Since 2020, efforts have been made by people, most notably American conservatives, to challenge critical race theory (CRT) in schools in the United States. Following the 2020 protests of the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd and the killing of Breonna Taylor, school districts began to introduce additional curricula and create diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-positions to address "disparities stemming from race, economics, disabilities and other factors". These measures were met with criticism from conservatives, particularly those in the Republican Party. Political scientist Jennifer Victor of George Mason University has described this as part of a cycle of backlash against progress toward racial equality and equity.
Outspoken critics of critical race theory include U.S. president Donald Trump, conservative activist Christopher Rufo, various Republican officials, and conservative commentators on Fox News and right-wing talk radio shows.; ; ; . Movements have arisen from the controversy; in particular, the No Left Turn in Education movement, which has been described as one of the largest groups targeting school boards regarding critical race theory. In response to the assertion that CRT was being taught in public schools, dozens of states have introduced bills that limit what schools can teach regarding race, American history, politics, and gender. A study published by Indiana University in 2024 on the censorship of critical perspectives in American schools found that "in 16 Republican-dominated states, policies have been enacted to restrict the teaching of critical perspectives on race, sexuality, and other controversial subjects and to perpetuate a positive view of U.S. history". A study published by Purchase College states that Critical Race Theory is facing a "swift annihilation" after the 2020 controversy, which is cause for it to be studied and understood better. Following the censorship by many states and school boards, Holovka highlights the idea that censoring teachers in this way has the potential to limit critical thinking in students due to their limited ability to discuss controversial topics.
Background Critical race theory (CRT) is a cross-disciplinary intellectual and social movement of civil-rights scholars and activists who seek to examine the intersection of race, society, and law in the United States and to challenge mainstream American liberal approaches to racial justice. Conservative activism and efforts to censor curricula has resulted in the introduction of legislation banning the teaching of critical race theory in schools in many states across the United States.; ; .
United States In the run-up to and aftermath of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, opposition to CRT was adopted as a campaign theme by president Donald Trump and various conservative commentators on Fox News and right-wing talk radio shows.; . In an interview on Fox in September 2020, Conservative activist Christopher Rufo strongly denounced critical race theory.; . After appearing on Fox, Rufo was invited to a series of meetings with Trump. Trump then publicly denounced critical race theory in a speech on September 17, 2020, and announced the formation of the 1776 Commission to promote "patriotic education". Trump also issued an executive order directing agencies of the U.S. federal government to cancel funding for programs that mention "white privilege" or "critical race theory", on the basis that it constituted "divisive, un-American propaganda" and that it was "racist".; ; The most outspoken critics of CRT include Trump, Rufo, and Republican Party officials.; ; ; . According to The Washington Post, CRT became a "flash point" in the culture wars in the United States, and is used as "a catchall phrase for nearly any examination of systemic racism" by conservative lawmakers and activists.
Elected officials Trump's messaging during the 2020 U.S. presidential election campaign and its aftermath included strong messaging against critical race theory. In December 2020, Trump appointed former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant as a member of the 1776 Commission, which would to produce a report in response to The New York Times 1619 Project. On January 18, 2021, The 1776 Report was submitted in the form of a 41-page "national plan" for a "patriotic education" as a rebuttal to the 1619 Project.; . The commission also criticized what they alleged as being CRT's theoretical underpinningsItalian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, Herbert Marcuse, and the Frankfurt School, identity politics, and Howard Zinn. In contrast, the Trump White House described The 1776 Report as the "definitive chronicle of the American founding, a powerful description of the effect the principles of the Declaration of Independence have had on this Nation's history, and a dispositive rebuttal of reckless "re-education" attempts that seek to reframe American history around the idea that the United States is not an exceptional country but an evil one." The commission was dissolved on January 21 in an executive order signed by President Joe Biden in his first day in office.
Republican senator Tom Cotton introduced an amendment to the 2021 budget reconciliation package that would prohibit the use of federal funds in CRT promotion in Pre-K programs and K-12 schools in August 2021, which passed 50 to 49. Cotton's Stop CRT Act was introduced in July 2021. Rufo praised Cotton's actions, saying that the "fight against CRT has gone national" and Cotton was "leading the way." Jim Pillen won the Republican primary race for governor in the 2022 Nebraska gubernatorial election with an election campaign based on his opposition to critical race theory as well as his stance against abortion rights. Republican candidates Glenn Youngkin and Jason Miyares have also campaigned against CRT. On his first day as governor of Virginia, Youngkin signed executive orders barring the teaching of critical race theory in public schools.
