Lauren Shook wrote this cogent, critical essay for a course I taught this semester at UT-Austin titled, "Race, Ethnicity and the Schools." She nails it that the current anti-CRT movement is an exercise in the politics of distraction. What are we not doing in Texas that we should be doing because our attention is elsewhere?
Great job, Lauren!
-Angela Valenzuela
Politics of Distraction: Considering Responses to the Anti-CRT Movement
by
Lauren Shook, Doctoral Student
Educational Leadership and Policy
University of Texas at Austin
The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary. There will always be one more thing. – Toni Morrison
Last month I took my daughters down to the Texas State Capitol for a celebration of Indigenous People’s Day. I wanted them to know what I had not been taught about our history, our place in it, and our responsibilities going forward. Due to mixing up the dates, I found myself standing on Texas Confederate Memorial Lawn with sightseers and heavily armed Capitol police. Instead of introducing my daughters to both our Indigenous heritage and the legacy of our assimilationist settler ancestors, I walked them between the dozen statues reifying Texas Confederate troops while looking for the Tejano monument.
One moment has stuck in my mind. Luna stopped in front of the monument for Terry’s Texas Rangers, Texas volunteers for the Confederacy. “Wow,” she said.
I quickly tried to explain that these were not good people - they weren’t heroes to be admired and celebrated. As I tried to explain the Confederacy in words simple enough for a three-year-old, I felt the eyes of other Capitol visitors. I was frustrated – frustrated that instead of participating in a celebration of Indigenous past and future, I was spending my time centering the deeds of white men who betrayed their country in order to preserve the institution of slavery.
We walked the halls of the Capitol building later – my first time in the building in seven years. It felt surreal to be in the space considering how much of my spring had been spent watching testimonies and hearings on my laptop concerning HB 1504 and HB 3979. HB 1504, which I submitted personal testimony and a policy brief for, might have provided more students with the opportunity to learn the history I had missed, and HB 3979 fought to preserve the particular version of history memorialized in the statues surrounding the building.
Spectacle as Strategy: Critical Race Theory as Distraction
During the Texas legislative session, despite the acutely needed action on critical infrastructure, the Republican party introduced bills directly attacking Critical Race Theory in K12 education (“Texas Lawmakers Take Aim At Critical Race Theory,” 2021). Elsewhere, in other Republican controlled state legislatures, similar bills with similar language popped up (A. Harris, 2021), and local districts were engulfed in the panic to address a topic that many had not even heard before (Lah & Hannah, 2021).
Why is Critical Race Theory the touchstone issue that is causing so much alarm on a local level and receiving so much coverage on a national level? Two possible explanations, one of which derives from Critical Race Theory, seem particularly salient to me. The first lies in the political utility of manufacturing a distraction to prevent action or resistance on the numerous crises facing our nation. The second explanation, the need to preserve Whiteness as an asset, does not negate the first explanation but rather explains why CRT was the manufactured distraction of choice.
Edelman’s (1988) theory of political spectacle is helpful for understanding the utility of the battle against Critical Race Theory being waged in state legislatures. One particularly useful tenet of the theory is that problems are constructed and then used in order to advance political agendas, and this tenet has been used to examine other race-based challenges in education (Barnes & Moses, 2021). This tenet maintains that the problems addressed by policy are fashioned in order to justify the party’s actions and consolidate power. Even the instigator of the movement against CRT, Christopher Rufo, publicly acknowledged that the controversy was contrived and generated in order to manipulate people into associating equity measures with their fears (Wallace-Wells, 2021).
My field notes from strategy sessions with TLEEC and NACCS Tejas Foco for HB 1504 show the cost of the manufactured distraction. I noted that I was struck by the amount of time and resources that were diverted away from progressive legislative goals in order to counter bills oppressing communities of color and the LGBTQ community. For example, efforts to support HB 1504 were diverted to address HB 3979. During the May 8th NAACS Tejas Foco meeting, Dr. Emilio Zamora and Dr. Christopher Carmona lamented that attention had been diverted form the Equity Bill, and Dr. Carmona commented that although it had been his priority, he was not sure what had happened to it (field notes, May 8, 2021). The manufacturing of CRT as a false crisis in the K12 education system prevented advocates from putting their full time and energy into progressive issues.
