This article situates Percival Everett’s James, a creative rewriting of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, within the contemporary controversy over Critical Race Theory, reading it as a counter-narrative that dismantles the myths of American innocence. Against the backdrop of fierce political debates about race, history, and education, Everett examines both the racial foundations of American identity and the significance of historical remembrance. Focusing on Jim’s arduous journey to create and express his selfhood through writing, Everett examines the historical injustice that the anti-CRT movement ignores while reclaiming authorship and subjectivity for the enslaved. By performing a meta-textual conversation with the American canon, James exposes the contradictions of the nation’s foundational ideas and its system and asserts the necessity of confronting the nation’s racial past through writing and listening to others’ stories. Ultimately, Everett’s novel demonstrates the urgent need for critical dialogue amid the ongoing backlash against racial education.