Demystifying Critical Race Theory

EDUCATION Demystifying Critical Race Theory

Do objectors really know what they are angry about?

BY NOOR ALI

Let’s start by saying that there is no debate raging around Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the country right now. That debate is not a debate at all. The sound-making you hear around CRT is in fact one side’s lack of acknowledgement of systemic oppression. The issue at hand is not whether one agrees with CRT, but whether one recognizes the endemic nature of racism that prevails in the country.

The truth is, a few months back no one knew what CRT was, and the greater truth is that several months later only a few more people know what CRT is. It only took the careless misuse of the term by unaware politicians to unleash a rhetorical warfare on this academic framework, as people who had no expertise or basic knowledge of CRT took a vehement stance against it.

For me personally it started with a social media post. A resident of my small, suburban, New England town posted an anti-CRT meme on the town’s unofficial Facebook page. The comments that followed disclosed that people in my small town felt very strongly against it. When I first came across the post, my instinct was to look up if CRT stood for something else.

I am a Critical Race Theory scholar. And, I had never come across a person outside academia who knew about it, and now there were CRT experts emerging from the woodwork in my town. As I worked in reverse from that point, I realized that they were in fact referring to Critical Race Theory, and while they didn’t know much about the theoretical framework their comments spoke of an uncomfortable fear of growth and lack of acknowledgment of the existence of white supremacy. What folks are against is not CRT, it is talking about racism on any platform, particularly in schools that doesn’t jive with their historical comfort with selective silence.

SO, WHAT IS CRT? Critical Race Theory started out in the 1970s as a lens within Legal Studies, which emphasized on recognizing the role that race and racism played within the legal framework and justice system. Later, CRT was adopted by scholars and academicians in the field of education. Applying similar principles, CRT in education became a theoretical framework with five particular tenets. And, what is a theoretical framework? Quite simply put it offers us working parameters, assumptions, definitions, and defining principles around and through which a conversation (research) can be furthered. Here, it becomes pertinent to note that CRT, before the recent interest, would be a framework that individuals would first come across in a doctoral program or specific graduate/undergraduate level courses. Teaching Licensure programs would speak of culturally relevant teaching, but barely ever about Critical Race Theory. It is also important to note that CRT is one theoretical framework among many, and when scholars work on their thesis and dissertations and articles and books they use the theoretical framework that is best suited to their research purpose.

THE TENETS OF CRT Critical Race Theory has certain identifiable tenets which include: (a) the permanent and endemic nature of racism; (b) the importance of counter-narratives by marginalized people; (c) whiteness as norm and property; (d) interest-convergence as a means of initiating change; and (e) challenging concepts of neutrality.

To delve a little deeper this means that CRT asserts that we must agree to the premise that racism does exist in a systematic manner within the mainstream, and is a permanent, institutionalized, and endemic feature of society. Therefore, acts of racism that take place across the nation such as the murder of George Floyd or racial health inequity or racial profiling, are not isolated incidents of racism but symptomatic of systemic inequities. Further, CRT recognizes the importance of creating space for minoritized, marginalized, and oppressed people to be able to share their lived experiences, thereby creating counter-narratives. Oftentimes, the stories of marginalized people are told by and through a white lens- this sabotaging, hijacking, and whitewashing of peoples’ narratives is a tool of “othering”, alienation, and disempowerment, where the mic remains in the hands of the domineering. CRT emphasizes the need for counter-narratives to emerge, where they begin voicing the experiences without fear of self-invalidation or irrelevance. CRT also posits that whiteness is seen as the norm and therefore it and its capital are coveted. When whiteness is the norm, all else becomes othered, marginalized, minoritized at the least, and vilified, demonized, and oppressed more often than not. All that is non-white is perceived as being culturally deficient. CRT also suggests that everyone benefits when racism is addressed, and work towards equity takes

place- it is therefore in everyone’s interest, and no one loses out when we work towards justice. When anti-racist work is done, it may appear as discriminatory to some on the surface, but the deep-rooted issues that it tackles are equitable for all of society. However, it remains pivotal to understand that interest-convergence according to Derrick A. Bell, Jr. (“Brown v. Board of Education and the Interest-Convergence Dilemma”, Harvard Law Review, Vol. 93, No. ENTER MUSCRIT As I worked with CRT in my academic career, I recognized the absence of the unique Muslim American lived experience having a voice within scholarship and academia. I maintain that racism is not limited to a color-binary and that racialization of religion throws Muslims within the realm of discriminatory experiences. To this end I coined the term MusCrit as a subset of CRT that focuses on the experiences of this demo-

