Weekly Thought Bomb #2
What is Critical Race Theory or CRT?
Two of the writers and recent founders of CRT have said the following: CRT is “…a collection of critical stances against the existing legal order from a race-based point of view”. (Roy L. Brooks, 1994). More recently many race activists and some scholars have advocated CRT studies as a discipline aiming to transform “…the relationship among race, racism, and power”. (Richard Delgado, 2017).
Depending on your political persuasions, you may agree or disagree with Mr. Delgado’s assertion that the state of race relations in America needs to be transformed. We also have plenty of room for disagreement as to the potential methods that might be employed to facilitate such a transformation.
If you get your news from FOX, you will perhaps say that “Nothing more needs to be done. Slavery, and the harmful effects of slavery, ended a long time ago.”
If you get your news from NPR, you will perhaps be more open to the idea that the ill effects of slavery and racism have not ended, and that inequality is codified into our society in the form of “systemic racism”.
You may remember that Donald Trump denounced CRT (September 17, 2020), and announced the formation of the 1776 Commission to promote “patriotic education”.
Let’s all agree that promoting patriotism in education is a good thing. Patriotism is the cornerstone of the American way of life. Let us not, however, denounce theoretical speculations and scholarly pursuits. The freedom to speculate freely and to engage in civil discourse is another of our highest and most sacred values. You can’t argue for the cessation of ideas. You can’t tell freedom loving Americans to stop thinking.
This week General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was ridiculed and called names by a Fox news bloviator. How did General Milley offend Tucker Carlson? He said that people should be widely read on all sides of an issue, and that we, as citizens of a free and democratic nation should understand both sides of racial issues. WinLoseorDraw salutes you, General Milley.
This year bills have been introduced in a number of Republican-controlled state legislatures to restrict teaching about racism in public schools. Teaching in public schools should remain, as it has always been, objective and open-minded. Until a real crisis in education actually arises, let’s tamp down the rhetoric. Nothing could be more wrong-headed than telling thoughtful and patriotic American teachers that they can’t teach facts.
I defer to Professor John McWhorter on this issue.
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/firing-line/video/william-mcraven-ctup47/
Thank you for the great link on this topic, Richard. Professor McWhorter is thoughtful and well spoken commentator on Race and Race issues. He decries extremists on both sides of the CRT issue. Excellent! Two thumbs up. The more thumbs up the better! Professor McWhorter wisely points out that some extremists on the left over-zealously do battle with the idea of unbalanced power relationships in society with the consequential need to blame and shame white people for mistakes of the past like slavery. Professor McWhorter also points out correctly that many over-zealous bloviators on the right give the impression that they are willfully denying the relevant facts of history, which makes them appear to be Racists.
Professor McWhorter characterizes himself as a liberal, but says that many people mistake him for a conservative because of his opinions on these issues. He says the left leaning zealots are just as racist as the Klu Klux Klan.
Professor McWhorter has a new book coming out,
Woke Racism
that will be worth reading.
One thing though. One of the main ideas seems to be that schools are being taken over by left leaning zealots and that our schools are becoming “Racial Bootcamps”. As an educator for more than 33 years, WinLoseorDraw does not find that to be true.