South Cook News

The Rev. Brian Clary seems to view the fight against critical race theory (CRT) teachings in Illinois as an unholy development.

“Any argument for holding back any part of the story is profoundly unbiblical,” Clary said in a post to Facebook. “The Bible, in its very existence, is a testament to telling the whole story. To use a well-worn cliche, it tells us about the good, the bad and the ugly.”

Clary, a pastor at the Christ Memorial United Church in Blue Island, Ill., wonders how many of those arguing against CRT even have a clear understanding of what it stands to represent.

“Their solution to this perceived problem, however, seems to be to teach less history, less of the story, to vigorously preserve whatever holes remain,” he says. "Apparently, our children need be taught only theory that matches our own views, the views that help us feel good about ourselves. Now that some of these holes in our own story are being filled in, some of us are getting really nervous about it.”

Illinois State University history professor Andrew Hartman recently likened all of the growing debate over CRT to “typical culture wars where the issue itself is not always driving the controversy.”

Like Clary, Hartman openly wonders if critics of the system have a full understanding of what it represents.

“I’m not really sure that the conservatives right now know what it is or know their history,” the author of "A War for the Soul of America: A History of Culture Wars,” told NPR. "Conservatives, since the 1960s, have increasingly defined American society as a colorblind society, in the sense that maybe there were some problems in the past but American society corrected itself and now we have these laws and institutions that are meritocratic and anybody, regardless of race, can achieve the American dream."

All across the country, the issue of critical race theory has sparked a national debate about the role of race and racism in school districts. Often compared by critics to actual racism, CRT is a school of thought that generally focuses on how power structures and institutions impact racial minorities.