Leave it to Senator Ted Cruz to turn a discussion of children’s books into a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad time. In yesterday’s Senate confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, the judge fielded plenty of relevant questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee about her judicial record and how she thinks about the cases that come before her. She was also asked, by Senator Cruz: “Do you think babies… are racist?”
Cruz grilled Jackson on her views about race, racism, and critical race theory, all while wielding a stack of children’s books (the horror!). His ostensible problem was that Jackson sits on the board of trustees at Georgetown Day School, an elite Washington D.C. private school where power players from both sides of the aisle send their children. “If you look at the Georgetown Day School’s curriculum, it is filled and overflowing with critical race theory,” Cruz said, brandishing books assigned or recommended by the school, even though Judge Jackson pointed out that the board of the school does not set the curriculum.
Jackson rightly explained that “Critical race theory, as an academic theory, is taught in law schools.” Developed over forty years ago as a framework for legal analysis, the theory argues that racism is not just a personal prejudice, but a social construct sometimes embedded in our laws and institutions. Republicans have weaponized the term to demonize curriculum that highlights ideas of racism and privilege, but if you’re looking for CRT in K-12 schools, you generally won’t find it. As one teacher told EdWeek, “The way we usually see any of this in a classroom is: ‘Have I thought about how my Black kids feel? And made a space for them, so that they can be successful?’ That is the level I think it stays at, for most teachers.”
As Cruz railed about racist babies, gesturing toward blown-up pages from Ibram X. Kendi’s Antiracist Baby, Jackson reminded him that this moral panic wasn’t at all relevant to the job she was being interviewed for. “I have not reviewed any of those books or any of those ideas,” she said. “They don’t come up in my work as a judge, which I’m respectfully here to address.”
Irrelevant as the reading list may be to Judge Jackson's judicial record, it's nevertheless a great list, with selections for younger children, developing teenagers, and interested parents alike. It's such a fine reading list, in fact, that Cruz’s children can find the very same books available in their own school library, as one Twitter user notes. So we've compiled a list for your reading pleasure here. Share them with the little ones in your life. Make the Senator’s day.
NYU Press Critical Race Theory (Third Edition): An Introduction
If you’re a parent subjected to all this blathering about CRT in schools, or even just someone who cares about what kids are learning, educate yourself on the true definition of Critical Race Theory with this essential volume. Now in its third edition, updated with material about Black Lives Matter and Barack Obama’s presidency, this book was written by the scholars who coined the term. Get your information direct from the source—not from right-wing messaging.
Of course Cruz would balk at this galvanizing, deeply researched work of nonfiction, which advocates for redirecting resources from police and prisons toward education, economic development, drug treatment, and social justice. The author noted on Twitter that, thanks to Cruz, the book’s sales have skyrocketed, making it the #1 government social policy bestseller on Amazon.
In this essential text, Kendi argues that to reject racism is insufficient—rather, we must practice antiracism, which demands “persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination.” Racism, as Kendi illuminates in these pages, is not simply a matter of hatred and ignorance; rather, it’s a vicious structural force rooted at the bedrock of American society, infecting everything from community policing to housing policy. But hey, if you ask Cruz, a just and equitable society is a bridge too far.
Another pick from Kendi, this one aimed at young children. “Do you agree with this book that is being taught with kids that babies are racist?” Cruz asked Jackson. The senator is willfully misreading this charming board book, which lays the groundwork for challenging conversations, and encourages children to be the force for change and inclusivity they wish to see in the world.
Bold Type Books Stamped from the Beginning
Jeez, what’s Cruz’s problem with Kendi? The author occupies an awful lot of real estate in the senator’s head. Kendi won the National Book Award for this exhaustive cultural history of racist thought in the United States, which connects the dots between our nation’s racist ideas and racially discriminatory policies. In Judge Jackson’s hearing, Cruz called Stamped an “astonishing” book. He didn’t mean it as a compliment, but if Cruz hates a book, that’s how you know it’s good.
