing. Even the Stephen Hawking wheelchair guy was into it. Some of the women would strip down to their sports bras.

This was that corporation's own home grown answer to their Japanese competition, possibly designed by the CEO's New Age wife.

What that company really needed to do, at least from my perspective, was give more authority and a bigger budget to the Quality Control staff, and make at least some effort to retain entry level workers instead of treating them like disposable commodities. I didn't last long at that place. It wasn't because of the weird yoga stuff.

It's impossible to grow up in the U.S.A. without being infected by the endemic racism here. It's a childhood disease. It infects adults as well. Adult symptoms can be much more severe.

If you are white, even if you pass as white, it doesn't matter what your family situation is, it doesn't matter if you have a parent or spouse who isn't white, or a parent or spouse who is queer, etc..

"Colorblind" white people are annoying. So are people who "don't care" if LGBTQ people marry. Etc..

I exist in a family that aggressively protects people who are not straight. My parents were working in Hollywood, aspiring artists, when they met in the 'fifties. The house I grew up in always had some queer person sleeping on the living room sofa or some black guy harmlessly flirting with my mom. (My octogenarian artist parents, monogamous and faithful and bonded for life, nevertheless, are equal opportunity flirts.)

I want to live in a world where everyone can be out and proud, most especially those who have been oppressed by straight white U.S.A..

My religion? My medical conditions? My sexuality? I'm not shy about those, on DU or anywhere else. I do, however, recognize I am a very fortunate human. By the grace of God or Sacred Random Chance I landed in a place where none of those things killed me.

I've known people who were not so lucky.

[janterry]

49. I've always hated those ice breakers

(indeed, had to run a few groups which required them .

but I think the level of self-disclosure at these events (they almost have the quality of an encounter group) will bubble up as right to privacy issues (I'm no lawyer, but I suspect so).

I guess we'll see what happens. I have no idea how this will all play out.

[janterry]

38. ita

it really isn't what people think

[StarfishSaver]

40. Poor you

It's a wonder you've managed to go on after such an ordeal.

[Devil Child]

63. That's very dismissive of RobinA's lived experience. Try looking through their eyes.

It will help you understand and be a better ally in the fight against racism.

[StarfishSaver]

69. Yes it was dismissive. Intentionally so

I often dismiss attempts to turn discussions about addressing systemic racism into laments about how distressing it is for white people to have to bear the insufferable burden of having to discuss how systemic racism and privilege work in America.

As an African-American woman, I don't need lectures on how to be "a better ally in the fight against racism" - and I'm sick of white people who claim to be allies whining about how they're being victimized and underappreciated whenever they are expected to do anything more challenging or inconvenient than simply say they oppose racism in America.

[Devil Child]

71. I'm sick of lectures too.

A sincere happy Saturday to you StarfishSaver.

[TraceNC]

89. Amen!

When you want to teach something and/or spread a message, the absolute last thing you want to do is consider how it’s landing with people in an effort to make it more receptive. That will really make the mission more effective! After all, the goal shouldn’t be to get the message through to people; the goal should be to keep hammering it home regardless of whether you’re really making an impact and advancing change.

[StarfishSaver]

92. Funny thing

This has nothing to do with how anything is taught or how "it lands" with white people.

This is about white people not wanting the subject matter to be taught at all.

Too many white people are not interested at all in learning about any history that is not centered on them and their nobility and exceptionalism. These people turn any discussion that doesn't suit them into a battlefield in which they complain that they're being mistreated and insulted and then insist that the conversation must stop until it is done in a manner more to their liking.

So you can snark all you want. But this has nothing to do with how this topic is taught. It's about the continuing resistance that white Americans have to shifting paradigms that don't allow them to fully control the narrative.

[StarfishSaver]

5. One of the main reasons it's being taught in different ways

is that it's never been treated as an essential part of education or history, so there is no uniform standard for it.

And that provides the additional bonus of making it susceptible for attacks that "it's being taught all wrong" that allow it to be further undermined by people who couldn't care less HOW it's taught - they just want it to go away

[janterry]

7. I honestly don't know

I guess I would like educators to sort of dialogue about this - and think through this robustly. I read somewhere that this was being introduced with very young children (is it?).

I just don't know. In the initial aftermath (well, not quite initially, lol) - I thought it was helpful. But recently I have begun to see that it could have been done differently.

