‘Channeling the Mama Bear’: How Covid Closures Became Today’s Curriculum Wars – The New York Times

Book bans in schools have also been focused on L.G.B.T.Q. themes or characters, found an analysis by Pen America. In the Morning Consult survey for The Times, just over a third of respondents said parents should have more control over what children read in school.

Other recent surveys have reached similar conclusions about the contentiousness of L.G.B.T.Q. issues. Pew Research Center found that parents were much more likely to oppose instruction about gender diversity than about race. On divisive topics, the University of Southern California found that people were more comfortable with high school instruction on the topics than elementary instruction — but that teaching about gender identity, trans rights, sexual orientation and gay rights had the least support.

Teaching about race and racism, however, had majority support in the Times survey: Six in 10 respondents supported it, including 81 percent of liberals and 37 percent of conservatives. A quarter opposed it, and the rest said they didn’t know.

Asked specifically whether they supported instruction on critical race theory, a subject that is generally taught only at universities but has taken on symbolic significance, respondents were still more likely to say yes than no. Four in 10 supported it, driven by Democrats and Black respondents, while one-third did not (the rest didn’t know).

When the same question was asked using a definition of critical race theory instead of the term itself — the ways in which racism is embedded in American institutions and laws — support was 10 points higher.

Respondents were more supportive of teaching about historical racism than about racism today. In interviews, voters drew similar distinctions. “I was taught slavery, I was taught the Jim Crow laws, we were taught all these things, civil rights,” said Jim Desormeaux, a sales representative in Fort Wayne, Ind. “But when you look at critical race theory, it’s not that. What C.R.T. has done is taught that you’re oppressed now, today.” He started a podcast with Mr. Morvaji, which they describe as “two everyday guys discussing the politics and educational issues of our nation.”

Despite the prominent ideological gap on many topics, several issues received broad bipartisan support.