Advocacy groups Opposition to what was purported to be critical race theory has been adopted as a major theme by several conservative think tanks and pressure groups, including The Heritage Foundation, the Idaho Freedom Foundation, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and organizations funded by the Koch brothers.; ; . Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, has been one of the most active critics of CRT, saying that it is anti-American, poses a "an existential threat to the United States", and had "pervaded every aspect of the federal government". In 2021 he wrote on Twitter, "The goal is to have the public read something crazy in the newspaper and immediately think 'critical race theory; ; . and "We have decodified the term and will recodify it to annex the entire range of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans."; .
The advocacy group No Left Turn in Education has been described by NBC News as "one of the largest groups targeting school boards" regarding critical race theory. Media Matters for America has described No Left Turn in Education as one of the "leading groups fearmongering about the teaching of critical race theory in schools". The article said that the group and Elana Yaron Fishbein its founder, frequently "used toxic and bigoted rhetoric on social media and in right-wing media to downplay CRT". In his 2022 book, How to Be an Antiracist, American radical activist Ibram X. Kendi described how Fishbein created No Left Turn in Education in the summer of 2020. Fishbein had pulled her children out of Gladwyne Elementary School and sent the superintendent of Lower Merion School District (LMSD) an email on June 18, 2020, challenging the LMSD's decision to introduce additional lessons in "cultural proficiency" in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, and that as an unspecified number of non-white students were launching a campaign calling for "antiracist education", Fishbein "rejected the premise of antiracism, CRT, comprehensive sex education (CSE), and climate change".; . Her movement was relatively small initially, but was really launched when she began to be invited as a guest on the prime time Tucker Carlson show in September 2020. Fishbein describes the movement as a grassroots parental organization that uses veteran GOP activists' playbook to enact change on school boards.
Mass media Conservative commentators on Fox News and right-wing talk radio shows have been strongly critical of CRT.; . Right-wing media outlets weaponized CRT in advance of the 2021 off-year and 2022 midterm elections. Media Matters for America reported in 2021 that Fox News hosts and guests mentioned "critical race theory" over 1,900 times in the previous 3.5 months. Fox News also promoted No Left Turn in Education.
American cultural critic James A. Lindsay, known mainly for his role in the grievance studies affair, published Race Marxism: The Truth About Critical Race Theory and Practice in February 2022 in which he criticized critical race theory. In his book, he cited numerous extracts from texts on critical race theory as proof of CRT's flaws. In February 2021, William A. Jacobson, a conservative blogger and law professor at Cornell University, launched an online database of colleges across the United States teaching what he calls "critical race training", in order to enable parents to avoid those schools.; .
Public attitudes The Economist and Reuters have conducted polls on how much the general public understands CRT, a "once-obscure academic concept", and they found that most people are unfamiliar with CRT and misunderstand it.; . Those who support CRT promote the idea that it is an "intellectual tool set developed by legal scholars for examining systemic racism". CRT originated in legal studies and was intended for legal scholars and academics. The Economist, based on YouGov data from 2021, said that 50% of Americans thought they had a "good idea of what critical race theory was and most people thought it was bad for America. However, The Economist asserted that "the attitudes and beliefs of 70% of Americans actually "chime" with CRTthat racism is a significant social problem in the United States". The claim that CRT makes is that racism is "woven into the U.S. legal system and ingrained in its primary institutions", according to Reuters. Further, according to a survey conducted by The Economist, "a majority" of adult Americans believes that racism exists in the US Congress, in American legal structures, financial institutions, and in organizations and agencies, including the police force.
A Reuters 2021 national opinion survey found that 57% of American adults said that they were not familiar with CRT. Of those who did claim they were familiar with CRT claims, Reuters found that follow-up responses to specific questions about CRT tenets, were informed by "misconceptions about critical race theory that have been largely circulating among conservative media outlets". When asked true-false questions about CRT history and teachings, only 5% of those who said they were familiar with CRT, could provide the correct answers.
Public school boards