School officials cave
Misguided critical race theory crusade derails Katy ISD; trans phobia blinds Spring Branch.
Near the end of the graphic novel at the center of this week’s firestorm in Katy ISD, a white seventh-grader named Liam is invited by two of his Black friends to spend the day with their families. The friends, Jordan and Drew, had spent most of the story in predominantly white spaces and now they were giving Liam a chance to see life from their vantage points for a change.
“Wow! This was great!” Liam says to his classmates. “Thanks for letting me experience it, Jordan.” As smiles light up faces all around, Jordan replies, “And thank you for trying.”
This happy little scene was a long time coming in noted Black author Jerry Craft’s “Class Act,” a story filled with conflict between and among the races, but one that also takes his young readers on a journey full of humor and unexpected twists.
Craft says when he was growing up in New York City, he never got a chance to read books for school whose characters looked like him. In his own books, he strives to “show kids of color as regular kids” and gives readers of color a chance to see themselves. Their white classmates get a chance to see life from a different perspective, too.
He might have told students that himself on Monday, had his invitation to speak virtually to the Katy school district not been pulled at nearly the last minute. About 450 parents signed a now-deleted online petition to have Craft’s books removed and his speaking appearance canceled. His offense?
The petition argued Craft’s books promote reverse racism against white students and would have left them feeling shame over the way some of the white characters treat Jordan, the book’s 12-year-old protagonist.
That’s incredibly short-sighted. As it happens, characters in the book should be recognizable to all its readers as they navigate the perils of social media and figure out where they fit in the school cafeteria. They stumble through preteen mini-relationships, get called the wrong names and experience visiting classmates’ homes.
Katy ISD has deprived its students of an opportunity to engage with a vibrant writer who could have helped some students feel seen and affirmed, and others challenged to think about life in some of their classmates’ shoes.
Yes, “Class Act” does have scenes in which white youths and adults make clumsy or offensive, if usually well-intentioned, comments that have the effect of “othering” the Black preteens in the story. But the book is also full of generous characters and moments to which readers of all backgrounds can relate. It’s seventh-graders working through misunderstandings and coming together — an example we could all use.
The impulse to ban books is nothing new. But the latest impetus to challenge everything that offers a new perspective on race in America stems from the ongoing fight over what’s known as critical race theory, an academic lens to American history that’s been part of graduate studies for decades. In the current polarized environment, it’s often wildly mischaracterized as a way of making white people feel terrible.
The theory is now a catch-all bogeyman keeping Americans fearful of our nation’s changing demographics. And the paranoia is spreading beyond race to seemingly attack anything that might challenge the cultural status quo. Just this week, Spring Branch ISD removed a book with a character who comes out as transgender, due to a parent’s complaint.
This is classic “zero-sum game” thinking: the idea that intentionally centering the experiences of Blacks or Latinos means white people are somehow losing something or being sidelined.
Critical race theory doesn’t teach white students that they’re irredeemably racist. It’s designed to give scholars a frame to understand the impact racism has had on our laws, our history, our culture.
Neither books like Craft’s, nor unflinching history lessons, are about instilling shame. Differences and inequalities already exist, whether we teach them or not. Why not introduce our students to engaging literature that encourages them to look at issues from a variety of perspectives?
We can’t be afraid to have students encounter material that represents reality, even if that reality can be uncomfortable. Middle and high school can indeed be tough for Black children in predominantly white schools. Transgender kids exist. People of color do often get nervous when stopped by police. Those are truths about society, so we might as well have books and poems and curriculum that reflect them.
Craft said recently that when he speaks to groups of students, one or two kids will often approach him afterward, and say, “Hey, Mr. Craft, I hate to read, but I read your book in two days — and it’s the first time I ever did that.”
That should be celebrated. Instead, Katy ISD officials listened only to a few hundred of the loudest voices in this debate. Leading a district of nearly 90,000 students, they should have stood up for all those who were counting on them to not be intimidated.
Somewhere in Katy there’s a struggling 12-year-old who’s been given a hard time, feeling isolated because of her dark skin or odd interests — or both.
Let’s give that student, and all her classmates, materials that explore and embrace difference rather than fear it. And then those young people can show us adults how it’s done.