Ted Cruz boosts sales of book about defunding the police

Senator’s use of book on critical race theory as a prop makes it a best-seller

As Sen. Ted Cruz questioned Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday at her Senate confirmation hearing, the Republican from Texas one-by-one held up books “either assigned or recommended,” he said, to students at a D.C. prep school where the judge is on the board of trustees.

“If you look at the Georgetown Day School’s curriculum, it is filled and overflowing with critical race theory,” Cruz said, referring to the intellectual movement that examines the way policies and laws perpetuate systemic racism. Combating the movement has become a rallying cry for conservatives.

Among the stack was The End of Policing, Alex S. Vitale’s 2017 book that analyzes modern policing and makes the case for defunding the police.

But Cruz’s use of the prop had a different outcome than the senator probably intended. Sales of the book are skyrocketing.

“Thanks to Ted Cruz, The End of Policing is now the #1 Best Seller in Gov. Social Policy,” Vitale tweeted Tuesday. As of Friday morning, the book is No. 1 in Amazon’s sociology of race relations category.

Other books highlighted by Cruz have also climbed the charts. Ibram X. Kendi’s How to be an Antiracist is No. 2 in race relations and his children’s book Antiracist Baby, which Cruz gave considerable screen time, is the No. 1 children’s book and the No. 2 bestseller for all books sold on Amazon.

On Twitter, Vitale said he was “honored” Cruz recognized his book as a critical race theory text. But he added he found the senator’s reference to the book misguided in the context of questioning Jackson.

“This seems to be just another example of the Senator’s intentional confusing of a specific school of legal scholarship and the broader effort to shed light on the nature and history of racism in America,” wrote Vitale, a sociology professor at Brooklyn College who was born and raised in Texas.

Cruz is among a large group of Republican lawmakers who have equated the high-level academic study of critical race theory to any reference or teaching of present-day racism. According to Chalkbeat, a nonprofit newsroom focused on education, legislators in 36 states have either proposed or passed bills to “restrict education on racism, bias, the contributions of specific racial or ethnic groups to U.S. history, or related topics.” The movement has led to books being challenged at what the American Library Association has called an “unprecedented” rate.

During the dayslong confirmation hearing this week, GOP lawmakers questioned Jackson about her thoughts on critical race theory, suggesting it influenced her time on the bench.

In response to Cruz’s questions about the books taught or suggested at Georgetown Day School, Jackson said the topic has no relation to her job.

“I have not reviewed any of those books, any of those ideas — they don’t come up in my work as a judge, which I am, respectfully, here to address,” she said.

Cruz’s questioning went viral, with some people noting the senator was offering an appropriate syllabus for those interested in learning more about critical race theory.