On September 28, Wisconsin passed a law banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory. Critical Race Theory states racism in the country is systemic and it maintains whites as the superior race. The video linked at the bottom of this post further explains Critical Race Theory. This ban will prevent topics like implicit bias and systemic racism. Without learning about these, future generations will have less knowledge about the ideas causing fractures in society. Hatred among different ethnic groups will increase without understanding how these factors are
already embedded within society. The ban of teaching Critical Race Theory will lead to an increase in “Othering” among ethnic groups. If there is no understanding of how racism is engrained in our society, people will not be able to simply accept and live with one another. Instead, different ethnic groups will put themselves against others and will not accept people from outside their group. This will lead to even more division in society. Many people believe this ban will create greater division in the future. New generations will only believe that the white race is supreme when this is not the case. Critical Race Theory is essential in helping to heal the divisions systemic racism has created in the country. Those who voted in against the ban believe it is “‘a poor attempt at reverse psychology to sow seeds of division and hate by playing on the fears of a shrinking white majority’” (Vetterkind). Those who voted for it are scared that the white majority will become too small and they want to maintain their majority status. Not teaching future generations about systemic racism and implicit bias is a blatant example of systemic injustice in America. The Wisconsin 
government is preventing future generations from understanding how the country has made white the supreme race when there is no supreme race. Children need to be taught about how their own judgements can contribute to the racism and division seen in society so they can solve it. They should not be kept ignorant of these important issues. Some individuals fear this ban could also lead to a sanitized version of the country’s history. Learning every aspect of what has happened is necessary to facilitate problem solving. There is no way to overcome this ban. If schools continue to teach the banned material, they will lose government funding. Without government funding, many of these schools would not be able to survive. This punishment forces schools to obey the ban and prevent educating children in a way that will allow them to bring about a meaningful change. The government has created too many conditions that force people into not teaching Critical Race Theory. There is nothing people can do to change this because the government is enforcing this ban. The people have no way around this ban that would not result in serious consequences. The government is ending teaching that will lead to a brighter future, and people cannot change this injustice.
Citations:
Bauer, Scott. “Wisconsin Assembly passes critical race theory ban.” AP News, 28 September 2021, https://apnews.com/article/business-wisconsin-education-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-dc73ee7fd8962ea52f56eae2319055d5. Accessed 2 October 2021.
Vetterkind, Riley. “Wisconsin Assembly passes ban on teaching critical race theory.” Wisconsin State Journal, 29 September 2021, https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/wisconsin-assembly-passes-ban-on-teaching-critical-race-theory/article_1e53044a-8047-58c7-9560-368ae54fb588.html. Accessed 6 November 2021.
“Systemic Racism Explained.” YouTube, uploaded by act.tv, 16 April 2019
“WATCH: What is critical race theory?” YouTube, uploaded by PBS NewsHour, 29 June 2021
Hi, I totally agree with your statements about not only the government of Wisconsin banning Critical Race Theory, but the ill thought others have behind what the theory is actually about. I think that it is not only important, but completely necessary to teach tough subjects like Critical Race Theory in education to understand different ethnic groups, backgrounds, and cultures. The United States is meant to be a melting pot of culture, but education often times says otherwise.
Hi,
The issue with critical race theory in schooling is something I have been hearing a lot about recently. Personally, I think it is important to know your history. If we don’t know our history, we are bound to repeat it. Also, it is also important to analyze our society in an academic setting. Anything that prevents these two things from happening, it is doing a disservice to our youth. I also think in banning critical race theory, it may inhibit the progression of us as a society, like you said.
I agree that no one that is banning Critical Race Theory really knows what it is. The mere fact that it is a theory and not yet fact is the reason I think not a lot of people do not quite understand it. It is a class that can not be easily explained or taught. however, You did a great job explaining it in a way that can be understood.
This was a great diary of systemic injustice. I totally agree that the idea of critical race theory may be generally misunderstood. I like how you highlighted how important it is to teach our past to our youth. Once we forget about the past, or do not learn about it or from it, it usually recreates itself in the future. We can use the past as building blocks to create a better present and future one step at a time.
Hello,
Thank you for sharing your post on the ban of teaching Critical Race Theory in Wisconsin schools. I saw a post on Instagram recently that I thought explained this argument well, it stated “So, the folks who tried to prevent a black girl from going to school in 1957 are opposed to their grandchildren learning about how they tried to prevent a black girl from going to school in 1957”. Obviously it is a lot deeper than this statement and social media posts contain much bias, however I think this is a good description. I think this is an important aspect as well. I personally believe critical race theory should be taught in schools. History has a way of repeating itself and in order to avoid the repeating of America’s racist history, it needs to be taught in schools.
This was a very informative diary post! I currently live in Texas, where there have been a ton of discussions about Critical Race Theory, and a recent bill has been signed to restrict the teaching of Critical Race Theory. It is alarming to see this in the news, as discussion of race and issues surrounding race are crucial to learn, to create more accepting and well-rounded young adults. By avoiding the conversation, we are doing the younger generations not only a disservice, but we could be creating more issues for them.
Thank you for sharing this important topic with us! Critical race theory must be addressed immediately in order to quell the degradation of the United States and the social structures that exist within and between states. Although critical race theory’s postulates initially seemed well thought out and organized, unfortunately all White people are not the superior race in 2021. Since the time I arrived on this Earth, no single race of people in the United States has ever been superior. Grouping people by race is the worst method one could possibly use to learn more about a complex and beautiful population like ours filled with cultures, subcultures, ethnicities, religions, and races…where different people have different combinations of these factors’ subcategories. Grouping people based solely on one of these factors leads to an outcome with confounding variables and a slanted mathematical conclusion. Growing up in Chillicothe, Ohio as a kid and volunteering at a free clinic in Charleston, West Virginia are a couple valuable experiences of mine. Please try to adopt my point of view for a moment and do more research on how critical race theory is exacerbating discrimination against several races across the United States which includes Black, White, Hispanic, and more races of people. Also, as someone who is more than one race, I can say with certainty this is the most ignorant theory I have read about in my entire life. Listen to yourself: “preventing future generations” from what? The previous generation’s faults and flaws? If you really want to sculpt an ideal “new generation”, teach that incoming generation the mistakes of the previous generation. In other words, teach them what not to do instead of what to think because you are the previous generation, so you should be shielding the new generation from yourself and your own school of thought to some degree if you really wanted to make that happen.
Hello, this was a great post that shed light on an issue that has recently sparked a lot of controversy. It is saddening that this was banned from school curriculum. I believe that critical race theory would help those who cant see it from experience, how the world operates and the systems of oppression our society is based in.