about the creator of this webpage
About me
Jessica Lappin (she/her) is a student at York University in the Professional Writing Program who is passionate about fighting for social justice and equity. In her spare time, she loves to read, write poetry, and create hyper-realism drawings. If you cannot find her in the winter, she may be hidden underneath layers of blankets because she despises the Canadian cold.
MY Opinion: banning Critical RACE THEORY makes a mockery of THE truth
I believe that it is important not to remain silent in the face of social issues harming marginalized groups. For that reason, I would like to state that I do not condone the Critical Race Theory Protest in Loudoun County, U.S, or align with the protestors' beliefs.
As a racialized person, I have to say: it is truly a luxury to examine racism, pack up your bag and head back home without having to experience it yourself. And yet, protestors are alarmed by a chapter in a textbook that does not theoretically exist for students because the idea of the truth is terrifying. The truth, a menance to white superiority and privilege which, for possibly the first time in a largely progressive point in history, can be challenged with the simple tool of knowledge.
Quite frankly, these protestors are hypocrites. They are using white supremacy to fight the acknowledgement of white supremacy, proving just how relevant this academic framework is in current discourse. So much so, I can use CRT to critique how the protest and their ultimate push to ban CRT further perpetuates a racial system that preserves the white race at the top – take that, protestors. They seek to use the erasure of truth to maintain institutionalized racism and they sing The Star Spangled Banner to cement the symbolization of old nationalistic roots grounded in white dominance into present day.
To pick and choose what parts of history is taught in classrooms makes a mockery of the many marginalized people, named or unknown, who stood in front of their oppressors and defied them. These heroic people are the reason we have gotten this far. Their sacrifices and hope for the future is our living reality, and that cannot be ignorantly confused for so-called reverse-racism.
This is a painting called "Critical Race Theory" by Jonathan Harris, a Detroit artist (Harris, 2021). Harris hauntingly says, "this painting could be the future," and I could not agree more (Cascone, 2022).
To use words like 'indoctrination' and 'shame' is a mockery of our truth. The fact that racism is a part of our life – as much as we hear that the world will never change, sometimes slipping into acceptance, we know, deep down, we cannot accept oppression. Somehow it is justifiable for racialized children to learn what racism is at a young age, to feel ashamed in and of our own skin, but the line is drawn when white children must learn about racism.
The education system needs to teach students how to critically think about current injustices because there is no other way to understand today without looking at yesterday, or a hundred years ago for that matter. This protest is ridiculous, but at the same time very dangerous. I firmly stand on the side of the parking lot where the counter-protestors are because I stand on the side of truth – I do not understand how and why the truth should ever be put on trial and sent behind bars for simply being true.
Header Photo Credit: "Scholars discuss role," 2021