I also don't regret one bit trying to thread the needle (telling the professor what she sort of wanted to hear BUT keeping my private life private). I remember the angst of trying to figure out how to do that (and not get a C).

D'Angelo says that discomfort is important.

I think she's wrong. I'm entitled to my private life. I am also quite capable of reflecting on the ways that my race has given me privilege without having to talk about my family system, my intimate culture, and so forth.

Or, if I do - do so voluntarily. Because I want to share some parts of who I am. That was not my experience of CRT. And from what I see, it's often not that - for many.

In short - I welcome a more interesting dialogue about how to teach CRT.

[David__77]

46. I support students declaring their position on white supremacy.

And I would hope they all stand opposed. Racism is not an abstract history lesson- it is a force to confront today.

[Cosmocat]

3. Every time, EVERY time

Democrats or liberals go down these ratcoles they lose.

[BannonsLiver]

43. It's a total loser politically. Zero upside.

[wellst0nev0ter]

47. Someone should tell Biden that

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-george-floyd-congress-systemic-racism_n_608a0e00e4b0c15313efcc35

[BannonsLiver]

48. Not even remotely the same.

[wellst0nev0ter]

51. You and I aren't systemic racists, right?

So why is Biden calling out systemic racism?

Our country faces converging economic, health, and climate crises that have exposed and exacerbated inequities, while a historic movement for justice has highlighted the unbearable human costs of systemic racism.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government/

[StarfishSaver]

60. Individuals aren't "systemic racists"

But they can be and are part of and help perpetuate (often unknowingly) racist systems.

That's how SYSTEMIC racism works.

[Bucky]

87. But if you're a person working in the system racism, are you a racist?

That's where the terminology gets problematic. It turns analysis of social defects into personal insults, which tends to bring productive conversations to a halt.

[StarfishSaver]

91. You need to do some research about systemic racism

Terminology does not "bring productive conversations to a halt."

People who aren't interested in actually having any conversation that makes them uncomfortable, isn't centered on them and their feelings and needs, requires them to do anything beyond accepting thanks and praise for being an ally, who whine that any suggestion that they (or other similarly-situated white people) are not perfect in all matters related to race and could learn more and do better is a personal insult to them, and who believe that they should be the ones who decide what is discussed, when it's discussed, and how it should be discussed and if the discussions are not to their liking, threaten to walk away and blame people of color for being "divisive" are what halts these conversations

If you want to criticize "terminology," I suggest you first take the time to do a minimum amount of research about the terminology you're complaining about so you have at least a baseline understanding of what you're talking about. You might want to first Google "systemic racism." There's plenty of information online about what it is and isn't and how it works.

[Botany]

8. It is also about keeping the myth of the "Founding and birth of America" alive

America was built on slavery, racism, and the largest genocide in history of the native peoples.

[Klaralven]

62. largest genocide in history of the native peoples ?

That's pretty dubious. I think that prize goes to the former Spanish and Portuguese colonies of Latin America. Native populations there were much larger than in the area that is now the US. And the diseases brought by them spread North from Mexico and Florida before other Europeans arrived.

[Botany]

72. Sorry speaking in general terms .... I included all of the Americas both north and south and what ..

... happened to the indigenous people and their societies because of the Europeans in the post Colombian times.

[Bucky]

88. I think you get into a reception problem when you go big with that kind of terminology

America's founding included slavery, racism, and a near genocide (there's still American Indians around). But when you ignore all the other ideas, economics, legalities, and cultural factors involved in the founding, you're engaged in a cherry picking almost as tunnel-visioned as the schmaltzy Yankee Doodle mythology.

[StarfishSaver]

95. How does teaching about slavery and racism ignore all other aspects of the nation's founding"?

This is a red herring.

It is not the responsibility of critical race theory to encompass every aspect of the American experience, any more than Holocaust studies must include a full analysis of all German history or feminist studies are invalid or inappropriate unless they include every other point of American history.

The point of critical race theory and related studies is to INCLUDE in existing curricula information that has long been excluded, not to require that information to be all-encompassing in and of itself. Any expectations that it should is the very essence of the white history-centered mentality that we are trying to move beyond.

[Bucky]

97. Teaching about slavery and racism doesn't ignore the full story

I know, because I do it every year as an American social studies teacher.

