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Published: 1/21/2022 7:01:31 AM

Modified: 1/21/2022 7:00:25 AM

Critical Race Theory is an academic concept that began as a framework for legal analysis in the late 1970s. As an educator of over 28 years, I first heard of CRT the way most people did: a couple of years ago, via the news.

Recently, CRT has become a hot-button issue in the ongoing culture wars. And because of this, it has been wrongly conflated with many other concepts, such as culturally-relevant teaching. For example, if I ask myself, have I thought about all of my students, their various cultures, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, experiences, and made a space for them in my classroom so that they can be successful? then I am not practicing Critical Race Theory, Im just being a good teacher.

Not only is CRT not being taught in NH primary and secondary schools, CRT also does not say what some people think it says. It does not, for example, teach that all white people are racist or that all people of color are oppressed. Its central tenets are that race is a social construct, and that racism is not only a product of our inherent biases but also something that may be found in our legal system.

An example of this would be the redlining of neighborhoods in the 1930s, which resulted in banks refusing to issue loans to Black citizens. This example is a historic fact, not an opinion.

As a music educator, Im about to begin teaching my second semester drumming class. Over the course of this class, students will learn many styles of drumming from around the globe. My first unit will be an African drumming unit.

Over the course of this unit, my students will learn how to play a variety of African percussion instruments, learn how African rhythms have greatly influenced the popular music they listen to today, and yes, we will delve a bit into the geography of West Africa and answer questions like, why do all these West African nations speak various European languages, as well as their own dialects?

Mentioning the diaspora and its effects on the arc of American music is not Critical Race Theory. And that is my right as an educator in the Live Free or Die state, a state that has only had that motto for the last 77 years. Prior to that, it was Scenic New Hampshire.

(Dan Williams lives in Concord.)

Excerpt from:
My Turn: Conversation on concepts - Concord Monitor