CRT and the permanence of racism

Recently, the American right has added critical race theory to their lexicon of political invective. That lexicon has long included “socialist” and “communist,” and is used in ways unmoored from the actual meanings—as synonyms for “stuff I don’t like.” In the case of critical race theory, the right wing has morphed a school of American historical analysis into a political trope in order to sow division.

This New Yorker article unpacks the actual origins of CRT. The criticism is not just of American racism but of the well-intentioned but failed effort to address racial inequities in the absence of a fully realized theory of cultural racism that is our nation’s original sin.

“Another irony is that C.R.T. has become a fixation of conservatives despite the fact that some of its sharpest critiques were directed at the ultimate failings of liberalism, beginning with Bell’s own early involvement with one of its most heralded achievements.”

*snip*

“He wrote that the mission of groups engaged in civil-rights litigation, such as the N.A.A.C.P., represented an inherent conflict of interest. The two masters of the title were the groups’ interests and those of their clients; what the groups wanted to achieve may not have aligned with what their clients wanted—or even needed.”

CRT is ultimately an optimistic take on American history; once we understand the mechanism of racism, we can redeem the notion of a United States of America. Sadly, the current GOP is only interested in perverting this vision to poison the national discourse.

““When people fear critical race theory, it stems from this idea that their children will be indoctrinated somehow. But Bell’s class was the least indoctrinated class I took in law school,” she said. “We got the most freedom in that class to reach our own conclusions without judgment, as long as they were good-faith arguments and well argued and reasonable.”

"Republican lawmakers, however, have been swift to take advantage of the controversy. In June, Governor Greg Abbott, of Texas, signed a bill that restricts teaching about race in the state’s public schools. Oklahoma, Tennessee, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Arizona have introduced similar legislation. But in all the outrage and reaction is an unwitting validation of the very arguments that Bell made."

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/09/20/the-man-behind-critical-race-theory/amp?fbclid=IwAR3zD9tAogbolCFtZFle27pyzRznBVdyP5PjB6SNijjPnDGZyadEWtfv6Vo