Case Study: The Partisan "Battle For Education"

What is Critical Race Theory?
Critical race theory is one of the most divisive political issues in American politics in the last year. One can't even find a concrete definition of the subject without finding another that conflicts it. A simple google search of the definition will fill one's browser with promoted pages, from sources including the Civic Way and Parents Defending Education. According to wikipedia, which might be one of the least biased sources on the issue, Critical Race Theory is, "is a cross-disciplinary examination, by social and civil-rights scholars and activists, to explore how laws, social and political movements, and media shape, and are shaped by, social conceptions of race and ethnicity." While it may not on its face seem like a topic that should be controversial, this issue has been invoked repeatedly across the country by politicians and news outlets (overtly and covertly) in an effort to communicate their political alignment and position on contentious social issues.

How was the issue represented on the left and the right?
For the purposes of this assessment, I chose to base my analysis of mass media partisan rhetoric on the headlines that populate in the "search" portion of the Fox News and CNN websites. According to this search,

"Right leaning" news media headlines (Fox) included things like...
- "Holocaust survivor who endured Nazi medical experiments opposes critical race theory as 'indoctrination'"
- "Republicans accuse Defense Department of pushing ‘woke garbage’ after DEI chief blasts White people"
- "House Republicans investigate Education Dept for allegedly using COVID relief to fund critical race theory"
"Liberal leaning" news media headlines (CNN) included things like...
- "As book bans mount, literary stars are championing libraries and literacy"
- "A Texas school district approved limits on books, critical race theory and gender identity"
- "Opinion: Salman Rushdie has risked his life for decades; US must stand up against censorship, too."

Cursory analysis of partisan language about CRT
It's fairly easy, based on these sample headlines from the past few weeks, to surmise that conservative, Republican, or right-leaning politicians and voters have taken up a stance against teaching critical race theory in schools. By invoking the Holocaust, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest atrocities in human history, and comparing CRT to [nazi] indoctrination, Fox news is making a subtle nod to the idea that the inclusion of CRT in school curriculums is "state sanctioned government indoctrination"... that could, theoretically, be compared to nazi indoctrination. Similarly, a headline implies COVID relief money is being used to implement CRT; this is a dogwhistle for those members of the Fox news base who are interested in confirming their belief that the government is "corrupt" and, theoretically, being dishonest about how they are allocating funds.

Based on the sample headlines from CNN from the past few weeks, it can also be surmised that liberal, democrat, or left-leaning politicans and voters have taken up a stance in favor of teaching critical race theory in schools. Similar to the way that the Fox headline did, a CNN headline invoked the Holocaust by referencing book bans: book bans [and book burnings] were one of the methods of control used by the nazi government, and in general banning books is a method of control used by authoritarian or too-powerful governments. This is a pretty clear dog whistle for those viewing CNN who may be of the belief that Republicans in government are ultimately pushing for an authoritarian or over-controlling government. The use of the word "censorship" in a CNN headline serves a similar purpose: "censorship" is often associated with powerful governments who are infringing on the rights and liberties of its citizens.

REAL LIFE POLICY OUTCOMES: With the assistance of mass media exciting voter bases about CRT, as well as education about gender and sexuality, some states have been able to implement AP African American History classes at the high school level. At the same time, using similar rhetoric in the opposite way, multiple "parents rights" education bills have been passed in an attempt to increase parents' say in education curriculum: ultimately, this has resulted in restrictions on education about race and LGBTQ+ issues in states like Georgia and Florida. (see: FL HB1557, GA HB1084)

Sources:
https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/critical-race-theory
https://www.cnn.com/search?q=critical+race+theory+&from=0&size=10&page=1&sort=newest&types=all§ion=
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/07/02/why-are-states-banning-critical-race-theory/