EDUCATORS OF MUSLIM SCHOOLS SHOULD CONSIDER COMMITTING THEMSELVES TO THE WORK OF SOCIAL JUSTICE, AS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF EQUITY IS A FOUNDATIONAL PREMISE OF OUR FAITH IN PRACTICE. REEVALUATING OUR CURRICULUM, BEING MINDFUL IN OUR PEDAGOGY AND PRAXIS, ASSESSING OUR SCHOOLS’ VISIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGING THE RACISM THAT EXISTS WITHIN US ARE KEY STARTING POINTS TO THE CONVERSATION.

3 (1980) who coined the term suggests that “the interests of Blacks in achieving racial equality will be accommodated only when it converges with the interests of Whites,” and if the work towards equity is not seen as beneficial by and to the mainstream it fails to occur. The last tenant of CRT posits that neutrality is racist, that one cannot make claims of color-blindness and consider that a stance against racism. Stances such as these nullify and invalidate the institutionalized lived experience of racism, and in many ways showcase an avoidance of activism.

THE SUBSETS OF CRT Beyond the original creation of this theoretical framework, CRT also evolved into various subsets. Critical Race theorists studied the distinctive marginalized experiences of particular populations through a CRT lens, but created subsets like AsianCrit, LatCrit, FemCrit, QueerCrit, TribalCrit, and DisCrit to address and capture the specific lived experiences of these demographics. One can recognize that all racism is not the same and that the experience of Asians, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Indigenous Peoples, and people with disabilities are not all the same. The creation of these subsets was a powerful way to set up frameworks with defining features within academia for the study of these different groups. graphic. The lives of Muslim Americans are riddled with narratives of challenge and resilience, bravery and tiredness, and invalidation and strength. A key component of the Muslim American experience also sits gingerly on the crossroads of intersectionality that is to say that a Muslim who is identifiable, is a person of color will have a very different experience from a Muslim who is not. The Muslim American experience is not just one of hyphenation (Michelle Fine and Selçuk Şirin, “Muslim American Youth: Understanding Hyphenated Identities Through Multiple Methods,” 2008) but one where multiplicities converge making it even more complex in intersectionality. The niche of MusCrit posits that the experience of this population is not just one where they are discriminated against, but one where they are also demonized. The sabotaging of the Muslim narrative portrays them on extreme ends of the spectrum as the men being oppressors and the women being oppressed.

THE NON-DEBATE The exposition on CRT makes it clear that as a theoretical framework this is introduced to students at the graduate level in very specific fields of study. We can also establish that most non-academicians do not have a complete understanding of CRT. K-12 schools do not teach CRT.

So, what exactly is the issue. The issue is that after the murder of George Floyd, and the BLM movement picking momentum, towns, cities, districts, organizations, and institutions alike have had to take a vocal stance on racism. It has meant the issuance of statements, and in many other cases it has meant doing equity audits, hiring directors of diversity and equity, recognizing Juneteenth, questioning Columbus Day and the like. This move towards equity is based on the premise that we first recognize inequity. That is where the issue lies. There are many, many people who believe America is great because it has none of these issues, and speaking about these issues makes us question our “great” history, it makes us “rewrite” our history. “Rewriting” history to them means history is being changed, whereas the truth is that “rewriting” seems to mean being inclusive, telling the untold historical stories of all those that were silenced, considered irrelevant, invalidated and minoritized. It means not presenting a white-washed history, but in fact presenting a truthful history about all.

