Truman Hudson, Jr., outreach coordinator for the College of Education in Teacher Education, quoted on WSYM-TV, “Republican candidates for Michigan Board of Education protest critical race theory at Jackson event”
WSYM-TV, 5/6
Republican candidates for Michigan Board of Education protest critical race theory at Jackson event
By Joe Gebhardt
Two Republican state board of education candidates – Linda Lee Tarver and Tami Carlone – spoke to a crowd of about 50 people at a Save Our Schools event, saying that critical race theory and social emotional learning are racially divisive, far-left ideologies that are being promoted by the Jackson County Intermediate School District. Critical race theory is not part of Michigan’s educational standards. It’s taught almost exclusively in college classrooms, though some ideas central to critical race theory, like the lingering effects of slavery, do show up in K-12 schools. Critical race theory has become a polarizing topic. “I think the politicization came out of the fear of lack, or the fear that one’s culture was going to be stripped from them,” said Wayne State multiculturalism instructor Truman Hudson, Jr. “But, critical race theory doesn’t strip culture. It actually gives us an opportunity to unpack and understand a lot of the structural concerns that have led us to the inequities that exist in our current society.” Hudson says it’s important to understand past and present inequities in American society and critical race theory is an effort to do just that. “The goal of critical race theory, which is similar to the goals in English, language arts, and social studies, is for students to understand where they are situated in society and how their experiences influence others and how the others’ experiences influence them. So then they have to critically understand how society has developed from a citizenship disposition as well as preparing them to go into a world that is not so called ‘homogenous,’” he said.