Why Critical Race Theory Matters

I was astounded the other day to see that in some states, of which Florida is the preeminent example, there is an attempt to totally whitewash history--pun intended--and eliminate discussion of race.

The specific example which appalled me was a comment from someone in the DeSantis administration in Florida who suggested Florida school children be taught about the Montgomery bus boycott without any mention of race. That is impossible to do! The entire reason for the boycott had to do with race! I thought--what on earth are they thinking?

In the first place, Critical Race Theory (CRT), which conservatives are legislating not be taught in K-12 schools, is already NOT TAUGHT in K-12 schools.  It is taught in law schools, and in some theological schools.  I remember the first time I learned about it was as a seminarian studying Christian Social Ethics under Dr. Wilmer Cooper at the Earlham School of Religion in 1983. 

In general, my impression is that those who think CRT is being taught to schoolchildren do not really even understand what CRT is.  They complain that they don't want white children to feel a lot of guilt.  I happen to think that is short-sighted.  I think white guilt is an essential component to correcting the injustice which is a direct result of the white supremacy which is this country's rai·son d'ê·tre.

Critical Race Theory is a theory of how racial differences have consciously and even subconsciously effected law and society.  The idea is that racism is so "baked into the cake" that it is there even when people do not have a conscious awareness of being racist personally.  It deals with things like disparities in education, healthcare, employment, wealth, and housing policies.  It is about things like redlining, and what happened in Tulsa 100 years ago.  It is about things like the Montgomery bus boycott--and the policies of the bus company which caused it.

Because CRT looks at systemic racism, white folks should welcome it.  Rather than deny that systemic racism exists--which I think basically everyone knows is not true anyway--a realization that the problem is systemic and not personal should motivate people to do two things:

1. Realize that they do not have to feel bad, because they are living as beneficiaries of a racist system they did not create, and
2. Work to dismantle the racist system of which they are beneficiaries, even though they did not create it.

This is why the recent Supreme Court decision on affirmative action is so disturbing.  Affirmative Action strikes a blow at the real problem, which is systemic in nature and not personal.

I get really upset when people try to say we need to turn to Jesus (which we do) and have Jesus change our hearts (which we need) with the view that the problem is what is in the human heart. That view is naïve, and inaccurate.  Racism in the heart is not the problem.  Not even close.

When it comes to bigotry, systemic bigotry is always the real battlefield. The guy down the street from you with a beer belly, wearing sleeveless white T-shirts and using offensive slurs for some groups of people is not the real problem here.  He is a problem, I am not saying he is not.  But he is not, nor are all the people like him, the root cause of inequality and injustice.  

The policies which make it more difficult for people of color, or the LGBTQ community, or any other class of minority or disadvantaged persons have a more difficult time in education, economic well-being, and so on, are FAR GREATER A PROBLEM than the Archie Bunker type of guy who lives near you, or is your uncle or something like that.   It is far easier to take that guy as some crazy old coot and write him off, than it is to "make something of yourself" while you are not afforded the same economic or educational opportunities as some other groups.  It is the POLICIES, the systemic racism, doing harm.  The heart stuff is far less problematic because, like I said, some crazy bigot is not the cause of the major harm.

If people understood CRT, they would welcome it, I think.  I think people should welcome it no matter who they are because it properly places the focus on where the real harm is occurring.  This is not about emotions, it is about justice.  CRT should be something white people welcome because, if they understood it, they would know the problem here is not a heart thing, it is a legal thing. And laws should be easier to change than people's hearts.

The people who say the problem is in the human heart are right about one thing...there is a HUGE problem in their hearts.  They LIKE systemic racism and the privileges appertaining thereto.  I know this because many of the same people espouse REPLACEMENT THEORY.  For them, the goal of some insidious groups which, racists they are, the identify explicitly (one of the most often cited is "the Jews") are trying to bring in so many non-white minorities as to make this country a majority minority country in which the political power of white persons is severely eroded. I do not think this is anything more than a conspiracy theory.  But the people who oppose CRT are all for it.  One can oppose CRT and be totally down with REPLACEMENT THEORY, and evidently the irony of the hypocrisy of this is lost on them.