Critical Race Theory and Social Justice Are Commonplace In School: Can Anything Be Done to Fight It?

School is not only supposed to be a place to acquire knowledge, but to learn how to think vis-à-vis critical thinking skills. Education is supposed to seek facts and determine what is truth. When one is presented beliefs or values as truth, that is when you know that indoctrination is at play. That is exactly what is happening at schools all across the United States of America. In late February, the Right-leaning Manhattan Institute released a groundbreaking study entitled School Choice Is Not Enough: The Impact of Critical Social Justice Ideology in American Education. 

The study surveyed 1,500 Americans aged 18 to 20 to find that 93 percent of American students have been exposed to at least one idea of Critical Social Justice. What are these eight ideas? As we see below, these ideas range from a patriarchal society, the existence of multiple genders, gender identity being a choice, white privilege, America being a "systemically racist society," white people having "unconscious bias," America was built on stolen land, and that discrimination is the main difference for wealth and other outcomes in life. 

If these ideas of Critical Social Justice were being taught alongside other perspectives and counterarguments, that would be one thing because it would mean students are learning from multiple viewpoints. Yet that is not what is happening in today's schools. The Manhattan Study report shows that the greater exposure to CSJ, the more likely that CSJ is being taught as fact rather than one school of thought. The report also shows that CSJ is shifting children to the political Left. 

The Manhattan Institute report also shows what happens if students try to speak out against what the teachers are presenting to students. As we see below, the number of students surveyed that feared being shamed, punished, or expelled was over 50 percent. That sort of fear not only creates mental health for children, but it discourages open communication or critical thinking, neither of which are conducive for a sound education.

These findings confirm that children are not receiving an education, but are being indoctrinated. The fact that Critical Social Justice has permeated this country's schools, both public and private alike, is disturbing to say the least. I have commented on how CRT does nothing to improve race relations or helps with the quality of education. I have pointed out how CRT is divisive and destructive for society. As the Foundation for Economic Education points out:

It should be clear that this approach is an improper use of the state--which should be educating, not indoctrinating, students. It not only gives children an incomplete picture of the world around them, but also creates a civil society that is more prone to intolerance of dissenting views. After all, if one was led to believe only one perspective was legitimate, then it is natural to then believe that it is important to shut out all 'illegitimate' views, both socially and maybe even legislatively. This is concerning because pluralism and tolerance are indispensable to a healthy and vibrant political culture. 

So what can be done? In private or parochial schools, it will have to be a cultural shift. As for public schools, there needs to be other measures since the government decides the curriculum. As the Manhattan Institute outlines in its report, this is where impartiality laws, curriculum reform laws (including the establishment of education standards), and audits come into play. 

As already illustrated, this has negative impact on education and civil society. The increase in woke censorship acts as a reminder that we are in the midst of a culture war that is being fought on multiple battlegrounds, and the school is one such battleground. Whether we can maintain a pluralistic society that is tolerant of others who think, speak, or act differently will depend on how well indoctrination can be kept out of our schools. I never thought I would have to say the following because I never thought that I would see our political and cultural institutions make such authoritarian shifts in my lifetime to silence dissenting voices. But I strongly believe that the future of American democracy is at a tipping point. How we come out of the other side of this culture war, especially with regards to our education system, will determine whether or not we can maintain a pluralistic, democratic society.