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Teaching Race And History In America’s Schools

Students line up for a school bus outside a school in Los Angeles.
Students line up for a school bus outside a school in Los Angeles.

The latest culture war is playing out in the American classroom.

Several states including Idaho, Tennessee, and Oklahoma have banned teaching Critical Race Theory, an academic pursuit examining how race intersects with history. Many may not know the fundamentals of the theory, but the decades-old concept was pushed into the public consciousness by former President Donald Trump last year

Now, the theory is the subject of debate. Republican state legislatures say it’s anti-American and sows division. But opponents of the bans on its teaching say they misunderstand the theory’s framework.

What exactly is Critical Race Theory? And what’s the right way to teach America’s complicated racial history?

Read the Transcript

Copyright 2021 WAMU 88.5

Michelle Harven

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