What is Critical Race Theory? Why don't Republicans want it taught in Georgia schools?
Last week, Georgias State Board of Education approved a resolution that seeks to stop teaching what members call divisive ideologies in public schools. Thats a pretty wide net, but with context, its not hard to figure out what they were talking about. Most of the meeting was a debate of Critical Race Theory  which focuses on how historical inequities and racism continually shape American society. While the state school board resolution doesn't mention Critical Race Theory explicitly, its the only ideology that the board discussed during the hour-long meeting, and after the motion passed, Gov. Brian Kemp released a statement praising the school boards opposition to teaching Critical Race Theory in Georgias K-12 classrooms. "I applaud the members of the State Board of Education for making it clear this dangerous, anti-American ideology has no place in Georgia classrooms," Kemp said in a press release. "With their vote today, state school board members have ensured education in the Peach State will reflect the freedom, equality, and God-given potential of each individual." Its a hot button issue that Kemp began to loudly proclaim opposition to recently. The school board meeting came just a few days before the state Republican convention on Jekyll Island June 5, where Kemps support has begun to dwindle. He was greeted with boos by a portion of the crowd whose favor of Kemp was smudged at his refusal to overturn Georgias election results. But Kemps not the only one talking about the controversial topic. Georgia, along with Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, and at least eight other states either have or are considering banning the teaching of CRT and its tenets in public schools. Response:Effingham superintendent talks district policy after teacher resigns over BLM conversation  CRT isn't a new concept. It's been around for decades. The basic idea of the teaching is that racism isn't something that's expressed solely on an individual basis, but a structural and systemic problem that has filtered into policy and lawmaking since the colonization of North America. John Nwosu is a human developer and active school counselor, and the founder of Think D.I.F. a group that aims to help organizations learn, unlearn and become more equitable through diversity training and advocacy, and teaches the tenets of CRT in the process. He says usually, one of the first problems he sees in his sessions are people subscribing to the idea of color-blindness, or assuming everyone, regardless of skin color, is on a level playing field in the United States. More:Teacher says Effingham principal told him Black Lives Matter doesnt belong in schools. He resigned. We talk about people being judged by character, not by the color of their skin, and really, that represents color-blindness, Nwosu said. So Critical Race Theory is the opposite of that. It says, not that we want to judge people based on the color of their skin, but that people actually are judged based on the color of their skin far too often, and we have to be race-conscious to create something more akin to the constitutional values we talk about: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If you don't acknowledge that race exists and that we have differences that are based in race and that we are treated differently because of our race, then there's no way for you to acknowledge all the problems that come along with our society, Nwosu added. We do think that everyone should be treated fairly, and unfortunately, that's not always the case. In August of 2019, The New York Times published the 1619 Project, an ambitious overarching look at the way slavery shaped the America we live in today. It "aims to reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States' national narrative.  More:School board: Mask wearing should be optional next year; student transportation still being worked out  It is perhaps the most widely known application of CRT, both because of its scope and because of the loud conservative response. Former President Donald Trump railed against the project, and created the 1776 Commission to instead push a patriotic education. The 1776 Commission released a report on Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year that was criticized for its inaccuracies and erasure of Black people, Native Americans and women. It was quickly taken down by President Joe Biden the same day he was sworn in. The Pulitzer Center, in partnership with the 1619 Project, has made available related lesson planning and says more than 4,000 educators from all 50 states have reported using its resources. It wasnt until May that the conversation hit Georgia, and it was Kemp who brought it up. He posted an open letter opposing Critical Race Theory that then prompted the Georgia State Board of Education to issue a resolution limiting race conversations in classrooms. The board voted Thursday to approve the resolution, which doesn't explicitly mention the term "critical race theory" and isn't legally binding. What Savannah communities say about it  On the same day, at a Savannah-Chatham County School Board meeting last week, a few concerned conservatives came to speak out about the implementation of CRT at Savannah-Chatham Schools, even though SCCPSS had made no prior indication that it would be incorporated into the curriculum. "I've learned that Chatham County Public Schools wants to incorporate critical race theory or CRT into the curriculum, and I have to just say no," said Meghan Holbrook. "From my research, I gathered that CRT is just another Marxist practice that attempts to judge a person by their skin color, instead of the content of their character." Their impassioned speeches called CRT Marxist and indoctrination and even racist.  "CRT has no place in the classroom," added Jeanne Seaver, who in March announced her run for Lt. Governor next year. "CRT explicitly divides all people by race into one or two classes: the oppressor or the oppressed. We will not tolerate indoctrination and racism in our schools. Parents of all races and backgrounds in our district do not want CRT." The districts statement on the matter was dismissive, and they noted they align the SCCPSS curriculum to Georgia State standards and have "no plan or movement to incorporate critical race theory into our K-12 curriculum. Our curriculum is based off the approved standards from the Georgia Standards of Excellence," wrote Andrea Burkiett, interim director of curriculum and instruction, in an email response. Series -- Education in the pandemic:After a year of online learning, Savannah-Chatham teachers expect to fill in education 'gaps'  And, at least based on the state school board's resolution, CRT, as well as any other "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 violate the premises of individual rights, equal opportunity, and individual merit underpinning our constitutional republic," won't be taught in Georgia schools anytime soon. And Nwosu sees that as a blatant attempt to cling to the power structures in place  the ones that Critical Race Theory points towards. "All it is is analysis. It helps us break down what we're seeing and be able to tell the truth, and see the truth for what it is," Nwosu said. "Historically, everything has been used as a tool to maintain power. Race and racism have been used the same way." Will Peebles is the enterprise reporter for Savannah Morning News. He can be reached at wpeebles@gannett.com and @willpeeblessmn on Twitter.