By Leann Schenke

GEORGETOWN — Opponents of critical race theory argue that its goal is to divide America.

Proponents say it offers a deeper understanding of how racism has shaped public policy and, by extension, today’s society.

In an attempt to bridge that gap, in late July, The Heritage Foundation hosted a panel discussion — titled “Understanding Critical Race Theory” — at Georgetown’s Crossroad Community Church to inform participants about CRT and give information on “what you can do to stop it from dividing our children, families and nation,” a news release stated.

The Rev. Andrew Betts, the church’s youth pastor, opened the event by saying CRT has “no place, whatsoever, in the church.” He explained that the Bible has a “unity message” and quoted Galatians 3:28, which reads, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

The theme of “you are all one,” versus the concept of institutional racism unequally shaping policy, carried through the discussion, which included six panelists identifying CRT at work in public education and other areas of society.

Panelist Jonathan Butcher said CRT promotes equity over equality — or acknowledging race over colorblindness — in all aspects of life, like education and the workforce.

In contrast, during a separate interview, Dr. Alison Parker, chair and Richards Professor of American history at the University of Delaware, said that at its roots, CRT is theory meant to help college students explore the way racism has been built into American society.

“I really do not believe that to be the case,” Dr. Parker said of the notion that CRT is actively being taught in public schools. “(But) if it were the case that these ideas that come from critical race theory have in effect trickled down into our classrooms at the pre-kindergarten-through-12 level, that wouldn’t necessarily be a problem.”

Furthermore, Hillsdale College, a private, conservative liberal arts school in Michigan, recently printed the essay, “Critical Race Theory: What It Is and How to Fight It,” in its publication, “Imprimis.” The essay was adapted from a speech delivered by Christopher F. Rufo at the college March 30.

Mr. Rufo is the founder and director of Battlefront, a public policy research center, and a graduate of Georgetown University. He said government institutions like public schools were established as “neutral, technocratic, and oriented towards broadly-held perceptions of the public good.”

CRT, Mr. Rufo said, has become part of efforts developed out of Marxist theory to change those traditional institutions by pushing equity. Like Mr. Butcher, Mr. Rufo argued that CRT’s version of equity is “little more than reformulated Marxism.”

During the panel, Mr. Butcher, the Will Skillman Fellow in Education at The Heritage Foundation, offered a look at CRT’s origins in critical theory — a philosophy developed at the Frankfurt School in the 1930s, he said.

“Critical theory is, in essence, rooted in an idea that (Karl) Marx developed that there are oppressors and the oppressed,” Mr. Butcher said.

Expanding on a thought developed through critical theory that the existing order and institutions must be dismantled for change to occur, Mr. Butcher said CRT argues that racism is so ingrained in American society that it must then be placed in the center of that society.

“Critical race theorists say specifically … that the Civil Rights Act and the civil rights movement didn’t go far enough,” he said. “The goal of critical race theory was making the issue of race and ethnicity the primary driver for public policy and social change. The essence of the idea is that everything must be considered in terms of race.”

Mr. Butcher said the Marxist theory, which gave birth to CRT, is based on the idea that there must be “equity, instead of equality.”

“Equality means people are treated the same under the law,” he said. “Equity means that somewhere, somewhere else, something is generating equal outcomes for everyone. As you’ll hear from others on the panel today, the only way a government can generate equal outcomes is through coercion.”

Mr. Butcher spoke critically of CRT being taught to future teachers while they are in college, saying its theories can then be passed on to students in high school. He told the audience that they can identify CRT in today’s world by its application of special privilege to certain people.

“They are talking about the idea that discrimination is appropriate, that individuals of certain ethnicities deserve special sanction or benefits based simply on the color of their skin,” he said. “That there is no future. There is no hope. There is only resistance.”

Professor: CRT not ‘unpatriotic’

Dr. Parker, who also serves on UD’s Antiracism Initiative, said CRT isn’t necessarily asking people to consider all aspects of society in terms of race but rather that it was developed as a byproduct of examining why racism still exists in America despite the civil rights movement.

“What (critical race theorists) started realizing is, after the civil rights movement, there was realization that there were still these problems in American society, and there were still all of these inequalities,” she said. “How do we explain all of those inequalities and try to deal with them if we can’t understand how they get there?”

While Mr. Rufo stated it’s not bad to examine and learn from America’s history of the enslavement of Black people, he said the theory that America was “founded on and defined by racism” and thus “our way of life should be overthrown” does not “rightly, much less necessarily, follow.”

Dr. Parker said the ultimate goal of using CRT to interpret history is to create a more “truly inclusive democratic society.” She said it’s “not at all anti-American or even unpatriotic” to question America’s history of racism to create that ideal society.

“It’s asking people to be willing to interrogate our past and understand how questions about race and racism are built into (institutions) because otherwise, we can’t get to that more inclusive, multicultural society,” she said.

Dr. Parker noted that CRT is meant to be taught in higher-education classes to help students think outside the box from the history they’ve been taught in high school. She emphasized that, at the college level, CRT can further help students recognize how racism has lingered in American institutions.

