What Is CRT?

[Ana the Ist]

I've known for awhile now what Critical Race Theory is...and now that it's being implemented in the public school system and many parents are fighting back against it...it has come into the forefront of political discussion.

That's pretty amazing since so few people on either side of the political aisle seem to be able to define it. I've seen people on the left describe it as a "analytical lens" that examines "racism inherent in the structure or fabric of society or institutions or systems". I've seen people on the political right describe it as a "racist doctrine or ideology" that is "divisive or/and Marxist" and the central cause of the "culture war".

It's such a big deal these days that states have banned teaching it. As I said, few seem able to define it. The irony of the two descriptions I've stated above is that they are not mutually exclusive.

This is the best summary of CRT I've found. It's an explanation of the core concepts of CRT and it includes citations from the books of CRT proponents. It's a bit long (21.5 minutes), but keep in mind that it is an explanation of the concept....it's not a critique....nor is it an endorsement. If you want to post on this thread, I suggest you watch it.

For those of you who watched the explanation....

1. Do you agree or disagree with the summary explanation? Why or why not?

2. If you disagree....what did the explanation get wrong? Is there something you would add or remove or change from the explanation?.

3. If you agree...do you think it has value in its explanation of racism in the US? Do you think that it should be taught to students outside of the university setting (k-12)?

4. Since the video admits that CRT has no clear end goal....what do you think that end goal is?

 

[HTacianas]

I've known for awhile now what Critical Race Theory is...and now that it's being implemented in the public school system and many parents are fighting back against it...it has come into the forefront of political discussion.

That's pretty amazing since so few people on either side of the political aisle seem to be able to define it. I've seen people on the left describe it as a "analytical lens" that examines "racism inherent in the structure or fabric of society or institutions or systems". I've seen people on the political right describe it as a "racist doctrine or ideology" that is "divisive or/and Marxist" and the central cause of the "culture war".

It's such a big deal these days that states have banned teaching it. As I said, few seem able to define it. The irony of the two descriptions I've stated above is that they are not mutually exclusive.

This is the best summary of CRT I've found. It's an explanation of the core concepts of CRT and it includes citations from the books of CRT proponents. It's a bit long (21.5 minutes), but keep in mind that it is an explanation of the concept....it's not a critique....nor is it an endorsement. If you want to post on this thread, I suggest you watch it.

For those of you watched the explanation....

1. Do you agree or disagree with the summary explanation? Why or why not?

2. If you disagree....what did the explanation get wrong? Is there something you would add or remove or change from the explanation?.

3. If you agree...do you think it has value in its explanation of racism in the US? Do you think that it should be taught to students outside of the university setting (k-12)?

4. Since the video admits that CRT has no clear end goal....what do you think that end goal is?

It is not something we need in public schools. If someone wants to teach their children Critical Race Theory they can teach it to them at home.

 

[RDKirk]

Color blindness would be cool, except that nobody is. The best we might do is to disassociate skin color from cultural factors...that is, much more sophisticated profiling.

Assimilation of blacks into white culture and the disappearance of blacks in America would be the ultimate end of the dream of Martin Luther King that white people now love to quote. If that had been or could be achieved, white America would just be a little more beige, but black people would be gone.

And that is, frankly, not a negative solution to the current problem...if it were possible. But CRT rejects that solution, calling it "cultural genocide" and prefer separatism. This is not, however, the same thing preached by Malcolm X.

Malcolm X recognized something critical: Cultural genocide had already been committed against the Africans who were brought to America. The culture of black Americans is actually what I call "chit'lin' culture"--the entrails of white culture, the bits of white culture that blacks were permitted to practice, without being able to enjoy the "good parts" of white culture.

To that degree, Malcolm X rejected so-called black (or, now, African-American) culture (what is really chit'lin' culture) and called for a radical creation of a benign culture for black people. His solution was the Islam-ish Nation of Islam. Only in that way would a degree of separation be helpful for black people, as it has been for other cultures arriving on US shores.

