What is "Critical Race Theory"?

 

[VIDEO] I've been subscribed to US101 YouTube channel since last year and he hosts a discussion of Critical Race Theory (CRT) with Mr. Beat (you may know him and his videos) and another YouTuber The Cynical Historian. This discussion is about 35 mins.

What do I know about CRT? Well I'm not that educated on that subject myself other than what's in the news or the opinion page about it. One thing I'm clear on is the origins out of the work of academics in graduate school or law school.

I hear it's conflated with discussing race or racism in America. My understanding of where this "theory" comes from is from the ivory tower of higher education. Whether from graduate school or law school. Although I've never taught in a classroom I've heard too many stories about how it's applied in a school.

I've heard one report of where a teacher divided up a class between the white students (oppressors) and the Black students (victims). I would say that's a horrible way of trying to teach this lesson to our young people. In my opinion let's talk about the issues of prejudice/racism, but what we want to do is to encourage our young people to move beyond that.

I do conflate in my mind prejudice/racism. It's not necessarily black/white as it seems to always be framed. Humanity has always divided itself up into differing groups whether racial, tribal, religious, language etc. We should always strive to eliminate these arbitrary divisions and put behind us any prejudice/hatred.

In my opinion, I don't believe that CRT belongs in a K-12 classroom and should remain in higher education. Hopefully undergrad students and above will be able to adequately think critical about what CRT is and some of it pros/cons as a theory. It should never be treated as a fact.

Which is what US101, Mr. Beat, and The Cynical Historian are seeking to do in the above video. At least US101 shared some links for us to peruse to learn more about CRT.

• Education Week: What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack?
• Time: 'Critical Race Theory Is Simply the Latest Bogeyman.' Inside the Fight Over What Kids Learn About America's History
• American Bar Association: A Lesson on Critical Race Theory

I suppose this could count for the Shedd School of Political Science or perhaps not since this is more social science than anything else.