San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Books hurt by the very ignorance they fight
Each of us is ignorant. Every single one. However much we may know about this or that, each of us is ignorant about countless subjects and issues.
To be ignorant is nothing to be ashamed of because we have the capacity and opportunity to overcome our ignorance with information and education. But to be arrogant in one’s ignorance, unwilling to acknowledge or understand the ignorance, and then want to spread one’s ignorance like a virus isn’t simply ignorant, it’s ignant.
In the United States today, there may be no group of people more comfortable and secure in their ignorance than opponents of critical race theory. They have no idea what it means, had never heard of it until 2021, and before this year had never used the words “critical,” race” and “theory” in the same month, much less strung those words together in a sentence. Yet now they see critical race theory everywhere: in classrooms, under beds, lurking on street corners, ready to infect white children with guilt.
Having no idea or inclination to learn what critical race theory is, opponents such as Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Republicans in the Texas Legislature have banned the teaching of something that has never been taught in Texas classrooms. They invoke it as an all-purpose defense against any honest and fruitful discussion of the legacy of slavery and racism in the United States. They use it to reject any exploration of American history that makes people uncomfortable because it detours from primrose lanes into a landscape with weeds, shrubs and a scorched earth.
Falsely calling something “critical race theory” is a deflection to avoid learning history long ignored and filling in the gaps of ignorance some Americans have about the lives and experiences of other Americans.
No one invokes “critical race theory” more than those who are clueless of what they’re talking about but weaponize it against people whose work would make them less ignorant.
The latest target of these absurd attacks is the brilliant cartoonist and graphic novelist Jerry
Craft, whose upcoming speaking event in Katy was canceled after 400 parents in a school district of 88,000 students signed a petition saying Craft’s books promoted “critical race theory.” His books were also pulled from all Katy school libraries pending further review.
Those books included his graphic novels for children,
“New Kid” and “Class Act,” which are about the experiences of Jordan Banks, a preteen, African American boy, and his friends at a prestigious school in New York City. Last year, “New Kid” became the first graphic novel to win the coveted Newbery Medal. The judges said of it: “Respectful of its child audience, it explores friendship, race, class and bullying in a fresh and often humorous manner.”
In response to his cancellation in Katy, Craft wrote this on the website of the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom:
“As an African-American boy growing up in Washington Heights in New York City, I hardly ever saw children like me in the books assigned to me in school. Books aimed at children like me seemed to be only about history or misery. That’s why it’s always been important to me to portray children of color as ordinary
children, and to create iconic African-American characters.”
The books are wise, enlightening, funny and enjoyable. Like the best children’s literature, they also appeal to adults. In “Class Act,” Black adults will understand — and white adults will learn — why Jordan’s friend, Drew, is sensitive to his classmates touching his hair or why his grandmother always tells him, “You have to work twice as hard to go half as far.”
Whatever critics of critical race theory imagine, it’s not in the work of Craft, who is simply
writing about what it’s like to be a Black child. If that upsets parents, they should ask themselves what is it about the experiences and culture of Black children that frightens them.
In “Class Act,” Jordan and Drew are invited to dinner at the home of Liam, their wealthy white friend. Jordan reciprocates by inviting Liam to his home for dinner. The experiences deepen the bonds between the friends as they fill the gaps of their ignorance.