Conservative Panic Over Critical Race Theory Apparent In Virginia Election

Conservative panic over the false idea that critical race theory (CRT) is being taught in K-12 schools seems to have factored into elections across the country on Tuesday, but none more so than Virginia’s gubernatorial race. Former Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville joined Boston Public Radio on Thursday to share his thoughts on how worries over CRT may have played a role in the outcome in Virginia.

“A lot of sort of cultural war issues have now come to roost in schools,” Reville said. “The Democrats chose to defend themselves against this critical race theory teaching accusation by simply dealing with it technically and saying, ‘We know it isn't really happening. This is just a dog whistle for bringing out various other forces’ — that didn't work.”

Critical race theory was created in the 1970s and 1980s by civil rights scholars and activists to examine the intersection of race and United States' law. The CRT framework is sometimes used to teach students about systemic racism in college history classes.

Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin of Virginia made CRT a target of his campaign. In July, Youngkin stated that CRT was taught in all Virginian schools, offering little evidence to support his claim. Incumbent Gov. Terry Mcauliffe has criticized Youngkin’s focus on CRT in schools as playing into “divisive culture wars.”

Reville believes that the panic surrounding CRT is a part of today’s “divisive discourse,” and that the Democratic Party should retool their messaging.

“Clearly, there's rampant fear in some segments of our society that elite liberal or East Coast institutions are impacting values and language — and a whole way of viewing everything from sexuality to demographics — on an unwilling electorate that exists elsewhere in the country,” Reville said. “That's flaming this kind of controversy in ways that I think are problematic, and need to be dealt with as the Democratic Party sets itself up to run candidates for Congress in 2022.”

Reville is the former Massachusetts secretary of education, and a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, where he also heads the Education Redesign Lab. His latest book, co-authored with Elaine Weiss, is: "Broader, Bolder, Better: How Schools And Communities Help Students Overcome The Disadvantages Of Poverty.”