CRT IN PRACTICE While CRT is not taught in K-12 schools, and states that have canceled it have been performative, ambiguous, and racist, one can say that there are sure to be teachers across the country who are invested in creating a safe and brave space for all students, who know that their job is not only to teach math, and reading, and writing, but critical thinking, who are invested in becoming change agents and facilitating students in the discovery of a collective truthful history. The mandate canceling CRT will impact the practice of those teachers and set us up for a society that prefers to not only have blinders on, but one that considers to other and reduce non-mainstream. Educators of Muslim schools should consider committing themselves to the work of social justice, as the establishment of equity is a foundational premise of our faith in practice. Reevaluating our curriculum, being mindful in our pedagogy and praxis, assessing our schools’ visions and acknowledging the racism that exists within us are key starting points to the conversation. ih

Noor Ali, Ed.D., teaches at Northeastern University’s Graduate School of Education; is principal of Al-Hamra Academy, Shrewsbury, Mass.; and has taught for 15 years in elementary and middle school. A member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce for her town and district schools, she is also the author of “Critical Storytelling: Counter-narratives of Muslim American Youth” (2021).

Our Children and Their Identities

Parents and students should insist that their entire names be pronounced correctly

BY SEEMA IMAM

When a teacher reads a class list on the first day of school, some students are immediately aware that the teacher has come to their name due to a long pause, an expression or their failed attempts to pronounce it correctly.

In her book, “Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy” (Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2020) Gholdy (Gholnecsar) Muhammad notes that the teacher then may ask for the student’s nickname (p.74).

To me, as a long-time teacher and teacher educator, it is obvious that we shouldn’t give up so soon. For example, news reporters and media outlets have taught us all the hard names like Arnold Schwarzenegger simply by repeating it correctly. If the media, the public and children can fluently pronounce names like Milwaukee Bucks’ Nigerian-Greek hero Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo — whose birth family name, Adetokunbo, was also not easy to say before being transliterated letter-for-letter into Greek — they can pronounce Muslim names too. All they need to do is make the effort. Teachers are well equipped to pronounce our children’s names with some support. Becoming team players with teachers is a great way to embark on that plan.

Most importantly, since we, as parents, care about the names we selected for our children, we are the best candidates to provide support and expect teachers to pronounce them correctly. After nearly a half century in teaching, I know that most teachers will work with us on that.

A name is very important, and that’s why many families spend time carefully selecting it, even going so far as to ask elders for advice. Thus, it’s part of our identity to be proud of our names. When children go to school and teachers or others ask if they can call them by a different name, a nickname or a shortened version of it, we should be prepared to say, “I’ll be happy to make the pronunciation easy for you, but I don’t want my child to be known by a nickname. It’s important to my child’s Muslim identity.”

Left unchecked, children may give the nickname some thought and will often agree to it. They may already believe, for whatever reason, that their name is different or hard. So, how do children navigate this when teachers in particular are seen as authority figures? I believe each family should prepare their children for such a situation so they won’t be surprised when it occurs. One suggestion is for a child to reply, “My name’s really easy. Let me tell you how to say it.” I believe that parents are in the best position to help our children understand their name’s meaning or significance and to be proud of it. We can give them confidence by teaching them how to maintain it.

Another good suggestion is to say your child’s name several times when you initially meet the teacher and begin talking with him or her. In addition, if a name is pronounced incorrectly, both parents and students should not hesitate to help a teacher pronounce it correctly.

Historically, names have been so important that across the world and over time there have been examples of systems that communities lived within. Long ago, European communities were named for their services, such as the Carpenters, the Tailors, the Bakers and the Smyths. Each last name indicated what work and service the whole family might be involved in. In Europe, families would go to the Bakers for bread, the Carpenters for cabinets and the Smyths for the iron used by one of them to create horseshoes. Now, I ask you, how’s that for an identity check?

Corey Mitchell’s publication, “Why Getting a Student’s Name Right Is Important for All School Staff” (2016), revealed that “a research arm of the federal Education Department says that getting a student’s name right is essential to ensure they’re getting the services they need.”

An article published in 2012 by Social Science and Comparative Education at the University of California, entitled “Teachers, Please Learn Our Names,” stated that, “Names can connect children to their ancestors, country of origin or ethnic group, and often have deep meaning or symbolism for parents and families.” Indeed one’s name is a large part of one’s identity and therefore we can take a moment to be certain that the children we are responsible for are getting the advocacy they need.

