Ban the Ban

This was my final assignment for my EDD 894 course, Critical Theories and Leadership, masterfully taught by Dr. Brandelyn Tosolt. We were able to pick what we wanted to do as our final assignment, or what she defined as our Praxis Project. I chose to write an Op Ed for the Cincinnati Enquirer (but I didn't actually submit it). I hope I'm able to pass on even just a portion of the life-changing learning that occurred in this class.

Ban the Ban

I am a catholic, suburban, white, cisgender, wife, and mother of four. I live in a city that is 98.97% white, and in a neighborhood that is 99.99% white. My children go to a private, catholic school that has demographics similar to those mentioned above. Meanwhile, we are situated 8.3 miles away from the city of Cincinnati, which is only 49.3% white, and only 18% catholic. My husband and mine’s Christian ancestors came from Europe as a choice, with a hope make a better life for themselves and future generations. We are products of that choice and hope. We are beneficiaries of the property, networking, and jobs that they were given. We are surrounded by people whose ancestors bestowed upon them the same as ours did to us. We are privileged. And I want my children – and other school-aged children – to understand that. 

Meanwhile, we are situated 8.3 miles away from the city of Cincinnati, which is only 49.3% white, and only 18% catholic. I want our children to understand that as they go 8.3 miles down the road, they will encounter others who don’t have that same privilege of generations and centuries of hope and opportunity. I want them to know that there is a huge portion of our population whose ancestors came here by force and with much despair. They feared for their lives and the lives of their future generations while being in this country. They weren’t allowed to own property, have the same education, get the same jobs, or network in the same circles as our ancestors did. 

They not only weren’t allowed to own property: they were the property. 

This is important – and this is where Critical Theory comes into play. Critical Theory is not intended to guilt, estrange, or single-out individuals. Critical Theory is a lens in which a person can look through to interpret the world. It is not an act: it is a way of approaching problems with solutions that focus on education and equity. Critical Theory is a high-intensity work-out for our brains to begin practicing one of the features that distinguishes us most as humans: empathy. 

Colleen Capper states in Organizational Theory for Equity and Diversity: Leading Integrated, Socially Just Education, through critical theory, we can “…acknowledge and relieve suffering and oppression; critique education’s perpetuation and disrupt power; and reunite facts with values with a goal of social justice praxis” (p. 69). When you think about the goals of a society, these seem to go right along with them. It basically reads as “no man left behind” and gives us a chance to practice the “golden rule.” So why are we seeing local school districts attempting to ban Critical Race Theory? 

As a doctoral student, this is the first time in my educational pursuits where I’ve even heard the term “Critical Theory.” What’s even more profound is that there’s not just one critical theory: there is a critical theory for just about every marginalized group in our nation. They are not necessarily minority groups, but groups who don’t currently hold the power in our current system. These theories give us an opportunity to learn these people’s truths, and to be able to try on their lens to see if we can come closer to understanding that not all policies fit all people. The phrase, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” cannot be applied to all, because not everyone in this country was afforded the privilege of having boots.

Michelle Fine states in, Just Research in Contentious Times: Widening the Methodological Imagination, “…how necessary it is to excavate evidence of State-born atrocities, document the consequences, and hold the State accountable if a society is to move forward” (p. 73). Critical Theory helps position us to acknowledge our past as a nation so we can move forward by lifting up those who were purposely oppressed by our past leaders. When my children hear about Rosa Parks, they don’t feel guilty. Instead, they empathize with her. This empathy then turns into passion for change: they don’t want anyone else to have to endure what Rosa Parks did. 

My children don’t quite have the cognition to fully understand Critical Race Theory. I don’t even have an expectation for them to learn it in K-12 schooling. To ban Critical Race Theory in K-12 schools is like banning calculus in K-5: it’s not being taught anyway. Yes, K-5 students learn an elementary version of logic and math. But, that doesn’t mean that they’re being taught the slopes of the curves in differential calculus. Just as students learn about Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman, and the underground railroad, it doesn’t mean that they’re learning Critical Race Theory. They are learning our country’s history and why people of other races (or abilities, ethnicities, sexual orientations, genders, religion, etc.) have been historically oppressed. And, as they grow older, they’ll make the connection that their family’s years of privilege stacked against another family’s years of oppression yield different outcomes. As Bradley Levinson states in his book, Beyond Critique: Exploring Critical Social Theories and Education, some people have a “…deeply seated understanding – not unwarranted – that the odds are stacked against them for making a move into the middle class” (p. 113).  Through learning our country's history of oppression, our children can have the opportunity to use their empathy and passion as motivation to right the wrongs of the past. 

They are not banning Critical Race Theory – they are banning empathy.  Banning what they think is Critical Race Theory in K-12 schools will ensure we trudge further into this feeling of indifference to others. However, through empathy and understanding (i.e., what they think is Critical Race Theory), our children will gain the skills to lead us to a more equal and just society.