Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sparked a heated debate online after sitting down for an interview on The View and sharing her opinion on critical race theory (CRT), a topic that has been heavily discussed in recent years.
While advocates have been fighting to implement CRT in schools, hoping to teach students about the trials and tribulations of Black people, Rice opined that the subject could cause white people to feel guilty and Black children to feel helpless.
"One of the worries that I have about the way that we are talking about race is that it either seems so big that somehow white people now have to feel guilty about everything that happened in the past — I don't think that's very productive — or Black people have to feel disempowered by race," Rice said.
The 66-year-old discussed the struggles she faced while growing up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, using her upbringing as an example of finding success despite race.
"I couldn't go to a movie theater or a restaurant with my parents. I went to segregated schools till we moved to Denver," she said. "My parents never thought I was going to grow up in a world without prejudice, but they also told me 'that's somebody else's problem, not yours. You're going to overcome it and you're going to be anything you want to be.' That's the message that I think we ought to be sending to kids."
While educators and politicians continue to debate about what should be taught in schools, Rice said the conversation on race has gone in the wrong direction.
"I would like Black kids to be completely empowered, to know that they are beautiful in their Blackness. But in order to do that, I don't have to make white kids feel bad for being white," she said.
Some viewers followed up with criticism, saying Rice is attempting to hide the reality of racism.
Advocates of CRT said the subject doesn't have anything to do with making white people feel guilty.
As Blavity previously reported, scholars such as Kimberlé Crenshaw, Richard Delgado and Derrick Bell conceptualized CRT, aiming to teach that racism is rooted in white supremacy and embedded in legal systems and policies.
However, Republican legislators, superintendents and conservative school boards continue to oppose the idea of systemic racism being taught in schools. Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Iowa, New Hampshire, Arizona and South Carolina have already passed bills to ban CRT.
"Any anti-racist effort is being labeled as critical race theory," said Jonathan Chism, assistant professor of history at the University of Houston-Downtown and co-editor of Critical Race Studies Across Disciplines.
Opponents of CRT agree with Rice, saying the subject sparks feelings of insecurity and creates division.
Supporters of CRT say the pushback is another example of censorship.
"Many that are condemning critical race theory haven't read it or studied it intensely. This is primarily predicated on fear: the fear of losing power and influence and privilege," Chism said. "The larger issue that this is all stemming from is a desire to deny the truth about America, about racism."
