Last month, Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order banning the instruction of critical race theory in public K-12 schools, referring to the course of study in a press release as a divisive concept that “instructs students to view life through the lens of race and victimhood.” The release continued by saying Landry instead wishes to push “American Exceptionalism.”
Heather O’Connell, an LSU sociology professor, gave her reaction to the news and her thoughts on what is next. “It’s surprising, this theory isn’t really something you learn directly until you get to the university level, probably not until your graduate studies if you were to go that far in education,” she said.
According to O’Connell, critical race theory doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and is a perspective that is supposed to help people understand social structures.
“The ban is covering any critical attention to racialized issues in the United States and how that’s talked about,” O’Connell said. One section of the ban covers teaching students about someone being inherently racist based on their identity. “That’s not CRT. CRT doesn’t really pay attention to individuals at all. It’s much more structurally focused. I guess we’re calling it a CRT ban because that’s what people are used to saying,” O’Connell said.
When asked about why someone would be upset about taking a critical look at social structures and how they relate to race, O’Connell chuckled. “Most of the time, the people that are upset about it, are the people that have something to lose by questioning how those institutions work,” she said.
On how this executive order and other actions like it would affect students, O’Connell said there may end up being a disparity in education that could harm Louisiana residents when they get to college.
“One of the key words in critical race theory is the word, ‘critical,’” she said, noting how important critical thinking skills are for college and how, “it encourages you to question dominant narratives.
Stephen C. Finley, the chair of the LSU African and African American Studies Department, saw the executive order as part of a wider push to limit discussions surrounding race.
“It’s not just CRT in isolation. It’s this move against DEI and any such programs that are coded as Black,” he said. “Even though these programs don’t benefit Black people very much.”
Finley called these bans political signals that are “a part of a wave of coded politics across the country that are anti-Black, but that are also a signal to white people that they are going to be a priority.” He said the sentiments are meant to tell white people that the new legislation is meant to prioritize “protecting their rights, their privileges, their benefits, their way of life.”
In relation to the misunderstanding and misuse of CRT in discourse, Finley referenced how Florida banned the Advanced Placement African American Studies course and how the same problems are arising in Georgia.
“My fear,” Finley said, “and this is why I called it anti-Black, is that it will merge and be aggregated, such as in Florida, as a tool against things like African American Studies.”
Finley’s fear goes farther than African American studies. He says if they begin to get rid of courses like the AP one, it will allow room for women and gender studies and LGBTQ+ studies to also be censored or completely gotten rid of. His reasoning for believing this goes back to knowledge that “the same logics against those are rooted in anti-Blackness.”
He also points to the idea that some want to get rid of these studies because they highlight the experience of people of color and historically marginalized communities in the U.S. and “question the American mythology.”
“It is a religious mythology that America is a meritocracy,” Finley said. “It is a place where people work their way into higher positions because of hard work and grit. That hasn’t been true at all. It’s not empirically true, and it’s not historically or socially true at all. It’s not about merit. It is often about skin color, gender and who you know. And all those other things rather than hard work, grit and intelligence and creativity.”
Finley pointed out what he saw as the real reasons behind the anti-CRT push. “Anti-CRT serves as a stopgap for educating the populace about the reality of experiencing America, especially if you’re Black or Brown. Or gay or lesbian,” he said. “It’s all about consolidation. And when I mean consolidation, I mean making sure those who have always benefited from the system continue to benefit.”
“How can America be better without dealing with itself much more honestly?” Finley asked. “But this isn’t about honesty. It’s about benefit, and who benefits, and who the mythology and system says has a right to benefit and who doesn’t.”
When asked what he would say to students that are seeing this ban and bans like it play out, Finley said that “if they care, they should think about the world they want to live in. How they want that world to look. . . I would ask these young people what kind of world they want? A world that is constantly engaged in war? A world that punishes the poor for being poor? A world that punishes people for being different from a white norm, and a heterosexual norm? Is that the world they want? If not, they have to work against this. Both as a policy, but also in terms of education.”
To close, Finley asked questions he’d leave for those who have learned about Landry’s legislation and other actions like it.
“I would ask people to take a look beyond their own boundaries, beyond their own comfort level, and see who this affects more than others,” Finley said. “That will give you a key about what it means, and how it’s meant to function. And have them ask themselves if that matters to them. If that doesn’t matter to them then they have work to do, some self awareness work. If it does matter, they have work to do, but the work is out there.”
Finley continued, “To make sure everyone has access to any kind of opportunities that they deserve. Even if they’re poor, even if they are disabled, even if they’re black. They should all have opportunities in the United States, or the mythology of the United States is a lie. And it has been, but do they want to bring that to fruition? Do they want it to be real? If they do, people have to work to make that narrative and mythology real.”
Following the interview, Finley reached out to share a painting that reminded him of the interview and the conversation around CRT. The painting, “Critical Race Theory” by Jonathan Harris, was revealed in 2021. The painting depicts a white person painting over Historical Black figures, the three most recognizable being Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
