Critical Race Theory: what it is, its origins and its critics

 Critical Race Theory came to my attention when it was announced in September, President Donald Trump and the White House Office of Management and Budget would take the steps to cancel funding for training in Critical Race Theory among federal agencies. Their reasoning is it was a divisive un-American propaganda. After this announcement, the news and the internet exploded with outrage. People were proclaiming how dare he?!?! And it was a step backward. It was pushing the white supremacy agenda. I had no idea what Critical Race Theory is and why people were so upset. I had never heard it before. And like I have done with many other terms, I decided to investigate the theory. In 2002, over 20 American law schools offered Critical Race Theory courses. In addition to law, Critical Race Theory is taught in the fields including education, political science, women’s studies, and ethnic studies.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a theoretical framework in the social sciences that examines society and culture as they relate to race, law, and power. It developed out of critical theory of social philosophy where social problems are influenced and created more by societal structures and cultural assumptions than by individual and psychological factors. A few of the important scholars in CRT includes Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, and Camara Phyllis Jones. Critical Race Theory began in the 1980s as people of color students art Harvard Law school organized protests the lack of racial diversity in the curriculum as well as in students and facility. The students supported Professor Derrick Bell’s racial law courses to be taught by a faculty of color. After the school ignored their required hired two white civil rights activists. A number of students boycotted and organized to develop an alternative course using Derrick Bell’s Race, Racism and American Law (1973, 1^st edition). Harvard Law School continued to ignore the students requests led to the creation of Critical Race Theory in 1987 as an offshoot of critical legal studies. According to Crenshaw, "one might say that CRT was the offspring of a post-civil rights institutional activism that was generated and informed by an oppositionalist orientation toward racial power” (Gottesman, 2016).

There are several themes in CRT. Rather than overwhelm my readers with the information, I will discuss a few. First, CRT criticizes liberalism. CRT favor a more aggressive approach as opposed to liberalism’s cautious approach and rejects affirmative action, color blindness, role modeling (emulating a successful person) and merit principle (goods and services are received through talent, effort, and achievement) (Delgado & Stefancic, 1993). Second, CRT uses storytelling, counter-storytelling or “naming one’s own reality.” It is the use of narratives to explain and explore experiences of racial oppression (Delgado & Stefancic, 1993). Third, CRT offers revisionist interpretations of American civil rights laws and progress. Derrick Bell argued that civil rights advances for blacks coincided with the self-interest of white elitists. Mary L Dudziak (1998) suggests that the civil rights legislations were passed to improve the US image to third world countries as the US needed allies during the Cold War. Lastly, institutional racism. According to Camara Phyllis Jones (2002) the structures, policies, practices, and norms result in the differential access to the goods, services, and opportunities by race. Historically, institutional racism was slavery, segregation, internment camps and reservations. Modern examples are bank lending practices, housing contracts, profiling by law enforcement and representation in news and media.

Many of the Critical Race Theory critics take issue with its foundations in postmodernisms and reliance on moral relativism and social constructionism. Richard Posner, a judge for the US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (1981-2017), argued that critical race theorists have “succumbed completely to postmodernist absurdity” and “radical legal egalitarianism” (1997). Alex Kozinski, a judge for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1985-2017), argued that CRT is a philosophy which “raises insuperable barriers to mutual understanding” and makes valid exchange of ideas impossible (1997). George Will (1996) argued that CRT’s use of storytelling and the insistence of racism “so institutionalized that all blacks are victims by definition” and not by an “identifiable act of discrimination.” Eleanor Krasne (2020) argued that CRT, rooted in Marxism, doesn’t allow for meaningful discourse that “questioning their ideas amount to tacit support of racism and makes you a racist.” She further states that “you either agree with the left’s worldview or you are an enemy of all that is good” (Krasne, 2020). Dan Subotnik also argues that leaving whites out of the race conversation doesn’t help anyone. “White males tempted to participate in the conversation were condemned in advance as interlopers, even imperialists” (Subotnik, 1998). Essentially whites were, and still, are told to step aside, sit down, and shut up, you have no say in the matter as you would not understand.

