Critical Race Theory

Thanks to national attention, Critical Race Theory has been exposed as a racist ideology, essentially teaching children in school that certain skin colors are tied to being either "oppressors" or "oppressed". They are taught that skin color determines success in life, and that American institutions are inherently racist and must be fixed. This is how Social Emotional Learning is able to be used for social justice and activism - by categorizing racism as an emotional obstacle for education.

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Because of this attention, Critical Race Theory has pivoted to using other names such as "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion," "Culturally Responsive Teaching," and "Restorative Justice." Many administrators will claim that they do not support CRT, but you will often find the concepts are still taught under the guise of these new terms. Critical Race Theory is essentially a lens in which all things are taught, where children learn everything in terms of identities, race, and power struggles. Even America's success stories as a nation are overshadowed by its failures, as defined by CRT proponents. Children are taught that the only answer to past racism is to be actively anti-racist, which is a racist practice in itself. Under this system, children become activists, and racism is destined to perpetuate through future generations.

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It is sometimes difficult at first to identify CRT in school lessons, and often it will be justified as teaching "real" history or "the whole" history. It might help to think of it like this: imagine if someone were to give students a biography of Thomas Jefferson, but the biography focused mainly on his history as a slave owner and glossed over his major contributions to founding this nation. While this may technically be a factual account, it would clearly be biased and written with a purpose of leaving students with a negative impression of him as a historical figure. This impression would leave a lasting impact, and students would likely be left with a negative opinion of him as a Founding Father. This is what Critical Race Theory is - it is teaching our children history through a lens of hating their country instead of being able to objectively understand how our nation has always striven to live the ideals of liberty and justice for all.