Many of you reading this already know I am an education professor. I want to be clear, however, that I am NOT a critical race theory scholar. I am a strong proponent of staying in your own lane and deferring to experts. Thus, when I noticed many of my colleagues and other respected scholars talking and tweeting about what critical race theory is and isn’t, I listened. I quickly realized that the general public (myself included) needed more information.
What Critical Race Theory is Not
Judging from much of the outrage and the legislation banning critical race theory in schools across the U.S., people are conflating it with several other things. Here is a quick list of what critical race theory is not:
culturally responsive/relevant/sustaining pedagogy antiracist teaching accurately teaching U.S. history, including the United States’s racist past teaching for social justice diversity, equity, and/or inclusion making Juneteenth a federal holiday Marxism teaching children to hate the U.S. being taught to K–12 students
What Critical Race Theory Is
Now that we’ve established what critical race theory is not, let’s talk about what it is. According to the American Bar Association, So, critical race theory started in the law field as a way to acknowledge and recognize the systemic injustices in our legal system. It has spread to other fields like education. Of course, education is another system impacted by racism. Consequently, it makes sense that people who study education apply such a lens. While many such scholars use the framework in their research and college teaching, it isn’t something that translates easily into K–12 instruction. Many teachers work toward equity and social justice. Still others use culturally responsive pedagogy. Very few, if any, are teaching critical race theory to children.
Critical Race Theory Books
Finally, we’re ready to talk about books! The truth is, now that you know what CRT is, you’ll understand that there aren’t many critical race theory books for the average person. Much of the scholarship on critical race theory has taken the form of academic articles, which are read by other academics. Whereas books like How to Be Antiracist are important, useful, and accessible, they’re not about CRT. However, if you want to know more, here are a few books to consider.
