Critical Race Theory – What is it?
This is the first in a series about critical race theory.
Here is the video version of this written report.
Here’s my second written report on CRT and here’s the video version.
Here’s my third written report on CRT and here’s the video version.
Biden wants your children to be indoctrinated with critical race theory in schools. Efforts to block this has been failing in a lot of red and blue states. Whether or not you have heard of critical race theory it may be that before long you'll wish you would stop hearing about it. But critical race theory is something you must know about and inform others about because it is an attack on the foundation of America, on liberty, on rights, and it's an attack on reason itself. I'm not exaggerating. They say themselves that they are against these things and I'll show you. Unlike a lot of others, I don't just say something and expect you to believe me. I show you. Unlike those who want you to accept critical race theory, I will give you a straight-forward and honest definition. But I will also give you their own definition to be fair. Without further adieu...
What is Critical Race Theory?
It's mask is anti-racism, it's method is racism, it's motive is communism1 and you'll be called racist if you question it.
CRT has been around since the 1970's2 and it's now enjoying sudden surge of success riding on the recent tidal wave of racial politics. It preys upon well-intended but naive anti-racist people and it appeals to people who are racist against whites and, you might find, against others including people of Japanese decent and Jewish people.
Some may call this “reverse racism”. The National Review calls it “neo-racism” though there's nothing new about it.
The term “reverse racism” suggests that racism is normally something white people hold against non-white people and that hence racism against white people is a reverse form of racism. That also describes the M.O. of critical race theory.
It's so-called “reverse racism” is used as a weapon against liberty, equality, capitalism, America's constitutional republic, and even against rationalism. Again, I am not exaggerating; they say so themselves. For example, CRT is against the presumption of innocence in U.S. Law. In other words, they want the government to be able to accuse and convict people – of a certain color - without a fair trial. Criminalize wrongthinkers! Considering people to be innocent unless proven guilty is a white culture thing, whites are racist, so presumption of innocence is bad! Meanwhile, they are kind of suggesting that only white people are fair and just! We'll have to reserve more about that for a future video.
Defining Critical Race Theory
In the glossary of terms in the book Critical Race Theory - An Introduction, authors Delgado and Stefancic define CRT as a...
“...progressive legal movement that seeks to transform the relationship among race, racism and power.”3
A bit vague. I think we'll need more.
In an anti-free-speech lesson by the University of Oregon, CRT is defined as such...
“Critical Race theory challenges the ability of conventional legal strategies to deliver social and economic justice. Some of its basic tenets include:
1) the belief that racism is a "fundamental part of American society, not an aberration that can be readily be remedied by law;"
2) a belief that "culture constructs its own social reality in its own self-interest” (minorities are not part of the legal systems self-interest);
3) an understanding that "white elites will tolerate or encourage racial progress for minorities only if doing so also promotes white self-interest;" and
4) that because it is "skeptical of dominant legal theories supporting hierarchy, neutrality, objectivity, color blindness, meritocracy, ahistoricism, and single axis analysis," it draws from several different theoretical foundations such as liberalism, feminism, law and society, Marxism, postmodernism, pragmatism, and cultural nationalism.”
Notice that they write that CRT is “skeptical” of neutrality and objectivity. They may as well be against sanity. Note that they are “skeptical” of meritocracy. Folks, a meritocracy is a system in which those who are qualified get the position, in which you earn what you get – kind of like capitalism – and they are upfront about being, well, they say “skeptical”.
Notice that is says that CRT draws from, among other things, Marxism. In other words; communism. Also, they list postmodernism which is kind of post-marxism, kind of like cultural Marxism. Cultural nationalism is kind of like racial segregation, by the way.
Notice that they are “skeptical” of colorblindness!
In Critical Race Theory - An Introduction, in the section Basic Tenants of Critical Race Theory they define CRT with 5 tenants. Notice that their first is the same as the first tenant we saw from the University of Oregon...
1. America is deeply racist.
2. America's fundamentally racist nature serves whites and that's why America remains so racist.
3. Race is a social construct. This can of worms must remain the subject of a future video, but this more-or-less means that there's no such thing as white people, black people and so on.
4. Differential racialization and its' results. This refers to the way that racial stereotypes and prejudices change over time to serve capitalism (also see page 172).
