close
close

States should combat critical race theory in schools. Here's how.

Critical race theory captured the nation's attention after the summer of 2020 and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. According to Google Trends, the search term peaked in June 2021, then interest declined in 2022.

But radical philosophy has not disappeared from public life.

Rather, Americans are more familiar with the worldview that claims racism is the cause of all negative events in politics, education, economics, and culture.

More and more Americans are realizing that ideas like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), microaggressions, and white privilege are creatures of critical race theory and stem from the Marxist claim that the world is defined by racist power struggles.

K-12 education remains a crucial part of the national conversation about how theory teaches young people to see themselves as victims rather than individuals responsible for their own choices.

For example, policymakers in California and Minnesota have made “intersectionality” — the critical race theory idea that we are oppressed in overlapping ways because of our race, gender and other immutable characteristics — a central part of their states’ ethnic studies curriculum.

This seems strategic: The late critical race theory scholar Derrick Bell wrote that he hoped the theory would inspire an academic “resistance” to American ideals of liberty and equality before the law, which in turn would lead to a “resistance” on a broad scale.

The late Derrick Bell, the first black tenured law professor at Harvard University, is widely regarded as the founder of critical race theory. (Neville Elder/Corbis/Getty Images)

However, not all state legislatures are allowing this radical movement into their educational institutions. In a review of laws passed in 14 states since 2020, we found a strong opposition to the use of critical race theory in K-12 schools.

But even in many of those states, the work is not done. Earlier this year, a federal judge struck down a law passed by New Hampshire authorities to prevent the spread of racial discrimination by theory in the state's elementary and secondary schools. The judge said key provisions of the law were not clearly defined, forcing lawmakers to start from scratch.

State legislators should continue to pursue proposals that reject critical race theory, but they must be clear about what they are banning.

>>>Our recent report, “Rejecting Critical Race Theory in State K-12 Laws,” offers several ideas.

State policymakers should prohibit the application of this theory in the form of free speech, mandatory formation of racial interest groups, and other clear examples of racial discrimination.

Such and other actions have been extensively documented in schools from Pickens, South Carolina, and Wellesley, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles and Seattle.

Some state laws provide good examples. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen issued a binding opinion prohibiting forced expression, saying, “Forcing students, trainees, or anyone else to express support for these same positions is not only an attack on human dignity, it undermines the search for truth, our institutions, and our democratic system.””

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order stating that “'inherently divisive concepts' means advancing ideas that violate Title IV and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” and banned academic instruction that promoted such concepts.

Legislatures should prohibit school officials from requiring students and teachers to defend, affirm, or profess ideas of critical race theory as a condition of enrollment, course completion, hiring, retention, or promotion.

State-level policymakers should also prohibit the kind of discriminatory behavior that critical race theorists believe is appropriate—but which is in fact racist—to achieve their discriminatory goals. For example, critical race theorists have advocated for racial preferences in college admissions, which the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 2023.

A law stands on much stronger legal ground when it protects someone from being forced to say something than when it prohibits them from saying something. Instead of “banning” critical race theory from the classroom, state education officials should update academic standards for grades K–12 to address the institution of slavery in 19th-century, the failure of post-Civil War Reconstruction efforts, and the Jim Crow era. At the same time, educators should explain the importance of ending systemic racism both legally and culturally through federal civil rights laws.

The racist ideas of critical race theory—DEI, intersectionality, and more—are lessons from the “school of resentment,” as literary critic Harold Bloom said. Children need to be taught to strive for something, not to resent everything.

The legislature's rejection of critical race theory in schools is crucial.

You may also like...