Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, professor of history, was cited in the CNN article, "Opinion: SEL doesn't have to be a classroom culture war." 

Social Emotional Learning (SEL), according to the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, emphasizes "managing emotions," cultivating empathy and "making responsible and caring decisions." The idea of engaging kids on values and emotions is not new, or newly controversial. As long as these types of programs have existed, the right has consistently attacked them, especially when they openly acknowledge the aim of addressing the needs of minority children ill served by public schools and society. 

"Emotional catharsis," in curriculum and the broader culture, Lasch-Quinn reflects in her book, "Race Experts: How Sensitivity Training, Interracial Etiquette, and New Age Therapy Hijacked the Civil Rights Revolution" (W.W. Norton, 2002), had become intertwined with racial reconciliation. This was an optimal environment for "social and emotional learning."