This did indeed come up a bunch a few years ago when “CRT” was the big topic of discussion.
Critical Race Theory is a pedagogical tool, so kids don’t “learn it in school”; but (slightly) more nuanced Conservative takes would point out that CRT is used to create certain lessons that are used in schools - like the Privilege Walk.
Here’s a case where it came up on the board in 2021:
Now… I don’t think it’s quite as bad as you guys are making it out to be. When done right, it’s actually a good tool for explaining the basic idea of equity vs equality (you can demonstrate that if the kids were lining up for a race, some of them would have a huge advantage and could win by walking over the finish line, while others have basically no chance). And it’s also (again, when done well) a way to show that you can be advantaged or disadvantaged by things other than your “identities”, like race, religion, sex, and orientation. Individual family history events can be included, or things like your parents having a car when you were growing up, etc.
I’ve defended the basic concept before, and I still do, in situations where it’s relevant (I don’t think it would be good if every random teacher decides to do it because it’s “trendy” regardless of the class’ topic; but in a leadership elective, for example, it’s entirely appropriate).
That said, it can also be handled inappropriately, which is where a lot of the outrage over these probably comes from. If done properly, most of the prompts are life events, not “identities”.