There is nothing more dangerous than arbitrary, reactionary overreach; but such has occurred throughout the country in recent months, as state legislatures and school boards have imposed strict limits on what can and cannot be taught in K-12 public schools. And, like always, instead of contemplating from where the illness arises, those on left and the right employ the strong-arm of the state to fight their ideological crusades, even when their decisions apply to future generations.
By June, 2021, 21 states introduced measures to curtail or eliminate wholesale the teachings of critical race theory in K-12 education. The bills range from blanket bans to the removal of federal funds to schools and teachers who decry legislative orders to teach CRT — laws are established in Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Florida.
There is much to discuss on the topic of schooling, public education and school choice, the debates for and against CRT, and finally, the governmental measures taken for and against the teachings of CRT. I hope to refrain from biting off a bigger portion than I wish to chew. For that is the case, this short examination merely focuses on how the legislative ban of educational materials does not serve the interest of children. In fact, using the simple stamp of censorship against ideas deemed unsafe degrades society’s future generations of their capacity to discern good ideas from bad; for the list of bad ideas is evermore infinite than the list of good ones, the only proven method by which good ideas flourish is in a free society in which ideological competition is fostered, not manufactured.
It is necessary, in the least, to give a good-faith interpretation to both sides. Anti-CRT activists generally argue:
Critical Race Theory is a dangerous ideology because it’s racially divisive, ignores human progress and misleads people to employ stereotypes and generalized thinking methods. It has also taken root in various American institutions, including public schools. This is particularly harmful, for children are not equipped to tackle such complex notions of race, society and power. And if we impose these ideas on children, then children are being indoctrinated with a set of harmful ideas.
Pro-CRT advocates assert:
Critical Race Theory comprises various schools of thought and ideological disciplines, positing each a particular message and perspective. By casting a broad net, labelling everything with which one disagrees as CRT, one is being restrictive. The teachings, moreover, are not racially divisive, but inclusive, helping elevate voices which had formerly been alienated. Children would benefit from CRT-based lessons because it will give them a better understanding of the ways the world works and how it affects people.
Under the current structure and organization of K-12 education in the United States, it’s understandable that CRT is at the epicenter of a national conversation. For partisans and power-hoarders, it’s important to control what children learn, for that decides the future. And the debate is evermore intense when American public schooling employs the Prussian Model of education, emphasizing order, obedience and control.
Pro-and anti-CRT advocates ascertain the magnitude of this fight, pleading to codify protections or declarations against the teaching of CRT — only illustrating that everything for which good-liberals and good-conservatives fight can be merely procured by legislative or executive decree, and not by any sort of socio-political foundational change.
Children are creative; and their inquiry in the world, which occurs at school, ought not be extinguished by the state. It is unwise and imprudent to create restrictive measures, with little capacity to enforce, that dissuade school teachers from being able to discuss topics openly. At the moment, this debate is merely over who decides what facts educators use to teach children.
Schooling ought not be driven by a desire to indoctrinate children with a particular worldview or set of facts. Schooling ought to lend children the tools to unpack ideas. There are liberal traditions of thought, existentialism traditions, Christian traditions, Muslim traditions, Marxist traditions, Critical traditions, and the list goes on. It is not the job of schooling to merely teach that one tradition is the right or good. Its role is to cultivate a student’s desire to learn and capacity to critically think. Learning ought not be taken because society is scared. Bad ideas cannot be eliminated by force, for that only gives it the aurora of intrigue. Bad ideas can only be dismissed in a culture of free speech and in a market of competing ideas.
If children, teenagers and young adults are to be equipped with the capacity to think, we must rethink our education system. State-sanctioned indoctrination of children, of any worldview and at any school, is abhorrent, and degrades the dignity and grandiose capacity of man. The state cannot solve society’s issues.
