On Aug. 27, Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order banning pedagogy related to critical race theory in public K-12 schools.  

Critical race theory is an advanced academic concept that is typically taught in graduate-level courses. There is little to no evidence that it is being taught to children or teenagers.  

“Critical race theory [was] developed in law schools by a professor named Derrick Bell, [and] the concept [of CRT] is to figure out why — after we passed all these voting rights bills and civil rights bills — things didn’t change that much. His idea was that whites would act with Blacks only when their self-interest was also at stake,” Brandon Davis, assistant professor of political science, said.  

The ban orders Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley to review the state’s Department of Education policies and remove ones that suggest that an individual is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive based on race, sex or class. 

“This executive order is a much-needed sigh of relief for parents and students across our state, especially as kids are heading back to school. Teaching children that they are currently or destined to be oppressed or to be an oppressor based on their race and origin is wrong and has no place in our Louisiana classrooms,” Landry said in a news release.  

The ban also instructs Brumley to highlight anything that suggests that someone is responsible for historical events due to their race, sex or class.  

“The idea is to deconstruct public education entirely, then fully indoctrinate citizens with a conservative ideology slate of propaganda,” political science instructor Andrew Ward said in an email to The Tulane Hullabaloo.  

The St. Tammany Parish school board banned critical race theory in 2022.  

“None of this is new, none of this is isolated, and you can bet the farm on the fact that this is only going to get more bitter and acrimonious,” said Ward.  

This is a developing story and may be updated.