Is Critical Theory on the Wane in North America?

Maybe. But the activists who have been promoting it are not about to admit they were wrong

By Igor Stravinsky - Education Commentator

Critical theory, which holds that Western society is a hierarchy of dominant (oppressive) down to marginalized (oppressed) identity-based groups, is firmly entrenched in all of our institutions. Few dare to question it publicly as that can result in career suicide and social ostracism. 

But lately there have been a few encouraging signs that change may be in the air. Critical Theory Queen Robin DiAngelo has been expressing frustration that corporations are starting to reject her divisive brand of DEI training and are asking for a more pro-human and welcoming approach. 

Closer to home, the Brampton Guardian (Torstar Group) offered up an article entitled Brampton school focuses on coaching against racism, and while it is clearly an example of CT in action- special programs offered to students based on race, one need not read too far to see that the programs offered are not so much about “dismantling systemic barriers” as they are about addressing socio-economic disadvantages which disproportionately impact black kids.  

The article is subtitled “Middle school turns to coaching to dispel racist stereotypes”. But the text of the article makes it clear that dispelling stereotypes is not what the objective of the coaching is. If it were, then it would be the teachers and administrators who were being coached (there is plenty of that going on at the behest of the PDSB!) But no, in this case the coaching is directed at students, which is as it should be.

According to the article, the coaching comes in two forms: “The first [comes] from outsiders coaching others through the Black Student Alliance program. Each [black] student is connected with a leader in the film industry, who supervised them in a creative film project completed during the course of the school year. The second form of coaching arose from an event called Let's Talk About Fatherhood, that was held at the end of February and focused on Black fathers and grandfathers coaching the next generation. It was attended by about 150 people.”

So what is happening is that a high caliber extra-curricular activity is being offered to black students, and black students are being connected to black men who will mentor them in a positive direction towards future fatherhood. 

Offering up these two programs is a welcome change from the “blame everyone else for black kids’ problems” approach that has characterized the PDSB over the last few years. McCrimmon Middle School, which used to be commonly referred to as “McCriminal” due to its unusually high rate of incidents of unruly student behaviour, has a high (20%) number of black students. Since black kids (especially boys) have been lagging behind other groups (the front runners are Asians) academically and tend to misbehave and get suspended more often, it is easy to see why this school has been a locus for special programs for them.

The PDSB has said time and time again that black kids are struggling academically and acting out because of the “systemic barriers” they are facing in schools which the board says are unwelcoming as they do not “centre blackness” by acknowledging black students’ “lived experiences”.  Of course, no one “centres Asian-ness”, but Asian kids are outperforming whites handily anyway (maybe this isn’t a white supremacist society after all?).  

But these two programs seem to acknowledge that engaging in positive extra-curricular school activities and being taught that fathership is an important role in society may be helpful for kids who might otherwise underachieve in school and end up on the road to criminal activity and violence. In other words, maybe the root of the problems of low academic achievement and poor behaviour are not “systemic anti-black racism” after all.

If that is the case, the PDSB owes a very big apology to the teachers and administrators who have been subjected to non-stop demoralization, scape-goating, investigations, even firings over the past 3 years for telling them that. Also due an “I’m sorry” are the students and parents who have watched helplessly as the PSDB has been degraded into an identity-obsessed quagmire of declining achievement and disorder at the altar of Critical Theory ideology. The board has been trying to make every day Pride day as a distraction but it’s not working. 

While these two programs are a welcome step in the right direction they suffer from the same glaring flaw that all Critical Theory based remediation does: It is targeting kids not based on their individual needs, but based on group attributes. It may be true that a disproportionately small number of black kids participate in extracurriculars and a disproportionately high number come from homes without a consistent father figure, but plenty of other kids find themselves in those circumstances too. Is it fair to exclude them, in the interest of more “equitable” overall (group based) outcomes? 

Not all black kids need extra help and special programs, and a lot of non-black kids do need those things. Let us hope that now that we have acknowledged that the root causes of low academic achievement and poor behaviour are social in nature, we can take the next step and accept that we should be looking at each student as a unique individual human being whose needs and opportunities need not be limited by his or her immutable characteristics. If we can take that step, we will be that much closer to a society where we all embrace our common humanity and truly “dispel racial stereotypes”.

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Thanks for reading. For more from this author read, People for Education is now People for Indoctrination

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