From book bans to affirmative action: DARVO as a political tool against Critical Race Theory

During the most recent wave of anti-racism movements in the U.S., Critical Race Theory has gained attention as a key mechanism to identify, deconstruct, and challenge dominant white American ideologies and their associated institutional practices. Given that Critical Race Theory threatens to unmask and destabilize centralized white racialized power in the United States, dominant white cultural and institutional backlash to attack, suppress, and invalidate anti-racist ideologies and practices has reached new levels. This article proposes that the American conservative right-wing uses a core rhetorical strategy known as Institutional DARVO to undermine anti-racism movements and Critical Race Theory. Institutional DARVO is a systems-level extension of DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) which identifies three specific patterns of abuse seen in intimate partner violence. This article will provide an analysis of the document issued by former President Donald J. Trump on September 22, 2020, "Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping," to illustrate the governmental-political use of Institutional DARVO in the backlash against Critical Race Theory. This Executive Order has influenced conservative political ideas and rhetoric that has fueled the growing surge of book bans, anti-DEI governmental practices and policies, anti-education legislation, and the recent supreme court decision to declare affirmative action unlawful. Identifying these core patterns and strategies used by primarily white conservative groups and institutions to challenge anti-racist movements is critically important in addressing both the realities and false narratives around race and inequity in the United States, as these narratives are impacting our current social, political, legal, and educational culture, practices, and policies.