I just graduated with a Master’s of Liberal Arts, where I used critical race theory (CRT) as a framework for understanding climate change and its impacts on communities. That’s a mouthful, I know. But this also represents a degree I fought for — through late nights, towering stacks of books, and a growing sense that the world can be a more sustainable and equitable place for all.
CRT has become one of this country’s favorite villains — splashed across the front pages of newspapers, hurled like a slur by politicians, and blamed for everything from school board fights to the supposed unraveling of America.
But here’s the wildest part: despite all the shouting and panic about CRT, almost nobody who is disparaging it can actually tell you what it is.
So let’s get this straight: Critical race theory isn’t some secret curriculum thrust upon grade school students. Developed in the late 1970s and early ’80s by academics, it’s a framework that examines culture, politics, the economy and more through the lens of race. It’s used at the college or graduate school level — if one’s lucky to have professors who dare to ask challenging questions.
CRT asks why some neighborhoods get parks and others get landfills. Why disaster relief comes quickly to certain zip codes and drags its heels in others. Why, after generations, do the same communities keep getting hit hardest by COVID-19, climate change, and every other new crisis?
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