Critical Race Theory

WHAT??? Critical Race Theory activists say that America is a white supremacist society! … White racism is inevitable! … If you deny you are a racist, then you are a racist! … America is racist! … Individualism is racist! … Meritocracy is racist!

We are hearing these slogans and others like them more and more from Critical Race Theory advocates and activists.

What is Critical Race Theory? Is it a benign passing fad, or is it something we should really be concerned about?

First, a definition of racism, so you know what I mean by the term.

Racism is judging people on their race, and more generally on things over which they have no control, such as race, gender, country of birth, etc. Racism is the crudest form of collectivism, which means assigning a person to a tribe, a race, a gender, a group, a country, etc., and making decisions based on that. [1]

What Is Critical Race Theory?

Critical Race Theory, or CRT, is somewhat like a slippery eel – it’s hard to get hold of it for a precise definition. It tends to be a hodgepodge of ideas, but there are some commonalities.

CRT views America as divided into two groups based on power: the oppressed are those on the lower rungs of power, and the oppressors are those on the higher rungs of power. The oppressed are racial minorities and the oppressors are white (generally male) majorities. You are either an oppressor or oppressed. [11]

Dividing and viewing society into two conflicting groups or classes is a version of collectivism. For example, with Marxism, the oppressed are the proletariat, or workers, and the oppressors are the bourgeoisie, or capitalists. [2]

CRT focuses on how power structures and institutions impact racial minorities. Advocates of these ideas view the world through the lens of power relationships and societal structures rather than viewing the world as collections of individuals. [3] CRT includes notions of racial essentialism, collective guilt, neo-segregation, and a hierarchy of power based on race. [4]

CRT condemns objectivity, individualism, and capitalism.

There are many buzz words, slogans, and phrases that are components of CRT. These include:

• white supremacy
• systemic racism
• implicit bias
• social justice
• diversity and inclusion
• “In order to truly be antiracist, you also have to truly be anti-capitalist.”
• equity (of outcomes)

You have to dig deep to understand what they are saying. To focus on just one, for example, take equity. Equity sounds non-threatening and is easily confused with the American principle of equality. But the distinction is vast and important. Indeed, critical race theorists explicitly reject “equality”—the principle proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, defended in the Civil War, and codified into law with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. To CRT activists, equality represents “mere nondiscrimination” and provides “camouflage” for white supremacy, patriarchy, and oppression. [5, 6]

They say the only and exclusive reason for racial inequality is “white supremacy.” Culture, economics, poverty, criminality, family structure – all are irrelevant, unless seen as mere emanations of white control. Even discussing these complicated factors is racist.[7]

What is happening now

Critical Race Theory training programs have become commonplace in academia, government, and corporate life, where they have sought to advance the ideology through cult-like indoctrination, intimidation, and harassment. [8]

What’s happening in the federal government [5, 6]

“What does critical race theory look like in practice? Last year, I [Christopher F. Rufo] authored a series of reports focused on critical race theory in the federal government.”

• The FBI was holding workshops on intersectionality theory.
• The Department of Homeland Security was telling white employees that they were committing “microinequities” and had been “socialized into oppressor roles.”
• The Treasury Department held a training session telling staff members that “virtually all white people contribute to racism” and that they must convert “everyone in the federal government” to the ideology of “antiracism.”
• The Sandia National Laboratories, which designs America’s nuclear arsenal, sent white male executives to a three-day reeducation camp, where they were told that “white male culture” was analogous to the “KKK,” “white supremacists,” and “mass killings.” The executives were then forced to renounce their “white male privilege” and to write letters of apology to fictitious women and people of color.

What’s happening in education [5, 6]

“This year, I [Christopher F. Rufo] produced another series of reports focused on critical race theory in education.”

• In Cupertino, California, an elementary school forced first-graders to deconstruct their racial and sexual identities and rank themselves according to` their “power and privilege.”
• In Springfield, Missouri, a middle school forced teachers to locate themselves on an “oppression matrix,” based on the idea that straight, white, English-speaking, Christian males are members of the oppressor class and must atone for their privilege and “covert white supremacy.”
• In Philadelphia, an elementary school forced fifth-graders to celebrate “Black communism” and simulate a Black Power rally to free 1960s radical Angela Davis from prison, where she had once been held on charges of murder.
• In Seattle, the school district told white teachers that they are guilty of “spirit murder” against black children and must “bankrupt [their] privilege in acknowledgement of [their] thieved inheritance.”

More in Education

A comrade-in-arms to Critical Race Theory is The 1619 Project, which tries to rewrite the history of America’s founding by claiming the country was started to preserve slavery. Advocates want that to be part of the educational curriculum in schools. See my post on The 1619 Project.

What’s happening in mathematics education [9] (in some detail)

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) recently encouraged teachers to register for training that encourages “ethnomathematics” and argues, among other things, that White supremacy manifests itself in the focus on finding the right answer. An ODE newsletter  … advertises a Feb. 21 “Pathway to Math Equity Micro-Course,” which is designed for middle school teachers to make use of a toolkit for “dismantling racism in mathematics.”

