Chapter 52: Misdefining

210      “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping”  See Donald J. Trump, “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,” Trump White House Archives, September 22, 2020, trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping.

210      “heroic Americans have valiantly risked . . .”  Trump, “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,” trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping. 

210      “belief in the inherent equality of every individual”  Trump, “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,” trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping. 

210      “Today, however, many people are pushing . . .” Trump, “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,” trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping. 

210      “destructive ideology” Trump, “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,” trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping. 

210      “divisive concepts”  Trump, “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,” trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping.

210      “one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex”  Trump, “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,” trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping.

210      “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently . . .”  The quoted material here is the third “divisive concept.” The sixth “divisive concept” reads: “an individual’s moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex.” Trump, “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,” trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping.

210      “an individual should be discriminated against or . . .”  “solely or partly . . .” This quote is the fourth “divisive concept.” The fifth “divisive concept” reads: “an individual’s moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex.” Trump, “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,” trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping.

211       “any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish . . .”  Trump, “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,” trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping.

211       report discomfort and anguish . . . the truth about racism and sexism On racism, see Julie M. Hughes et al., “Consequences of Learning About Historical Racism Among European American and African American Children,” Child Development 78, no. 6 (November/December 2007), srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01096.x, 1694, 1695; Cyndi Kernahan and Tricia Davis, “Changing Perspective: How Learning About Racism Influences Student Awareness and Emotion,” Teaching of Psychology 34, no. 1 (January 2007), journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/00986280709336651, 50, 51; and Jason R. Soble et al., “Effects of a Brief Video Intervention on White University Students’ Racial Attitudes," Journal of Counseling Psychology 58, no. 1 (2011), https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fa0021158, 154–155. On sexism, see Christelle Maisonneuve and Anne Taillandier-Schmitt, “Empathy Arousal and Emotional Reactions to Victims of the Gender Pay Gap,” Journal of Social Psychology 164, no. 5 (2024), www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224545.2022.2136058, 570–571; and Silvia Mazzuca et al., “Men’s Reactions to Gender Inequality in the Workplace: From Relative Deprivation on Behalf of Women to Collective Action,” Frontiers in Psychology 13 (2022), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9712440/.

211       when teachers make racist and sexist comments Angus Kittelman et al., “We Analyzed Over 3.5 Million Written Teacher Comments About Students and Found Racial Bias,” The Conversation, November 3, 2023, theconversation.com/we-analyzed-over-3-5-million-written-teacher-comments-about-students-and-found-racial-bias-215777; Sheretta T. Butler-Barnes et al., “Racial and Gender Discrimination by Teachers: Risks for Black Girls’ Depressive Symptomatology and Suicidal Ideation,” Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology 28 no. 4 (2022), https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fcdp0000538; Adam A. Rogers, “Sexism and School,” Psychology Today, April 16, 2020, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/thriving-teens/202004/sexism-and-school.

211       “are more engaged when they see people like themselves . . .” Tanji Reed Marshall and William H. Rodick, The Search for More Complex Racial and Ethnic Representation in Grade School Books, EdTrust, September 2023, edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Curriculum-Report-FINAL.pdf, 4.

211       “. . . leads to improved academic outcomes” and “improved self-esteem”  Marshall and Rodick, The Search for More Complex Racial and Ethnic Representation in Grade School Books, edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Curriculum-Report-FINAL.pdf,4.

211       deployed the term “critical race theory” . . . could more easily invert antiracism  For a proper definition of critical race theory, see Susan Ellingwood, “What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is Everyone Talking About It?” Columbia News, July 1, 2021, news.columbia.edu/news/what-critical-race-theory-and-why-everyone-talking-about-it-0.

211       are “steadily driving up negative perceptions”  Christopher F. Rufo, Twitter, March 15, 2021, 3:14 p.m., x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1371540368714428416, archived at archive.today, February 9, 2026 capture, archive.ph/fRl03.

211       “We will eventually turn it toxic, as we put . . .”  Christopher F. Rufo, Twitter, March 15, 2021, x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1371540368714428416, archived at archive.ph/fRl03.

211       “We shall stoke up anti-Semitic propaganda . . .”  Joseph Goebbels quoted in Peter Longerich, Goebbels: A Biography, trans. Alan Bance et al. (New York: Random House, 2015), 578. Find the library book at search.worldcat.org/title/869262446.