The important common point of both MLK's dream and Malcom X's dream: The current "chit'lin' culture" of black America was and is degrading and unsustainable. This has only become more clear in the years since both of those men were assassinated.

CRT advocates, to completely understand the situation, must be just as critically deconstructive of "chit'lin' culture" as it is of every other aspect of American culture. What do black Americans think of as "feminine" or "masculine" or "achievement" or "honor" or "justice?" To what degree are those concepts in "chit'lin' culture" derivative of white culture, and to what degree do they vary from white culture because black people were never permitted to share the same levels of those values with whites?

For instance, if the criteria of "manhood" is to be "provider and protector," to what degree were black men prevented from being the equal of white men as providers and protectors in American society, and how did that misshape and distort the black American male's view of what his role should and can be within "chit'lin' culture?" If "chit'lin' culture" is found to be detrimental to black people, then it should be rejected.

CRT advocates would do well to reach their goals to at least some degree within black neighborhoods--do away with the chit'lin' culture--using black neighborhoods as Petri dishes.

 

[Tree of Life]

My lecture on CRT can be found here -

 

[RDKirk]

My lecture on CRT can be found here -

Can you give us the Cliff's Notes?

 

[Tree of Life]

Can you give us the Cliff's Notes?

I can post some Cliff’s Notes here tomorrow. I think the talk is worth the hour it takes to listen to it, but I’m biased.

 

[Fantine]

AG Barr declared war on white supremacists and domestic terrorists today, declaring they are our worst problem.

White Supremacists were not exposed to critical race theory as children. Let's not promote ignorance and foster bigotry anymore.

 

[mama2one]

nm

 

[Aldebaran]

AG Barr declared war on white supremacists and domestic terrorists today, declaring they are our worst problem.

Oh good! A war on white Americans who didn't vote the correct way (white supremacists), and those who attack police and light buildings on fire (domestic terrorists).

White Supremacists were not exposed to critical race theory as children. Let's not promote ignorance and foster bigotry anymore.

Getting CRT out of the schools would be step one toward accomplishing that.

 

[Fantine]

You describe white supremacists as "people who didn't vote the correct way?"

Without accurate definitions, respectful discussion is impossible.

 

[mama2one]

.

 

[RDKirk]

I can post some Cliff’s Notes here tomorrow. I think the talk is worth the hour it takes to listen to it, but I’m biased.

Well, let's pretend we've already watched the video that AnaThe1st provided. How does your talk add to that, or where does it differ?

Oh good! A war on white Americans who didn't vote the correct way (white supremacists), and those who attack police and light buildings on fire (domestic terrorists).



Getting CRT out of the schools would be step one toward accomplishing that.

I have been asking for--and have not been shown--evidence that CRT is in schools at the K-12 level.

Show me a worksheet, a textbook page, a syllabus. Kids have been taking classes at home for a year--show me a screen capture.

 

[Aldebaran]

You describe white supremacists as "people who didn't vote the correct way?"

Without accurate definitions, respectful discussion is impossible.

I guess I was confusing white supremacists with people who get labeled as racists (which is so easy).

But aren't people who voted for Trump considered to be whatever those on the Left think of Trump (which is never anything good). Words such as racist and white supremacist seem to get mentioned whenever Trump or his supporters are mentioned.

 

[mama2one]

.

 

[Aldebaran]

Well, let's pretend we've already watched the video that AnaThe1st provided. How does your talk add to that, or where does it differ?


I have been asking for--and have not been shown--evidence that CRT is in schools at the K-12 level.

Show me a worksheet, a textbook page, a syllabus. Kids have been taking classes at home for a year--show me a screen capture.