And what are some things the toolkit “A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction: Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction” has in it? Here are some snippets from the training material.

White supremacy culture is the idea (ideology) that White people and the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions of white people are superior to People of Color and their ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions.

According to the training manual, the characteristics of white supremacy are …

• Perfectionism
• Sense of Urgency
• Defensiveness
• Quantity Over Quality
• Worship of the Written Word
• Paternalism
• Either/Or Thinking
• Power Hoarding
• Fear of Open Conflict
• Individualism
• Only One Right Way
• Progress is Bigger, More
• Objectivity
• Right to Comfort

Evan though a given culture may not embrace all these characteristics, many of them are characteristics of many cultures around the world and are considered positive characteristics. Why call it a white supremacy culture?

Just focusing on the characteristic of Objectivity, (with a little sarcasm) the teachers of this program should be glad there is objectivity of engineers in designing the bridges the teachers drive over, and of doctors as they delicately use the knife during the surgery the teachers undergo. [“Objectivity – a commitment to thinking in accordance with the facts and interpreting them logically, a genuine commitment to the truth.” The Art of Reasoning: An Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking, 4^th edition by David Kelley.]

Here is another snippet among many.

• Upholding the idea that there are always right and wrong answers perpetuates objectivity …

Again, even though there may be more than one right answer, depending on the math problem, this statement is another attack on objectivity. Clearly, in life, there are many situations where there is a definite right and wrong answer, whether eating certain mushrooms could be fatal, or doing certain behaviors could be psychologically or physically devastating.

To condemn objectivity is anti-human life. As humans, we have to use our reasoning mind to identify logically the facts of reality in the search for truth in order to survive.

Nowhere are there any data or facts given to support that any of these characteristics lead to white supremacy. They are just unsubstantiated claims, including the following:

• White supremacy shows up in math classrooms when students are required to show their work.
• White supremacy shows up in math classrooms when independent practice is valued over teamwork or collaboration.

Further, the program states …

• While there is some value in students being able to complete work independently, when this is the only or most common avenue for learning or practicing, it reinforces individualism and the notion that I’m the only one. This does not give value to collectivism and community understanding, and fosters conditions for competition and individual success, which perpetuates the idea that if a student is failing it is because they are not trying hard enough or that they don’t care. [boldface added]

Not only is this statement a mixed bag, as it presents false alternatives (a logical fallacy) because there could be many reasons for a student failing, but is also derogatory toward individual success, a fundamental virtue and survival and happiness requirement of all humans, no matter what color they are or what country they are in. Again CRT is anti-human life.

Sadly, we’re teaching young people to hate the country they’re going to inherit.

From a popular book

If you are not upset by now, consider the following statements by Robin DeAngelo in her book, White Fragility, an apparent fellow traveler of Critical Race Theory. [10]

• Any white person who thinks he or she is not racist causes the most daily damage to people of color.
• [there are unnatural] social forces that prevent us from attaining the racial knowledge we need to engage more productively, and they function powerfully to hold the racial hierarchy in place. These forces include the ideologies of individualism and meritocracy, … [boldface added]
• Because of our society’s emphasis on individuality, many of us are unskilled at reflecting on our group membership. [boldface added]
• The system of racism begins with ideology … Examples of ideology in the United States include individualism, the superiority of capitalism as an economic system and democracy as a political system, consumerism as a desirable lifestyle, and meritocracy. [boldface added]
• I am still a member of a society in which racism is the bedrock.
• … white children born in the United States inherit the moral predicament of living in a white supremacist society.
• … white people’s moral objection to racism increases their resistance to acknowledging their complicity with it.
• All white people are invested in and collude with racism.
• … white racism is inevitable.
• … I will never be completely free of racism …

I will not go into detail discussing each point, as they are all examples of logical fallacies. I would ask of each one, “How do you know? Where are the data? What do you mean by your terms?”

Condemning meritocracy is clearly anti-American, since meritocracy is, by definition, a system where people are rewarded and/or advanced because of their demonstrated abilities and achievements. This is the American dream, where, if we put forth the determination, we have the freedom to go as far as our abilities and achievements take us. The Olympics are a clear example of such a system, which is very pro-human life.

You should be rewarded for your achievements. That’s the only way to happiness.

Conclusions about Critical Race Theory

Considering all the observations noted above, there are several conclusions to be made about Critical Race Theory.

• The major premise of CRT is that people are not individuals but members of a race who are trapped in a power hierarchy brought about by white supremacy and white privilege. Blacks are in the lower rungs and whites in the upper rungs. As CRT views people through the lens of race, this premise is another version of racism. In other words, CRT is racist in nature.
• CRT is against individualism, the ideological bedrock of America.
• CRT is against objectivity.
• CRT is against meritocracy.
• CRT views America as a white supremacist and racist society.
• CRT views people through the lens of race, a collectivist view, and not as individuals.
• CRT views people through the lens of power hierarchy, and not as individuals.
• CRT is a concerted effort to divide the country into two groups: whites, mainly white males, and blacks, and to foster disunity and conflict between them.
• CRT is for collectivism, which is the ideological bedrock of North Korea, recent Venezuela, Cuba, Communist Russia, and Nazi Germany. The type of collectivism they advocate is almost identical to that described by Karl Marx [2], substituting white and black for bourgeoisie and proletariat, respectively.

