Explaining Critical Race Theory In 2 Sentences

SongOnTheWind said:

Thanks for clarifying

No, I wasn't suggesting that. In fact, I was pointing out the exact opposite thing. You can't stop people from thinking what they want to think. It's so much more than possible and probable that people keep their bad thoughts (racist or otherwise) a secret. You cannot always tell if someone is racist or not from what they are showing on the outside.

Jesus said that even if you think of lustful thoughts, you have already committed adultery. In no way was He advocating for a thought police force. We are supposed to be policing ourselves. So what about racist thoughts, what does that make us then?

The bible also says that we cannot truthfully say we love God but then hate our brother. Would you say racism is hate? We are playing semantics, but God is the one looking right at our hearts. When we deny the truth we behave just like the world. How hypocritical of us. What kind of testimony are we giving by hiding behind excuses?

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I am no longer a Christian, but your post exemplifies what I see as the inherent good of Christian principles. Thank you for posting it.

sandman said:

Those who are calling it out are the ones who are guilty of it.

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Is it the same with assault? "If you call it out, you are guilty of it." See how much sense that makes?

Strathos said:

It seems to me more like the right-wing outrage machine dug up this obscure term and are using it as the new boogeyman for everyone to be afraid of, when not only can they not define it properly, but most liberals can't define it properly either. It's a relatively esoteric term in higher academia that is simply being used as a scare word to rile up low information voters, as it's not nearly as widespread and influential as they say.

In fact, the Streisand effect might apply here, as more people are actually learning what it really is (i.e. not what the OP wrote) simply because the right-wing media is making a big deal out of it.

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The Right needs an enemy in the Culture War that they can defeat -- as usual, no such enemy exists, so they had to make one.

TLK Valentine said:

The Right needs an enemy in the Culture War that they can defeat -- as usual, no such enemy exists, so they had to make one.

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Ah yes, large corporations shutting down conservative people is simply a figment of one's imagination is it?

If a person or entity works actively to silence you, could that be considered an "enemy?"

98cwitr said:

Ah yes, large corporations shutting down conservative people is simply a figment of one's imagination is it?

If a person or entity works actively to silence you, could that be considered an "enemy?"

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So are we going with CRT as the bogeyman? Or was it wokeness that was the issue? Perhaps the real culprit is cancel culture? Oh wait, wait, it's transgender people! The right-wing media has been beating the drum of faux conservative oppression since Biden was inaugurated. It's been a steady stream of whining to drum up identity politics based on white grievance. Notice how quickly they moved away from the "border crisis." Again, it's all about the bogeyman of scaring white people from the non-white horde coming for them. Transgender people are the only part of this fear machine that isn't about non-white people hurting you.

98cwitr said:

Ah yes, large corporations shutting down conservative people is simply a figment of one's imagination is it?

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Yes, it is. You enter another person's house, you follow their rules... or they kick you out.

The sooner you realize what you are (and far more importantly, are not) entitled to, the fewer problems you'll have.

If a person or entity works actively to silence you, could that be considered an "enemy?"

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Critical Race Theory is actively working to silence you? That's why you want to silence teachers?

SummerMadness said:

So are we going with CRT as the bogeyman? Or was it wokeness that was the issue? Perhaps the real culprit is cancel culture? Oh wait, wait, it's transgender people! The right-wing media has been beating the drum of faux conservative oppression since Biden was inaugurated. It's been a steady stream of whining to drum up identity politics based on white grievance. Notice how quickly they moved away from the "border crisis." Again, it's all about the bogeyman of scaring white people from the non-white horde coming for them. Transgender people are the only part of this fear machine that isn't about non-white people hurting you.

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Oh boy...this is a stuffed suitcase that needs unpacking.

CRT is a specific product of "woke" culture. "Woke" culture has the ulterior motive of division among Americans along racial, sexual and gender lines (really any "divisive" lines that are considered "immutable"...this is why the religious attacks don't stick). Cancel culture has been an issue for a while, far beyond Biden's election, but both sides are playing the game so conservatives can't honestly argue against it without being hypocritical.

The irony when "white rage" or "white grievance" is broached is that black and brown conservatives are tossed into that bucket, and the left not only tosses all kinds of racial slurs at them, but calls them a product of "whiteness." They won't let the narrative go past race, so we're simply going to have to push past it. This isn't about race, but politics, culture, and morality. It's about American principles versus the left's grand dream of a socialist future. It's about conserving the Constitution versus it's demise.

No one has moved away from the border crisis except the media. The border is far worse under Biden, kids still being separated (notice how the left no longer cares about this when it was all they could take about for a while). Conservatives have been very critical of Harris' absence from the border and her dodging of questions regarding it. Conservatives don't care about the color of people coming across the border (or even in general), but about entering the country legally, and assimilating to the point of upholding American founding principles (or not).

Each of these topics deserve their own thread I think.

ThatRobGuy said:

I think the lack of centralized definition of "what it means" along side of vastly different implementations is leading to a lot of ambiguity.

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Which makes it the perfect bogeyman.

"How should the Department of Defense think about Critical Race Theory?"

[question posed by Matt Gaetz to the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in congressional hearings - 23 June]

"We do not teach critical race theory. We don't embrace critical race theory, and I think that's a spurious conversation," he said. "We are focused on extremist behaviors and not ideology — not people's thoughts, not people's political orientation. Behaviors is what we're focused on."

....and later in the hearing, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley was given the opportunity to comment:

"I want to understand white rage, and I'm white, and I want to understand it," he said. "So what is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America? What caused that? I want to find that out."

"I've read Mao Zedong. I've read Karl Marx. I've read Lenin. That doesn't make me a communist. So what is wrong with understanding — having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend?" Milley said.