5. The voice-of-color thesis. This is the view that minorities are qualified to speak about race and racism because they know matters that whites are “unlikely to know”.4
Notice that they are necessarily implying that racism is a white American capitalist thing and that this is an essentially racist and anti-capitalist claim. This is a recurring theme in CRT; racism comes from capitalism/white people. Think about the absurdity of the claim that race isn't real but that the white race invented racism. Recognize the racism of the claim that whites invented racism. Yes, some people really are racist and stupid (or at least dishonest) enough to say that. Note that this is as stupid or dishonest as saying that there's no such thing as males or females and that males invented sexism or that there's no such thing as left handed or right handed people and that right handed people invented the idea of being left or right handed!
In the section headed, What Is Critical Race Theory?, they add that it...
"...is a collection of activists and scholars engaged in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power. The movement considers many of the same issues that conventional civil rights and ethnic studies discourses take up but places them in a broader perspective that includes economics, history, setting, group and self-interest, and emotions and the unconscious. Unlike traditional civil rights discourse, which stresses incrementalism and step-by-step progress, critical race theory questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law."5
By “liberal order” it seems they are not referring to what is called liberalism today, though they do oppose today's liberalism but not because they are on the right. It's because they are so far to the left. In that passage I quoted, they are referring to the liberalism of the founding fathers, what is today sometimes called classical liberalism or libertarianism. Some, such as the Encyclopedia Britannica refer to libertarianism as “neoclassical liberalism”, a term that stresses the disparity between what is called liberalism today and the liberalism stemming from the Enlightenment rationalism that, as we just saw, CRT opposes, the liberalism of the authors of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution wherein the individual has natural rights or, if you prefer, endowed with God-given rights, in which the individual has ultimate authority over their own life, not a king or a pope and in which the only excuse for a government to exist is to protect those rights which precede and take precedent over any government, which the individual has inherently whether or not any government exists.
The Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution describes these rights, defining what the U.S. Government can not violate lest it render itself illegitimate; rights which the individual has simply by virtue of being.
Of course those slave-owning founding fathers were unspeakably hypocritical. As Christopher Hitchens wrote in Thomas Jefferson – Author of America, though Jefferson denounced “the notion of some humans being born with saddles and other humans with spurs, one also knows that Jefferson himself need only have looked out of his own window to see hereditary servitude in active operation.”6
Apparently they thought that some men are not men – and what about women?!
Of course these issues would divide or even rip the nation in half.
At long last, at least, equality was coded into the law (see the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments, as well as the Indian Citizen Act). Liberty and equal treatment under the law are now absolutely essential and central to America.
These are the things CRT is against. They said so themselves. Again, to quote them…
“critical race theory questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law."7
In future videos I will explore other aspects of Critical Race Theory. For example, I will do more than briefly show you evidence that CRT is communist. I will go into greater depth about their anti-free-speech tactics, I will go into greater depth about how CRT opposes the presumption of innocence, a cornerstone of America – a system in which if the government can't prove that you are guilty then it needs to declare you to be not guilty and leave you the hell alone. CRT is against the presumption of innocence8 and says it is bad because it is (they say) a white thing and therefore racist.
All of this to denigrate liberty, equality, the Bill of Rights, capitalism and America itself to open the backdoor for racial supremacy and communism.
It may be that some of you will be forced to choose between being called racist (for questioning CRT) and being racist (accepting CRT). Ask yourself – which would I rather be; a non-racist who is called a racist or a racist who isn't called a racist? If you chose the latter, well, guess what? If you're white or Japanese, Jewish, etc. you're already racist in Critical Race Theory. If you're rational you're racist. If you believe in equality regardless of skin color you're racist in CRT! In other words, if you are against racial inequality under the law – IF YOU ARE AGAINST RACISM, CRT SAYS YOU'RE RACIST!
Thus, you have nothing to gain and everything to lose if you let that fox into the hen house, if you let that predator into your children's schools.
~ Justin Trouble, May 4th, 2021
∴ Liberty ∴ Strength ∴ Honor ∴ Justice ∴ Truth ∴ Love ∴
SOURCES
Cornell University Law School. “presumption of innocence”
Delgado, Richard & Jean Stefancic. “Critical Race Theory - An Introduction” (3rd Edition), New York University Press, 2017
Edwards, David. “'I'm not a racist, damnit!' White mother goes viral after emotional rant at Missouri school meeting"” Raw Story, May 2, 2021
Encyclopedia Britannica. “Liberalism”
Hitchens, Christopher. “Thomas Jefferson – Author of America” Grove Press, 2005
Kurtz, Stanley. “Ultra-Woke Illinois Mandates Are Top Threat to U.S. Education” National Review, January 19, 2021
Kurtz, Stanley. “Biden Set to Push Critical Race Theory on U.S. Schools” National Review, April 19, 2021
LawInfo. “Is the Presumption of Innocence in the Constitution?”
