Going after #criticalrace theory as Trump is doing and linking it to ideas of communism and propaganda shows how powerfully effective academic ideas are and how the academy is not some marginal, irrelevant ivory tower. 1/
But when anything is powerful & effective, so too is the backlash and response. And it is frightening as Trump can marshall a whole media empire (Fox) and more. So the question is how to respond to the backlash in ways that continues the powerful and important work being done 2/
I don't have great answers but I do have one: while the best profs/teachers in this area are profs and teachers in this area and should teach dedicated courses on this topic, all of us have a duty to teach some of this material, in some form, in our classes. 3/
There are so many ways into this: from a legal, anthropological, linguistic, sociological, psychological work, and perspectives. This is the time to do so and also counter the idea that it is anything but the most empirical, grounded, social scientific work.
This is also why we must ignore the liberal hysteria around cancel culture and all their critique of political correctness. It is overblown, you are playing right into the reactionary right, and not the issue we need to be dealing with 5/
2 more suggestions: go full-on historical. The present looks different if you showcase the history of racism (& immigration, eugenics, violence). You show how legacies & logics change but continue and students I think "get" the importance of this work differently with history 6/
Address language (& racism). Language = highly politicized area. The reactionary right has managed to box the language issue as one of free speech, which is baloney. But language is complicated stuff. Let's give students the tools to see that instead of assuming they know it. 7/
If you are teaching an intro course and want to go uber accessible, I'd suggest pairing Toni Morrison's Noble Prize lecture, which covers language exquisitely (nobelprize.org/prizes/literat…) w. Carol Cohn's excellent piece on language & defense intellectuals (Google it) 8/
If you are teaching this topic in more depth or a more advanced class, then for race and language, I would suggest the work of @DrJonathanRosa ---> a linguistic force of nature who covers this and many other issues. 9/
