Critical race theory (CRT) is a term that has been tossed around, misdefined and has made its way into the mouths of Kentucky legislators.

States such as  Texas and Tennessee already have passed bills that limit the teaching of “critical race theory” and Kentucky may be next. 

Bills 60 and 69 are prefiled for the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly and, if passed, will prohibit teachings on critical race theory in K-12 schools and colleges. But, after reading the bills, it seems as though the legislators sponsoring the bill have no solid understanding of what critical race theory is.

The term “critical race theory” is young and was coined by American lawyer and legal scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw. According to Crenshaw, CRT denotes that law is not colorblind, there is an intersection of law and race and where people of color are disadvantaged by the justice systems.

The previously mentioned bills don’t mention critical race theory, but instead propose an erasure of teachings about race and racism which make up American society and history.

Under Bill 60, K-12 schools are not allowed to promote the following concepts:

• One race or sex is not societally superior than the other
• An individual should not feel discomfort on account of something their race did
• The existence of racism in Kentucky or the United States
• Stereotypes being used as a form of oppression
• Teachers should not promote the overthrow of the government.

On the surface, some of the provisions don’t sound bad, but there are some where it is apparent that the government is trying to hinder what teachers can teach.

If a teacher is found to have violated any of the terms, the Attorney General will order the Department of Education to withhold $5,000 from the schools allotment every day until the Attorney General can find a solution to the problem.

Bill 69 follows the same format but is also extended to colleges, and universities.

What is most interesting about the bills is that neither of them talk about CRT. All they do is restrict educators from being able to effectively do their jobs with the use of overwhelming consequences.

There is so much wrong with these bills, and the implications they have on limiting education.

First, race and racism make up huge swaths of history and the world we see today. Racism is in the roots of America. There has never been a day since the founding of this nation where racist ideologies were not apparent.

History is not colorblind and it should not be taught as such.

Second, it’s obvious that law makers are incompetent in understanding what CRT really is. Despite this, they are still making a law on what they think CRT is. Time and time again, we see the government try and regulate something they do not understand.

Rep. Matt Lockett R-Nicholasville, the sponsor of Bill 69, spoke to Kentucky Today on why CRT is the enemy.

“Those who subscribe to critical race theory are more interested in labeling people, dividing them into categories and pitting them against each other than they are actually addressing important issues like racism,” Lockett said. “At the heart of this is a simple question: should taxpayer resources be used to promote a political narrative that teaches one person is inherently superior to another?”

Where does he mention the intersection of law and race, or the way the law system is built against people of color? These are the founding concepts of CRT.

Third, why are a group of white people telling the public when and how race can be talked about? All of the sponsors for Bills 60 and 69 are white. This group of people have a limited perspective because of this and can’t fully grasp the impact of one’s race on their life.

These legislators are ignorant enough to believe that if we stop talking about race, the problem of racism will fix itself. This belief also comes from a place of privilege where white people are seen as the societal default.

They seem to be extremely far removed from discussions of race to believe that active ignorance would be at all beneficial to America.

Lastly, denouncing CRT is a guise by the political right to hinder people from learning about the truth of America to make it easier for them to gather people in their pools of right wing ignorance. It’s sad to see white politicians take a term coined by a black woman meant to aid conversations about law and race and demonize it. This is a government-level scale of misinformation and creates a dark route for where our nation may go.

Once again, we see inept politicians in their bubbles of privilege and limited perspectives create laws on matters they don’t understand. We wish we could say we are surprised and could say that we don’t expect it to happen again in the future.