Jerry England

4 yrs

Conclusion: Critical Thought About Critical Race Theory

Critical Race Theory as practiced by the Left, and Individual Freedom and Responsibility as practiced by the Right can both eliminate Oppression, but at what cost? The answer can be found by asking two similar questions about two other members of society whom we care about: how do you train a dog, and how do you raise a child? Do you beat them into submission, ridiculing them, berating them, abusing them so that they are afraid to cross you? Or do you build a respectful/loving relationship with them by caring for them, developing their independence, and guiding them with principles to live by so that they become productive members of the society in which they live?

Critical Race Theory as practiced by the Left does not eliminate oppression, it only transfers the balance of power to a different group who continues and expands the oppression in ways that are detrimental to the freedoms that our Founding Fathers fought so hard to guarantee. Don't let them put any label on you other than those labels that our Heavenly Father and our Constitution guarantee to unify us--we are humans, male and female, made in the image of God; we are Americans with the freedom to serve and protect; we are citizens with the duty to observe our laws and respect the rights of others. Any label that binds our citizenry into a single unified group is good for us all, and any label that to seeks to separate and divide us will only tear us apart. Positive individual relationships--not group identity--are the key to ending oppression in our system, so let's be a part of the solution by speaking out and taking action, not just passively believing it and watching it from the sidelines.

4 yrs

Part III: Critical Thought About Critical Race Theory

Let's now take a look at how the Left and the Right view the solution to the problem, and their prescription to correct it.

The Left believes that the only solution to the problem is to shift the balance of power so that the less powerful group becomes the more powerful group in order to end the oppression. The oppressed group is entitled to use any means at its disposal to correct the balance of power, and it is justified and without blame for doing so even if it breaks existing laws in the process. Corrective action involves discrediting people, ruining their reputations, stripping them of their rights (to assemble, to speak freely, to practice their religion, etc) so that the group is less cohesive and less unified, infiltrating and disrupting the systems (educational, financial, medical, etc.) that bring stability to the group, and using any other means to break the bonds that hold the group together.

The Right believes that solving the problem is a matter of changing people's hearts by helping them see the injustices that they are causing, and empowering them to right those wrongs. The prescription is to make individuals, public education, non-profits, small businesses, and larger corporations more aware of the problem and incentivize them to develop solutions using tax credits, grants, profit, donations, or volunteers to motivate and transform. Our Founding Fathers believed in a limited government, and gave the power to the people to be the change-makers in our free society.

4 yrs

Part II: Critical Thought About Critical Race Theory

Let's now take a closer look at how the Left and the Right diagnose the problem of oppression in light of their understanding of the system from which it erupts.

The Left sees oppression as the result of a power struggle between two or more groups, so the labeling of each of the groups is a necessary and important first step. After the groups are identified, the next step is to assign the label "oppressor" to the group that has the power, and the label "oppressed" to the group without power. The diagnosis is that the group in power used unfair practices, position, or status to wield its power over the weaker group, thus taking advantage of it. The oppressor is always wrong, and the oppressed is always right.

The Right sees oppression as a result of individual sin and self-centeredness, either by intentional acts to do harm or by unintentional acts of disinterest in the plight of others. The diagnosis is that the individuals who are causing the oppression have a serious heart condition--they lack the love and compassion for their neighbors that God demonstrated to and expects from them.

4 yrs

Part I: Critical Thought About Critical Race Theory

With oppression being such a huge problem, not only in 3rd world countries but within the borders of our United States, then rectifying it will also be a huge undertaking. The first step in the process is to understand the system within which the problem exists, so let's examine how the system behind it is understood by both the Left and the Right.

The Right views oppression as a single component of a larger social system, a system of relationships between people which is formed from a religious system that defines the nature of man. Our Founding Fathers relied heavily on their understanding of the nature of man as described in the Bible when writing our founding documents. The Biblical view of mankind is that we were created in the image of God Himself, with the capacity to freely choose to follow or not follow His commands. Regardless of our skin color, gender, nationality, age, or other distinguishing characteristics, we are image bearers of God with the capacity to choose or reject relationships both with Him and with others. We are all equally capable of both good and evil, such as selfishness, love, sin, repentance, kindness, intolerance, and others because we are all human beings with a free will of our own to either accept or reject His will, with any rejection of God's will being categorized as sin. Social injustices, like oppression, come from our rejection of God's mandate to love Him and love others, which is an issue of the heart in every individual, an issue that can only be dealt with on an individual basis. But God, who understands His creation, implemented the plan to atone for man's sin through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus because man is imperfect and incapable of paying for this sin on his own.

The Left views oppression as the outcome of a power struggle between two groups. Critical Race Theory doesn't define the problem as an individual problem, but rather as a group problem. It recognizes that individuals with similar characteristics tend to band together, ultimately creating separate and distinct groups, with one group eventually having more power and oppressing the other weaker groups. And while the Left doesn't outwardly identify this theory as a religion, it still defines it using religious terms. For example, salvation for the oppressing group comes through being made more aware (woke) of its oppressive practices and making reparations for those practices. Michael Rectenwald, a former NYU professor and a former Marxist for 15 years, equates Social Justice with "a whole new (god-free) religion, complete with original sin, confession, saints, and martyrs." In his book, "Beyond Woke", Rectenwald states, "Like the saved Christian, the social justice woke becomes penitent about previously unacknowledged sin, sin for which they must atone. Under social justice, sin is having acted carelessly from a position of privilege, without sufficient recognition or concern for those whose lack of privilege makes one’s privilege possible." Under this system, the group must atone for its sin by paying retribution to those that were oppressed, regardless of the amount of time that has passed. Oppression is the only sin in this model, and the only sinners are those who oppress while those who are oppressed are sinless and justified in using any means to stop the oppression.

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4 yrs

Critical Race Theory: What Is It, And Does It Really Fight Oppression?

Critical Race Theory's claim that it fights oppression sounds good at first, as if it were right in-line with upholding our Founding Fathers' Constitutional beliefs that all men are created equal and are deserving of equal rights. By extension, if we are all created equal, then oppression of one individual or group by another results in inequality, not equality, so we all should easily buy-in to the position that oppression should be eliminated from our society. But I'm going to examine Critical Race Theory more closely to see if is a legitimate tool in this fight to end oppression, or if it's a smokescreen for something even worse.

My premise in evaluating this theory is that every system has intelligent design behind it. Whether the system is electrical, mechanical, political, social, or religious, some degree of intelligence is necessary to the design and maintenance of the system. With this premise in mind, accurately diagnosing any problem with the system and then prescribing any solution for that problem depends on one's understanding of the design of the system. For example, let's take a 2020 Ford F150 that doesn't run and then have two different people try to fix it--a mechanic who has worked on Ford vehicles for 20 years, and a 15-year old boy who has only been a passenger in a car. The boy's ultimate solution to fixing the problem will be simplistic at best, while the mechanic's solution will be based on a solid understanding of the vehicle's interrelated systems examined using a logical sequence of steps to troubleshoot the problem. And that's where Critical Race Theory falls short--it doesn't understand the system that it is trying to fix, so it misdiagnoses the problem and prescribes the wrong solution which not only fails to fix the problem but exacerbates it. I've broken down this critical thinking exercise into three parts that correspond with the three phases mentioned in the Ford example so that each is short and digestible, and I hope that doing so helps give you a better understanding of the shortcomings of this theory.