{"id":573922,"date":"2021-06-24T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/?post_type=article&p=573922"},"modified":"2021-06-23T17:34:47","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T21:34:47","slug":"what-is-and-isnt-critical-race-theory-a-closer-look-at-the-discipline-texas-governor-wants-to-abolish","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/what-is-and-isnt-critical-race-theory-a-closer-look-at-the-discipline-texas-governor-wants-to-abolish\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is (and Isn\u2019t) Critical Race Theory? A Closer Look at the Discipline Texas\u2019 Governor Wants to \u2018Abolish\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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G<\/span>ov. Greg Abbott<\/a> signed<\/a> into law a bill last week that restricts how current events and America\u2019s history of racism can be taught in Texas schools. It\u2019s been commonly referred to as the \u201ccritical race theory\u201d bill, though the term \u201ccritical race theory\u201d never appears in it.<\/p>\n

But in signing the bill, Abbott said \u201cmore must be done\u201d to \u201cabolish critical race theory in Texas,\u201d and announced<\/a> that he would ask the Legislature to address the issue during a special session this summer.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the debate has taken hold<\/a> across the nation. Last year, conservative activist Christopher Rufo began using<\/a> the term \u201ccritical race theory\u201d publicly to denounce anti-racist education efforts. Since then, conservative lawmakers, commentators and parents have raised alarm that critical race theory is being used to teach children that they are racist, and that the U.S. is a racist country with irredeemable roots. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz<\/a> and others have called the theory racist itself<\/a> for centering the nation\u2019s story on racial conflict. In addition, conservative commentator Gerard Baker has argued<\/a> that critical race theory bans critical thought in favor of what resembles religious instruction.<\/p>\n

Those who study the discipline say that the attacks have nothing to do with critical race theory, but instead are targeting any teachings that challenge and complicate dominant narratives about the country\u2019s history and identity.<\/p>\n

They say that critical race theory itself actually shifts emphasis away from accusing individuals \u2014 in history or in the classroom \u2014 of being racist, which tends to dominate liberal discussions of racism. Instead, it offers tools for shifting public policy to create equity and freedom for all.<\/p>\n

So what is critical race theory, and why is it relevant to Texans? And why is there an effort against it in Texas \u2014 and around the nation?<\/p>\n

What is critical race theory?<\/h3>\n

Critical race theory is a discipline, analytical tool and approach that emerged<\/a> in the 1970s and \u201880s. Scholars took up the ways racial inequity persisted even after \u201ca whole set of landmark civil rights laws and anti-discrimination laws passed\u201d during the civil right movement, Daniel HoSang, professor of ethnicity, race and migration and American studies at Yale University, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese scholars and writers are asking, ‘why is it that racial inequality endures and persists, even decades after these laws have passed?’\u201d HoSang said. \u201cWhy is racism still enduring? And how do we contribute to abolishing it?\u201d<\/p>\n

HoSang described critical race theory not as \u201ccontent,\u201d or a \u201cset of beliefs,\u201d but rather an approach that \u201cencourage[s] us to move past the superficial explanations that are given about equality and suffering, and to ask for new kinds of explanations.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the introduction of Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement, a seminal collection of the foundational essays of the movement edited by principal founders and scholars like Kimberl\u00e9 Crenshaw and Neil Gotanda, the editors write that critical race theory is about transforming social structures to create freedom for all, and it\u2019s grounded in an \u201cethical commitment to human liberation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key concepts<\/h3>\n

Racial formation<\/em>: One key concept in critical race theory is racial formation. Developed by sociologists Michael Omi and Howard Winant, the theory rejects the idea that race \u2014 Black, white, Asian \u2014 is a fixed category that has always meant the same thing. Instead, it traces the way that race has been defined, understood and constructed in different ways throughout history. Omi and Winant define<\/a> race as an \u201cunstable and \u2018decentered\u2019 complex of social meanings constantly being transformed by political struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, they write that in the U.S., the racial category of “Black” was created as slavery was established and evolved. Africans whose specific identity was Ibo, Yoruba or Fulani in Africa were grouped into the category “Black\u201d as they were enslaved in America. Part of the meaning of being \u201cBlack\u201d in America was being less than human and therefore enslavable. James Baldwin wrote in \u201cOn Being White and Other Lies\u201d<\/a> that Europeans who moved to America became \u201cwhite\u201d through a process of \u201cdenying the Black presence, and justifying the Black subjugation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Omi and Winant describe racial formation as the \u201cprocess by which social, economic and political forces determine the content and importance of racial categories, and by which they are in turn shaped by racial meanings\u201d \u2014 a process that has continued throughout history.<\/p>\n