Legal Dictionary. “Presumption of Innocence”
Lim, Naomi. “Biden administration looks to push critical race theory via federal grant program” Washington Times, April 20, 2021
Llorico, Abby. “Rockwood forum turns heated during discussion of race and class curriculum” KSDK, April 30, 2021
McNeely, Travis. “Is Critical Race Theory Rooted in Marxism? A Response to Recent Claims to the Contrary” Travis McNeely Media, December 7, 2020
Peterson, Jordan B. “Political correctness: a force for good? A Munk Debate” Youtube. May 20, 2018
Simonson, Jospeh. “Some examples of critical race theory in schools” Washington Times, April 25, 2021
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Archive, Winter 2019 Edition. “Critical Theory”. March 8, 2005
University of Oregon, School of Journalism and Communication. “Critical Approaches to the First Amendment” March 8, 2005
Verney, James. “'Understand the threat': Efforts to ban critical race theory in schools meet rocky reception” Washington Times, May 2, 2021
Wing, Adrien Katherine. “A Critical Race Feminist Conceptualization of Violence: South African And Palestinian Women” Albany Law Review, Issue 60, pages 943-976, 1997
NOTES
Critical race theory is a branch of critical theory which is Marxist. Don’t believe me. Look it up. See, for example, what Stanford’s Encyclopedia has to say about it. This is not to say that CRT is not also Marxist. It is. But proponents of critical theory have long been more-or-less open about the fact that CT is Marxist while those who are pushing CRT have good reason to hide or lie about it’s communist core.
But it’s not so easily hidden. I hold in my hands the 3rd edition of Critical Race Theory – An Introduction in which Richard Delgado (considered a seminal figure in CRT) and Jean Stefancic argue against capitalism on page 20. Context matters, of course and perhaps one should at least start at the beginning of the chapter on page 19. Then on page 20 one will see that the authors argue that capitalism “ineluctably produces poverty and class segregation” and that “the free enterprise system, which is built on the idea of winners and losers, will continue to produce” poor/homeless people daily.
On page 21 of this pro-CRT book the authors write that among “critical race theory thinkers” there is an “idealist” school of thought and a “racial realist” school of thought and that the latter “point out that antiblack prejudice sprang up with slavery and capitalists' need for labor.”
According to Critical Approaches to the First Amendment from the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication, one of the four basic tenants of CRT is that it draws from Marxism among other things. Notice that on the same web page they offer three quotes that argue against free speech and the First Amendment. This is because it is from a CLS (Critical Legal Studies) lesson in arguing against free speech and the First Amendment.
Another pro-CRT source that says it “draws from” Marxism is A critical race feminist conceptualization of violence: South African and Palestinian women by A. K. Wing (Albany Law Review, issue 60, pages 943-976, 1997).
Many other such examples are cited in Is Critical Race Theory Rooted in Marxism? A Response to Recent Claims to the Contrary by Travis McNeely.
See page 4 of “Critical Race Theory - An Introduction” by Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic (3rd edition)
See page 171 of “Critical Race Theory - An Introduction” by Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic (3rd edition)
See pages 4-11 of “Critical Race Theory - An Introduction” by Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic (3rd edition)
See page 3 of “Critical Race Theory - An Introduction” by Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic (3rd edition)
See page 4 of “Thomas Jefferson – Author of America” by Christopher Hitchens
See page 3 of “Critical Race Theory - An Introduction” by Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic (1st edition) https://uniteyouthdublin.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/richard_delgado_jean_stefancic_critical_race_thbookfi-org-1.pdf
See page 91 of “Critical Race Theory - An Introduction” by Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic (3rd edition)
They do also reject 20th Century "liberalism", the liberalism of the civil rights movement, antidiscrimination law, "colorblindeness". That's all just more white people trying to cover up their racism.
It is resentment become toxic, and a demand for power, disguised as a discussion about justice.