Critical race theory has doubters who think its view on race relations in the United States are both unfounded and dangerous.
Kevin Roberts, chief executive officer of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, hosted a discussion on critical race theory Aug. 10.
The weekly segment of The Advance with Kevin Roberts featured Richard Johnson, director of the TPPF’s Booker T. Washington Initiative, and Lucy Meckler, campaign manager of the foundation’s Next Generation Texas.
Roberts said CRT has been misunderstood, adding that all Americans need to grasp what is happening in classrooms across the country.
“It doesn't matter your background,” Roberts said. “It doesn't matter what state you're in, it doesn't matter your political party and it doesn't matter your racial or ethnic background, because this is something that is a huge challenge to the very ideals of the United States of America.”
Roberts said critical race theory is not the same as talking about the nation's past in an honest, objective way.
“I happen to be a historian of early America,” he said. “And I can tell you in all of the classes that I ever taught, we confronted those challenging episodes like slavery and reconstruction and Jim Crow segregation honestly, because we believe that's what we need to do as Americans. Critical race theory, to write a headline, actually takes us in reverse.”
Meckler said there is growing political opposition to CRT.
“[More than] 24 states have filed a bill relating to critical race theory and attempts to get it out of their schools, their state agencies or even from contractors who work with state agencies or their school districts,” she said. “This is a national movement. We don't see it just in Texas. We don't see it just in red states. You know, it's a nationwide movement to try to remove this dangerous ideology from our society, not just from schoolchildren. A lot of this is pervasive down from the higher education level. It's not just a K-12 problem. We see it in academia and law school. It's everywhere that you could possibly think of in government-run institutions.”
Johnson said it appears there are forces propelling CRT into the mainstream of modern education.
“Critical race theory appears to be coming from the top down in terms of the individuals who are supporting critical race theory and that information coming from the top down, higher levels of government down into the community has seeped into the grassroots,” he said. “That's where we're starting to see a lot of the folks waking up saying, ‘Wait a minute, this is rolling us back. We made significant gains with the Civil Rights Bill of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965.’"
Johnson said the country has moved forward in terms of judging individuals based on their character and not their skin color.
“And we're starting to see this critical race theory get into our K through 12 schools being taught and it is very subtle. It'll come in the form of social justice, equity, in order for this group to feel good, this other group has to feel bad," Johnson said.
He said his first degree was in history, and he encourages people to study and learn the subject.
“It's really good to know your history, otherwise you're doomed to repeat it,” Johnson said. “There are folks out there, unfortunately, a large portion of our population who may not know our history and may not be that very well versed. They're there seeping back into the slogans that come out of critical race theory and said, ‘OK, I'm fighting for social justice. I'm fighting for equality.’"
He said they've forgotten that we fought for equality and justice for all.
"And that was the main push of the civil rights movement, was to fight for equality. And because we understand that equality is not a possible goal simply because God gives everybody different gifts, talents and abilities. Even though we fight to start off with equal to equal footing, we may not end up at the same place because we're different. And, basically, we have to learn how to accept our differences," Johnson said.
Roberts applauded that concept.
“I would argue perhaps it's the most important point, and that is the difference between what the civil rights movement has always had is its big aim, and that is achieving true equality, as you said, emphasizing the content of our character and contrasting that with what critical race theory wants to do, which is equity,” he said. “As succinctly as you can, what's the difference between equality, the noble aim of the civil rights movement and equity, a very sweet-sounding supposed aim of critical race through equity?”
Meckler discussed buzzwords that people should notice.
“2qm, where, according to critical race theorists, racism is the original sin of America's past and persists in everything we do today,” she said. “You get words like microaggression or anti-racism or white privilege, which, according to this doctrine, says that white people have a certain amount of privilege from their skin tone that benefits them in society at similar terms like white fragility or colonialism. And these terms are actually really problematic. One in particular, anti-racism. People generally say from the left that that has nothing to do with critical race theory. And I'd say they're fundamentally wrong.”
An audience member asked if critical race theory continues to prevail, should parents pull their child out of public school in favor of home-schooling or a charter school. Meckler said some families are making that move.
“I think actually critical race [theory] has been a catalyst for school choice and opportunity for students to get an education that may better suit them,” she said. “Families have rapidly pulled their children out of schools where this is being taught. It can be taught in any type of school, but more frequently generally see that in a public school setting, a traditional public school setting."
She said there is a mass influx of students wanting to go to charter schools or private schools or even homeschool.
"We've seen the home-school community double not just from the pandemic, but also from this type of ideology that's going into the classroom. And parents don't really see themselves having an alternative. They're fighting for their kids’ future and the understanding of history and civics and what it means to be an American," Meckler said.