Republican attacks on “critical race theory” are part of a larger right-wing strategy. Resistance is crucial.

By HENRY A. GIROUX  Salon  July 3, 2021

People hold up signs during a rally against "critical race theory" (CRT) being taught in schools at the Loudoun County Government center in Leesburg, Virginia on June 12, 2021. The term "critical race theory" defines a strand of thought that appeared in American law schools in the late 1970s and which looks at racism as a system, enabled by laws and institutions, rather than at the level of individual prejudices. But critics use it as a catch-all phrase that attacks teachers' efforts to confront dark episodes in American history, including slavery and segregation, as well as to tackle racist stereotypes. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)People hold up signs during a rally against “critical race theory” (CRT) being taught in schools at the Loudoun County Government center in Leesburg, Virginia on June 12, 2021. The term “critical race theory” defines a strand of thought that appeared in American law schools in the late 1970s and which looks at racism as a system, enabled by laws and institutions, rather than at the level of individual prejudices. But critics use it as a catch-all phrase that attacks teachers’ efforts to confront dark episodes in American history, including slavery and segregation, as well as to tackle racist stereotypes.(ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

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2 Comments

  1. fgsjr2015 July 12, 2021 at 7:05 PM

    Adult racist sentiments are often cemented by a misguided yet strong sense of entitlement, perhaps also acquired from one’s environment. One means of proactively preventing this social/societal problem may be by allowing young children to become accustomed to other races in a harmoniously positive manner.

    The first step towards changing irrationally biased thinking may be the beholder’s awareness of it and its origin. Plus, the early years are typically the best time to instill and even solidify positive social-interaction skills/traits into a very young brain. An always good trait/skill to acquire and maintain for life is interracial harmonization.

    Irrational racist sentiment can be handed down generation to generation. If it’s deliberate, it’s something I strongly feel amounts to a form of child abuse: to rear one’s impressionably very young children in an environment of overt bigotry — especially against other races and sub-racial groups, i.e. ethnicities. Not only does it fail to prepare children for the reality of an increasingly racial/ethically diverse and populous society, but, even worse, it makes it so much less likely those children will be emotionally content or (preferably) harmonious with their multicultural/-racial environment. Children reared into adolescents and, eventually, young adults with such bigotry can often be angry yet not fully realize at precisely what.

  2. Herbert Davis July 4, 2021 at 12:32 PM

    Why not just have learning objectives that require the teaching of all of the concepts desired and make that mandatory. Each LO would be harder to dismiss than something called CRT that is really not a theory and is easy to oppose because it seems like a specialty designed for charlatans who are not qualified to teach Black History.

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