Monica Martinez, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in Latinx history, described how racial formation has played out in Texas in the racialization of Mexicans and the history of anti-Mexican violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore this region became Texas, there were debates about the character of Mexicans as a group of people,\u201d she said. Figures like Stephen F. Austin and John Calhoun cast them as \u201ctreacherous people, thieves and murderers.\u201d<\/p>\n

From 1910 to 1920, she explained, hundreds of ethnic Mexicans were victims of lynchings, as well as violence<\/a> at the hands of police and the Texas Rangers. Many of them were American citizens, and they included labor organizers and journalists who were writing about race and injustice. This amounted to an effort to \u201cremove Mexicans from having economic or political or cultural influence,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOppression was enacted through violence, and it was sanctioned by governors, Texas legislators and local courts,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Oppression was furthered by \u201cJuan Crow\u201d segregation laws that racially segregated communities, relegated<\/a> Mexican American children to poorly developed schools and intimidated Mexicans from voting. This system of laws and policies had lasting effects on Mexican Americans and how they\u2019re conceived of today.<\/p>\n

Rhetoric has played a role in racial formation as well, continually loading the term \u201cMexican\u201d with racial meaning.<\/p>\n

\u201c100 years ago, people talked about Mexicans as bandits, as thieves, and as a threat,\u201d she said. \u201cToday, they talk about them as potential cartel members and gang members.\u201d<\/p>\n

This language contributes<\/a> to racial profiling and violence today. \u201cIn communities in south Texas, anybody who looks ‘Mexican,’ or looks like an ‘immigrant,’ can be targeted\u2014not just with policing, but also by [general] hostility,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Racism is structural: <\/em>The mainstream understanding is that racism is an individual prejudice and choice. The default is to be free of bias and racism, so racism is an exception from the norm. It can be addressed by individual measures, such as humiliating and punishing the person who messes up, and enforcing moral codes on an individual level.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, critical race theory says that racism is inherent in our institutions and structures of governance. It\u2019s ordinary, and it\u2019s baked into all our consciousnesses in complex ways through our education, government, the media, and our participation in systems. Racism must be addressed not just by punishing individuals, but by shifting structures and policies.<\/p>\n

HoSang, the Yale professor, explained that critical race theory isn\u2019t focused on \u201cthe stock characters of a racist,\u201d such as Bull Connor, who directed police to use fire hoses on civil rights protesters in Birmingham, Alabama. HoSang said that a focus on denouncing individuals is \u201cnot a good use of our energy.\u201d Instead, he said, the question is, \u201cEven in places where civil rights and anti-discrimination laws passed, why do these forms of inequality persist?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo [critical race theory] actually says, no, we shouldn’t be preoccupied with trying to discern \u2018who is the racist here,\u2019 because that moves the attention away from the structures,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One example of this is in housing segregation \u2014 how \u201cmany, many complex layers\u201d of \u201cpolicies around zoning, lending and redlining, around private realtors and developers\u201d have reproduced unequal access to housing, which in turn furthers gaps in generational wealth and stability, HoSang said.<\/p>\n

In his article<\/a> for the Austin American-Statesman, Dan Zehr traces how this process has played out in Austin, which has one of the highest levels<\/a> of income segregation in the nation. In 1928, city plans created a \u201cnegro district\u201d east of Interstate 35 and denied public services and utilities to Black people outside of it, pushing Black residents to the eastern part of the city. When the government began offering loans to promote homeownership and help citizens rebuild wealth as part of the New Deal after the Great Depression, neighborhoods for people of color were excluded through a practice called \u201credlining.\u201d Austin\u2019s \u201cnegro district\u201d was the largest redlined zone in the city, Zehr writes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs most Americans gained equity in new homes or upgraded the value of their existing houses, the black population saw a racial wedge driven deeper between Anglo affluence and African-American poverty,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

All these processes are systemic. \u201cYou can\u2019t explain [this] through any one person’s biases and prejudices.\u201d HoSang said.<\/p>\n

Is critical race theory being taught in K-12 classrooms?<\/h3>\n

Experts and teachers put it plainly.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody in K-12 is teaching critical race theory,\u201d Andrew Robinson, an 8th grade U.S. history teacher at Uplift Luna Preparatory in Dallas, said. \u201cIf I tried to walk in and teach critical race theory, my kids would just have a blank stare on their face.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCritical race theory is not being taught in schools,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n

