During the summer of 2020, cities in all 50 states erupted in protests over the death of George Floyd and police violence against Black people. Government officials, corporations and higher education leaders reacted quickly with promises to reckon with racist legacies and vowed to move forward in multiracial harmony. But three years later, an “anti-woke” backlash to this movement has reverberated throughout several conservative states, and clawing back whatever racial progress made has become paramount to conservative legislators.
Republican lawmakers have responded to the 2020 protests and Black Lives Matter movement with a slate of anti-CRT measures to, as Kevin McCarthy, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, vowed to stop “woke education indoctrination in our schools.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial “Stop W.O.K.E. (Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees) Act” is among 563 anti-critical race theory measures introduced between Jan. 1, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2022. Florida joins Iowa, Missouri, Texas and other states in introducing and adopting legislation to remove African American studies, critical race theory, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs from university campuses and workplaces. A federal judge struck down the “Stop W.O.K.E Act,” one of the 241 measures enacted by 2022. Legislation targeting higher education institutions accounted for 12% of enacted measures; they may have far-reaching consequences on states’ public college systems. Infringing on free speech Critics of the “Stop W.O.K.E Act” and similar legislation say these bills unjustly target Black students’ First Amendment right to freedom of speech. “It prevents students from exercising their right to learn about the history and lived experiences of Black people and other marginalized people in our country. It tells Black and Brown communities that their histories and stories don’t matter,” according to a statement issued by ACLU Florida. In response to the Floyd protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, The Steve Fund, a national organization focused on supporting the mental and emotional well-being of young people of color, formed a Crisis Response Task Force to study racism’s impact on the mental health of students of color. The 2020 study notes, “Day-to-day experiences of interpersonal racism are associated with increased anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and loneliness among college students.” The study also determines that college students of color are currently experiencing heightened stress from being “at the forefront of movements for racial justice.” “Students face racism in schools every single day. And when we live in a state where the messaging is that they don’t matter, that their educational experience does not matter – whether it’s explicit like anti-CRT legislation … or whether it’s something more subtle, like the state of Texas working to defund public schools, those are messages that our students are receiving,” says Tiffanie Harrison, director of strategy and innovation at Round Rock Black Parents Association, a community engagement and empowerment network in Austin, Texas seeking to mobilize and uplift Black parents, students, educators and stakeholders. Harrison, an educator with eight years of experience, also serves on the Round Rock school board and has witnessed firsthand the impact anti-woke legislation has had on educators and students. “It’s a witch hunt,” Harrison says, adding that the “fear-mongering” around CRT and DEI initiatives has made the teaching profession even harder. The Steve Fund’s 2020 study also recommended more diversity, equity and inclusion programs to combat racism and exclusion in higher education institutions. Still, the recent wave of “anti-woke” legislation may make achieving racial equity in schools challenging or impossible. And the recommendation for more equity has done little to address the decline in Black student enrollment in post-secondary programs. Black college and university enrollment declined 22% between 2010 and 2020. With the recent Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action and the proliferation of anti-critical race theory and DEI laws, the gap between white and Black students graduating with degrees is expected to increase.A mental health crisis Black educators, students and advocators have warned the current backlash against diversity and social justice initiatives will harm students’ mental health. The dearth of mental health professionals of color further exacerbates mental health issues among Black students. Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, signed a bill to ban DEI initiatives in higher education institutions throughout the state. “We know that there was a lot of devastation from the pandemic, and racialized violence. … Schools are starting to talk more about mental health. And even though we deprioritize racial and educational equity in states like Texas, you see increased conversations about mental health these days,” says Harrison. “We’re seeing (a lot) of parents of Black children starting to tap into the needs of their children’s mental health,” says Harrison. “I think that it’s high time that we stop looking at mental health through a race-neutral lens … there’s a very racialized component to this mental health crisis.”An overwhelming majority of anti-CRT measures target K-12 schools, and the 226 measures enacted impact 22 million public school students, or almost half of the United States’ 50.8 million public school children. Asked how families and communities can support younger students during this time, Harrison emphasizes community care, the practice of creating spaces and building multigenerational relationships where students feel safe to explore their emotions. Harrison also underscores the importance of Black educators, parents and others in a child’s “village” caring for their mental health even as they advocate for equality inside the classroom. “For people in a child’s village, it may be intimidating to advocate for mental health. I think that just pure conversation, asking (questions), and being open goes a long way. But I think also setting the example and caring for our own mental health as adults goes a long way.”
First published in Black Mental Health Today, Summer 2023 (Vol. 8).