A People's Victory: Defeating Racist Anti–Critical Race Theory Legislation in One Red State

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

This will be a panel of those who helped facilitate and lead the defeat of state-level anti-CRT legislation in red state; thus, there will be no papers. Nonetheless, the panelists will address some research and/or conceptual issues raised by the panel, including what were the pre-conditions of both anti-CRT state-level legislation, how did the Coalition resist the legislation, how was the victory possible, and what was learned that can be passed along to other states and coalitions. This session then is highly relevant to this year's theme but pushes the conversation in a particular way--toward scholar activism that combines research and research knowledge with social justice activism. Thus, this session is a multi-racial panel discussion of the successful resistance, a people's victory, to anti-CRT bills in Indiana, and the panel will be composed of those who facilitated this activism. These include a Black pastor who is the President of a Black ministerial group, two teachers' union organizers, and three university professors whose research work is focused on racism and white supremacy. Based on a set of structured questions (all related to research on multiracial social movements), these panelists discuss how in this specific case in one state, it was possible to develop and deploy a multiracial coalition that twice defeated anti-CRT legislation, thus working to dismantle racial injustice.

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Chair

• Jim Scheurich, Indiana University - Indianapolis

Participants

• David Greene, Purpose of Life Ministries

• Jerell Alexander Blakeley, NJ Work Environment Council

• Russell J. Skiba, Indiana University

• LaQuita Maxey, Indiana University - Indianapolis

• Hardy Murphy, Indiana University - Indianapolis