It was your statement "America was built on slavery, racism, and the largest genocide in history of the native peoples" that leaves things out.

We cover the rhetoric, the ideals, the historical facts, the contradictions, and the hypocrisies. We teach how slavery and the deliberate displacement of American Indians was part of the mix.

But unlike with your statement, we don't stop there. We teach history, not hyperbole.

[StarfishSaver]

99. I did not make that statement

But it's true.

That statement clearly was not meant to include every single factor involved in the founding of this country.

America was founded on numerous things, slavery, genocide, etc., being among the most significant. Insisting that one can't say this country was founded on slavery, genocide, etc. without referencing every other ideal, industry, or activity involved in the nation's founding is pretty much.

Kind of like hijacking "Black Lives Matter" with "ALL lives matter!!!"

[Bucky]

100. I literally copied your words from upthread

[StarfishSaver]

104. You "literally copied" Botany, not me

So perhaps you should stop laughing. The joke's on you.

[Devil Child]

106. Ha! Even I can acknowledge you being right on this one.

[StarfishSaver]

112. Lol!

:

[tonedevil]

105. Do you always self own like this? /nt

[LiberatedUSA]

9. I remember reading an article not long ago...

...about parents at a NYC private school being cornered into getting actively involved in this stuff. Anyone who tried to just remain quiet was labeled racist.

That is some shady tactics that won’t be received well from many who would otherwise be on the side of BLM.

People who are lucky enough to make their money through investments, as opposed to typical jobs are lucky they don’t have this worry of offending people, especially the Twitter crowd for what they say or DON’T say. Kinda hard to get someone fired when they don’t rely on a boss for money. They are immune to this stuff. They can basically say “oh I pissed you off and you are gonna Twitter me to get me fired? Good luck, I don’t need to work.”

[janterry]

10. Yes, they did this

and I just read online that 8 year olds were discussing their power identities (they had to list these things) in a class in California until parents objected.

In this case, with such young children - it's almost psychological. I just don't think that's the right approach.

There is an interesting discussion to be had about CRT - we just aren't having it in this country. It's politicized and toxic.

I am constantly disappointed in our inability to discuss hard concepts (as a country) to try to sort out the best approaches.

[StarfishSaver]

12. Wow

I can't believe I'm reading these comments on a Democratic board.

Check that. I should believe it and should also expect this after what I keep seeing around here.

It's no longer surprising to see progressives complain that critical race theory is not being taught to them properly as evidenced by the way one school does it, but if only the people teaching it did a better job of presenting it in ways that didn't make them in any way uncomfortable, they'd be more accepting of it.

[janterry]

13. 8 year olds

That's third grade. My daughter (who is just about to graduate HS) believed in Santa in third grade.

I should add, this class is not my story. But the teacher stopped due to parental pressure. If you want discussions that are helpful, it's apparent that you have to get parents on board and they have to think this is productive. In this case, they did not.

And, as you know, one lawsuit against CRT was brought by a young man (a teen at the time) who was biracial. The school has capitulated (they initially gave him an F).

If we can't discuss a theory - well.

There are subtle and interesting conversations that could be had. That's what democracy promotes - anything less would be illiberal. I can't see anyway around that.

Not sure we (as a country) can do that.

[StarfishSaver]

20. You're not discussing a theory

You're complaining about a theory based on how a school is teaching it.

That's like questioning whether science should be taught in American schools because a school somewhere did it all wrong and some parents aren't "on board with it" - and claiming you're discussing scientific theory.

[janterry]

24. You can dismiss me if you want

I honestly don't care.

[StarfishSaver]

26. You're not being dismissed. Your perspective is being challenged.

[janterry]

29. Then you must teach it as a fallibilist

since that is how we understand all science.

[Claire Oh Nette]

83. What a load of crap.

You were owned, and then you scurried off to find a big word you thought no one else would know.

Your link didn't support your claim.

I notice you've gone silent, as well.

Pfffft.

Be afraid of culturally responsive teaching because your gift C- son, Pastey McWhiteass might have to learn not to be a racist frat boy in training.

[janterry]

86. LOL

You don't know what you are talking about.

(I studied that big word in a PhD program. I BELIEVE in it. And I believe in the fundamentals of pedagogy -- I believe in instilling independence of thought in children).