Likewise, Critical Race Theory’s tenet on the centrality of race and racism also provides support for why CRT itself has become such a touchstone. One of the central tenets of Critical Race Theory is the permanence and salience of race and racism in American society. Although there were voter suppression and anti-trans bills introduced in Republican dominated legislatures, the controversy surrounding CRT demonstrates the ongoing salience of race to the American public. The Republican elected in the recent Virginia governor race claims to have been won due to the stance on Critical Race Theory, and 25% of voters identified CRT as “the single most important factor influencing their vote (Beauchamp, 2021). Although the claim that CRT was the primary driver of the election results is relatively weak (Beauchamp, 2021), it certainly motivated a portion of the voters. The most notable demographic shifts in the electorate were among white women without a degree, two thirds of which said they valued more parental control over what was taught in schools (De Pinto, 2021). An NBC analysis of districts caught up in controversy over diversity initiatives showed that most of the school districts had rapidly diversifying demographics (Kingkade & Chiwaya, 2021). These results suggest that CRT in particular has become a touchstone with white voters precisely because of race’s ongoing relevance in American life, and the need to preserve White advantage.
This directly ties to another one of Critical Race Theory’s central propositions, which is formulated by Harris (1993) as Whiteness as Property. Acknowledging America's white supremacist and colonial roots is threatening in part due to its ability to tarnish Whiteness and its value. Likewise, a critical exploration of American history and society threatens entitlement to White comfort. One of the primary arguments by anti-CRT activists is that white children should not be made to feel shame or are too young to discuss race (Changa, 2021), but even that framing centers white children and defines white comfort as part of the goods that they are entitled to. The emphasis on the emotional wellbeing of white children stands in stark contrast to real, harmful, documented effects of racism on children of color (Priest et al., 2013). Research has demonstrated that white students exposed to ethnic studies and multicultural coursework do not suffer in any meaningful way and benefit academically (Sleeter, 2011).
Addressing Distraction Without Succumbing to It
I have been thinking in particular about the challenge of responding to the advocates and operatives working against diversity and equity in schools. On one hand, I feel it is important to respond to the challenge. Many of the opponents of CRT and DEI efforts demonstrate an obvious lack of knowledge concerning what Critical Race Theory actually is, how it is used, and who it can benefit from a more equitable society. Others make extreme claims that CRT can possibly lead to ethnic genocide (Thiessen, 2021), a dangerous precedent seen in historical “preemptive” crackdowns. Despite the seriousness of anti-CRT rhetoric, I find myself wrestling with how to work towards equity while thwarting the plan for distraction. The conversation can easily distract from a progressive agenda and center white interests. Perhaps this response on my part is related to my own frustration with wanting to work towards justice while feeling I must constantly prove the existence of injustice to my white community members.
As admitted by figures like Christopher Rufo, the issue at hand is not actually Critical Race Theory itself. Addressing the disinformation about Critical Race Theory, the academic construct, is only useful in diminishing the utility of the concept for inflaming tension. While broad swaths of the public are likely misled and can become sucked into the school board meetings, the key players behind the push against Critical Race Theory know will not be persuaded. As Toni Morrison (Morrison et al., 1975) noted, distraction is an intended function of racism, and the expense of our labor on their agenda rather than our own is precisely the point.
For the past several years, I continue to come back to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (King, 1992). Although King addresses his detractors, the letter is not written for them. It was written for the public, to deconstruct the arguments of his detractors while also reconstructing a vision for the Beloved Community. As critical legal scholar and early Critical Race theorist, Anthony E. Cook noted, although we must engage in theoretical and experiential deconstruction, critical work requires us to work in community towards a reconstructive vision (Cook, 1990). In order to address the hysteria around CRT, we both need to protect our rights within the current dominant systems while simultaneously creating alternative institutions for the Beloved Community.
