Bans, sanctions, and dog-whistles: a review of anti-critical race theory initiatives adopted in the United States since 2020

Labelled as racist, criticized for promoting racial divisions, and accused of indoctrinating vulnerable young people, Critical Race Theory (CRT) has, in recent years, become, a cause célèbre in the conservative movement, across both the Trumpist contingent and the Republican mainstream. We argue that, inscribing itself in a long tradition of dog-whistles, the anti-CRT panic is predicated on the idea that the contemporary American society is one devoid of systemic forms of racial discrimination and that by deviating from this premise, a form of reverse discrimination targeting Whites is becoming, in effect, systemic. Using document analysis, this article examines how the anti-CRT rhetoric has translated into institutionalized forms that prohibit the use of alleged CRT practices in educational contexts (K-12 level and colleges) and public service. In this sense, we review a swath of anti-CRT initiatives that were passed between 2021 and 2022 in 15 state legislatures across the US. These bills sought to determine how issues pertaining to race, racism, and discrimination are addressed. We find that this was achieved through a multi-pronged approach that focused on: (1) defining sets of prohibited concepts; (2) creating mechanisms to detect perceived CRT-offenses; and (3) dispensing penalties and sanctions against potential transgressors.