Critical Race Theory for Dummies

Unless you have been living under a complete media blackout for the last six weeks, you’ve probably heard of Critical Race Theory, and the latest effort to keep it out of K through 12 curriculums in the United States. But do you know what Critical Race Theory is? I wanted to make sure I had the correct definition, so I turned to good old Wikipedia. There, CRT is defined as “an academic movement of civil rights scholars and activists in the United States who seek to critically examine the law as it intersects with issues of race and to challenge mainstream liberal approaches to racial justice.”

In other words, CRT examines the way white supremacy and racial inequality is baked into the legal systems of our supposed democracy. Why do I call it a “supposed democracy?” Because in the United States today, we simply do not enjoy equal human rights. When Black and Indigenous people are more than three times as likely to be killed during an encounter with police as white people, we have to admit that when it comes to equal rights under the law, we are essentially living in two different countries.

It might seem like Addison County is a great distance from the streets of Minneapolis, where George Floyd was murdered by police last year. But the battle about whether to teach school children about Real American History, and the way this history shows up in our current events, laws and policies, has definitely come to Vermont.

Just a couple weeks ago, opponents of racial equity policies in their school district gathered in Essex to hear their newly elected school board member speak. This new school board member opposes teaching kids about racism in the United States, stating that our public schools should be “free of ideologies and theories.” 

Meanwhile, literally across the street in Essex, another meeting was taking place. A panel of six Essex high school students spoke to community members about their experiences with racism, apathy, and ignorance at their school. I am struck by the image of these two gatherings, in two separate buildings, in the same town, on the same evening. It’s hard to imagine a more polarized community. We all want the same things, don’t we? We want to send our kids to a good school. We want healthcare when we are sick. We want to be able to pay our bills and have some savings for a rainy day. But in the United States, none of that is guaranteed. Working people scramble to make ends meet and saving anything is next to impossible. Why can’t we have nice things?

James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” How do we help ourselves and our neighbors understand that a tiny sliver of our population, the wealthiest Americans, are benefitting from this battle that pits neighbor against neighbor? Because when we are fighting each other over things like school mascots, school equity policies, and whether to teach anti racism, we are not standing in solidarity with one another to demand our human rights of healthcare, affordable housing, and clean air and water.

Encouraging white people to be afraid of Critical Race Theory is the latest well funded propaganda campaign of the remaining Koch brother, the Heritage Foundation, and numerous other pro-corporate initiatives. The people pitting neighbor against neighbor in Essex, VT, and cities and towns across the country, are the richest of the rich. As Representative Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez says, these are the “nesting-doll yacht rich.” These are the people that are so rich, they don’t even know how many houses they own! Taxing the richest people in this country could easily provide every American access to housing, healthcare, and education. But we are never going to be able to work together to demand our human rights if we aren’t willing to learn real history. We must be willing to see that some of us are treated as more human than others, and that is not to be tolerated. I want to live in a community where ALL OF US can thrive, Black people, Brown people, and White people. Let us face the truth of our history, so we can build this beautiful new world.

 

A Former Vaccine Skeptic Tells her Friend to Listen to Dr Fauci

Dear One,

Thanks for your thoughtful email about natural medicine and vaccines. I have to be honest and tell you I am not going to click the links, for two reasons. One reason is I am overwhelmed with schoolwork and anti-racism reading, and I just can’t take on any more. But the other reason is that my appreciation (and trust) of vaccines is like a newborn baby who I am protecting at all costs. 

As you know, I was extremely skeptical of vaccines myself, until I changed my mind when my kid was nine years old. I was obsessed with protecting her immune system and viewed vaccines as unnatural, medical interventions that we didn’t need. But after reading extensive writings by parents of immunocompromised kids (kids who couldn’t receive vaccines, so who required the healthy children around them to be vaccinated, if they were to be able to go to school, or take part in any group activities) I realized I had been making choices based only on my child’s health, not on the health of the whole community. I completely changed my mind about immunizations, and scheduled the first ones with the pediatrician that day.

So now, whenever I see articles questioning vaccine safety or herd immunity, I avoid them, because I could imagine myself getting pulled back into that way of thinking, and I am deliberately choosing not to go there.

Like you, I believe that good health starts with healthy soil, non-toxic agriculture, clean air and water, access to real, fresh food, and so many other good things that we enjoy every day and that so many millions of our fellow citizens are deprived of. We can’t have a healthy nation until we get our sh*t together on this basic level.

 

But vaccines are also important, a hugely important piece of societal health. 

Not only do I not have the time, energy, inclination or education level to read through studies of vaccine efficacy/ safety/ etc, I am delighted to trust the experts who I know are desperate to end this terrible pandemic that has wreaked so much havoc on our world. And I am THRILLED that both sets of my parents have now received their vaccines and soon I can get mine! I can’t wait!

In the same way that you describe an intuitive, gut feeling that warns you away from an RNA vaccine, I have a gut feeling that says Trust Dr. Fauci and all the scientists who have been working feverishly to get us these vaccines so that we can congregate safely once again.

The fact is, the sooner most people get their shots, the sooner we can visit our families. The sooner our nation is immunized, the sooner the 96,000 people who work on Broadway can get back into those theaters and we can go see a show!

This has nothing to do with how I feel about the American Medical Association (boo!) or the influence of predatory capitalism on the American pharmaceutical industry (also boo). I just want to go visit my mom and hug her and to do that I need to get on a plane and that is just not safe until our nation is vaccinated.

I know your beautiful, holistic world view is rooted in love of the earth and the natural systems that give us our lives. I get that and I respect that. But I also think that you and your family, like everyone else in this state, in this country, and on this planet, will benefit tremendously from widespread vaccine use. We’ll be able to hug each other again, eat in a restaurant, and go to concerts! Schools will be safer for kids and teachers, and our hospitals won’t be overwhelmed with Covid cases. Frontline workers, like nurses, teachers, and doctors will be able to begin to heal from this traumatic year.

If everyone was skeptical and rejected Dr. Fauci’s advice to get our shots, none of this would happen. So for me, the choice is clear. I want to be part of this wave of communal love and trust, this ocean of looking out for the collective well being of us all. I am getting my shots not only to keep myself safe, but as an act of care for the entire human family.

Love,

Me