Classical education has recently seen a surge of interest from parents, students, and teachers seeking an alternative to the endless parade of fads and politicization in mainstream public education . Like any idea that challenges the status quo, this rising interest has inevitably been accompanied by both a rise in detractors as well as failures to understand exactly what the movement is.

Most recently, Michael Harriot, a columnist at TheGrio, expressed disdain for classical education while appearing on MSNBC ’s The ReidOut. Harriot asserted, “The viewers should know classic education is a dog whistle that ‘means CRT is not taught here.’” He went on to declare that classical education is pro-Confederacy and “says George Washington was not a slave owner.”

Harriot’s assessment of classical education stands in stark contrast to the reality of its history and its contemporary rise in popularity.

As the tides turned in favor of progressive educational practices in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many of classical education’s most outspoken supporters were black American leaders such as W. E. B. Du Bois and Anna Julia Cooper. For Du Bois, Cooper, and other like-minded contemporaries, access to classical education was inseparable from access to voting rights and full civic equality.

More recently, Marva Collins brought classical education to the children of an impoverished and largely black American neighborhood in Chicago, teaching at and running her Westside Preparatory School for nearly 30 years beginning in the 1970s. Classical educators such as Anika Prather, who has described her experience providing a classical education to black American students as “living among the constellation of the canon,” and Angel Parham, founder of the Nyansa Classical Community, continue the legacy of Du Bois and Cooper through their efforts to draw attention to the link between classical education and the experience of black men and women in America.

Contrary to Harriot’s assertion, parents from diverse backgrounds are not choosing classical education for their children because it is a racist “dog whistle” or to avoid confronting the many ugly truths of American history. Parents of all backgrounds are choosing classical education for the same reasons that Du Bois, Cooper, Collins, and others like them turned to it in their efforts for freedom and equality: The content and methods of classical education prepare young people to become thoughtful, virtuous citizens and leaders.

Classical education includes a strong emphasis on phonics-centered literacy in the early grades as well as an emphasis on a content-rich curriculum — a component that becomes more pronounced as students proceed through the grades — that includes being immersed in the history of the world, great works of literature and poetry, the sciences, art and music, and mathematics. Both of these practices, from which classical education never departed, have gained renewed attention in mainstream education as well with the emergence of the science of reading and the demonstrated failure of trendy whole word and content-free approaches.

Classical education stresses proven methods such as teacher-led direct instruction and Socratic discussion. Teachers and students engage in thoughtful explorations of the content they are studying through reading together. They discuss important questions and ideas about the nature and meaning of human life and of truth, goodness, and beauty. Students are led to produce meaningful written assignments and oral presentations. Indeed, classical education purposefully avoids the ephemeral trends of the current moment. Instead, it highlights the works and ideas that have stood the test of time.

The result of classical education is young people who read, write, speak, and listen well. With such skills, they are ready to enter society as well-rounded individuals. Moreover, they’re capable of seeing beyond the hot-button issues of the moment because they’ve been educated in the things that are of lasting significance. This is a lesson that Michael Harriot, and all of us, would do well to learn.

David Withun, Ph.D., is a classical educator and the author of Co-workers in the Kingdom of Culture: Classics and Cosmopolitanism in the Thought of W. E. B. Du Bois (Oxford University Press, 2022).