Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order on Aug. 27 banning instruction 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.   

“My [critical race theory] seminar at the law school requires that students have taken prerequisites to get in. We’re talking about graduate-level students who are not allowed to take my seminar without having satisfied some prerequisites or co-requisites,” Robert Westley, Tulane University law professor, said.  

Critical race theory is often used as a blanket term by conservative politicians when referring to the teaching of topics such as slavery, which do not apply to critical race theory. 

“Certain members of the general public don’t know what [critical race theory] is or what it’s about. They just hear the word race, and they react negatively to it on that basis,” Westley said.  

Black American legal scholars such as Derrick Bell, Alan David Freeman and Kimberlé Crenshaw are often credited as the earliest proponents of critical race theory, using it as a framework for legal analysis in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  

“Critical race theory was developed to draw attention to racism as a structural problem, as opposed to a problem at the level of the individual,” Matt Sakakeeny, associate professor of music and ethnomusicology, said.  

Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley is tasked with reviewing the state’s Department of Education policies and removing ones that suggest that an individual is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive based on race, sex or class.  

“[Critical race theory] doesn’t teach victimhood. It’s a legal theory concerned with laws and social behavior — it is not talking about individual people,” Brandon Davis, associate professor of political science, said. 

“I think the words that the conservatives don’t want to say are white supremacy and racism — that’s what they don’t want to be taught,” Sakakeeny said.  

In a news release on Aug. 27, Landry stated that he believes students should be learning about “American exceptionalism” and the values outlined in the state constitution and the U.S. Constitution. 

“This executive order is a much-needed sigh of relief for parents and students across our state […] 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. 

“What people on the political right have effectively done is attack a boogeyman–something that nobody quite knows what it is, that they have an implicit negative reaction to because the word race is used, and therefore they think it’s dangerous to white people,” Westley said.  

Some opposers of critical race theory believe that the concept encourages discrimination.  

“It’s a very important part of history, but teaching it as a current lesson can bring problems. So I would say, keep it in the past,” Emma Gudmundson, president of the Tulane University Right to Life club, said. “Whether you bring it into the present is the choice of every single person, of every student.” 

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

“When we’re looking forward to building a generation that isn’t racially biased, it’s very counterproductive. I think that having it in schools is very dangerous,” Gudmundson said.  

In June 2023, Rep. Valarie Hodges proposed a bill that would require K-12 schools and higher education institutions to report on diversity initiative programs and information related to school spending on critical race theory. 

“They couldn’t pass the law because none of the lawmakers could determine what critical race theory was. So what we have now is actually not a law, it’s an executive order from the governor,” Sakakeeny said.  

Since January 2021, 18 states have imposed bans or restrictions on the teaching of critical race theory either through legislation or other methods. 

“It’s really too bad that America has the social and political history that it does, but we don’t solve our problems by trying to ignore it or ban it,” Westley said.