In California, sanity may finally replace hysteria over critical race theory | Opinion

Of all the misguided witch hunts that school boards have waged in recent years, the war on critical race theory ranks among the worst.

CRT, as it’s commonly called, explores how racism shaped many American institutions — including law, education, policing and housing. It is typically taught in universities; UCLA Law School, for example, offers a program in critical race studies.

Under the impression that CRT has somehow infiltrated K-12 classrooms, 19 states have banned or restricted it, demonizing it as woke, divisive and a “biased political ideology.”

Even in liberal California, a handful of districts in conservative pockets of the state passed anti-CRT measures, even though it is not taught in their schools.

So why the hysteria?

Because CRT is often mislabeled or misunderstood, or it’s mistaken for ethnic studies, and that’s allowed conspiracy theories to thrive.

In San Luis Obispo County, for example, constituents who packed school board meetings claimed children would be subjected to Marxist doctrine; taught that all white people are oppressors; encouraged to rebel against their parents; and robbed of their childhood innocence, all on account of CRT, which, to repeat, was not taught in district schools.

Yet conservatives on the Paso Robles Unified School District Board of Trustees pushed through an anti-CRT measure anyway, as did districts in Orange County, Temecula, Ramona and Visalia.

That may not be the end of the story, however.

In a return to sanity, this week a trio of appellate court judges issued an injunction that temporarily lifts a CRT ban passed by the Temecula Valley Unified School District in 2022.

The ban will remain on hold until a lawsuit challenging the board’s action is decided.

‘Unconstitutionally vague’

Judges in California’s Fourth Appellate District unanimously found that the Temecula school board’s resolution was “unconstitutionally vague.”

The vague wording created an environment of fear; teachers worried they could be found in violation of the ban — possibly even lose their jobs — if they discussed slavery or Jim Crow laws or the writings of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

To add to the confusion, the resolution did allow CRT to be taught in social science classes — but only if “instruction focuses on the flaws in Critical Race Theory.”

The net result: A chilling effect on education.

“Teachers are left to self-censor and potentially overcorrect, depriving the students of a fully informed education and further exacerbating the teachers’ discomfort in the classroom,” Justice Kathleen E. O’Leary wrote.

She also pointed out that the school district “failed to provide any evidence that CRT had ever been taught in district schools.”

Teachers demoralized

In other words, banning CRT at the K-12 level is a solution to a problem that never existed.

It’s also had a demoralizing effect on classroom teachers, who were essentially told they could not be trusted to teach in an appropriate manner.

And it puts districts in legal jeopardy, and for what? To fight against something that needn’t have been on their radar in the first place, save for some ginned-up hysteria?

Now would be a good time to surrender, though the Temecula district has no plans to do so, according to its attorney, Julianne E. Fleischer.

“These ideas promote division, resentment and a distorted view of history that punishes and staff based on skin color rather than character,” she told the Los Angeles Times.

Does any of that sound familiar?

It should. It’s consistent with President Donald Trump’s efforts to erase Black history by dictating what books can be on library shelves at military installations, whose stories can be told on the Arlington National Cemetery’s website, and what artifacts can be displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History.

Trump would have us ignore the injustices of the past.

That’s nothing new; students have been spoon fed idealized versions of U.S. history for generations. Only in the past few decades have we begun to come to grips with the painful episodes of our shared past, yet efforts to share those lessons with students in a sensitive and age-appropriate manner are coming under attack. In Florida, for example, students continue to be taught that Black people gained “personal benefit” from slavery.

Students deserve to learn the truth, and teachers have a duty to teach them without fear of reprisal.

It’s time to end the witch hunt and acknowledge that critical race theory has been misunderstood and maligned.

We applaud the appellate court’s decision, and hope other judges will see these ill-considered bans for what they are: grossly wrong attempts to rewrite American history.

This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 10:58 AM.