The Right’s War Over Freedom

Pandemic aside, no issue of the past year has become more reviled on the American right than critical race theory, the progressive educational paradigm at the center of a vehement vocal and electoral uproar nationwide. Conservative politicians have been quick to serve up critical race theory as proof of an ever-radicalizing left, most notable among these Glenn Youngkin during his victorious march to the Virginia governorship.

Sparking political action from Florida to the Washington D.C. suburbs, this opposition has been largely homogeneous in sentiment: Critical race theory must be banned, not only because it teaches...