Opinion: Michigan Legislature's proposed Critical Race Theory law is outright censorship

Here at home and across the world, our shared body politic is increasingly polarized and divisive, leaving little room for truth and honesty. In the Michigan Legislature, this rings especially true as Republicans once again are trying to alter the state of facts by working to pass legislation banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory — an academic concept in higher education, specifically within the discipline of Civil Rights Law that’s more than 40 years old — or else school districts will have to face their funding being withheld.

Aside from this legislation being a solution in search of a problem, it’s outright censorship and a violation of free speech. Moreover, it’s wildly offensive and demeaning to Black Americans, whose ancestors were brought to this land, bound and enslaved, and made to build a nation that saw them as less than human. This history is among the foundations of the American story, whether folks want to accept that or not.

That in the year 2021 we are still celebrating the first Black person doing this, that, or the other should, on its own, be indicative of the systemic racism that is enmeshed in every part of American life.

But if you want more examples, we can even borrow from everyday vocabulary — “the peanut gallery” is a phrase for the seats Black people were once only permitted to use in theaters; “grandfathered in” can be traced back to when Black people were still not allowed to vote because their grandfathers were not landowners; “master bedroom” is where the slave master slept; “sold down the river” is how slaves were transported.

The list goes on. These phrases are exactly what they intend to be: divisive statements showcasing the superiority or preference of one group of people over another.

Yet, many Americans don’t know this, and they might not ever know, because that kind of history isn’t something we talk about. And we haven’t even begun to breach the topics of redlining or the history of structural disparities in health care, education, housing, and policing that continue to marginalize groups across the country. There is a reason these disparities exist, and that is the crux of critical race theory, despite what others would have you believe.

Lest we forget, it was only five years ago in 2016, that students in Detroit had to sue the state to be legally ensured they have a right to a proper education with quality teachers, learning materials, and school buildings that most people would never have stood for beyond a day, yet the students in Detroit had accepted this as their worth to society until this lawsuit. Shameful.

Suffice it to say, age-appropriate education on these and other matters in school is not — and should not — be something term-limited elected officials tinker with, much less seek to punish schools that might decide to employ critical race theory or adjacent topics in their curriculum. Passing such legislation is another form of violence, an erasure of the story of millions because of the inability of others to accept the true story of this nation, both the good and bad.

The inhumane and immoral treatment of African Americans throughout this nation’s history is difficult to cope with and, as Black women, it’s a history that runs through our veins every day. At best, this bill is willfully ignorant of the path we walk and, at worse, it’s a derelict excuse in seeking to avoid truth and historical fact. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “True peace is not merely the absence of tension. It is the presence of justice.”

When Michigan’s children go to school, they deserve to know the full story of the strength and resilience their ancestors exhibited in building the America we have today, and so do their peers.

Anything less is a further act of violence against their existence as children of color.

Erika Geiss represents the 6th Senate District in Michigan. Dr. Pamela Pugh is the vice president of the Michigan Board of Education.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Opinion: Mich. Legislature's Critical Race Theory proposal is censorship