From Critical Race Theory to the January 6th Insurrection Speech: The High School Classroom and the Politics of Division

Abstract

In the spring of 2021, conservative pundits and politicians renewed a decades-old attack on Critical Race Theory (CRT). Per usual, the attack intentionally misrepresented the nature and impact of CRT with the goal of derailing efforts to address systemic racial inequality. This push to maintain the status quo power structure is echoed in former President Trump’s January 6th speech urging his supporters to forcefully overturn the 2020 presidential election. In both cases, the politics of division and purposefully used misinformation are key tools. The high school classroom highlights these tools’ use. It is both a proxy space where larger social issues are focused and an actual space in which students are prepared to counter the pernicious effects of stoked division and misinformation. Based on experiences in a public high school’s 11th-grade World Literature class, this article explores how engagement with topical issues can equip students to recognize the politics of division and to be analytical and engaged citizens.