What is Critical Race Theory and is it taught in NC? Answers to common questions.

This story was updated Sept. 23, 2021.

Republicans in North Carolina and and nationally, including former President Donald Trump, have called for what they call “toxic Critical Race Theory” in schools.

Many schools say they are not using Critical Race Theory but are trying to make lessons more relevant to an increasingly non-white student enrollment.

Here are answers to some common questions about this topic.

What is Critical Race Theory?

“Critical Race Theory” is a “scholarly framework that describes how race, class, gender, and sexuality organize American life,” according to the UNC-Chapel Hill history department. It holds that systemic racism has been and continues to be a part of the nation’s history.

Critics call it Marxist, anti-American, racist and destructive.

But supporters say Critical Race Theory helps explain the context behind issues such as the deaths of unarmed Black people by white police officers.

One of the most frequently cited examples of Critical Race Theory is The 1619 Project that explores the legacy and history of Black Americans and slavery and was published by The New York Times in August 2019.

One point that sparked debate was the claim that a “primary reason the colonists fought the American Revolution was to protect the institution of slavery,” according to The Times.

Nikole Hannah-Jones led The 1619 Project and won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2020 for her essay in it. Questions are swirling around whether conservative criticism of the project is why Hannah-Jones wasn’t originally offered tenure with her appointment to UNC-Chapel Hill’s faculty before she turned the job down.

What do NC school districts say about it?

School districts say they’re using “culturally responsive teaching,” sometimes called “culturally relevant teaching,” instead of Critical Race Theory.

Supporters say culturally responsive teaching involves finding strategies that help all students thrive, for example, looking at how students and school employees perceive race to see the multiple perspectives that are in play.

This approach forms the backbone of a new equity policy being considered by the Wake County school system that says schools need to go beyond preventing intentional discrimination to also target “systemic, even if unintended, biases that can be seen or detected.” This approach calls for having “courageous conversations” about race and ethnicity and using instructional materials that highlight people from different racial and ethnic groups.

Critics say Critical Race Theory, culturally responsive teaching and culturally relevant teaching are all the same thing.

What is the controversy over NC social studies standards?

One of the flashpoints in the fight over Critical Race Theory is North Carolina’s recently adopted social studies standards.

The new standards call for having discussions about racism and discrimination and including the perspectives of historically marginalized groups, so students learn about “inequities, injustice, and discrimination within the American system of government over time.”

The State Board of Education’s Democratic majority said the new standards will provide a fuller telling of the nation’s legacy. But the board’s Republican minority say the standards incorporate Critical Race Theory and paint an overly negative view of the nation’s history.

The state board is currently working through the documents that will be used to help teachers use the new standards.

How did NC vote to limit how race is taught?

Concerns about Critical Race Theory lead to the North Carolina General Assembly passing House Bill 324, titled “Ensuring Dignity and Nondiscrimination/Schools.” The bill passed both the House and Senate completely along party lines, with all Republicans for and all Democrats against. All the African American senators and representatives of the General Assembly are Democrats.

While the bill itself did not use the phrase “Critical Race Theory,” that is how lawmakers on both sides of the aisle described the bill.

Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed the bill earlier this month.

In an emailed statement, Cooper said: “The legislature should be focused on supporting teachers, helping students recover lost learning, and investing in our public schools. Instead, this bill pushes calculated, conspiracy-laden politics into public education.”

Senate leader Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, said in a statement veto: “It’s perplexing that Gov. Cooper would veto a bill that affirms the public school system’s role to teach students the full truth about our state’s sometimes ugly past. His invented excuse is so plainly refuted by the text of the bill that I question whether he even read it.”

What was included in the bill?

House Bill 324 listed 13 things that public schools shall not “promote,” according to the bill text. “Promote” is defined in the bill as compelling students, teachers, administrators or other school employees to affirm or profess belief in these described concepts:

1. “One race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex.”

2. “An individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive.”

3. “An individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race or sex.”

4. “An individual’s moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex.”

5. “An individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex.”

6. “Any individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress.”

7. “A meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist.”

8. “The United States was created by members of a particular race or sex for the purpose of oppressing members of another race or sex.”

9. “The United States government should be violently overthrown.”

10. “Particular character traits, values, moral or ethical codes, privileges, or beliefs should be ascribed to a race or sex or to an individual because of the individual’s race or sex.”

11. “The rule of law does not exist, but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups.”

12. “All Americans are not created equal and are not endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

13. “Governments should deny to any person within the government’s jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.”

The bill also required schools to notify the Department of Public Instruction and post on its school website the curriculum, reading lists, workshops and training as well as any contracts with speakers and diversity trainers.