By Carley Crain
@carley_crain12
SEAT at the Table hosted another powerful and thought provoking conversation on Thursday Oct. 21 over Zoom that focused on learning about Critical Race Theory (CRT). Dr. Stephanie Logan and English professor Justine Dymond co-hosted the event as they shared their experiences with CRT while they were in school and emphasized the importance of the theory in the education system today.
The Zoom lecture started with an interactive presentation that got the audience thinking about what they know regarding CRT. Many had heard of it through the news, social media, or talked about it briefly in schools, but still many questioned what CRT actually means.
CRT was created by legal scholars and is the practice of integrating the role of race and racism in modern society. CRT looks at racism from a larger perspective as it focuses on systematic and structural racism, which are forms of hate that are the most deep-rooted in society.
“In many ways, racism is normal in American society. It has been baked into laws, policies, and procedures,” explained Logan. “In many ways, that has impacted institutions all the way to individuals and how they govern themselves.”
The speakers then got into the problems that some schools have with CRT. They spoke about how many people don’t want to teach their children about racism because they don’t want to see America as a bad place, and how it can be somewhat damaging to White people’s egos since many refuse to learn about what CRT actually is.
In fact, eight states in the country have passed legislation banning CRT, according to the World Population Review. Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Iowa, New Hampshire, Arizona and South Carolina have passed laws banning the theory. Instead, the mission of CRT is a type of education that informs students on how to improve America, not tearing it down.
Beginning as early as six-months old, children can start to recognize the differences between each race, which shows how young people are when they start to form opinions about different races. Logan and Dymond explained how the history we are taught in schools doesn’t include modern day racism, as the system sees race as a thing of the past.
“I kept seeking out the truth about U.S history which sadly is still not taught thoroughly and fully in our schools,”said Dymond.
The lecture’s main theme was how CRT is important to learn and that it should be mandatory to be taught in schools.
The session ended with a question and answer session between the audience and the commentators, where discussions blossomed quickly. While SEAT at the Table has concluded for this year, the Office of Multicultural Affairs has plenty of other events planned for the remainder of the school year. More information will be available on its Instagram page, @omaspringfieldcollege.
Photo Courtesy Springfield College