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.
