Juneteenth commemorates the day abolition made it to Texas.  Slaves had officially been freed three years earlier.  But word had not gotten to Texas because they only had Fox News.

~Comedian Costaki Economopoulos

While I felt the first observance of June 19th as an official national holiday was a good time to explore the current debate over “critical race theory (CRT),” a local columnist Steve Nicklas chose otherwise.  His column is called, “Steve’s Market Place,” though the only thing he seems to be selling is systemic ignorance.  Praising Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for banning discussion of critical race theory in public schools, Nicklas explains:

(Children) should not learn controversial policies like critical race theory, racism, discrimination, etc.  They especially should not learn about it in taxpayer funded public schools.

He goes on to quote DeSantis, who claims CRT teaches “kids to hate their country, and to hate each other.”

Ironically, these frequent opponents of “cancel culture” are the leading proponents of banning debate whether legal and institutional barriers to African-American participation in society has a lasting de facto impact long after their de jure prohibition.  Yet, that is not their most egregious violation of the learning process.  The operative word in CRT is neither “critical” or “race.”  It is the term “theory,” which is at the very heart of scholarship.  It is the middle waystation along a learning process which begins with a hypothesis and ends with empirical evidence which either confirms or debunks the theory.

Nor are most theories written in stone.  At one time, scientist assumed atoms were the smallest particle of matter.  However, with more sophisticated tools of observation, such as electron microscopes, theories about the composition of matter have been updated multiple times (from atoms to quarks to preons).

Theories have a second role in the scientific exploration of the universe.  They force us to ask the next question.  I recently listened to Neil deGrasse Tyson explain the empirical evidence he believes proves the big bang theory.  The interviewer then asked, “Was there anything before the big bang?”  To which, Tyson replied, “That’s a great question, and someday I hope to have the answer.”  Tyson further admitted the evidence only explains “what happened,” not “why it happened.” This is how we learn and civilization advances.

Of course, folks like Nicklas and DeSantis will be the first to accuse people like me of making this about race.  But take the word “race” out of the equation.  Has either Nicklas or DeSantis attached the same stigma to the “critical theory” whether the 2020 election was stolen or January 6th was not an insurrection?  Didn’t the governor just mandate a moment of silence at the beginning of each school day under the theory reflection will make a difference in the quality of a child’s education?  When the only time a politician or pundit rails against debating a theory is when it is associated with race, it is difficult to believe race is not the defining factor.

However, the more dangerous precedent is suppressing Socratic debate, which facilitates dialogue among individuals with differing opinions, information and experience as a means of challenging the status quo and stimulating critical thinking. Just imagine if academia over the past 2,500 years was governed by the Nicklas and DeSantis principle of avoiding “controversial” ideas.  Would we still believe the sun revolves around the earth or that leeches are the preferred treatment of most diseases?

Of course, the ultimate irony is DeSantis’ positing his own theory–teaching racial history in public schools leads to young people hating America and fomenting interracial enmity.  Wouldn’t it be nice to know if he is right?  Too bad he has not reached out to someone like the late sociologist James Coleman, who produced the evidence racially separate equation was anything but equal, to test his theory.  I wonder why.  I have my own theory.  Maybe he already knows the answer.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP