Flames rise as ashes disperse, clouding the air with smoke and specks of pages burnt off of the revolutionary and racially educational books, and fly all around you. You look down to see that the faces of books you once studied and used to see in libraries and bookstores have now turned black, their memory and impact being erased. At this rate, all there will be left in classrooms are bibles and picture books. Our world will become similar to that of Fahrenheit 451 if we continue to let Critical Race Theory be removed from our education in such dramatic ways as recommended by many politicians.

Essentially, Critical Race Theory is a series of concepts that illuminate the racial inequality that systemically educate students in grades 6-12, as well college students, on the injustices that predominate all aspects of America. These concepts are then taught in schools via a set of ideas regarding western society, as well as legal and social institutions stating these were established for white people to thrive (Zamudio, Russell, et al. 2011). These theories that are taught both acknowledge and break down the history behind this oppressive exclusion, and provide the knowledge so the next generation doesn’t make the same mistake as generations previous. The reason why this is incredibly crucial is that the teaching of this theory is a systemic action towards a more just future, and without this we are one step behind justice and one step further towards discrimination and inequality.

The controversy of this curriculum is no longer just a theory, there are now actual actions being put in place, the burning books are no longer an idea but our tentative future. Critical race theory was banned and stripped from 16 states, with an additional 35 who have signed into laws or proposed legislation banning this (Alfonseca, 2022). This is one of the largest threats to American education, posing serious harm to the future generations that will be running our government, impacting society, and making permanent changes. Taking away education on the acknowledgment of the way in which racism in the United States has shaped public policy, and the way in which it impacts all aspects of our life, will do irreplaceable damage if the public is complacent toward this atrocity (Sawchuk, 2021). Teaching such ideas causes controversy amongst the broad range of politics, and there have been constant discussions around the United States by those who have yet to eliminate Critical Race Theory. So what would happen if it were to be taken away? Would this happen even though it is crucial to accurate history, our present, and the future? It would, and it is. We, as students, parents, children, professors, and scholars, are currently witnessing this mark in history. Its consequences consist of negative impacts on wealth disparity, jobs, politics, prison system, redlining, and the treatment of individuals of different races, and other possibilities. Banning this approach deprives students of historical knowledge, lack of critical thinking in regards to political and social aspects of our life, and lastly, an implicit bias of the inner workings of the United States due to the absence of this segment of education provided.

There are few to no understandable reasons, out of the many as to why it is being banned. Currently, there are two primary reasons that politicians and citizens alike are consistently using. The first belief is that racism is a very extreme and rare occurrence. They believe it has no place in a classroom filled with children with minds like sponges, especially when they will ‘never’ experience nor encounter racism (Corbin, 2023). Though this is the reasoning of many conservative schools and states, it is quite contradictory, as these children will be the ones growing up implementing said racism without knowledge as to what it is and how to combat it. There is a second reason that this has a deeper complexity, where these politicians and civilians believe this theory is making white people out to exclusively be oppressors, while classifying all black people as victims (Ray, Gibbons, 2021). Critical Race Theory is not the narrative that these conservative states and schools want to portray, it comes from the truth of previous history in the United States.

The banning of this curriculum will entirely countermand all that democrats, educators, and speakers of the truth have worked so hard to achieve, in the strive to implement racial equality and justice in the United States. The misrepresentation of Critical Race Theory in schools is one that also furthers the misrepresentation of the racial atrocities in the United States (Oksana, 2023). This includes both the injustices being carried out in the present and in history as being fundamental to the establishment of our country. Due to the ever emerging removal of Critical Race Theory in the education of kindergarten through senior year, the trajectory in which the future of education will steer is dramatically altered. In addition to this it will have permanent and lasting effects on our society as a whole. Parents, students, and future generations alike will have much of a lesser understanding of such a significant part of the past, present, and future. This is a danger that can not be prevented as it will soon be haunting our country, a country that is so susceptible to such injustices. Everyone will be affected by this, teachers, grandparents, parents, children, and communities, these are the people that should be afraid of the future to come if this curriculum is banned. That fear however should not be one of intimidation, rather inspiration to take it upon ourselves to teach these children what they need to learn. This includes buying books, finding previous lectures, talking to schools, and doing everything in your power to prevent this, but do not under any circumstances let the ban of Critical Race Theory have the impact it was designed to make. The citizens of the United States must use these tools to combat the oppressive actions of repressing history and preventing equitable future growth by banning Critical Race Theory.

Ella Matthews is a member of the class of 2026 and can be reached at ematthews@wesleyan.edu.