confronting racist anti-intellectualism

naming this moment

Hi friends,

Below is a welcome speech I wrote for our graduate conference at UCI “Towards Liberation: Centering Our Communities in Research.” I’m so very proud of the space my students and I created to welcome graduate students from all over to present their work on Race and Critical Theory, Social Movements, Migration, and Race and Public Policy. Here are some thoughts I shared about the last few years of a reactionary movement I’m calling “racist anti-intellectualism.”

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I wanted to speak for a bit this morning to remind us of what we are here to do and particularly, what we are up against as scholars who study race and ethnicity. We conceptualized this conference about a year ago with the intention to create a space for graduate students doing research and writing that prioritizes people and communities of color.

We wanted to create this space because we recognize that we are in a long era of racist anti-intellectualism that seeks to target higher education, exclude and marginalize research, writing, and teaching that challenge white supremacy. These racist anti-intellectual movements—anti-critical race theory, anti-wokeness, anti-Palestine, and anti-DEI—are all racist dog whistles that whip up right-wing opposition and attempt to silence our voices.

I think about “racist anti-intellectualism” as the desire to specifically root out history, information, customs, knowledge, advancements and struggles of people of color. This is a move to disempower these communities and those who might learn with and from them. Because to ban our stories is to quiet the idea that we have seen this brand of fascism before, that there are other ways to live and be, or that what is going on is okay or normal. This is a move to invisibilize people on the margins so that the government has no responsibility to protect or advance these communities.

In addition, there is a “vagueness” to how racist anti-intellectualism functions to stoke fear and uncertainty in the populace. Through the application of these laws and bans, we learn that anti-critical race theory and anti-woke ultimately mean anti-Black, anti-gay, anti-woman, anti-Latinx, anti-immigrant, anti-trans, and so on and so forth.

We have seen many waves of this racist anti-intellectualism in the past decade. This especially began in the Trump era, which was a backlash to both the Obama presidency and 2010s social movements, like the Dreamer Movement, Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter and #MeToo. The Obama Presidency placed a Black man at the center of public life in America, and these movements demanded respect and inclusion of marginalized people. White racists could not abide the progression of this nation, and so they elected Donald Trump to restore whiteness as the pinnacle of public life in the US. Furthermore, these movements impacted culture, politics, and everyday speech. Those in power feel threatened by their influence and are attempting to reverse course. And so, with this new era of American fascism also came a desire to stomp out the uncomfortable truths of American history. Our work is seen as a challenge to the present political order, and that is why they wish to silence and defund our projects, and especially our social justice movements.

So next, I will briefly speak to the most recent waves of racist anti-intellectualism, beginning with Anti-Critical Race Theory.

Waves of racist anti-intellectualism include the attacks on critical race theory in schools. This wave occurred immediately post-2020, in response to the Black Lives Matter uprising of that year. Instead of working to establish a world in which Black people are not killed senselessly by police or by state neglect, the right wing attacked critical race theory. They labeled critical race theory itself as racist, due to its critical approach towards US legal frameworks that fail to account for the foundations of racism in the United States. And this threatens US power and politics as usual.

According to Luiza-Maria Filimon & Mihaela Ivănescu’s 2023 article, this attack bloomed into a full-on legal machine, wherein over 200 initiatives across 41 states were proposed to root out critical race theory in schools.¹ The bills, however, were largely unsuccessful, with only 16 ultimately signed into law by the end of 2022. However, I’d argue they laid the groundwork for the moment we are currently in, sowing fear and division in American education. These fights have prompted educators to self-silence, with the fear that they could lose their jobs if they discuss race in the classroom. It is having its intended effect.

