A new study conducted by the ultra-conservative Manhattan Institute and published by the City Journal claims to prove that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is being taught in K-12 education. However, their claim is false, because they misrepresented CRT to prove their point. According to the study, evidence that CRT is being taught in school comes from recent high school graduates endorsing the following four statements: (1) “America is a systemically racist country,” (2) “white people have white privilege,” (3) “white people have unconscious biases that negatively affect non-white people,” and (4) “America is built on stolen land.”
Anyone who has studied CRT understands that the theory cannot be adequately explained through these four rudimentary concepts. However, these concepts, while not illustrative of CRT, are fundamental facts about racism in the United States. Further, the manner in which conservative media embraces the study gives a compelling glimpse at anti-CRT proponents’ operational definition of CRT.
Dr. Ivory A. Toldson
CRT is a body of scholarship that spans more than 40 years, which examines the ways in which structures of power and privilege are embedded within existing social, cultural, and legal systems. The theory focuses particularly on race and identity, arguing that race cannot be understood as simply a matter of personal choice or cultural difference but rather as deeply entrenched within the fabric of society.
Although critical race theory is not being taught in kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) education, politicians and political operatives are trying to use fear-mongering and misinformation to convince parents that it is. They are claiming that CRT is teaching children that white people are inherently bad, and that America itself is a racist country. However, this simply is not true. While critical race theory does discuss issues of race and racism in society, it does so with the goal of critically examining these social issues and forms of oppression in order to work towards a deeper understanding and positive change.
The Manhattan study is not a survey about CRT, it is a survey about white racism.
Systemic racism and white privilege are concepts that predate CRT by decades. In 1970, almost a decade before CRT was established as a discipline, an interdenominational, multi-racial coalition of ministers posited this definition of white racism:
White racism is, fundamentally, the assumption that being white is superior to being non-white. While few whites today would argue for biological superiority, most whites assume a cultural, social, and personal superiority. White racism is woven into the total fabric of American society and is used to justify the privilege of whites and the disadvantage of non-whites (Cook, 1970, p. 146).
