Note: The views and opinions expressed in blog/editorial posts are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the views or opinions of Misbar.
As far as I’m concerned, my education was sorely lacking due to the absence of critical race theory.
I grew up in the United Kingdom. When I was in school, I was taught that the U.K. was an amazing place, much like how Americans are taught that America is an amazing place. I don’t deny that either the U.K. or the U.S. are great countries. But let’s face it, it’s not as simple as that.
Both the U.K. and the U.S. have enacted terrible tragedies – not that I would have known thanks to my schooling. For example, when I was a child, no one taught me about the 800,000 enslaved people that the U.K. finally freed in 1833, or that the 46,000 British slave owners were paid the modern day equivalent of $22 billion in exchange for freeing them, or that it was the largest bailout in British history until the Great Recession. Instead, we learned about how the Romans and later William the Conqueror took over Britain. We studied the Tudor monarchs. And then we skipped right on to World War One and World War Two.
Anyone who lives in a country that was once subject to British rule can probably see an empire-shaped hole in my education. I never learned that Britain had an empire let alone the largest empire in the history of the world. I can speculate as to why that was glossed over: because then we would have had to face up to our racist past.
Government reports of my school show how a lack of critical race theory can impact people. In the most recent inspection of my former school, the government had this to say about the quality of its education: “Pupils have no understanding of British values, so are unaware of democratic processes, the influences of extremism and the importance of tolerance.”
Many conservatives are opposed to critical race theory. They believe that it will teach white children to be ashamed of themselves and that it is in itself a form of extremism. However, I disagree. As my own miseducation shows, children lack the ability to consider the nuances of identity. I don’t believe that being taught critical race theory would have made me ashamed of my race. Instead, it would have given me a better understanding of the terrible things that my nation had been responsible for.
This leads to the core reason why I think that critical race theory is not just acceptable but essential: it teaches that society has caused the inequalities. Racial inequality in the Western world has nothing to do with an individual person. Instead, it's largely because in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Europeans enslaved Africans en masse. In another universe, Europeans could have been the ones who were enslaved hundreds of years ago. In this hypothetical universe, critical race theory would be just as important; it’s just that white people would be at the structural disadvantage. We don’t live in that universe. Instead, thanks to the actions of previous generations, we live in a United States that sees one in three black men face prison time, where one in three black children live in poverty, and where one in 90 black babies die before their first birthday. These are facts. And they need to be recognized and addressed. And that’s where critical race theory comes in. Because I strongly believe that acknowledging these facts is an important part in overcoming our differences.
The term “critical race theory” has been politicized. As the Washington Post article linked in the previous sentence states, Fox News has ramped up its coverage of the subject, and Republicans are condemning critical race theory as a strategy for 2022 midterm success. But I believe that many aspects of critical race theory have bipartisan support if they are stripped of the term “critical race theory.” As Education Week has highlighted, most schools have never had critical race theory classes on the curriculum. Instead, it is more of a loose concept. It means that teachers can discuss historically important actions that have taken place in America, such as the abolition of slavery or the civil rights movement. When you strip the term “critical race theory” from these historical events, I believe that they become much more palatable for Americans of all creeds to learn about.
In essence, I believe that Americans can come together and agree on ways to teach children about racism in society that will please most people. After all, historically, the Republican Party, whose members are currently criticizing critical race theory, is the part of Lincoln. Surely, every Republican should want children to know that President Lincoln ended slavery? If so, then they’re advocating for critical race theory, just without using that term.
As NPR’s Barbara Sprunt explains, critical race theory has become a catch-all right-wing term for any subject that makes white people feel uncomfortable. I can see why someone may feel threatened by critical race theory when it’s viewed this way; we don’t choose to be born a specific race. And, as I know from personal experience, when you grow up learning only about the good aspects of your nation, it can be hard to hear the bad aspects. In fact, it can feel like an attack. In that case, I believe that people who are pro-critical race theory need to come up with a new way of approaching the subject matter. We need to show how critical race theory is not an attack on whiteness but an attempt to improve society for everyone. I don’t know exactly how to achieve this. But I have some ideas: First, come up with a new term that doesn’t suggest that people who want to highlight systemic racism are critical of whiteness. Second, talk to people of a range of backgrounds about the subjects that they think are most important to pass on to children. When people of opposing backgrounds talk about what they want, they can be surprised at just how much they agree with one another. And third, put this subject matter into a framework that encourages children to think about their role in the world and how they want to treat others. In essence, we provide the facts, and the children can draw their own conclusions.
Am I indulging in too much wishful thinking to believe that more unites us than divides us? All my talk of people coming together and agreeing may not seem to have much application in a U.S. that’s as sharply divided as it is today. But I fundamentally do believe that there is a compromise. We can take the core beliefs of critical race theory and teach them in a way that will make most people happy.