You can try to talk down to me. Or insult me. I don't care.

[gabeana]

98. You got destroyed just deal with it

[janterry]

101. I stand by what I wrote

Teach it like a fallibilist and I'm fine with it.

Otherwise, no, I am not.

[Devil Child]

93. Intentional mis-gendering of a poster's child in 2021 is quite telling

That's a big oof! Let's unpack this. Janterry clearly indicated that "Pastey McWhiteass" is their daughter. Also, why do you assume she is a C student? Commiting assumicide.

[janterry]

102. I'm deleting this because

Last edited Sun May 23, 2021, 05:10 PM - Edit history (2)

I can't always glean what I should from a post.

Apologies if I didn't (sorry!)

[Claire Oh Nette]

82. Calling bullshit

I just read online that 8 year olds were discussing their power identities


Well, that means it happened, since it's always true on th einternet. "Cupertino," you said. Where I student taught at Cupertino High, teaching US history. Didn't count on that, didja?

I googled. Not a single credible, source. All right wing epoch times, Washington examiner, as reported by a parent who infiltrated a class and used words no 3rd grader understood. For what appeared to be 100% Me: a math art project.



Bon jour!!

[janterry]

107. You really don't get it, do you

You want to be right, and yet you don't understand what I've written

I mean that sincerely. It's what I see.

I have said quite clearly, teach crt as a fallibilist and it could be done so constructively. Do you understand what that means?

smh

[Claire Oh Nette]

108. Indeed I do.

You said they were teaching this to third graders, and they were not. Your links spoke of parents objecting to teacher diversity training, not classroom instruction.

I'm sure your PhD program makes you an expert on actual teaching in actual classrooms of Cupertino students.

I'll ask you to identify the Common Core State Standards that call for graduate level discourse in K-12.

Having taught actual students and led actual discussions anchored in actual text of both primary source documents and novels, I will stand by my experience in public schools in three states.

This is race biting and scare mongering. But sure, 3rd graders are discussing the intersectionalism of race and law when they aren't learning their times tables and how to read a map.
YMMV

[janterry]

109. Jeepers, I leave you to your echo chamber

I can't see why it makes you feel successful. But it must.

[StarfishSaver]

110. You getting schooled so effectively you can't respond is not an "echo chamber."

You just don't seem to know how to handle the fact that you have been been exposed.

[StarfishSaver]

11. You're using the behavior of one private school to judge the entire CRT approach?

And what do you mean "won’t be received well from many who would otherwise be on the side of BLM"?

Are you really saying that white people will stop opposing police brutality against Black people in America because they don't like how a private school in Manhattan teaches critical race theory?

Seriously?

And folk are asking why CRT is important.

[LiberatedUSA]

19. Not at all.

Anyone who would stop supporting the movement based on the shady actions of a few, probably didn’t believe in the movement in the first place.

Those shady actions still will rub allies the wrong way. Trying to manipulate people into voicing the correct thing to say works about as well as telling a child to say they are sorry. If you have to be told to say it, you saying it doesn’t mean you mean it.

[StarfishSaver]

25. So, why even mention BLM?

Lots of things "rub allies the wrong way." Why should that have any effect on their commitment to the cause?

Even more things that allies do and say rub US the wrong way - including complaining about being "rubbed the wrong way" whenever anyone says or does something that makes them even slightly uncomfortable. We deal with it without constantly whining about it and focus on the cause. They should try it

[Amishman]

14. CRT suffers from the same image problem as BLM, for the same reasons

Both are used as labels to cover opinions / behavior that goes too far. Those bad examples make for the best (controversy makes for ratings) media stories and also get repeated by racist rightwingers as they feed into their paranoia.

An aggressive, confrontational approach to racial issues is counterproductive.

[uponit7771]

21. There are always "bad examples" why are "bad examples" of CRT being extrapolated? tia

I already know they answer, giving racist objections credibility doesn't help

[Cuthbert Allgood]

28. "...for the same reasons..." You mean racism?

Because that's why BLM has an image problem. Because people don't want to face their racism.

And in regard to racism, the non-aggressive, non-confrontational approach has worked so well over the last centuries.

[StarfishSaver]

30. "An aggressive, confrontational approach to racial issues is counterproductive."?

Maybe we should draw attention to this in a passive, quiet, "non-confrontational" way - like kneeling quietly.

