DEFINITION
Critical race theory is an academic discipline that holds that the United States is a nation founded on white supremacy and oppression, and that these forces are still at the root of our society. Critical race theorists believe that American institutions, such as the Constitution and legal system, preach freedom and equality, but are mere “camouflages” for naked racial domination. They believe that racism is a constant, universal condition: it simply becomes more subtle, sophisticated, and insidious over the course of history. In simple terms, critical race theory reformulates the old Marxist dichotomy of oppressor and oppressed, replacing the class categories of bourgeoisie and proletariat with the identity categories of White and Black. But the basic conclusion is the same: in order to liberate man, society must be fundamentally transformed through moral, economic, and political revolution.
State legislation about critical race theory bans a specific set of pedagogies—not teaching about history. Left-leaning media outlets have claimed that bills in states such as Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas would ban teachers from discussing racism in the classroom. This is patently false. The legislation in these states would simply prohibit teachers from compelling students to believe that one race “is inherently superior to another,” that one race is “inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive,” or that an individual “bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race.” The same bills explicitly say that teachers may and should discuss the role of racism in American history, but they may not shame or treat students differently according to their racial background.
What would you call an ideology that rejects color-blindness, openly criticizes the civil rights movement, attacks successful blacks, and is blatantly and unapologetically racist?
This is the TRUTH about #CriticalRaceTheory: Watch Video
Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic discipline founded by law professors who used Marxist analysis to conclude that racial dominance by whites created “systemic racism.” Critical race theorists have been dominant in colleges and universities for years, but their impact on public policy was limited until recently. The precepts of CRT have now burst outside the universities, affecting K-12 schools, workplaces, state and federal governments, and even the military. This has sparked resistance from Americans who refuse to have their children indoctrinated or to submit to race-based workplace harassment.
As a new tactic against this grassroots opposition, CRT’s defenders now deny that the curricula and training programs in question form part of CRT, insisting that the “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)” programs of trainers such as Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo are distinct from the academic work of professors such as Derrick Bell, Kimberle Crenshaw, and other CRT architects. While there are many different CRT variations, there are bedrock features that are common to all its theorists and practitioners.
HOW TO IDENTIFY CRT
1. Systemic Racism: Critical race theory’s key assertion is that racism is not the result of individual, conscious racist actions or thoughts. Racism is “systemic” and “structural.” It is embedded in America’s legal system, institutions, and free enterprise system, and imposes “whiteness” as the societal norm. The system, including capitalism, is “rigged” to reward white behavior and preserve white supremacy. Curricula and training sessions that teach that racism is systemic and structural, and demand that Americans work to dismantle laws, traditions, norms, institutions, and free-market enterprise— the entire American system itself—are part of CRT.
CRT AT WORK: “It’s important to try to help youth understand how bias and oppression are institutional, structural and systemic, and not simply interpersonal,” asserts Dorinda Carter Andrews, chairperson of the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University.
2. Race Drives Beliefs and Behaviors: Critical race theorists assert that American culture is a conspiracy to perpetuate white supremacy by imposing white concepts on people of other races. Thus, members of minority groups must retain their cultural habits and never adopt standard practices or norms, no matter how neutral. Curricula or DEI programs that separate individuals by race, or teach that concepts such as being on time, hard work, literacy, etc., are products of white values, and therefore must be rejected by minorities, are part of CRT.
CRT AT WORK: “[M]any Latinos naturally view information about time more generally and simply cannot see the judicial system’s need for specificity and exactitude,” says Maria Ontiveros in “Critical Race Feminism.” (p. 223).
3. White Privilege: Because of the above, critical race theory says that white people are born with unearned privilege that other Americans are denied. This produces a “whiteness premium” that prevents working-class whites from working with working-class blacks to change the economic system. Reflecting its Marxist origins, CRT asserts that to achieve the unification of the working class, whites must recognize their white privilege and renounce it. Any curricula or DEI program that compels students or employees to accept their white privilege and/or work to abandon it, are part of CRT.
CRT AT WORK: As Derrick Bell writes in “Race, Racism and American Law,” segregation “represented an economic-political compromise between the elite and working-class whites [that] gave to the poor the sense of superiority, while retaining the substance for the rich.”
4. The System Won’t Allow Non-Whites to Succeed: Critical race theory teaches that whites have rigged the system, so the criteria used to measure merit and success in school or the workplace are not objective, but are designed to keep white individuals on top. Hiring metrics and workplace benchmarks, such as punctuality and logical thinking, need to be eliminated if non-whites are to succeed. Any curriculum or training program that says color blindness is a myth and advocates for eliminating standard measurements of success, including standardized testing for university admissions for reasons of racial equity, are part of CRT.
CRT AT WORK: “In short, merit serves as the phony pennant of color-blindness, used as justification for opposition to affirmative action,” claims Derrick Bell in “Popular Democracy.”
5. Equity Replaces Equality: “Equity” sounds like “equality”, but under critical race theory, it has become its functional opposite. “Equality” means equal treatment of all Americans under the law. CRT’s “equity” demands race-based discrimination. Because systemic racism has produced disparities between the races and because the system will only deepen these disparities by rewarding the “wrong” criteria, government must treat individual Americans unequally according to skin color to forcibly produce equal outcomes. Advocating equity over equality is part of CRT.
CRT AT WORK: “Equitable treatment means we all end up in the same place,” said Vice President Kamala Harris.
- CRT’s effect on teaching math.
- From https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/curriculum/secondary-mathematics/courses/mth1w/course-intro
- An equitable mathematics curriculum recognizes that mathematics can be subjective.
Mathematics is often positioned as an objective and pure discipline. However, the content and the context in which it is taught, the mathematicians who are celebrated, and the importance that is placed upon mathematics by society are subjective. Mathematics has been used to normalize racism and marginalization of non-Eurocentric mathematical knowledges, and a decolonial, anti-racist approach to mathematics education makes visible its historical roots and social constructions. The Ontario Grade 9 mathematics curriculum emphasizes the need to recognize and challenge systems of power and privilege, both inside and outside the classroom, in order to eliminate systemic barriers and to serve students belonging to groups that have been historically disadvantaged and underserved in mathematics education.
Can-do attitude
Delay gratification
Dressing appropriately for the specific job
Education achievement
English common law
Equal Opportunity
Hard work
Independence
Individualism
Intent counts
Measured moderation
Objectivity
Operating from conscience
Operating from principles
Perfectionism
Plan for future
Politeness
Property rights
Rationality
Reading
Respect authority
Scientific method
Self reliance
Sense of urgency
Silent strength
Speaking correct English
Standardized testing
STEM courses
Striving for perfectionism
Striving toward success
Survivor mentality
Task Completion
Urgency
Valuing what can be measured
Writing
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