Final Thoughts
This year’s legislative session in Texas and in Republican state houses across the nation have been marked by culture war issues driven by national agendas, most notably the polemic against any diversity issue labeled Critical Race Theory by detractors. The underlying logics of the attack, understood through political spectacle theory and Critical Race Theory, offer insights about how to address those attacks.
One, we must recognize that the attacks are not good faith arguments, but rather serve as political theater to segment the electorate, manufacture threats, and consolidate power. To ignore the function of distraction is to resign our time and energy to the racists’ agenda rather than building our own. Secondly, we must recognize that CRT has become a lightning rod issue precisely because of the power of race and value of Whiteness in American society. Fighting for equal rights, opportunities, and outcomes for people of color within systems shaped by and for White Supremacy will necessarily elicit a backlash. Adopting a degree of racial realism (Bell, 1991) allows us to address the errors of our existing institutions while preserving our emotional and mental work for reconstructive acts of justice.
References
Barnes, M. B., & Moses, M. S. (2021). Racial Misdirection: How Anti-affirmative Action Crusaders use Distraction and Spectacle to Promote Incomplete Conceptions of Merit and Perpetuate Racial Inequality. Educational Policy, 35(2), 323–346. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904820984465
Beauchamp, Z. (2021, November 4). Did critical race theory really swing the Virginia election? Vox, Policy and Politics.
Bell, D. (1991). Racial Realism. Connecticut Law Review, 24(2), 363–380.
Changa, A. (2021, November 5). CBS News Dragged For Article Questioning When Young Children Should Learn About Race. NewsOne. https://newsone.com/4244383/cbs-news-dragged-article-questioning-when-young-children-should-learn-about-race/
Cook, A. E. (1990). Beyond Critical Legal Studies: The Reconstructive Theology of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Harvard Law Review, 103(5), 985–1044. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/10.2307/1341453
De Pinto, J. (2021, November 4). Virginia: What was behind the shift of White women toward the GOP? CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/virginia-governor-election-white-women-republicans/
Edelman, M. (1988). Constructing the political spectacle (pp. vi, 137). University of Chicago Press.
Harris, A. (2021, May 7). The GOP’s ‘Critical Race Theory’ Obsession. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/05/gops-critical-race-theory-fixation-explained/618828/
Harris, C. I. (1993). Whiteness as Property. Harvard Law Review, 106(8), 1707–1791. https://doi.org/10.2307/1341787
King, M. L. Jr. (1992). Letter from Birmingham Jail. U.C. Davis Law Review, 26(4), 835–852.
Kingkade, T., & Chiwaya, N. (2021, September 13). There is a common trend in school districts debating critical race theory, analysis shows. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/schools-facing-critical-race-theory-battles-are-diversifying-rapidly-analysis-n1278834
Lah, K., & Hannah, J. (2021, October 31). Race and rage whip up school board meetings to the dismay of students. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/31/us/nevada-douglas-county-school-crt-row/index.html
Morrison, T., John, P. S., Callahan, J., Callahan, J., & Baker, L. (1975, May 30). Public Dialogue on the American Dream Theme, Part 2. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/orspeakers/90
Priest, N., Paradies, Y., Trenerry, B., Truong, M., Karlsen, S., & Kelly, Y. (2013). A systematic review of studies examining the relationship between reported racism and health and wellbeing for children and young people. Social Science & Medicine, 95, 115–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.11.031
Sleeter, C. E. (2011). The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies: A Research Review. In National Education Association Research Department. National Education Association Research Department. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED521869
Texas Lawmakers Take Aim At Critical Race Theory. (2021, July 11). In NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/07/11/1015120437/texas-lawmakers-take-aim-at-critical-race-theory
Thiessen, M. A. (2021, November 11). The danger of critical race theory. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/11/danger-critical-race-theory/
Wallace-Wells, B. (2021, June 18). How a Conservative Activist Invented the Conflict Over Critical Race Theory. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/how-a-conservative-activist-invented-the-conflict-over-critical-race-theory