Oh, wait a minute.

I'm starting to think that for some of y'all, "aggressive and confrontational" really means you can see and hear us.

[Claire Oh Nette]

17. Parents at a private school?

Private Schools aren't bound by the same regulations and curricular standards as public schools. The hue and cry is about teaching Critical Race Theory in public schools. Parents are not the concern, since they're already out of school.

Public schools have to follow the Common Core. CRT is not part of the common core. Asking students to read actual documents from the actual historical era under study does not mean we're teaching graduate level legal analysis.

CRT is Right-wing code: But they're calling me a racist...
BLM is Right Wing code: Black people.
Cancel is RW code: You mean the golden rule applies to me, too?

[LiberatedUSA]

18. Can you clarify something for me?

You said BLM is right wing code for black people.

I am so confused by this, I just need to understand what you are saying. BLM was started by black people for the racial injustices that continue to happen on a daily basis at the hands of mostly white police officers.

How is that code for rightwingers? I mean the slogan specifically addresses the race of those who have consistently been murdered. I feel like that would be like trying to say the NAACP is rightwing code for black people.

Am I missing something here?

[Claire Oh Nette]

22. Depends on who's using it, I should say.

One of the women captured on video at the January 6 insurrection said, "They're not supposed to shoot at us! They're supposed to shoot at BLM!"

Now, how might "they" determine who is BLM and who isn't in a protest march? Not every marcher carries signs, so what might be the give away some one is BLM?

When a Right Winger uses the term "BLM" they mean Black people, or, in the most expansive definition, "Black & Latino Men." They can't bring themselves to say "Black lives matter" because they don't believe they do. BLM = code for Black people.



YMMV

[StarfishSaver]

31. BLM has absolutely no relevance to this particular discussion

Yet it's been invoked here, just as it often is whenever discussing anything relating to race that makes white people uncomfortable.

It is, indeed, code.

[Claire Oh Nette]

33. Exactly

That's my point.

CRT and BLM are all code to those who will not accept white doesn't make right, or that the nation is indeed built on white supremacy and racism.

It's all loaded language and abstraction because acknowledging racism pains racist white people.

[Claire Oh Nette]

15. Critical Race Theory rises out of Critical Legal Studies

and is not being taught at the k-12 level.

Many of the bills state GOP have put forth want to ban teaching CRT, yet CRT is not in the Common Core State Standards for social studies.

This is university level stuff, if I'm not mistaken, graduate level analysis of legal structures predicated on two simple facts: white supremacy exists and is reinforced through the Law, and that it is entirely possible to change the relationship between law and racial power or lack thereof.

The CCSS ask students to read and evaluate primary source documents--ie the Constitution and the 3/5th compromise, or the 13th, 14th, 15th amendments--and draw their own conclusions.

I continue to point out that only one demographic group wrote their perceived superiority into the Constitution, then responded with anger and violence as civil rights and the vote expanded to other groups. Pretty sure it's not Black folks or women, or immigrants who did that.

[janterry]

27. It is being taught in some elementary schools

I have no idea how often - But it is. I guess it would be interesting to see how often.

I look forward to a robust discussion among academics about the utility of it in the lower grades - how it is being taught and other things.

These lawsuits don't encourage that (well, any attempts to shut down discourse doesn't encourage that).

Again, I have no problems with a theory being taught (even in HS). It's interesting. I'm not on board with some of the experiences that people are reporting (and the one I experienced).

[Claire Oh Nette]

32. Is it?

Love to see an article about that. Link?

Private schools aren't public schools.

Anecdotal reports aren't "teaching Critical Race Theory." What a parent says on line about what's happening in the classroom is dubious.

Elementary kids are well aware of different races, and they were teaching us about slavery and racism even when I was in school. Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) is not Critical Race Theory (CRT).

No one is teaching sociological, legal, cultural intersection of deliberate systemic racism to 3rd graders.

[LanternWaste]

53. Which elementary schools is it being taught at?

[janterry]

54. Was

in Cupertino California

and in MO middle school

https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/education/2021/05/19/springfield-mo-residents-debate-critical-race-theory-school-board-meeting/5150427001/

Again, I look for robust and interesting discussion about how to engage with theory in a classroom. I do not support illiberal ideas. I support teaching kids how to think, not what to think .

