NEW ULM — Dr. Andy Johnson gave a presentation on critical race theory (CRT) Monday night to a packed City Hall Council Council Chamber.

The presentation was titled “‘Critical Race Theory:’ What it Is, and What it Isn’t”. The presentation was part of New Ulm’s Human Rights Commission meeting. CRT has been a hot-button topic in recent months, with many social groups opposing teaching CRT.

The Human Rights Commission (HRC) invited Johnson to the meeting to give a presentation on CRT to clear up misinformation.

Johnson is a professor of education at the Minnesota State University, Mankato. He specializes in literacy instruction and RTI for reading and writing. He has a Ph.D. in literacy instruction and has written several books and articles on literacy and learning.

Before the presentation, commission chair Larry Czer responded to a recent letter to the editor, charging the commission as being partisan. Czer gave assurances the HRC is non-partisan. By law, the commission must remain non-partisan. It cannot endorse candidates or policies. What members do independently has no impact on the commission.

Czer said the goal of the commission is to secure for all individuals the equal opportunity to employment, housing, public accommodation, public service and education, by assisting the State Department of Human Rights and advising the city on long-range programs to involve human relations in the city. The briefing on CRT falls in line with the HRC goals.

Johnson began the presentation by dispelling misinformation about CRT.

“It has nothing to do with communism, socialism or Marxism whatsoever,” he said. “The word equity is sometimes used to link it to Marxism and that is a bit of a stretch. Equity here refers to fairness and justice and not equal outcomes. Those words communism, socialism and Marxism are sometimes used as buzzwords to scare people, much like what occurred in the fifties.”

He said CRT is not about teaching kids to hate white people or to be ashamed of being white. Johnson said his research into CRT found no evidence of anti-white hate. It also does not teach that “American is bad” or teach hate for George Washington.

Johnson said CRT is a theory. He clarified that in the social sciences, a theory is a way of explaining a set of facts and connecting data.

There are other types of theories in the field of education such as behavioral learning theory and cognitive learning theory.

“CRT connects a lot of data dots related to systemic racism,” Johnson said. “These are uncomfortable, but necessary conversations to have right now.”

CRT originated in the 1970s from legal studies from individuals who were disappointed in the slow progress on racism and reform. In the 1990s, CRT was brought to education. Johnson said CRT was used as a lens to view different systems in society whether it is the legal, political, economic or prison systems.

CRT asks who gains from these systems, who is exploited, who gets the resources, how are marginalized populations depicted, whose voice is dominant and whose voice is silenced; whose voice is included and who is excluded.

Johnson narrowed CRT to seven core tenets. The first tenet is that racism is so ingrained into society that people can’t see it anymore.

“It is subtle,” Johnson said, “we may not see it, but our brains see it in the form of implicit bias.” He explained that just because a person does not see racism, does not mean it is not there.

The second tenet is that change will only occur if it aligns with the interests of those in power. Progress on racism will only happen if it is economically and politically beneficial to those in power. Johnson used the example of the Washington Redskins’ owner only agreeing to change the team name after sponsors began pulling ads. Johnson said the owner only agreed to change once there was an economic incentive to do so.

The third tenet is that race is a social construct. There is no biological difference between races, it is based entirely on physical appearance.

The fourth tenet is that no person has a single identity. A person is not just Black or White, a person also has a gender or sexual orientation.

The fifth tenet is that all people in a category do not think and act the same. Johnson said a single Black person cannot speak for all Black people.

The sixth tenet is that the stories of people must be heard and honored.

“Understanding the perception and experiences of real people is essential in making process,” Johnson said. One of the ways people are silenced is by providing numbers and statistics without context. Without context, statistics can distort reality. Johnson said misremembering history is another way to silence the voices of people and it teaches only the perspective of the majority. As an example, the indigenous peoples’ view of American history is very different from the White European view of history.

Johnson used the analogy of a family with problems.

“If your family had problems you wouldn’t ignore it and just look at the good things. If you loved your family you would look at the problems and you would do what you can to solve the problems. If I love my country, I am not going to ignore the problems, I want it to get better. So I am going to do what I can to fix the problems and one of them is systemic racism.”

