What Higher Education Can Learn From Virginia’s Race

Dr. Pedro A. Noguera, the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean at the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern CaliforniaIn Virginia’s gubernatorial election, Republicans defeated the sitting Democrats as some swing voters were galvanized by how K-12 schools teach diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Education policy experts say that higher education should pay attention to what happened as the 2022 midterm elections draw nearer.

“The new Republican party sees academia and universities as a threat, as their enemies, so it really calls on those of us in academia, who often are on the sidelines, to be more attentive and engaged,” said Dr. Pedro A. Noguera, the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean at the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California (USC). “We need to learn how to speak about complex issues related to race in a language that people understand. I think that’s essential.”

Critical race theory in Virginia and other purple or red states burst forth as a conservative talking point over the last few months. Republicans in various state legislatures have introduced bans on teaching critical race theory in K-12 schools, but as experts on the theory have pointed out, these bans are driven by false narratives on what critical race theory actually is. That worries many in higher education.

“The majority of people talking about critical race theory don’t know what they are talking about,” said Dr. Fred A. Bonner II, a professor and endowed chair in educational leadership and counseling at Prairie View A&M University, one of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). “There is a lot of misinformation, so I think the first thing we need to do is get out a true narrative on what that theory is. And what the end game of DEI is, which is not to point the finger at people, but to show that everyone deserves a place at the table.”

Bonner explained that critical race theory is actually an academic framework developed about 40 years ago among legal scholars and sociologists to make sense of individual and structural racial inequities.

But to Noguera, the Democratic party as well as school board members and superintendents are not explaining what race-conscious education actually means. The political consequences were felt in Virginia, he said, and could be felt even more in the midterms. If moderate voters turn to the Republicans, the slim Democratic majority in Congress flips, and then the Biden administration would likely end up in a partisan stalemate.

“I’ve been so unimpressed by their messaging,” said Noguera, referring to K-12 school leaders in addition to the Democratic party. “Because this is really not about critical race theory. This is about how we teach the history of racism in this country—and why it’s important for people of diverse backgrounds to learn about that history.”