Anti-Woke

The next wave of racist anti-intellectualism came by dismissing social justice oriented culture, speech, and history as “woke.” For those who know, “stay woke” is a long running joke in the Black community, particularly online communities, as a warning to stay aware and mindful of potential anti-Blackness in society. “Stay woke” was often said with a wink and a nod to those who are hyper aware in our community, a sort of hotep style phrase imploring us to pay attention. But, as things migrate out of the Black community, we know they can be appropriated by white people with imprecision. “Woke” became a derogatory way to describe anything that has to do with Blackness, queerness, gender expansiveness or any other mode or method of social justice. Everything labeled as woke has been deemed of questionable intellectual value and worthy of censorship. Funnily enough, those who claim that wokeness prohibits free speech are actually interested in limiting the discussion of things they proclaim are “woke.”

A willingness to engage with concepts of equality was labeled as “woke” by rightwing politicians, hoping to distract the public by stoking their fears of migrants and Black people. Creating a common enemy is great for business and great for politics.

And as billionaire Elon Musk in particular styled himself as anti-woke, he simultaneously worked to dismantle Twitter, a space where social movements once flourished, as an unsafe space for those living on the margins of society. He, the son of a wealthy family from South Africa, says that wokeness is “anti-meritocratic” and “anti-free speech.” As if he knows anything about merit or having his speech suppressed.

Anti- Palestine

The next phase of racist anti-intellectualism was anti-Palestine political repression and policing on college campuses last year. Divestment was framed by the powers that be as an impossibility. As if we have not in the past seen a successful divestment movement that emanated from college campuses: movements against South African apartheid and fossil fuels come to mind. But this is different, they say. Allegiance to the current political order and the investment in Palestine’s containment are considered taboo topics. And I think it is important that we also name this racist anti-intellectualism as facilitated by the Democrats and the Biden Administration, as they stood aside while major police forces attacked and arrested students and professors on college campuses all over the country for speaking up and demanding justice for the Palestinian people. I personally have never seen anything like it in my years of campus activism and protest—the extreme amounts of police coordination and campus repression that occurred were astounding, even on this very campus. This demonstrates the power of ideas and the real threat that our words and knowledge can have to politics as usual.

Anti-DEI

The most recent phase of racist anti-intellectualism is of course, the attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Upon his re-election, Trump began rooting out DEI in the government and in higher education. Trump has fired around 12% of the federal workforce, with specific attacks on initiatives that attempt to train and educate federal workers or the public in DEI, or create opportunities for people of color, women, or queer people. It is an effort to diminish the progress that has been made in the federal workforce and on college campuses over the last century. Trump has brought this battle to higher education by threatening to withhold federal funding from universities unless they capitulate to his whims by reworking their DEI offices or punishing international student protesters. Trump would rather defund research that could advance human progress than allow campuses to be welcoming to people on the margins.

Racism is absurd.

Furthermore, Trump has been targeting pro-Palestinian activists for deportation, using ICE to snatch them off the street and disappear them. This is deeply grave, and it puts all of our international students at risk. We are in a crisis, and we must speak truth to power about this moment.

What is at stake?

I think white supremacists and those with political power see that the culture and the country are shifting in a direction that does not favor the old order of things. They are clamping down because they are afraid that we will win. When people are armed with history and information, they are more apt to push for opportunities to transform typical modes of being. These racist-anti-intellectual movements are an attempt to preserve the old order and prevent progress. While it may seem like racist anti-intellectualism is an idea that happens only on university campuses, we must recognize that this is a method of political repression that steers us in the direction of indoctrination and silencing at the K-12 level, in public writing, and in public speech.

But we have power. Nothing is inevitable. We have our classrooms and we have our writing. We must not take these spaces for granted and should be wary of strains of racist anti-intellectualism on our college campuses— policies that work to make us or our communities smaller or quieter.

What can we do?

It is important for those of us with a voice, with resources, and privilege to continue to make space for ourselves and for each other.

We refuse to be pushed out of the university because we belong here, and frankly, they need us. Our work and our communities are worthy of study and we have important things to say.²

1. Filimon, L. M., & Ivănescu, M. (2023). Bans, sanctions, and dog-whistles: a review of anti-critical race theory initiatives adopted in the United States since 2020. Policy Studies, 45(2), 183–204. <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01442872.2023.2214088>.

2. Photo by Paul Lurrie, Flickr.