What Critical Race Theory Is
Critical race theory (CRT) originated in American legal academia in the 1970s and 1980s, associated with legal scholars including Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and Richard Delgado. Its core theoretical claim is that racism in America is not primarily a product of individual prejudice but is embedded in legal structures, institutional practices, and social norms, and that colorblind approaches to law and policy perpetuate racial inequality by ignoring these structural dimensions.
In its original academic context, CRT was a law school framework applied to constitutional law, property law, and civil rights law. The current policy debate is about whether CRT frameworks or derived curricula are being applied in K-12 education.
The Conservative Objection
The conservative objection to CRT in K-12 education is distinct from the academic debate about the framework’s validity in legal scholarship. The practical objections are three:
First, teaching children that American institutions are fundamentally and irredeemably racist promotes a view of the country that is historically incomplete. American history includes slavery, Jim Crow, and systemic discrimination and also abolition, the Civil Rights Act, constitutional amendments, and ongoing legal mechanisms for addressing discrimination. Both parts of that history are real.
Second, the application of CRT frameworks in some K-12 curricula has involved racial categorization of students, exercises that sort children by race and assign them different roles or perspectives based on racial identity. Conservatives argue this is the opposite of the colorblind ideal articulated by Martin Luther King Jr.
Third, parents have not consented to having their children educated in a specific ideological framework that generates genuine disagreement among reasonable, well-informed adults.
The Legislative Response
More than 40 states have passed or introduced legislation restricting CRT-derived instruction in K-12 schools. The specific provisions vary, but most prohibit teaching that individuals bear guilt for historical actions of members of their racial group, that individuals are inherently privileged or oppressed based on race, or that the United States is fundamentally racist.
Breaking Battlegrounds has covered the education policy dimension through the lens of Sam Stone’s civics education work at the Joe Foss Institute. Civics content that teaches the full arc of American history, including its failures and its ongoing efforts to address them, is the alternative the conservative education reform movement has consistently advanced.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is critical race theory?
Critical race theory is an academic legal framework arguing that racism is embedded in American legal systems and institutions, not just individual attitudes. It originated in law schools in the 1970s and 1980s.
Is critical race theory taught in K-12 schools?
The debate is whether curricula derived from CRT frameworks are being applied in K-12 classrooms. More than 40 states have passed legislation restricting such instruction following parental concern about specific curricula and materials.
What is the conservative alternative to CRT in K-12 education?
Conservatives support teaching the full factual history of the United States, including slavery, Jim Crow, and the civil rights movement, without ideological frameworks that categorize students by racial identity or assign collective guilt.
