Abstract
Critical Race Theory (CRT), an academic framework for understanding systems of racial oppression, has entered the mainstream vernacular, alongside efforts by lawmakers and parental rights groups like Moms for Liberty to ban “divisive concepts” in classrooms, including DEI, race, gender identity, and histories of oppression. This article examines definitions of CRT used by lawmakers and parental rights groups compared with its original meaning in academic scholarship. We use a White Christian Nationalist conceptual framework and critical race content analysis to examine “CRT” articulated in a children’s book titled, More Than Spots & Stripes, “a Christian children’s book that teaches kids the dangers of critical race theory.” This use of “CRT” positions parents and children as “in danger” of their rights being violated. We ask, how is race positioned in US education according to this book’s definition of CRT? which parents and children are in danger, and why? And, which parents’ and children’s rights are prioritized, and which are marginalized/silenced? Implications for resisting anti-CRT discourse are highlighted.
Date of this Version
5-21-2025
Comments
This is the author-accepted manuscript of Wessel-Powell, C., Hogue, B., Pennington, C., Lathrop, B., & Neal-Stanley, A. (2025). Parents’ Rights and the “Dangers of Critical Race Theory” for Children: More Than Spots & Stripes. Equity & Excellence in Education, 58(3), 147–163.. Copyright Taylor & Francis, the version of record is available at DOI: 10.1080/10665684.2025.2500361. This version is made available CC-BY-NC.