Anna Cox is a first-year English major from Paragould

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has recently signed off on some new executive orders. The order that concerns me the most is the one about Critical Race Theory(CRT). 

Now, what is CRT itself? It was something I had never even heard of until this recent order. 

When I asked Dr. Carmen Lanos Williams, an assistant professor of English at A-State with a Ph.D. in African American and African Diaspora Studies, said that “Critical Race Theory was developed in the 1980s by professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, a law professor at Columbia University.  It seeks to examine the impact of race on the law, public policy, and their impact on people of color.“ 

So, why would anyone fear something that seems to pertain mainly to law being taught in a regular classroom? A regular English class is not going to go over the impact of racial bias on the creations of law, a political science class would. 

It is ignorant to think that a class of middle school students are going to be studying a theory of law. It is ignorant to spend taxpayers money and time drafting and signing off an order that really does nothing. 

To begin dissecting the order, we have to start with the title, “Executive Order to Prohibit Indoctrination and Critical Race Theory in Schools.” I think Williams said it best regarding the so-called indoctrination. 

“First, it is not part of the curriculum on that level. Second, there are very few public school teachers who have studied it or who would be qualified to teach it. And third, the notion that it would be taught outside of college is a red herring.

“As someone who went to high school not too long ago in Arkansas, CRT was never taught in my school. Even in my most advanced courses it was never brought up. A ban on it for that age level is such a waste of time it isn’t even funny.”

Also in schools such as ASMSA (Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts), courses such as U.S. Government would need to touch on a subject such as CRT. This school is not like a regular public school that has little to no electives. According to its website, it is one of 15 schools of its kind giving an amazing, college-like, education to its high school students. 

A place like such should not have a ban on a theory made for a law or government class to learn. Students who are in such advanced classes should have no problem consuming and understanding the idea of racial bias.

When asked if CRT should be taught in schools Dr. Lillie Fears, professor of multimedia journalism, responded, “I think you’re the first person to ask me this question. I really have not had time to develop an opinion on whether CRT should be taught in schools. 

“So, then, a more appropriate question to ask, perhaps, might be whether basic facts about U.S. history should be taught in schools. And to that, I say, yes. It is OK to teach those facts in the context of teaching U.S. history. 

“As such, there’s no need to theorize when teaching the facts about history.” Since CRT is a theory of a law, in the right context it should be taught. There is no reason to skip around it. 

I believe a banning of the teaching of CRT is irrelevant. It would only be taught in a relevant course that a student would sign up for. If you sign up to learn about law, part of that is learning the bias and racism that were integrated into the system when it was first made. 

Erasing CRT or pretending that it doesn’t exist isn’t going to make it so. Racism is still alive, and it is definitely still alive in the courtroom as well as outside of it.

Sometimes you have to get uncomfortable in order to learn about something that is important. If CRT makes you uncomfortable, get over it and understand that learning something that makes white people seem bad for a second is not someone calling you racist. 

It is not a theory to tell white people that we are terrible. It is about the effect of bias on people of color. White people need to stop making themselves the victim. The theory is made to reflect the bias that is riddled through America and its laws. Don’t twist it around into something it is not.

Categories: Opinion