To get its point across, Fox News tells its viewers that "Critical Race Theory (CRT)" is part of a dangerous plot born amongst Marxist educators to make white children feel bad about themselves.  And to make its point, CNN tells its viewers that CRT is a very technical theory about law, understood only by legal scholars and taught only in law schools and Ph.D. programs. Tal Scriven, the instructor for this course, hopes to show that there is barely a grain of truth in the rhetoric used by either network.  

This course should offer you a better idea of the origins of CRT in the 1970s and how it has developed into its current form.

You should also be able to understand more clearly why most of the battles about CRT raging on TV, online, in state legislatures, and at local school board meetings are, mostly, just wrong-headed.

Tal Scriven is a professor and chair emeritus in the Philosophy Department at Cal Poly. He has, otherwise, taught at USC, Chapman, the University of South Florida and the University of Colorado.