[StarfishSaver]

55. Did you actually read the article you linked to? It doesn't support your claim at all

Nowhere does the article say these schools are teaching Critical Race Theory. It says the schools are providing diversity training land that some crazy-sounding conservative activists are protesting and accusing them of teaching Critical Race Theory - which this is not. But if you read the article all the way through, you'll see that nowhere in the piece does it say the school is actually teaching CRT to students

Nearly 40 people stood before the Springfield school board Tuesday to either praise the district for offering diversity training or to accuse district officials of using critical race theory — as part of the training — to divide the community...

Springfield Public Schools implemented beefed-up diversity training a year ago as part of a set of goals related to improving diversity, equity and inclusion — such as closing the achievement gaps that exist for different groups of students.

"The district's efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion ought to be saluted and to be praised," said Wes Pratt, chief diversity officer at Missouri State University. "They are simply efforts to promote the value of the inclusion of diversity."
...
A line of parents, educators, taxpayers, college scholars, faith leaders and mental health professionals lined up to weigh in.

Many described conflicting views of critical race theory and its origins, based on their personal views or research...

A major concern raised about the theory, and the district's diversity training, is that all participants are asked to locate their place on a matrix of oppression and privilege. The placement is based on gender, class, race and other factors.

You fell for the gambit. People like these protesters respond to any discussion of race and diversity with hysterical cries of "CRITICAL RACE THEORY is being forced on our children!!!" and some people uncritically believe it. And then, instead of schools being able to provide even the simplest basic diversity training to staff or civics education to children, they're stuck trying to fight off these lies and distractions. That's exactly what happened here.

They know what they're doing. And they know that plenty of gullible people will be distracted and fooled.

Not only are you being played, you're helping carry out the strategy.

You should be more discerning.

[janterry]

57. Yes, I did

I fall for nothing

You have some study to do! You have fallen for postmodernism. I haven't. I don't think you understand what a fallibilist is.

Best of luck

[StarfishSaver]

58. Postmodernism ... fallibilism ... Blah blah blah

Your gobbledegook doesn't change the fact that the article doesn't say what you claimed it and that you are parroting false right wing distractions.

Your repetition of big words may fool some people, but I see right through you.

[janterry]

61. lol

n/t

[Claire Oh Nette]

77. School boards

The Missouri link does not say CRT is being taught in the classroom.
Parents are up in arms about teacher training. DIversity training is not CRT, either.

Where is Critical Race Theory actually being taught? Not discussed as a scare tactic by parents who have no idea what is in the standards, but taught to children?

It's not.

I look for reading comprehension.

Cupertino is where I student taught in 98-99. We did not teach CRT in US history to juniors. We taught from the California Framework for the Social Studies, where having teh kids read and react to primary source documents developed students' analysis, synthesis, and evaluation skills.

Teachers have to anchor what they teach to the Standards, and post grad legal theory isn't in the k-12 clasroom.

Nopety nope, nope.

[StarfishSaver]

80. There you go messing up perfectly good right wing propaganda with facts

[Claire Oh Nette]

81. I checked the Cupertino links he didn't send...

Every one was form some scurrilous right wing site like epoch news and the like.
A parent had infiltrated and reported and lots of spliced together phrases in quotes. Nothing in the San Jose Merc or the Santa Cruz Sentinel, so.....

Sounds like it was an art project on percentages in math class. 100% me.

You have them identify as many aspects of themselves, maybe write a poem, and it adds up to 100%.

The supposed questions and concepts being "taught" to these 3rd graders were no where near anything third graders learn.

Reading, reading, reading. Multiplication tables. Usually Neighborhoods and local history for social science.

I love it when people who don't teach talk about what teachers do and don't teach.

[treestar]

76. how is it in the law?

It's de facto at this point.

The 13th, 14th and 15th are law. The Civil Rights Act is law. Anti-discrimination laws, striking down Jim Crow laws, has been done by the law. Our system worked in that regard.

If you want to argue in carrying out the law, it has not worked perfectly, that is true. That is more about people's impressions. If juries are more likely to think someone is guilty due to skin color, that can be worked on.

[joetheman]

16. No matter how the privileged whites try to bury their own ugly history, blacks, Native Americans and

others will keep their true history alive. Blacks, just as Jews, will never ever allow their culture and history to be white-washed ore eliminated.

