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Anti-CRT laws want to ban texts about systemic racism. What about the US constitution? | Steve Phillips
A total of 14 states have now passed legislation restricting how and what teachers can teach about race and racism in America. But resources abound
Rightwing legislators across the country have seized on the bogeyman of so-called “critical race theory” as the latest weapon in their centuries-long practice of trying to scare white people that their hold on the country is slipping away. A total of 14 states have now passed legislation restricting how and what teachers can teach about race and racism in America. But their ideological, white people-first zeal far surpasses their actual understanding of US history. Even after the rushed attempts to whitewash US history, there is still abundant material to cover that can give a clear, accurate and truthful picture of this country and the centuries-long role of systemic racism in shaping the United States of America.
The most far-reaching and proscriptive of these bills is the legislation passed last year in Texas, and I have done a deep dive into the revised Texas education code so that you don’t have to (finally putting to good use the experience gained from serving on a school board for eight years, passing controversial policies to diversify San Francisco’s literature curriculum, and being a lawyer for 24 years). So, as a resource for people who believe in teaching the truth, here are five documents you still can – and should – teach even under the new anti-CRT laws.
Steve Phillips is the founder of Democracy in Color and author of Brown is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority. He is a Guardian US columnist
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