“Black kids are turning against white people of all ages,” declared Sherry, an African American mother. “And white kids are hating their parents and their success and their heritage and calling them racist.”

Sherry’s passionate speech was uploaded to YouTube, where it has been viewed over 112,000 times. It’s an addition to a new genre on social media: parents inveighing against critical race theory and “anti-racist education” at local school board meetings. Their message is being heard by state legislatures. Seventeen states have introduced, and seven have passed, laws or regulations colloquially termed “CRT bans.”