[uponit7771]

23. +1,

[RobinA]

35. Well That Would Be

a good thing. Because if all groups are having their true histories alive, everybody's episodes of ugly history will be open for understanding.

[Takket]

37. Well, it was completely banned. So this is progress right? Lol

[Zeitghost]

42. Critical Race Theory

Takes the inclusive message of the Civil Rights Movement that many of us grew up on, that states we should be judged on our character and try to be colorblind and replaces it with one in which all people and all circumstances MUST be viewed with skin color in mind. The previous model was far too successful in bringing people together and that can not be tolerated.

[Humanist_Activist]

44. Uhm, when was this magical time where people were brought together?

Not to mention a colorblind examination of history would lead to conclusions such as that the crack/cocaine sentencing disparity was strictly an economic/class issue, same thing for red lining, just banks and such protecting their bottom line there, no other reason! Or what about the disparities in drug arrests and convictions in general, while rates of use are about the same, certain folks were more likely to be arrested and sentenced for far longer than others, I wonder what the factor there could be? *cough*...racism.

[treestar]

75. Are you claiming no progress?

The Civil Rights Act was useless?

Affirmative Action?

Anti-discrimination laws, and the lawsuits that followed?

There has not been an increase in professionals of color? POC in Congress or at the top of the Executive Branch? Business owners?

These disparities are worse than they would have been - and are getting no better in spite of all of the above?

[Humanist_Activist]

78. You are arguing against something I did not claim, no use in arguing strawmen...

if you have a real argument, put it forward.

[janterry]

50. and ignores class

n/t

[Humanist_Activist]

66. Uhm that's because it isn't about class,

Do you get upset that marine biologists ignore burrowing mammals?

[janterry]

103. upset?

n/t

[Klaralven]

64. And the logical conclusion is that whites should avoid or be cautious in interacting with non-whites

If non-whites believe that all whites are representatives of a systemically racist system, then whites can expect that the default position of non-whites will be to regard them as adversaries.

Therefore, the logical course of action for whites is to avoid non-whites to the extent possible, and to keep their guard up whenever interactions are unavoidable.

[Humanist_Activist]

67. None of that is true. Where do you get such strange ideas.

[treestar]

74. Wouldn't it naturally follow?

In fact, it would be virtuous. People who are white, racist whether they admit it or not, privileged and therefore likely to say something hurtful, even without realizing it.

It all seems divisive - as if there has been no progress in the last 50 years, as if people of color are indeed such sensitive people they are hurt by mere words and therefore not equal (white people are raised with the idea no one can hurt you with mere words, your self esteem should not go down because some idiot called you a name), and as if some want to hang onto the victimhood status so as not to face up to not getting everything they want. Even with total equality, no one would get everything they want. But if you are a victim of oppression, you can always make it about that. I'm female, if I don't get the job, it's because of male oppression. If I admit the playing field is more even than it was in 1970, that means I might not have gotten the job because someone else was more qualified.

Things like this are academic, for colleges. In real life we see the progress.

[Humanist_Activist]

79. No it wouldn't you are stretching so much, you damn near pulled a muscle...

In that entire paragraph all you have at the core is a misunderstanding, a fundamental one, of what CRT even is, until you even get to the basics of it, and the systemic issues that are raised as a result of a critical examination of our social, economic and political systems that lead to disparities based on race, there's nothing to discuss.

You are making it about individuals, atomizing it to remove context, these are issues involving populations and systems they propagate, whether consciously or not.

[Humanist_Activist]

45. Another culture war issue for Republicans and doomsayer Democrats to latch onto....

clutching their pearls over what amounts to nothing more than a means and methodology to examine society through a racial lens and to validate the experiences of traditionally marginalized people of color through examination of data.

[Ligyron]

56. I had a difficult time even understanding what CRT is.

The Wikipedia entry was confusing.

Your explanation helps in that regard

[Humanist_Activist]

65. That's because it's more a methodology that has...

A narrow focus but broad scope. I just have the cliff notes and may not get it all right.

[JanMichael]

52. Always kind of surprised by the deep instinctive reactions on DU when talking about systemic racism.

Instinctive denial of their privilege as self protection.

As a straight white male in my 50's I should be having a case of the vapors when reading or hearing that I have benefited magnificently throughout my life by being white, male, straight, and with no observable disabilities. And from an early age pretty solidly lower/middle/middle class family.