"We need to examine the role that whiteness plays in our macro-system of white supremacy," Hopkins Superintendent Rhoda MhiripiriReed proclaimed to incoming teachers and staff. "Let your revolution come through your instruction and your education," said Mauri Friestleben, Principal of North Minneapolis High School. "I will interrogate my whiteness and my antiblackness...I will reflect on my own fragility and defensiveness. And I will create a culture where talking about race and confronting systems of whiteness is the norm,” Intermediate District 287 Superintendent Sandra Lewandowski recently told her staff. Eagan High School -“As a predominantly white school, with a predominantly white faculty and staff, in a system created to support whiteness, we need to address the needs and concerns and respond to our students of color and their families,” states a webpage on “anti-racism”. “It means that we must be prepared to admit that Eagan High School creates, institutionalizes, and perpetuates racial inequities, whether they are academic, social, cultural, co-curricular, or otherwise. It means that we must acknowledge that students of color have been and continue to be marginalized in our classrooms and hallways, our stairwells, our gyms, our athletic fields, our administrative offices, and our grounds,” states the website .Eagan High School.”recently sent an email drafted by the “Principals’ Team and Antiracism Reform Committee faculty,” to parents, stating it has adopted “nine anti-racism goals” in order to address an education system “created to support whiteness”. Eagan held weekly “faculty and staff discussions around reading ‘White Fragility’ and a variety of other articles, podcasts, and videos. The email also stated the school has made modifications to its in-school suspension policy so that it is “more restorative for students,” they intend to hold “monthly community antiracism listening session,”- Alpha News MN- Sept. 10, 2020
https://cplaction.com/wp-content/uploads/CRT-Handout.pdf

 

[Ana the Ist]

It is not something we need in public schools. If someone wants to teach their children Critical Race Theory they can teach it to them at home.

Do you think the description is accurate?.... you know...at least to the degree which a short summary of such a broad worldview can be valid...

 

[RDKirk]

"We need to examine the role that whiteness plays in our macro-system of white supremacy," Hopkins Superintendent Rhoda MhiripiriReed proclaimed to incoming teachers and staff. "Let your revolution come through your instruction and your education," said Mauri Friestleben, Principal of North Minneapolis High School. "I will interrogate my whiteness and my antiblackness...I will reflect on my own fragility and defensiveness. And I will create a culture where talking about race and confronting systems of whiteness is the norm,” Intermediate District 287 Superintendent Sandra Lewandowski recently told her staff. Eagan High School -“As a predominantly white school, with a predominantly white faculty and staff, in a system created to support whiteness, we need to address the needs and concerns and respond to our students of color and their families,” states a webpage on “anti-racism”. “It means that we must be prepared to admit that Eagan High School creates, institutionalizes, and perpetuates racial inequities, whether they are academic, social, cultural, co-curricular, or otherwise. It means that we must acknowledge that students of color have been and continue to be marginalized in our classrooms and hallways, our stairwells, our gyms, our athletic fields, our administrative offices, and our grounds,” states the website .Eagan High School.”recently sent an email drafted by the “Principals’ Team and Antiracism Reform Committee faculty,” to parents, stating it has adopted “nine anti-racism goals” in order to address an education system “created to support whiteness”. Eagan held weekly “faculty and staff discussions around reading ‘White Fragility’ and a variety of other articles, podcasts, and videos. The email also stated the school has made modifications to its in-school suspension policy so that it is “more restorative for students,” they intend to hold “monthly community antiracism listening session,”- Alpha News MN- Sept. 10, 2020
https://cplaction.com/wp-content/uploads/CRT-Handout.pdf

Show me a worksheet, a textbook page, a syllabus. Kids have been taking classes at home for a year--show me a screen capture.

 

[RDKirk]

there are no worksheets, textbooks, papers anymore!
they get chromebooks in grade 3

child did online school this past year
she was disciplined & grades were good but don't know what she learned other than what she shared
i.e. learned about Christianity/other religions & about China in social studies

IMO, you should be paying closer attention. And remember what one pastor has said:

"If your children attend Caesar's schools, don't be surprised if they turn out to be Roman."

 

[mama2one]

.

 

[Aldebaran]

Show me a worksheet, a textbook page, a syllabus. Kids have been taking classes at home for a year--show me a screen capture.

Did you even read what I posted? Did you read what was being said by High School principals about what they're trying to do? You asked for K-12 level, and that includes High School.

But maybe this is more of what you want: (see next post)