In an article that left CNN’s Don Lemon none too pleased, Ross Douthat, a center-right columnist for The New York Times, argued in favor of what he described as a “patriotic education,” one in which young students are taught about the goodness of America and its foundation before being exposed to the sins of its past — namely, the evils of slavery.
To discuss the concept, Lemon featured Douthat on a recent episode of his CNN show, where the two men discussed critical race theory and its presence in the educational system. The Times columnist began his comments by clearly defining what it is about CRT that’s concerning to parents.
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Douthat told the CNN anchor that what’s “driving controversy in schools right now is not teaching that racism exists and has consequences today.” Instead, he continued, it’s “a much more specific sort of theory” that identifies social norms and institutions as forms of “toxic whiteness.”
“There is this kind of misuse of ‘whiteness’ as a category where you are essentially putting things like meritocracy and a whole host of things that I think most parents assume schools are supposed to be generally in favor of into some kind of basket of white privilege, ‘whiteness,’ and then you’re encourage kids, white kids, to cultivate a kind of sense of their own whiteness,” the columnist explained. “With the idea being that, if you encourage that, these kids will then be able to sort of recognize their own white privilege and transcend it. I don’t think it’s clear that that works. I don’t think it’s at all clear constructing a stronger sense of racial identity in order to make people feel a sense of their own privilege and guilt is actually effective at doing this.”
Much of the curricula influenced by CRT, Douthat continued, is not even addressing the “history of racism” or its “contemporary effects” but are instead telling white children they “need to think of themselves in these categories and in these ways.”
“I think that is a big part of what people are reacting against,” he added.
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At that point, Lemon chimed in, attempting to correct Douthat by claiming CRT is an academic theory developed first by legal scholar Derrick Bell in the 1980s and “is not being taught” to elementary and grade school students in classrooms throughout the country.
Douthat jumped in immediately to chide Lemon for his faulty assertion.
“No, that’s not exactly right,” he said. “Critical race theory is an incredibly influential set of ideas that has solid influence in education, schools, and elsewhere.”
The Times writer clarified that, although it’s “not the foundational texts of critical race theory that are being taught in primary schools,” teachers have developed curricula and lesson plans “that do reflect ideas that come out of critical race theory in some attenuated sense.”
“And it’s passing through figures like Robin DiAngelo and Ibram Kendi,” Douthat said. “These are prominent public intellectuals — sort of activist-authors — so it’s being popularized. It’s moving out of the academy.”
DiAngelo’s book, “White Fragility,” which soared in popularity in 2020, amid the escalation of the Black Lives Matter movement, has remained on The Times’ bestseller list for three years in a row. And Kendi’s book, “How to Be An Antiracist,” earned critical acclaim in the wake of the death of George Floyd in May of last year and, one year later, spent nearly 50 weeks at the top of The Times’ bestseller list.
In addition, The Times’ controversial “1619 Project” — an “anti-historical” telling of the United States’ past that has been broadly rebuked by historians for suggesting the country’s founding, economy, and government were all designed to prop up slavery and white supremacy — is being taught in classrooms across dozens of school districts.
And both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers — the country’s two largest teachers unions — have vowed to stand by educators as parents across the country raise serious concerns about the inclusion of CRT themes in their kids’ classrooms.
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So while some supporters of CRT might try to knock critics by saying the authorized, seminal texts of the theory aren’t being used in the classroom, Douthat acknowledged it’s undeniable CRT has left an indelible mark on education as teachers promote lessons that split students into categories based on their immutable characteristics — such as their ethnicities — and then label them as “privileged” or “oppressive” based upon those features.
From a Christian standpoint, author and apologist Voddie Baucham has argued the acceptance of CRT by believers would be catastrophic because the Church doesn’t need a divisive academic theory “to teach us on race, on partiality, on the sin of partiality.” Instead, he argued, believers should consult Scripture for solutions to the injustices we face, such as racism.
“You can see where the backlash would come from,” Douthat concluded.