Does Teaching America It’s Racist Make It Less Racist?

Matter of Opinion

New York Times Opinion

Society & Culture, Ross Douthat, News, New York Times, Journalism

4.2 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2021

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Who would have guessed that a school of thought from the 1970s could cause controversy in a handful of states among politicians, on school boards and in college classrooms in 2021? Critical race theory originated as a way of examining racism within the structures of American society. But now, for some it is synonymous with school curriculums and workplace diversity training. It has also become the battleground for a new culture war between conservatives and liberals who disagree on how helpful or harmful these teachings are. This week, Jane Coaston talks to John McWhorter, a linguist at Columbia University who has written extensively on race and language, and Michelle Goldberg, an Opinion columnist at The New York Times. Mentioned in this episode: “Why the Right Loves Public School Culture Wars” and “The Campaign to Cancel Wokeness” by Michelle Goldberg in The New York Times. “How the N-Word Became Unsayable” by John McWhorter in The New York Times. “Critical Race Theory: An Introduction” by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, published in 2001. “Faces at the Bottom of the Well” by Derrick Bell, published in 1992.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Today on the argument, the three most misunderstood words in America.
0:07.0	Critical race theory is being forced into our children's schools.
0:14.0	It's being imposed into workplace trainings and it's being deployed to rip apart friends,
0:22.0	neighbors, and families.
0:25.0	Florida Governor Rhonda Santos blasting critical race theory and banning it from the
0:29.0	new statewide civics curriculum.
0:32.0	Monday night, the Oklahoma City School Board is sounding off, bashing the decision by
0:37.0	Governor Kevin Stidt to sign House Bill 1775 into law, banning public schools from
0:42.0	teaching certain topics on race, including critical race theory.
0:48.0	Critical race theory.
0:49.0	It's a concept that originated in academic circles in the mid-1970s, but one that only
0:55.0	hit the mainstream in the past couple of years.
0:57.0	If you listen to the news, you might think that critical race theory is a school curriculum,
1:02.0	or a workplace diversity training, or a form of discrimination, or Marxist propaganda.
1:07.0	It's none of the above.
1:09.0	What it actually is is a school of thought, developed in part by legal scholars like Kimberly
1:15.0	Crenshaw.
1:16.0	Critical race theory, the shorthandist CRT, argues that race is a prism through which we've
1:22.0	built and interpreted our politics, laws, and culture, and that racism isn't just about individual
1:28.0	actors being racist towards one another, or forms of overt discrimination, but a story of
1:34.0	structures.
1:35.0	It argues that the legacy of slavery and segregation are still embedded in society today.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from New York Times Opinion, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of New York Times Opinion and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.