211       branded me the “chief marketing officer” Christopher F. Rufo, “Critical Race Theory’s Chief Marketing Officer,” Substack, July 23, 2021, christopherrufo.com/p/critical-race-theorys-chief-marketing-officer.

211       shared their concepts . . . in the 1980s and 1990s  Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, 2nd ed. (New York: New York University Press, 2012), 4; and Ellingwood, “What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is Everyone Talking About It?” news.columbia.edu/news/what-critical-race-theory-and-why-everyone-talking-about-it-0. Visit search.worldcat.org/title/1002288455 to find Critical Race Theory: An Introduction at a library near you.

211       a well-established academic field . . . in 2000 One of CRT’s co-founders, Richard Delgado, and legal scholar Jean Stefancic first published an anthology of CRT writings in 1995. See Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge, eds. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995). Find the library book at search.worldcat.org/title/32392541. ​​

212      In 2021 and 2022 . . . introduced 563 measures Taifha Alexander et al., “CRT Forward: Tracking the Attack on Critical Race Theory,” Critical Race Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, accessed February 10, 2024, crtforward.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/UCLA-Law_CRT-Report_Final.pdf, 4, 17.

212      passing 241 of them  Alexander et al., “CRT Forward: Tracking the Attack on Critical Race Theory,” crtforward.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/UCLA-Law_CRT-Report_Final.pdf, 4, 17.

212      The first bill to become law Caitlin O’Kane, “Nearly a Dozen States Want to Ban Critical Race Theory in Schools,” CBS News, May 20, 2021, www.cbsnews.com/news/critical-race-theory-state-bans/.

212      Idaho’s HB 377 on April 28, 2021  House Bill No. 377, Idaho Legislature, 66th Legislature, 1st sess., 2021, accessed September 8, 2025, legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2021/legislation/h0377/.

212      “nondiscrimination” House Bill No. 377, Idaho Legislature, legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2021/legislation/H0377.pdf,1.

212      organized White parents . . . school board meetings . . . these bills  Paige Williams, “The Right-Wing Mothers Fuelling the School-Board Wars,” New Yorker, October 31, 2022, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/11/07/the-right-wing-mothers-fuelling-the-school-board-wars.

212      banned antiracist and feminist books In 2022, Adam Gabbatt of the Guardian reported, “Groups purporting to be ‘grassroots’ efforts have frequently led the charge, petitioning school boards or elected officials to remove certain books. Though some of these organizations present themselves as a local effort that sprang up around groups of parents united behind a cause, many of the groups involved in banning books are in fact linked, and backed by influential conservative donors.” Adam Gabbatt, “US Conservatives Linked to Rich Donors Wage Campaign to Ban Books from Schools,” The Guardian, January 24, 2022, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/24/us-conservatives-campaign-books-ban-schools. Similarly, in 2024, “72% of demands to censor books were initiated by pressure groups, government entities and elected officials, board members and administrators, reported the American Library Association (ALA). Just 16% of ban attempts were made by parents, while 5% were brought forward by individual library users.” Ella Creamer, “Majority of Attempts to Ban books in US come from Organised Groups, Not Parents,” The Guardian, April 8, 2025, www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/08/majority-of-attempts-to-ban-books-in-us-come-from-organised-groups-not-parents. To view PEN America’s “Index” of books banned in schools between 2021 and 2022, see PEN America, “PEN America Index of School Book Bans—2021–2022,” accessed October 24, 2025, pen.org/book-bans/banned-book-list-2021-2022/. PEN America reported, “Among the titles in the Index, there are common themes reflecting the recent backlash and ongoing debates surrounding the teaching and discussion of race and racism in American history, LGBTQ+ identities, and sexual education in schools. Of the titles in the Index, 467 contain protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color (41%), and 247 directly address issues of race and racism (22%); 379 titles (33%) explicitly address LGBTQ+ themes, or have protagonists or prominent secondary characters who are LGBTQ.” PEN America, “Banned in the USA: Rising School Book Bans Threaten Free Expression and Students’ First Amendment Rights,” April 11, 2022, accessed October 24, 2025, pen.org/report/banned-in-the-usa-rising-bans-threaten-1a/.

212      “As parents, it is our primary duty . . .”  Neeley McCallister quoted in Harold Hutchison, “‘Disdain For Parental Input’: Virginia Parent Rips School Districts Nationwide During McCarthy-Hosted Event,” Daily Caller, March 1, 2023, dailycaller.com/2023/03/01/fairfax-county-parent-mccarthy-parents-bill-of-rights.