I closed last time (#4) by saying that ‘systemic racism’ is a cornerstone of Critical Race Theory. It may have appeared that finding the left to be racist was a real blow. Not so. Pervasive, systemic racism means that the entire American system must be replaced. That’s the real blow. “The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.” That is fearsome! (Google it and weep).
Critical Race Theory has been a foggy rumor to nearly everyone I talk to. Discouraging. I still have much to learn, but here, in brief, are the main perspectives and tenets (not lingo) as I have learned them so far:
CRT is one of a variety of Critical Studies, which include Critical Law and Feminist theories. It assumes that all of life is about power. It uses language and coercion to both decry current power and to gain power. Justice is immensely important, but it flows up from society rather than down from God. White society is evil.
CRT is a postmodern narrative that is deeply felt and therefore completely true. Objective facts are not important, but subjective experiences of the most oppressed are genuine and are actually true.
CRT is an ideology with one preoccupation: oppression based on race. Marxism was oppression based on class. This variant can be called ‘cultural-Marxism,’ meaning Marxism based on race rather than class.
All progress on race, including the elimination of slavery and Jim Crow in America since 1776, is imaginary. America is a white country built by blacks. They were excluded and remain victims of white supremacy.
CRT says all white Americans are white supremacists. To be white is to be racist. In a very different context, it is a bit like saying that marriage is rape. Language is changed so that words have new/surprising meanings.
Whites do not need to be intentional to be guilty. White society, including each white person, is the oppressor.
Even if there were not one white racist, the system would still be white supremacist. All talk about opportunity, Civil Rights, rational thinking, and progress is a meaningless rationalization of white supremacy.
Intersectionality: A useful 1980s idea in sociology. Intersectionality ranks people by the amount of oppression they must suffer. A black straight woman suffers oppression but less than a black gay woman. There are at least a dozen binary choices that can be ranked. The preferred ones are: white, male, European, heterosexual, able-bodied, young, educated, upper class, English-speaking, gentle, and fertile.
You do not earn your identity; it comes to you at birth as it comes to an ant. Your status is your identity. You cannot earn it or change it. The less privileged (i.e., more oppressed) cannot be understood by those who are more privileged. Yet these more oppressed victims can fully understand those who are more privileged.
Each intersection understands itself but is surrounded by people who have different identities and agendas. These groups have nothing in common and cannot relate to each other. Each is segregated in his own silo.
There is no way for a privileged white to change or to be forgiven. The best you can hope for it to be an ally. The same is true for any other level of oppression. The result is highly isolated silos of indignant victims.
1619 Project: The NY Times offered a total upheaval of American History with its 1619 Project in August 2019. Forget 1776; the true founding of our hopelessly racist society was 1619: a perfect CRT narrative.
Author Nicole Hannah-Jones won a Pulitzer for the 1619 Project. It has become a common part of urban curricula.
Every step America has taken has been aimed at oppressing people of color. That includes the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, “(L)ies on the day they were written.” Even the Civil War and various Rights Acts freeing or favoring African Americans amount to nothing since white Americans are oppressors. (END)