Especially in K–12, where multiple state legislatures are discussing laws attempting to outlaw its use in the classroom, the issue has burst in the public sphere this spring of 2021 (Karimi 2021).

But, despite appearances, the divisions are not at all clear-cut. The past ten years have made the public more aware of issues like housing segregation, the effects of criminal justice reform in the 1990s, and the impact of slavery on African Americans. However, there is much less agreement regarding the government's responsibility in putting these historical wrongs right. The discussion becomes particularly heated when children and education are included (Karimi 2021).
 

The Heritage Foundation as Critic:

The 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations, LGBTQ clubs in schools, diversity training in federal agencies and organizations, California's recent ethnic studies model curriculum, the free-speech debate on college campuses, and alternatives to exclusionary discipline—such as the Promise program in Broward County, Florida, that some parents attribute to the Parkland school shooting—are just a few of the issues that one conservative organization, the Heritage Foundation, recently attributed to CRT. The group asserted that when taken to its logical conclusion, CRT is destructive and contradicts the fundamental principles upon which our constitutional system is built (Karimi 2021).

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"President" Trump:  The 1619 Project was opposed by President Trump, and he prohibited federal agencies from implementing racial sensitivity training associated with critical race theory. It was labeled "divisive, anti-American propaganda" by his government. 

“Students in our universities are inundated with critical race theory. This Marxist doctrine holds that America is a wicked and racist nation, that even young children are complicit in oppression, and that our entire society must be radically transformed,” Trump said.

“Critical race theory is being forced into our children’s schools, it’s being imposed into workplace training, and it’s being deployed to rip apart friends, neighbors, and families (Karimi 2021).”

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More Bills and Laws: 

As of mid-May 2021, bills attempting to forbid CRT in schools have been passed in Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, and they have also been introduced in California. By the middle of May, laws ostensibly forbidding CRT in schools had been passed in Tennessee, Idaho, Iowa, Idaho, and Oklahoma, and they were being discussed in many additional state legislatures (Schwartz 2021).

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It is uncertain what the bills will cover because they are phrased ambiguously.

Could a teacher be held in contempt of these laws for bringing up a real-world example of state-sponsored racism, such as the creation of Jim Crow, the set of laws that kept Black Americans from voting or holding office and separated them from White people in public areas (Schwartz 2021)?

 

It's also unclear whether these new laws violate the constitution by restricting free expression.

In any event, monitoring what occurs in the millions of classrooms would be very challenging. Yet, social studies educators worry that these restrictions can cause teachers to self-censor their teachings out of fear of parental or administrative complaints (Schwartz 2021).

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The rules might also be used to criticize other aspects of the curriculum, such as ethnic studies and "active civics," a teaching method requiring students to investigate and suggest solutions to local issues (Schwartz 2021).

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DeSantis: The Florida Legislature passed the bill in March, prohibiting educators from introducing critical race theory to their students. This theory holds that "one race, color, national origin, or sex are morally superior to members of another race, color, national origin, or sex," and that "a person, by virtue of his or her race, color, national origin, or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether conscious or unconscious."

"We are not gonna use your tax dollars to teach our kids to hate this country or to hate each other," DeSantis said. "The bill that we'll be signing here today provides substantive protections for both students and parents to ensure that the education they're receiving in Florida is consistent with the standards of the state of Florida," DeSantis said. "And those standards do not allow pernicious ideologies like critical race theory to be taught in our K-12 schools (Schartz 2021)."

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The notion that racism permeates American culture, as well as its institutions and legal systems, is known as critical race theory. Democrats worried during the legislative session that the bill's too-vague language would stifle racial education in the state and invite pointless lawsuits.

The notion that racism permeates American culture, as well as its institutions and legal systems, is known as critical race theory. Democrats worried during the legislative session that the bill's too-vague language would stifle racial education in the state and invite pointless lawsuits (Schartz 2021).

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A clause that forbids educators from advocating teachings that will make kids more violent is another problematic clause.  DeSantis adds that he doesn't want anything taught that will cause any student t"feel guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress because of actions, in which the person played no part, committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, national origin, or sex."

"We believe that every single student matters; every single student counts," DeSantis concluded (Schartz 2021).

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All states against Critical Race Theory: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hamshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Caroline, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washinton, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming (Schartz 2021).

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Fact: According to a study by Education Week, since January 2021, 44 states have proposed legislation or taken other actions that would limit the instruction of critical race theory or the ways in which instructors can address racism and sexism. These prohibitions and limitations are in place in 18 states as a result of legislation or other means (Schartz 2021).

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Work Cited: 

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Karimi, F. (2021, May 10). What critical race theory is -- and isn't. CNN. Retrieved March 4, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/01/us/critical-race-theory-explainer-trnd/index.html

 

Schwartz, S. (2023, February 27). Map: Where critical race theory is under attack. Education Week. Retrieved March 4, 2023, from https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/map-where-critical-race-theory-is-under-attack/2021/06