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Critical Race Theory

Posted on June 20, 2021September 14, 2022 by Michael Vavrus

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Here we are in the 3rd decade of the 21st century and the denial that race was central to the founding of the U.S. continues from conservative and far right corners. Some White supremacist state legislatures would punish teachers if slavery were taught, not as a “peculiar institution,” but rather as the foundation of the explosive growth of exploitative capitalism in the 1800s and the historical thread to contemporary anti-Black discrimination.

            Used to be that multicultural education in our schools was going to be “divisive” and make children “hate” the U.S. Same reasoning is now being used against Critical Race Theory (CTR), which I doubt any of the political performers on the far right actually have read anything about it. The far right, though, does know CTR has that taboo word “Race” in the title

            According to the far right’s ideological orientation, race should not be discussed in schools. In other words, the far right and their conservative enablers prefer a feel-good version of U.S. history. In effect, Republican legislators are trying to silence teachers and requiring them to lie to their students.

            Critical Race Theory helps us to understand that the so-called “rule of law” is never neutral; instead the law continues to be skewed toward the interests of corporations and the wealthy and away from the material interests of the 99%, especially so for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous populations.

            Wondering what all the far right censoring fuss is actually about? For a very brief overview of and rationale for Critical Race Theory, which is now center stage of the latest right-wing “cultural wars” beehive attack, here is an excerpt from a book of mine that was written in the early 2000s that introduces this concept that originated in the 1990s: click here.

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