Bakersfield College hosted its final session of The Renegade Roundtable this semester, where a panel discussed and debated timely political and social issues amongst themselves and the audience. This Nov. 9 installment tackled Critical Race Theory – what it means, what purpose it serves, and the myths surrounding it. It was headlined by panelists Savannah Andrasian from the English department, Javier Llamas from History, Dave Moton from English, and Joe Saldivar from Biology and hosted by Reggie Williams from Philosophy.

The panelists spent much of their time trying to pin down exactly what the highly publicized and controversial Critical Race Theory exactly was, and how its rise to the spotlight began.

They were generally in agreement on where it came from, though Saldivar did express his concern for the inability to find the ‘principle’ paper, like in other scientific fields. Overall, though, a consensus was reached pretty quickly that Critical Race Theory was the study of historical racial injustices and inequalities and how they continue to impact the United States today.

The focus of the conversation then turned to the dispelling of the various myths that surround Critical Race Theory, such as its confusion with other similar programs, such as The New York Times Magazine’s ‘1619 Project.’

This led to the panelists discussing among themselves on how Critical Race Theory, or the study of race itself in school, should be handled in America. While it was agreed upon that learning about America’s history in regard to race was vital, how exactly it should be tackled was a point of divergence for some of the panelists, where they weren’t sure how it could be taught in a digestible but also ‘child-friendly’ manner, especially for younger children, with one of the primary questions being raised was “At what point do we educate children on these topics?”

Those looking for more Renegade Roundtable Events, however, will have to wait for next semester, as this marked the final talk of the semester.