When I heard about insurance redlining, steering and mortgage denials, based on race I should have said "well that's been illegal since 1964 so it doesn't matter anymore." not "oh shit that has muffled economic prosperity for a large swath of out population for decades and is still negatively impacting people in 2021".

Whoops: https://www.kgw.com/article/news/nation-world/indianapolis-woman-says-home-appraisal-jumped-after-hiding-her-race/507-ef23f5ec-4319-470d-8bd3-859d1fb6b992

Sure there have been some things that were not helpful like family breakup; lots of moving schools as a child (very damaging); and a myriad of other hiccups.

But I've always been white and a male and not from a low income background. I didn't get pulled over by cops, and killed, just because they felt like fucking with someone. Thank goodness because there were beer cans and weed it it most of the time. I can go jogging and not get attacked by a concerned neighbor with a 12 gauge and a glock. I could go buy candy (corn nuts and spree) at a corner grocery and not be accosted by an adult wannabee cop reject.

It is real. White people really just need to get over it.

[StarfishSaver]

59. Beautifully said

[tonedevil]

68. I think many of the comments...

in this thread show that White people will go to extraordinary lengths to avoid getting over it or themselves.

[StarfishSaver]

70. This thread is very illuminating, isn't it?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

94. Agree 100 percent. You nailed it.

I sometimes think what my life would have been like without all the opportunity of being white and growing up around wealthy white families.

[StarfishSaver]

111. And considering that does not mean you're assuming you are racist ...

[nolabear]

73. That's a good article. We need to stop being afraid to discuss this.

We’re scared of being shamed, accused, spoken to with condescension or scorn, and that’s not an illegitimate fear unless we can listen with both humility and pride, not in denial of the terrible but in a side by side examination of the wrongs, the rights, and the changes we’re trying to make.

I think good people feel helpless when faced with the harsh reality that civilization itself has been based in savagery—that of the colonizers, civilizers, conquerors. We have to acknowledge and figure out how to move forward together or we’re just going to claw at one another forever.

Do I know what to do? No. And that’s important to admit as a conversation opener.

[Solly Mack]

84. Willful ignorance ain't just for the MTGs of the world.

If a person agrees there is systemic racism in America. (Clue: There is and there exist all kinds of evidence to prove it.)

Then you already agree that racism can be used to oppress black, brown people - everyone and anyone not white.

Critical Race Theory is the methodology to examine that - how racism was used to create a system that was used to oppress people who are not white. That is all CRT is really - looking at racism through its results - slavery, Black codes, Jim Crow, marriage, red-lining, water fountains, bathrooms, housing, and jobs, continued voter suppression. How racism created a dominant culture through literature, movies, TV, radio - education. Even religion. Especially religion - since white supremacy used religion as one more justification for racism/slavery.

How racism dominated cultural, educational, economic and social opportunities, for the purpose of exploitation and oppression - all the while propping up white supremacy.

It examines how a racist system was constructed and why. It examines the results - that continue even today.

It does not seek to vilify white people. If the continued exposure of white supremacy and all the damage it has caused and continues to cause feels like vilification to you - there might be a reason for that. But that's a matter for the individual conscience.

It is not divisive. If it feels that way - again - check your own conscience.

It is not loud or aggressive. If it feels that way to you, well - might want to ask yourself why you feel that way.

America's history ain't pretty. If it bothers you to not only acknowledge that but to also study the damage that ugly caused and is still causing - then that's your problem. That's you wanting to pretend America is something it isn't and never has been.

CRT doesn't say America can't be better. In fact, it strives for just that - by telling the truth about America's history. By laying it all out there for people to study and see.

Don't go hiding behind the progress made as if that somehow wipes out all the damage caused. As if progress means there is no reason to study the why and the how.

Not wanting to feel uncomfortable is a piss poor excuse for not wanting to study and learn the full scope of the damage white supremacy caused.

And if you hear "white supremacy" and only think KKK or John Birch - then you don't really understand what white supremacy means and has meant throughout America's history.

White privilege exists because of the doctrine of white supremacy.

[StarfishSaver]

85. ...

[malaise]

90. It's the former

Tell the children the truth

[StarfishSaver]

96. Pretty simple, isn't it?