What is critical race theory? Is it taught in Alabama schools?
To learn more about The Alabama Education Lab and receive notifications about stories and events, sign up for its newsletter, Ed Chat. The latest front in school culture wars is critical race theory  an academic framework for how racism interacts with current society and politics that has become a catchall term in critiques of some schools efforts to expand history, diversity and antiracism efforts. Alabama K-12 schools do not teach critical race theory and we are not aware of any teachers asking students to read the legal and academic scholars who created the school of thought in the 1970s. We are also not aware of any recent critiques of Alabama schools diversity initiatives or efforts to broaden history curriculum related to critical race theory. Some school lessons, antiracism efforts and diversity training, though, might reflect some foundational tenets of critical race theory, particularly that racism is systemic and still influences access to equal justice, education and health care for people of color in the United States. Read more: State school board wants to keep critical race theory out of the classroom. The Alabama Education Lab has compiled some definitions and explanations of issues that have come up in our coverage and other media reports, through review of scholarly research, news reports and interviews with experts. To share your own thoughts about how schools should approach topics of race and racism, fill out this form or email alabamaedlab@al.com. Please let us know! Critical race theory, also known as CRT, is an academic concept taught in university sociology classes and at law school. Its based on the idea that racism is a social construct that is embedded in all aspects of our lives, including in legal systems and policies. Critical race theory does not tell people what to think; its merely a framework for attempts to explain why, 60 years after the Civil Rights Movement, Black children are disciplined at higher rates in schools than white children; children of color are more likely to live in poverty than white children; Black students perform worse on standardized tests, even when poverty isnt a factor; and schools that serve majority non-white populations get billions less than schools that serve majority-white populations, due to historical issues of redlining and segregation. If the individual children, parents and school administrators arent each at fault, theorists say, the systems must be. CRT emerged more than 40 years ago. It was initially created by Black legal scholars such as Derrick Bell, and was expanded by other scholars and thinkers such as Kimberle Crenshaw, Cheryl Harris, Gloria Ladson-Billings and Tara Yosso, among others. The theory transcends a Black/white racial binary and recognizes that racism has impacted the experiences of various people of color, including Latinx, Native Americans and Asian Americans. Richard Delgado, a professor emeritus and one of the founding scholars of the theory, said racism is ordinary and the common, everyday experience of most people of color in this country. (You can buy his book online here and see his scholarly work here). Racism isnt just something that happened during slavery or Jim Crow, he said, but persists, because racism still benefits  both psychically and materially  white people in the United States, through increased access to health care, education and legal justice, among other social benefits. Read The Alabama Education Labs interview with Richard Delgado here. Critical race theory does not say that any one race is better or worse than another. It merely says that white people tend to benefit from existing social and legal systems in the U.S. -- and that removing disparities requires changing those systems, not just individual peoples hearts and minds. The American Bar Association describes CRT as not a diversity and inclusion training but as a practice of interrogating the role of race and racism in society that emerged in the legal academy and spread to other fields of scholarship. CRT is sometimes described as Marxist, possibly out of confusion with the theorys origination with the Western-Marxist school of critical theory. Not to get too deep into social theory textbooks, but proponents of critical race theory arent necessarily proponents of communism, socialism or any other -ism. Critical race theory doesnt ask people to follow any particular political movement. There are also two education terms that are sometimes used in teacher professional development and sometimes get mixed up with debates about critical race theory: culturally relevant or responsive teaching and social-emotional learning.  Culturally relevant teaching recognizes the importance of students social, cultural and family backgrounds -- rather than a traditional teacher-student dynamic where the teacher is the expert and sticks strictly to the curriculum, culturally relevant teaching might encourage a teacher to learn more about students unique backgrounds and home lives and incorporate different things that are more likely to resonate with a student, build them up and drive them to succeed. Examples might be adding rap lyrics to an exploration of American poetry, or talking about how a chapter in a history textbook might influence the neighborhood a student lives in, or brings in guest speakers to encourage students to pursue fields of interest. The site Edutopia has lots of good articles about culturally-relevant teaching. Social-emotional learning aims to build up students self-awareness and resilience, and asks educators to be more aware of the factors a student might encounter at home or in the community -- such as mental health, family trauma or cultural barriers -- that might impact their ability to do well in school. Critical race theory has become a flashpoint recently as the term has been tied to some schools efforts to implement diversity and inclusion initiatives and hire staff to oversee this work. Critics of CRT claim it discriminates against white people and encourages a victim mindset in which white people are oppressors while students of color are victims. Opposition to CRT and The New York Times 1619 Project, which are sometimes referred to interchangeably by critics, has grown across the country; at least 22 states have passed or are considering legislation or policies restricting how race and racism are taught in schools, according to Chalkbeat. That includes Alabama. In other states, opposition to critical race theory and other antiracism and diversity efforts has become a grassroots issue at local school board meetings. According to an NBC News investigation, some conservative parent organizing and conservative lawmakers bills have been coordinated and encouraged by groups including the Heritage Foundation and American Legislative Exchange Council. The 1619 Project is an award-winning initiative launched by The New York Times in 2019, the 400th anniversary of arrival of the first African slaves in Virginia. It includes a collection of stories, essays, poems and photos from more than a dozen contributors. The project centers the countrys history on the consequences of slavery and the ongoing contributions of Black Americans. The 1619 Project has been criticised by former President Donald Trump and other conservatives who say the project and its premise are un-American. It has also been criticised by some historians who disputed the projects interpretation of historical events. The majority of American historians and social scientists, however, agree with the projects overall premise that slavery was an intrinsic part of Americas founding, led to the Civil War and continues to impact the lives of its residents today. Most critiques of the project have come from politicians, who have proposed banning funding to schools that use the projects school curriculum and have asked to remove it from federal grant programs. It is not. But the concept may have influenced teachers as they wrote their own curriculum and led classroom discussions. The Alabama Department of Education does not mandate the teaching of any particular curriculum. Rather, the agency adopts standards about things students are expected to know and be able to do by certain grades. Then, districts and teachers find curriculum and write lessons. Well, they do! But nationally, child advocates have been encouraging educators to consider expanding the historical figures and movements they discuss in classes to include more people of color. For example, Black history doesnt have to be something thats just taught during Black History Month in February -- students might read essays by Black thinkers, discuss the rich history of math in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa and learn about unique artistic traditions of different African cultures throughout the year. Rather than talking about slavery as something that just happened to people of African descent, teachers could make sure to talk about slave revolts and various ways that enslaved people fought for and achieved freedom. Educational experts say such expansions of history and curriculum arent just exercises in wokeness; when done well, they can have real benefits on student engagement and retention. A 2016 study by Stanford researchers found an ethnic studies curriculum increased high school student attendance, GPA and credits earned by surprisingly large amounts. Alabamas education board considered a resolution at their June meeting that said the board believes the United States of America is not an inherently racist country, and that the state of Alabama is not an inherently racist state, and that would prohibit the teaching of concepts that impute fault, blame, a tendency to oppress others or the need to feel guilt or anguish to persons solely because of their race or sex in public schools. The resolution received immediate pushback from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which called it an obvious dog whistle for a racist movement largely influenced by highly-organized conservative groups to intimidate educators and prevent them from teaching any lessons about the history of race in our country.  State officials said they might vote on a resolution at the boards July meeting. Alabama officials are also in the midst of updating the state social studies standards  which in turn will influence the textbooks and curriculum schools choose and potentially the topics teachers introduce in class.