In fact, names are so important that we, as Muslims, believe that orphans and adopted children are to keep their father’s name and be told who their biological parents are so they can know their family and lineage. This is important for a variety of reasons. Additionally, many Muslims women maintain their family name when they marry.

Muslims like to seek out names with good meanings as a blessing for their children. We seek out the names of historical figures

Faty Fatima

and those Muslims of strong character who went before us, like Mohammad, Khadijah, Maryam, Bilal and Fatima. As an example of support, we can write out the phonetic spelling such as Khadijah, Kha-dee-ja, showing the blended “Kh,” the short “a” and the long “e” in place of the “i” sound.

Having been a classroom teacher in Chicago public schools for almost two decades, I was blessed to have taught students from Viet Nam, Cambodia, Greece, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Poland, South Korea, Japan and many other countries. I used to use phonetic markings on the student roster. I will always remember that Nicholas Theodosopolous wanted to be called Neeko (with a long “e”). It might have been easier for me to “Americanize” his name to Nick. However, it was important to me, both then and now, as a professor of teacher education, to learn the names of every student in my class. Last semester alone, I learned to say Zilpacoret and Abimbola according to how my future teacher candidates pronounced their names.

IF THE MEDIA, THE PUBLIC AND CHILDREN CAN FLUENTLY PRONOUNCE NAMES LIKE MILWAUKEE BUCKS’ NIGERIAN-GREEK HERO GIANNIS SINA UGO ANTETOKOUNMPO — WHOSE BIRTH FAMILY NAME, ADETOKUNBO, WAS ALSO NOT EASY TO SAY BEFORE BEING TRANSLITERATED LETTER-FOR-LETTER INTO GREEK — THEY CAN PRONOUNCE MUSLIM NAMES TOO. ALL THEY NEED TO DO IS MAKE THE EFFORT.

Mo Muhammad

Somehow, we teachers have been notoriously able to keep track of Cathy, Kathleen, Kaitlin, Kate, Kathy, Kati, Catherine, Katherine and Kat. I’m sure we won’t regret striving to set the tone to demonstrate that we value our Muslim children’s names.

If you need a children’s book that emphasizes a Muslim teacher in hijab teaching her students how to spell and pronounce their classmates’ names, check out “I Am Listening,” written by myself and my co-author, my son Ibrahim, when he was 12 years and being homeschooled. We were striving to make the strange familiar. Don’t be surprised if you run across Neeko in that book for, as I said, I will always remember him and his family as I learned about cultural diversity in those years.

To illustrate a few of the points to take away and implement in your family: ➤ Teach taking pride in all of your family members’ names — including your own. ➤ Know the significance and contributions of others with the names you have chosen. ➤ Help children by devising an easy pronunciation plan to share with teachers. ➤ Avoid nicknames or a shortened version (Yousuf is not Joe and Mohammad is not Mike or Mo). ➤ Guide children as they grow older on how to share some other good tidbits about their name.

In closing, be prepared to share strong examples of Muslim names by relating some special perspectives. We love our Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). It may not be easy for a young child to explain his name, Muhammad, so teach him about Jesus (our prophet Isa). Let students use this example, “Like Jesus is a most important figure for Christians, Muhammad is a most important figure for Muslims.” I realize there are lots of other ways to say or simplify this to demonstrate pride in a name can easily be accomplished in this way. Take every opportunity to let children enter the discourse to strengthen their Muslim identity and pride in Islam. Having pride, as well as the ability, to express that pride in our Prophet, will result in positive feelings. Students who share the importance of their names and speak for themselves build self-esteem. ih

Dr. Seema A. Imam (professor, elementary education, National Louis University, Chicago) is a former Islamic school principal, a mother and grandmother who has researched Muslim students’ public-school experiences. Choosing to be Muslim at 18, she adopted a new name to strengthen her Muslim identity. Seema and her son Ibrahim wrote “I am Listening” (Lucent Publications, 2007), a children’s picture book that shows a hijab-wearing teacher learning to say her students’ names.