Our experts explain the benefits of teaching CRT and why some are against it.
As the battle over whether or not critical race theory should be taught to children in schools rages on, we asked experts to weigh in. Some are arguing that CRT — a way of identifying and challenging the permanence of racism in our society — should be taught to students (and even our military). But others vehemently disagree: So far, seven states, including Idaho, Iowa, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, have officially passed bans that limit the education of concepts like racial inequality and white privilege in K-12 schools, with many others trying to follow suit. “Race has been such a difficult conversation in our country. Anytime something about race shows up, there tends to be a divide on how it should be talked about, if at all,” says Mercedes Samudio, a licensed clinical social worker and author of Shame-Proof Parenting.
What is critical race theory?
At its core, teachings on critical race theory are about educating people about the ways in which race and racism are prevalent in our society and throughout our history. While it’s never been such a hot topic, it’s not a new concept. Legal scholars originally introduced the term back in the 1970s during a movement to make the legal system take into account the particular needs of racialized communities.
“We came to see the unfair and inequitable ways that racial power gets stitched into the fabric of our institutions, whether [that’s] access to health care, hospitals, education, the workplace, the legal system, the banking system, housing, and even the sports world,” explains Kendall Thomas, a law professor at Columbia University whose research specializes in CRT. “Critical race theory, as a loose set of ideas and a set of questions about the way the law and policy work, provides a way to identify and analyze the systemic and structural harms of racism.”
While the legal term has been around for the last 40 years, it’s currently being used as part of a larger political conversation. “It’s a class war in which racism, specifically anti-black racism, is being weaponized to prevent the emergence of a movement that really seeks to finally realize the multicultural democracy, and multiracial democracy, that can make this country the more perfect union,” Thomas tells us.
Rakhi Ruparelia, an associate professor of law who specializes in racism, explains, “The fact that we’re talking about something called ‘critical race theory’ distorts what we’re trying to do.” She argues, “It’s just anti-racism education, learning how to challenge and dismantle racism, and understanding how race operates now and in our history. It’s really difficult to argue that our kids should not be taught about racism at all.”
So, why is there opposition to teaching critical race theory?
Some parents believe these teachings on race will pit students from different backgrounds against each other.
“People think critical race theory is just about Black versus white in America, but really, it’s not just that. It’s about looking at race, in general. How has race — not just with African Americans, but Asian Americans, immigrant Americans, all different types of communities — become intertwined with their experience in America?” says Samudio.
Those in favor of teaching it are hopeful it will inspire a new generation of students to move the needle forward toward a more inclusive society.
“People assume as we teach racism that it’s going to make kids dislike certain groups of people or create this divisive lens, but I personally think that when we teach people accurate facts, it allows them to make better decisions for the future,” Samudio says. “If we, as a country, are committed to changing the systemic ways that people are oppressed, teaching critical race theory begins to lay the foundation for a whole generation of people who will eventually become policymakers and thought leaders.”
Advocates of critical race theory want to see change
Constanza Eliana, an anti-racism and decolonial educator, doesn’t understand how some people are “still fighting a very critical topic that needs to be taught in every grade level.”
The first step in making meaningful change is acknowledging there are pieces of history that must be collectively understood so we don’t make the same mistakes of our past.
“We need to get a place where we can actually say, ‘Yes, it is a problem,’ [and that] doesn’t mean we’re calling individual white people racist. It’s recognizing that as a society, we have a problem here that we have a collective responsibility to remedy,” says Ruparelia. “If we spend all of our energy instead arguing about whether or not racism is a problem, we never have the resources left to actually do anything about it.”
Teaching CRT provides a critical opportunity for coming together, Thomas explains.
“Critical race theory gives us a frame and a perspective which we can use to, as a country, have a national conversation about the meaning of America and about what it means to be American — one that’s not so afraid of race and that’s not so terrified of the idea of institutional racism,” says Thomas. “We can keep our eyes wide shut, or we can open our eyes and take a sober look at parts of our history that can help us move past racism.”