The seventh tenet is that cultural parochialism and white superiority are factors in maintaining systemic racism. Johnson said racism is maintained by those who believe White culture is the norm and cultures should adapt to follow a standardized norm.

Johnson agreed to take questions following the presentation. His first question came from the commission asking for examples of implicit bias.

Johnson said there are studies showing people have an implicit bias toward everything, not just skin color, but it the initial reaction a person has. As an example, he cited that there is a disproportional number of Black students in special education classes. He said the initial referral to special education classes is made by classroom teachers. If a teacher is making this decision based on an implicit bias favoring white norms, this could influence greater referrals of Black students.

During the questions, Earl LaPlante asked for clarification on the Washington Redskins example. He wanted to know why that name was not considered an honor for Native Americans. He questioned why that term was wrong, but Sleepy Eye could be named after a Native American.

Johnson said he did now want to speak for Native Americans, but said they have said the term is insulting and preferred that name not be used.

Czer said the term redskin was considered a derogatory term.

Another person attending the meeting further explained that White people are not called “whiteskins” for the same reason.

LaPlante agreed that was a good point.

Gigi Rysdahl made multiple comments during the question portion of the meeting suggesting that talking about race was causing the issue. She advocated for a colorblind approach.

Rysdahl also argued that CRT was related to Marxism, despite what Johnson said at the start of his presentation.

Johnson reiterated his initial comments and said he found no evidence related to Marxism in CRT. He said the link between CRT and Marxism does not exist.

Others at the meeting agreed that the emphasis on color was causing more racism than there was to start. The concern was that by pointing out the differences the problem was getting worse.

Johnson responded that the idea of “not seeing color” is not possible as it is a part of a person. He gave the example of dating his wife. Johnson said if he had told her while they were dating that he did not see gender, she probably would not have like that response.

“That’s part of who they are, that’s part of their background,” he said.

Beatriz Smith of Mankato attended the meeting and said she understood the appeal of not seeing color and treating people equally, but said for people of color that has not been a reality in the United States. Smith’s grandparents were from Mexico and her husband is White. She cited the different obstacles her family had over her husband’s family. She also commented that her young daughter was already noticing and forming opinions on race. Smith believes as a parent she must acknowledge race to help broaden her child’s perspective.

Commissioner Kristin Sprenger asked Johnson to speak to the concern of many that CRT education would force teachers to ignore other aspects of history.

Johnson said there was concern that the new Minnesota social studies standard would remove other aspects of the standard in favor of CRT, but said nothing was being removed from the current social studies standards; new perspectives were being added.

“They will still teach about the Holocaust, they are still teaching about George Washington,” he said.

Commissioner Wendi Ringhofer asked if Johnson could distinguish between teaching CRT and using CRT to drive a curriculum?

Johnson said CRT is a way of looking at reality. He said the misunderstanding comes over what specifically is being taught or not taught.

Asked for an example of systemic racism people can see every day, Johnson used educational examples. He said Black students are disproportionately disciplined for the same offenses White students commit. Black students are more likely to be suspended than White students for the same infractions. Special education students of color are more likely to be sent to the resource room, while White special education students are kept in inclusive classrooms. He stated the SATs are widely known to be biased toward White test-takers.

Mindy Kimmel also gave the example of flesh-toned band-aids are only fleshed-toned for White people.

Johnson recommended the Harvard Implicit Association Test (IAT) that is available online. The test is available online and is widely cited as a source for testing bias.

At the close of the public presentation, Czer said he hoped this presentation would start a dialogue with friends and family and what CRT entailed.

Ringhofer said based on the number of people attending, she believed there should be follow-up on this. Several educators attended the presentation. The commission asked what educators needed to know about CRT.

Erica Kennedy, a teacher from Mankato, said teachers are scared to support students without facing backlash from the public on the CRT. She said “we need to know there are community members who support us and what we do every day in the classroom to make our students feel welcome and loved.”

The next regularly scheduled HTC meeting is Monday, July 26.