And finally,

• CRT holds that a white’s sin of racism is the fact that he is white and hence is not open to his choice.
• CRT holds the fact that a person is white is his sin.
• CRT wants to punish whites for slavery and racism that were committed before they were born.
• CRT wants to hold whites guilty of racism where it is not possible for them to be innocent.

From John Galt’s radio speech, [12]

“A sin without volition is a slap at morality and an insolent contradiction in terms: that which is outside the possibility of choice is outside the province of morality. …To hold, as man’s sin, a fact not open to his choice is a mockery of morality. To hold man’s nature as his sin is a mockery of nature. To punish him for a crime committed before he was born is a mockery of justice. To hold him guilty in a matter where no innocence exists is a mockery of reason. To destroy morality, nature, justice, and reason by means of a single concept [CRT] is a feat of evil hardly to be matched.”

In conclusion, Critical Race Theory is racist and Marxist at its root, anti-human life in its philosophy, and anti-American in its advocacy, and needs to be identified and condemned as such.

Can we stop it?

In my observations, most Americans are not racist. We live in an extraordinarily progressive culture on this issue. This contradicts CRT’s promiscuous accusations that everyone white is a racist. They are trying to inflict guilt and shame. [11]

Americans dislike injustice, and they are told that they are responsible for their ancestors’ actions. Many Americans accept this allegation, which fosters guilt, and this makes them vulnerable to being “re-educated” by anti-American Critical Race Theory ideas.

Various attempts to halt the encroachment of Critical Race Theory have been ineffective. One reason is that too many Americans have developed an acute fear of speaking up about social and political issues, especially those involving race. [5,11] Many that do are slammed on social media; others have lost their jobs for criticizing the training or for something they said decades ago.

Another reason is that if you disagree with their program, they take that as irrefutable evidence of a dissenter’s “white fragility,” “unconscious bias,” or “internalized white supremacy.” This is similar to the Salem witch trials, in which a woman’s denial of being a witch was taken as proof that she was a witch. Yes, there have been many racist things done in our past as the country, through government policies, strayed from individualism and toward collectivism, and we should acknowledge them. The solution is not to continue down the road to collectivism but to return to the spirit of individualism.

What to do

• Do NOT let CRT grow and spread its anti-America venom.
• Do NOT allow CRT to sow the seeds of any form of racism or collectivism, including its Marxist version.
• DO NOT fall for a guilt trip for something your ancestors did.
• DO treat people as individuals, and not as members of a race, class, tribe, or any other class.
• DO speak out against CRT and support individualism and America’s founding values.
• DO educate yourself on individualism, collectivism, and the context of the founding of America.
• DO educate yourself on CRT and draw your own conclusions.

Watch a short 3:43 speech by a parent at a school board meeting regarding Critical Race Theory.

Here are links to posts you might find helpful in your understanding and context of Critical Race Theory.

• Cause of Institutional Racism
• Context of America’s Founding
• Individualism and Collectivism
• How to Fight Racism

References

1. “Racism,” The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand
2. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marxism.asp
3. What is Critical Race Theory? by Sam Dorman, Fox News, May 14, 2021
4. Interview with Kmele Foster by Jennifer Grossman of The Atlas Society, June 30, 2021
5. The Courage of Our Convictions: How to Fight Critical Race Theory by Christopher F. Rufo, April 22, 2021
6. Critical Race Theory: What It Is and How to Fight It by Christopher F., Rufo, Imprimis, March 2021
7. https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/what-happened-to-you-e5f?fbclid=IwAR0VAuZfiqbZlHRFZRyz5eg66ONIq6UtkP3gnalqAvBAXiRTrFlrKAPqC0w What Happened To You?: The radicalization of the American elite against liberalism by Andrew Sullivan
8. https://www.foxnews.com/us/what-is-critical-race-theory
9. https://equitablemath.org/ A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction
10. White Fragility: Why It Is So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DeAngelo, Beacon Press 2018
11. Webinar on Critical Race Theory by Richard Salsman and Stephen Hicks, The Atlas Society, June 19, 2021
12. Galt’s radio speech in Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, Page 1025

Photo Credits

1. Critical Race Theory: John Davis
2. Eel: Unknown Author licensed under CC BY-NC-ND, and John Davis
3. Flag: Unknown Author licensed under CC BY, and John Davis

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As you are probably aware, many discussions on this topic are sometimes unfriendly and contain logical fallacies. If you decide to leave a comment, or even outside of this post, if you decide to have a discussion, public or private, you might find it helpful to follow the suggestions on my post How to have a successful discussion.