He continued brusquely: "And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned, noncommissioned officers of being, quote, 'woke' or something else, because we're studying some theories that are out there."

Top General Defends Studying Critical Race Theory In The Military

Full remarks here (c-span)

sandman said:

Like I stated in my post science man → “Those who are calling it out are the ones who are guilty of it”.

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But also, "It's the hit dog that hollers."

MrMoe said:

I agree with you on this part. It seems like both sides are talking past each other. But there is definitely something going on in academia and I think right wingers are very justified in being concerned.

For example, a psychiatrist that recently gave a speech at Yale's Child Study Centre described how she fantasied about unloading a revolver into the head of white people.
'The Psychopathic Problem of the White Mind'

A professor though about kicking a homeless white boy in the face and said seeing homeless white felt like justice.
NY professor admits seeing white homeless people 'feels like justice’, sparks outrage

And these are just ones we know about.

This student recently described what is going on in his school.

There is a segment of academia that has become very hostile to people of certain race, some have even gotten comfortable enough to be openly racist, saying things that if they had been said about any other race, I have no doubt they would have lost their job. This is a problem and should be addressed before it gets worse.

It may not be Critical Race Theory but it's definitely something.

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that's a problem of turning "studies" into major departments.

wing2000 said:

"How should the Department of Defense think about Critical Race Theory?"

[question posed by Matt Gaetz to the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in congressional hearings - 23 June]

"We do not teach critical race theory. We don't embrace critical race theory, and I think that's a spurious conversation," he said. "We are focused on extremist behaviors and not ideology — not people's thoughts, not people's political orientation. Behaviors is what we're focused on."

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The US Military is not the Thought Police -- film at 11.

....and later in the hearing, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley was given the opportunity to comment:

"I want to understand white rage, and I'm white, and I want to understand it," he said. "So what is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America? What caused that? I want to find that out."

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Alas, the GOP has no interest in exploring that particular "behavior."

"I've read Mao Zedong. I've read Karl Marx. I've read Lenin. That doesn't make me a communist. So what is wrong with understanding — having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend?" Milley said.

He continued brusquely: "And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned, noncommissioned officers of being, quote, 'woke' or something else, because we're studying some theories that are out there."

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It is often characteristic of the ignorant to be bitter and envious of the educated. Nothing new under the Sun.

sandman said:

Like I stated in my post science man → “Those who are calling it out are the ones who are guilty of it”.

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Everyone is racist spanky. We evolved to be that way. It's what you do about it that matters. Then there are those who actively try to stay racist. They don't want it pointed out that their education was racist. Or that the system they live in is racist. That's you.

Phred said:

Everyone is racist spanky.

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Not evolved, learned. But the lessons start very early.

Kentonio said:

You know that gravity is a theory right? Do you think that is a lie too?

By the way, a scientific theory is not just a conjecture.

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I'm pretty sure these people that tout Evolution is just a theory have already been told that Scientific Theories are very much well supported by a plethora of evidence and fact.

But they continue touting "it is just a theory". It seems their shtick is anti-intellectualism.

stevil said:

But they continue touting "it is just a theory". It seems their shtick is anti-intellectualism.

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Indeed. Children have a mechanism for dealing with something they've been told that they find uncomfortable. They stick there fingers in their ears and go "Na,na, na, na-na." Some of them never grow out of it.

Phred said:

Everyone is racist spanky. We evolved to be that way. It's what you do about it that matters. Then there are those who actively try to stay racist. They don't want it pointed out that their education was racist. Or that the system they live in is racist. That's you.

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Everyone is racist spanky. We evolved to be that way. ….Seriously? …Tell it to the tourists ….maybe they will listen.

“Those who are calling it out are the ones who are guilty of it” ⬅ You keep dragging this statement around like it was a ball and chain ….You do realize the very thing you are stating ….you are promoting ……racism.

If you want to promote something that embodies everyone …promote this:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Because right now Martin Luther King’s statement is being dismantled by CRT. Because the purpose of this whole CRT movement is to divide the country …which is being promoted by government.

sandman said:

Everyone is racist spanky. We evolved to be that way. ….Seriously? …Tell it to the tourists ….maybe they will listen.

“Those who are calling it out are the ones who are guilty of it” ⬅ You keep dragging this statement around like it was a ball and chain ….You do realize the very thing you are stating ….you are promoting ……racism.

If you want to promote something that embodies everyone …promote this:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Because right now Martin Luther King’s statement is being dismantled by CRT. Because the purpose of this whole CRT movement is to divide the country …which is being promoted by government.

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Doctor King’s message was that white people needed to know what sorts of injustices were being meted out daily because of unjust Jim Crow laws (d. 1964).
Though the passage of the CRA (b. 1964) did a sea change in the laws of the land, attitudes lagged.

CRT’s origins came out of critical law theory, and looks at the effect of Laws & Regulations as they affect the lives of POC.

Pommer said:

Doctor King’s message was that white people needed to know what sorts of injustices were being meted out daily because of unjust Jim Crow laws (d. 1964).

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And the message we're getting today seems to be that whatever you need to know about such matters you can read off a statue of Robert E. Lee.

....no surprise I guess....but the FOX News talking heads are driving the GOP talking points:

The term “critical race theory” was mentioned just 132 times on Fox News shows in 2020. In 2021, it has been mentioned 1,860 times, according to a tally using the media monitoring service Critical Mention.

After being mentioned just 51 times in February, it was mentioned 139 times in March and 314 times in April. It really blew up in May, when it was mentioned 589 times on the network’s shows.

In June, the topic has been mentioned 737 times on Fox. On Tuesday, it was mentioned 48 times on shows across the network’s lineup.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2021/06/24/critical-race-theory-fox-news/