Commentary. Governor DeSantis has promised that critical race theory will not be taught in the civics and American Government education in K-12 public schools in Florida. Several other states (Idaho, Missouri, Tennessee, Arizona, and Louisiana) are also moving to ban its discussion in public schools. So, what is critical race theory? It developed in the 1970s in the aftermath of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act by Derrick Bell (Harvard University) in an attempt to explain why these laws had done so little to help the African-American community. In simple terms, it is the study of laws and institutions that discriminate or how the law and institutions have been used to create power and privilege based on race. DeSantis and Florida Republicans do not want it to be taught in public schools. They have stated that they want to focus on patriotism, the Constitution, and the fundamentals of American government. They believe that teaching this will cause students to hate America and will cause white students to feel guilty about American history and government.
So, here’s one of the problems. If a teacher cannot focus on laws and institutions that have discriminated against African Americans, how does one talk about the 3/5 compromise in the Constitution and the passage of the 13, 14, and 15th Amendments? How does one talk about the development of Jim Crow through various Supreme Court decisions (Civil Rights Cases 1883, Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896) and thousands of state laws that discriminated against African-Americans in housing, hotels, restaurants, schools, sporting events, and virtually every aspect of life? How does one talk about Brown v. the Board of Education (1954)? How does one talk about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965? These are all part of critical race theory. Are these not part of the “fundamentals” of American government? More recently, how does a teacher talk about redlining, the differential treatment of people based on race by police departments, the differential treatment of people based on race by the legal systems, or election laws that have a disproportionate negative impact on voting in areas populated primarily by African-Americans? How do you not discuss these issues in urban/suburban public schools that have large numbers of African-American students? How do you not discuss them in any public school? How do you not discuss these in any basic American government class?
It would not only represent a failure of our public school systems to educate, but also it is an insult to young students. I taught a basic American government class at the university level for 40 years and the vast majority of students in the class were just out of high school. Race is difficult to discuss in the classroom, but these students did not feel guilty or hateful toward the United States after learning how the law reinforced/reinforces privilege and discrimination. It brought out passionate discussion and suggestions as to how these laws should be or can be changed. Students learned that there a many sides to issues and that it is important to hear all sides. Students learned to do their own research, to listen, and to think. Is this not the real purpose of a civics education?
I also do not know how this can be enforced in the class. Will there be a critical race theory police person in each social studies class? If enforced, it will clearly have a chilling effect on social studies teachers. Many social studies teachers will simply not cover these topics for fear of losing their jobs. Not teaching this would be an abdication of the true purpose of a civics education.
Honestly, it simply sounds as if this is an attempt to rid any discussion of race and racial issues in our public schools, to ignore the elephant that has always been in the room in America – race.
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