“If you don’t look at where those structural inequalities exist, you can’t fix them to make a better America,” she said. “There is a critique in CRT. There is a sense that there is something that needs to be fixed, but it doesn’t mean that it’s a threat to the United States of America.”

Mr. Butcher also spoke about CRT in public education. He told the story of Rebecca Randall, a Texas mom who told him that her son’s teachers are “fixated on skin color.”

“Rebecca was furious when her son’s teacher implied that the only place her child could learn about cultural questions involving racial identity was at school,” he said.

But upon completing a quick search, he said he found a page on the Brandywine School District’s website that lists what he identified as books that promote CRT. He said the district recommended publications by Ibram X. Kendi and an article that allows students to quiz themselves to find out if they are supporting White supremacy.

The district does have a “Diversity & Equity Resources for Families” section found under the “Families” tab on its homepage. There also is a link from the “Diversity” page to an “Anti-Racism Resource for All Ages” site, which features a link to an NPR article that recommends a book by Mr. Kendi.

Calling critical race theorists “masters of language construction,” Mr. Rufo said the term “neo-Marxism” is a hard sell, so nonthreatening words like “equity,” “social justice” and “diversity and inclusion” have been put in its place.

“It has been injected into government agencies, public school systems, teacher training programs, and corporate human resource departments in the form of diversity training programs, human resource modules, public policy frameworks, and school curricula,” he said.

Mr. Rufo went on to say equity can be easily confused with the “American principle of ‘equality.’” However, where equality means all Americans have the same rights under the Constitution, equity can mean “race-based redistribution of wealth, group-based rights, active discrimination, and omnipotent bureaucratic authority.”

Mr. Butcher said aiming for diversity and inclusion isn’t a bad goal to pursue, but that it promotes the idea that government should be responsible for creating equal outcomes.

“Broadly speaking, critical race theorists can use whatever terms that they choose that will fit what they’re trying to apply it to, so is diversity bad? No. As a concept, it’s fine. It’s actually quite good in many cases,” he said. “Equity used to be something that we wanted, as well, before it was co-opted. The same thing with inclusion. When you see diversity, equity and inclusion today, it’s something that’s being used by critical race theorists to promote the idea that government should create equal outcomes for people.”

Mr. Butcher also posed the question that if CRT is harmless, why are parents changing their children’s schools to avoid it? He also said teachers are hiding curricula from parents to keep them from knowing the extent of CRT in their students’ classrooms.

Parents’ perspective

Later in the meeting, Joe Mobley, a parent who works with Fight for Schools, told the audience they can take their students out of public schools and move them into private or charter schools.

It was also suggested that cameras be installed in classrooms, so parents can monitor their children’s education for CRT — an idea that received a round of applause.

During the panel, self-described “mama bear” Shawntel Cooper outlined her experiences with CRT in schools, saying it can teach children to be victims of their situation. Ms. Cooper also is a member of Fight for Schools and was active in the campaign against CRT in Loudoun County, Virginia, public schools.

She described a traumatic upbringing, where she was mentally abused by her stepfather. Given her experiences growing up in poverty, she said CRT is abusive and can keep people in the “victim” mentality.

“(CRT) doesn’t have anything to do with love or friendship,” Ms. Cooper said. “It divides us by race, causing discrimination.”

In her case, she said prayer and working multiple jobs helped her out of poverty. She said her older sister, however, is stuck in the mind-set of “being a victim.”

“This is why CRT resonates in my heart,” she added.

Ms. Cooper encouraged those at the panel to ask their children if there are “in-classroom libraries” in their schools. She said the books included there do not need to be approved by the curriculum, so they could include CRT material. She also suggested asking teachers for instructional material and lesson plans.

“You want to see everything that’s being taught,” she said.

Ms. Cooper also recommended taking a strong stance against children who tell their parents CRT isn’t being taught in schools.

“Make time and spend one-on-one time with your children, teaching them how amazing this country is and how to love our country,” she said. “Research CRT and see how it resonates with you and your home and teach your children what to look out for.”

Dr. Parker said tactics like putting cameras in classrooms and poring over students’ materials are rooted in fear.

“There’s also a lot of intimidation because asking for these kinds of rules and surveillance is also really a threat to free speech,” she said. “One of the key things that has been so important about our American educational system is the possibility to have free discussions.”

She said CRT, when defined as a lens for looking at history to see where racism persists and has become institutional, is not being taught in high schools.

“It literally does not exist there,” Dr. Parker said. “It was something that was created in the last couple of years by right-wing pundits. … It’s basically a culture war issue.”

She said those arguing that CRT is in schools are trying to find a way to make people feel more alienated and concerned that their version of America is under threat. This fear, she said, can be traced to former President Donald Trump raising concerns over how history is taught.

When teachers teach history with a modern perspective, Dr. Parker said, people can be uncomfortable learning that the ideologies written in the Constitution were not meant for everyone.

CRT as it is taught in higher education then isn’t necessarily about teaching history — students should come to college having learned history in high school. Since its inception, Dr. Parker said, CRT has always provided college students with a different way to examine and explore the legacies of racism.

“It’s inviting people to see that structures and laws and rules and practices are basically not neutral,” the professor said. “The goal of having us think about that is to ask us to find ways to make those systems better. Fix and change those systems.”