Education As the Practice of Freedom

Education is the Practice of Freedom 

Paolo Frierie

Critical Race Theory (CRT), an academic term for examining racism and the law, is now at the center of a pedagogical and political battle. Conservative state lawmakers across the country are weaponizing CRT to pass laws that censure classroom curricula and suppress the truth, particularly regarding the racial history of the United States. The recent rise of anti Critical Race Theory laws and rhetoric set a dangerous precedent: politicians limiting thought and censoring history. Equally troubling is the fact that Critical Race Theory is not actually taught in K-12 schools. So how has it become a beacon for conservative organizing? 

The answer is found in an interview with Christopher F. Rufo, a conservative scholar with the Manhattan Institute. In his interview with Fox News’s Tucker Carlson, Rufo argued CRT has, “infiltrated our federal government, criminal justice system, and scientific community.”1 Regardless of these largely unsubstantiated claims, former President Donald Trump subsequently issued an executive memo warning against Critical Race Theory and an executive order prohibiting any training that positioned the United States as racist. From there, conservative organizers began using the term as a catchall for a host of activities related to race, racism, and identity. That was intentional. By positioning Critical Race Theory as an enemy to American democracy, conservative organizers could use CRT as a tool to stimulate their base and obstruct the rise of anti-racist organizing across the country in response to the police murder of George Floyd.2 

Critical Race Theory is not an all-encompassing term for diversity and inclusion efforts. It is a legal framework that critiques the role of racism in maintaining an oppressive and hierarchical society. CRT has since spread to other graduate-level disciplines as the academic community interrogates the intersection of race and racism in other disciplines.3 Critical Race Theory is simply an attempt to name and interrogate an experience we are already having every day. As leading CRT scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw explains, “We do Critical Race Theory everyday. Every time you know that you are entering a space in which your [race] may shape the interaction that you’re likely to experience, you’re practicing Critical Race Theory. It is an understanding of how we navigate the world, what are some of the things that may happen, and how those things can be triggered by encountering our embodied being.” More importantly, CRT is a set of ideas taught at the graduate level, far from the K-12 arena where conservatives are inciting public hysteria.

Censoring classroom instruction for the sake of political partisanship interferes with teaching students accurate information about our past and is ethically irresponsible. These laws harm teachers as well as students, interfering with their livelihood. A new Tennessee law, HB0580, prohibits teaching students that people are “inherently privileged, racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously,” and from making students “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or another form of psychological distress.”4 Under HB0580, teachers risk losing their license and a $1 million fine. Tennessee is not alone in passing such a punitive and ambiguous law. These bills are nearly identical across the country, lifting language from former President Trump’s executive Executive Order 13950 banning “divisive concepts” (which has since been revoked) and modeling legislation put forth by conservative think tanks and donor groups. The intention is to utilize broad and restrictive language to suppress an umbrella of topics relating to privilege, racism, and identity. 41 states have introduced bills that restrict how teachers can discuss racism and sexism, and 14 states have successfully passed these bans into legislation.5 Trump’s definition of divisive concepts can be found at the end of this article.

The CRT bans occurring across the country are not rooted in a concern for children or their access to quality education. They are the result of people in power inciting fear and alarm in uninformed and unsuspecting voters in order to covertly further conservative political agendas. These bills are a maligned characterization of Critical Race Theory, manipulated to demonize anti-racism efforts. Ironically, these bills lay bare the argument upon which Critical Race Theory is built: racism is not a societal aberration, but rather nestled in our most basic systems and institutions.

Classrooms do not exist in vacuums. Students and teachers are whole people, with prior experiences, cultures, hopes, and dreams, that they bring to the classroom. Erasing the truth in curriculum denies educators and students alike the opportunity to identify and interrogate inequity and oppression in the world around them. Education scholars have developed theories that prompt teachers and administrators to dismantle white supremacy in their own classrooms, curriculums, and school buildings. Tools like Culturally Relevant Teaching and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy are useful in teaching diverse populations, meeting student needs, and creating classrooms where students feel empowered to thrive. We know that a safe and engaging classroom stimulates motivation, raises expectations, and builds confidence, creating an optimal environment for student success. 

Education is an instrument of freedom and a mechanism for moving us towards a more equitable world. All children deserve a safe place to receive a free, high-quality education. We must support educator and student autonomy6 by resisting archaic organizing. We’ve identified ways to get involved that ensure all students have access to spaces that nurture their well-being and development. 

  • Find current, accurate information on the anti-CRT policies affecting schools in your community.
  • Contact local government officials and express your position on teaching accurate information, including attending local school board meetings. 
  • Seek out local teachers/educators who are teaching truth to offer your support.

The following is text from former President Trump’s Executive Order (13950).7 Many antiCRT state laws use this language. 

For the purposes of this order, the phrase:

  • (a) “Divisive concepts” means the concepts that
    1. one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex;
    2. the United States is fundamentally racist or sexist;
    3. an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously;
    4. an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race or sex;
    5. members of one race or sex cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race or sex;
    6. an individual’s moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex;
    7. an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex;
    8. any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex; or
    9. meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist, or were created by a particular race to oppress another race.
  • The term “divisive concepts” also includes any other form of race or sex stereotyping or any other form of race or sex scapegoating.
  • (b) “Race or sex stereotyping” means ascribing character traits, values, moral and ethical codes, privileges, status, or beliefs to a race or sex, or to an individual because of his or her race or sex.
  • (c) “Race or sex scapegoating” means assigning fault, blame, or bias to a race or sex, or to members of a race or sex because of their race or sex. It similarly encompasses any claim that, consciously or unconsciously, and by virtue of his or her race or sex, members of any race are inherently racist or are inherently inclined to oppress others, or that members of a sex are inherently sexist or inclined to oppress others. 
  1.  Christopher Rufo interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBXRdWflV7M
  2.  The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/05/gops-critical-race-theory-fixation-explained/618828/
  3. American Bar Association: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/civil-rights-reimagining-policing/a-lesson-on-critical-race-theory/
  4. Tennessee Law HB0580: https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0580
  5. Ed Week: https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/map-where-critical-race-theory-is-under-attack/2021/06
  6. By “educator and student autonomy,” we mean the freedom in educational spaces and classroom instruction that allows the varied and specific needs of each student to be met by the skillfulness and expertise of trained educators in collaboration with parents and caregivers. 
  7. Executive Order 13950: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/09/28/2020-21534/combating-race-and-sex-stereotyping