Keffrelyn Brown, a professor of cultural studies in education at UT-Austin and a teacher-educator, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cA vast majority of teachers in K-12 schools don’t know critical race theory,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are not coming into the classroom and saying, \u2018I’m going to teach critical race theory.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

HoSang pointed out that to begin with, critical race theory is not \u201ca body of content that can be taught.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given that, Abbott\u2019s calls<\/a> to \u201cabolish critical race theory in Texas\u201d make no sense, those who study it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think you can \u2018abolish\u2019 a theory,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

How does Texas’ new law and surrounding debate discuss critical race theory?<\/h3>\n

While it has gained the ire of national Republicans on Fox News and elsewhere for months, critical race theory was thrust in the political spotlight in Texas this spring because of the progress of HB 3979. Lawmakers claimed<\/a> that it combats the theory.<\/p>\n

The wording of the bill is vague \u2014 for example, it bans discussion of current events unless a teacher \u201cstrive[s] to explore those topics from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective,\u201d and teachers can\u2019t teach that \u201cwith respect to their relationship to American values, slavery and racism are anything other than deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to, the authentic founding principles of the United States, which include liberty and equality.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an early statement supporting the legislation, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick<\/a> said that critical race theory is a \u201cwoke philosoph[y]\u201d that \u201cmaintain[s] that one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex or that any individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The phrase \u201ccritical race theory\u201d does not appear in the bill once, however.<\/p>\n

Brown described the way the term \u201ccritical race theory\u201d has been mobilized as a label that has nothing to do with critical race theory itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has become the catch-all phrase for any kind of perspective, or any kind of framework, or any kind of knowledge that shows the roots of racism and how deeply they are embedded in our society,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Experts pointed out several key mischaracterizations of critical race theory.<\/p>\n

Political discourse has claimed that critical race theory unfairly assigns guilt and blame to individuals based on their race. In one section that lists concepts teachers can\u2019t teach, the bill prohibits teaching that \u201can individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual’s race or sex.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[Critical race theory] has nothing to do with sentiment, guilt or shame,\u201d HoSang said. \u201cIn fact, one of its premises is that those are not actually helpful places to examine. It’s taking us out of racism as a psychological and emotional question, and is focusing much more on the structures, the policies that people create that govern our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez said the worry comes out of \u201cfalse claims that when you teach histories of slavery, or race, or racism, that you make some white students feel guilty or shame for being white.\u201d<\/p>\n

To focus on directly instilling racial guilt would be taking a liberal, individualistic approach that critical race theory actually critiques.<\/p>\n

The bill also prohibits teaching that \u201cone race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex,\u201d or that \u201can individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.\u201d<\/p>\n

If anything, Martinez said, the current, longstanding way of teaching Texas history already teaches that one race is superior. \u201cLook at how it teaches the history of the Texas revolution \u2014 that people like Stephen F. Austin are racially superior to the treacherous Mexican, like Santa Anna,\u201d she said. \u201cTexas history has been taught in a way that celebrates people who were fighting for the institution of slavery, that were espousing publicly that Mexicans were an inferior race.\u201d<\/p>\n

HoSang agreed. “There\u2019s so much of the dominant curriculum that does just what the bills claim they’re objecting to, in terms of constructing a moral ideology,” he said. \u201cOne could argue the current curriculum promotes intolerance and animosity against Indigenous people, and that it does the same for immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Future impact<\/h3>\n

Brown, the UT-Austin cultural studies professor, described the new Texas law as an effort to \u201ctry to stop the momentum over the last year and a half of families and communities saying we need to know more about racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to understand [our history of racism] so that we actually can get to a place where we are operating with justice, with equity, with fairness,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Instead, she said, the bill may \u201ccreate enough confusion and possible concern that teachers or districts would just simply not talk about issues of race, or racism, for fear that it’s going to create some conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbott\u2019s press office did not comment on what he additionally wants the legislature to do about \u201ccritical race theory\u201d during this summer\u2019s special session. But many teachers worry<\/a> about the \u201cchilling effect\u201d that the new law will already have on their attempts to teach history well \u2014 which includes nurturing students\u2019 critical thinking skills by bringing in multiple perspectives on historical events, and showing how the past has impacted present day issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they’re trying to say with this is that the actions of the past aren’t affecting the present,\u201d said Robinson, the 8th grade history teacher in Dallas. \u201cThey want us to act like slavery and Jim Crow have no bearing on the issues in our society right now. And if that’s the case, then they should cancel my class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isabella Zou is a reporting fellow <\/em>at The Texas Tribune<\/em><\/a>, the only member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.<\/em><\/p>\n