Lawmakers should have to prove they understand the subject about which they are trying to pass legislation before that legislation can be enacted.
If that were the case, virtually all legislation relating to Critical Race Theory would fail.
It took a little while, but Fox News TV’s and the far-right’s fearmongering over CRT finally infiltrated the West Virginia Legislature.
Last week, the joint Education Committee heard presentations about CRT and its presence — or lack thereof, as presenters indicated — in West Virginia schools.
What is CRT? Fox News online (which must be distinguished from its TV counterpart, because its online reporting tends to be less biased and more factual) defines it very simply for its readers: “CRT is a school of thought that generally focuses on how power structures and institutions impact racial minorities.”
Reuters, among other sources, reports that CRT has its origins in law schools in the 1970s. Over the years, it has evolved and expanded, and there is no singular, agreed-upon theory, though there are some basic tenets. You can read about them in detail from the Encyclopedia Britannica. At its very core, CRT is the acknowledgment that racist ideologies and practices from the past have a direct or indirect influence on the present.
What CRT is not: It is not anti-white. It does not teach white children or white people to hate themselves nor children or people of color to hate their peers. It is not anti-American. It does not teach children or adults to hate their country — only to acknowledge the flaws and mistakes of the past, so they can help make an effort to fix them.
CRT is not “raw Marxism” as Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood, suggested during last week’s committee hearing. The state board of education’s School Recovery and Guidance’s promise to “ensure curriculum and resources promote social justice and equity for all students” does not promote political bias as Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, implied. (Since when did making sure all our state’s students have access to resources and opportunities to help them thrive become a partisan issue?)
During the last regular session, Azinger introduced SB 618, “prohibiting public schools and charter schools from teaching or training students to believe certain divisive concepts.” Those “divisive concepts” include: “The United States is fundamentally racist or sexist;” “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously;” “any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex;” and “ascribing character traits … privileges, status or beliefs to a race or sex, or an individual because of his or her race or sex.”
What Republican lawmakers and too many Fox News watchers across the nation are actually banning with these laws is not “critical race theory” — it’s the honest teaching of American history.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Today’s discussion of critical race theory continues tomorrow, Sept. 24, in “No CRT in W.Va., so why is GOP banning history?”
