This effort to turn teachers into informants in a delusional crusade against the teaching of so-called “critical race theory” comes after the Texas legislature passed the new HB3979 law banning the tenets of CRT in schools. Although conservatives have fueled panic over the topic, it is not taught in elementary or middle schools, and many public schools have already been forced to put out statements clarifying that “critical race theory” is a subject taught at the college level.
“It feels like it’s coming from a conservative echo chamber that is not familiar with how public schools operate,” said the middle school teacher. “Our curriculum is packed with literacy, mathematics and test prep. We don’t have time to teach law school level theoretical concepts.”
CRT is an academic movement of civil-rights scholars and activists who seek to critically examine the intersection of race and U.S. law and to challenge mainstream American liberal approaches to racial justice. But in 2020, conservative activists like Christopher Rufo began using the term “critical race theory” publicly to denounce all sorts of anti-racist education efforts. Since then, CRT has become a watchword for fears that children are being “brainwashed” into thinking that all white people are fundamentally racist.
These statements echo claims made by conservative lawmakers about transgender student athletes that have made for splashy headlines. But few proponents have been able to cite specific examples.
Such efforts have caused school board members to resign in frustration across the country, creating a political power vacuum for the most rabid activists to fill. Now with the rise of state-sanctioned anti-abortion bounty-hunting and snitch-sites in Texas, it isn’t just school board officials that are becoming political targets.
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