Note: the author of this 4-part series on identifying CRT in private schools is an anonymous mother of 2 children who attend private school in the southeast.
Critical Race Theory, or CRT, is a term that seems to have come out of nowhere in the past year. What was once an abstract philosophy in academia with deep roots in Marxism, is now a framework being used to teach American students to view the world through the prism of race and racism.
Every American should be concerned with students being taught Critical Race Theory in schools.
CRT actively promotes discrimination and categorizes students into two groups—oppressors and victims—based simply on each student’s race. They are being taught that “colorblindness” is racist. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Unfortunately we are moving away from that idea and are using race a means to elevate protected groups above others.
Proponents of CRT also argue that certain values, once believed to be uniquely American qualities, are “white dominant.” These qualities include, but are not limited to:
- Self-reliance
- The nuclear family (father, mother, and children) as the ideal social unit
- Rational, linear thinking
- Hard work as the key to success
- Plan for the future
- Being polite
Stories about parents fighting local school boards to remove CRT from the school curricula are in the news every week. But what is happening in private schools? Most independent schools are flying under the radar quietly indoctrinating the next generation.
Part of what makes CRT so insidious is that it is difficult to pin down. This is by design. The American Bar Association summarized Kimberlé Crenshaw, a creator of the CRT framework, “Crenshaw notes that CRT is not a noun, but a verb. It cannot be confined to a static and narrow definition but is considered to be an evolving and malleable practice.” Administrators will deny they teach CRT while promoting a lesson on White Privilege or Social-Emotional Learning.
This series of articles is designed to uncover CRT in private schools for those who are considering sending a student to an independent school as well as those already enrolled. Most of what you need to know can be found on the schools’ websites. School administrators speak in a coded language that explains their plans. It’s just a matter of knowing what to look for and reading between the lines to decipher the meaning.
The very first place to begin the search is the Mission Statement for the school. Well-run institutions will continually refer to this statement to stay on track, so this often-overlooked paragraph can offer vital insights into what is happening in the classrooms.
One prestigious school states that they “…prepare [their students] for the lifelong transformation of self and the world.” Stop and think about those words for a moment. Transforming our children and the world? Into what kind of people and what kind of world? Contrast that with a mission statement that reads, “…develops excellence, confidence, and integrity in students and prepares them with the skills and knowledge that serve as the foundations for success.”
Many schools reference creating global citizens in their mission statements. What does it mean to be a “global citizen”? Jakub Grygiel, an associate professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies claimed that there is no such thing as a global citizen in his 2013 Washington Post op-ed. “A global community or citizenry cannot exist, because to love everyone and everything is to love nobody and nothing.” He goes on to argue that we are weakening our nation by training students to be global citizens, “…if we train [students] to be imbued with higher esteem for the abstraction of a global community than for the reality of the particular group in which they live, we deprive our nation of the ability to defend its interests and maintain its well-being.” While students today need to be prepared to compete in a global marketplace, it is a privilege to be a citizen of the United States.
Most Critical Race Theory lessons are disguised behind the concept of diversity, which seems to appear frequently in school mission statements. In addition to the word appearing in mission statements, schools now have “Diversity Statements” and entire web pages dedicated to their vision of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
More information on dissecting a school’s stance on DEI issues in Part 2.