For far too long, minorities have been kept out of history, their roles pushed to the background and ignored and left out the conversations. There's no denying it. They have fought to be included in the history lessons and the conversation about today’s issues, to have their current contributions counted and celebrated as they should. However, there are a few are now enacting their revenge as they turn the tables on whites. “You left us out, now it’s your turn.” Critical Race Theory, at first look, seems like a good idea; however, in practice, it is an “agree with me or you’re my enemy” paradigm. It is still racism when the roles are reversed. An adage says, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” Repaying evil with evil does not overcome evil. Evil is only overcome with kindness. Human nature has a long way to go.

 

References

 

Delgado, Richard and Stefancic, Jean (1993). Critical Race Theory: An Annotated Bibliography. Virginia Law Review. 79 (2): 461–516.

 

Dudziak, Mary L. (November 1998). Desegregation as a Cold War Imperative. Stanford Law Review. 41(1):61-120.

 

Gottesman, Isaac (2016). Critical Race Theory and Legal Studies. The Critical Turn in Education: From Marxist Critique to Poststructuralist Feminism to Critical Theories of Race. London, England: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1317670957.

 

Jones, Camara Phyllis (2002). Confronting Institutionalized Racism. Phylon. 50(1/2): 7-22.

 

Krasne, Eleanor (June 29, 2020). How Leftists’ Critical Race Theory Poisons Our Discussion of Racism. The Heritage Foundation. www.heritage.org/civil-society/commentary/how-leftists-critical-race-theory-poisons-our-discussion-racism. Retrieved October 18, 2020.

 

Kozinski, Alex (November 2, 1997). Bending the Law. The New York Times Archives. www.archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/11/02/reviews/971102.02kosinst.html. Retrieved October 17, 2020.

 

Posner, Richard A. (October 13, 1997). The Skin Trade. The New Republic.

Lot's Wife: lessons and themes from her story

This month’s study is on Lot’s Wife. She is mentioned briefly in Genesis, but her story still resonates with people today. From Genesis, we learn that she was married to Lot, Abraham’s nephew and together, they had amassed a fortune in land and livestock. They settled in Sodom, a city so wicked that God would later send angels to investigate. Her life in Sodom, she was a prosperous woman who may have been more attached to the good life than what was good for her. There is no indication that she participated in the sin of Sodom, but her story implies she had tolerated it. Her heart was possibly divided. She hated the sin but loved the comfortable life she had in Sodom. What is the significance of salt in the story? What does her story tell us about God’s mercy?

The story of Lot’s wife opens as Lot encounters God’s angels at the city gates. He implored them to stay at his house for the night. Later that night, angry voices came to the house as an ugly clamor of men tried to push their way into the house. They demanded the guest to be released to them. The Bible does not reveal what Lot’s wife was doing, feeling or thinking at the situation. But I think we can safely assume she was terrified. After Lot tried to bargain and reason with the mob, the angels pulled him back in the house and told Lot, his wife and daughters, to leave Sodom immediately as God’s judgment was coming to Sodom. The angels warned the family not to look back on the city as it was being destroyed. Genesis 19:26 says “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” Why did she turn despite the angels’ warning? We don’t know but something caused her to stop, pause, turn and take one look.

As Lot’s wife is remembered less for who she was: a wife and mother, and more for what she became: a pillar of salt, there must be significance to her story. Salt is one of the world’s most common and most used chemicals. Salt is used to season, cleanse and purify. The Hebrews saw the value in salt and used it in many areas of life. They used it to season their food (Job 6:6). They also rubbed their babies with it (Ezekiel 16:4). Salt was also a required supplement to Old Testament grain sacrifices (Leviticus 2:13). Salt is also used six times in the New Testament. Believers are called the salt of the earth by Jesus in Matthew 5:13, Mark 9:50, and Luke 14:34. In Luke 17:32, Jesus calls us to remember Lot’s wife. In verse 33, he says, “Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”  It is a warning against false security. Lot’s wife turned back because she wanted one last look at all she lost. The comfortable house and all the trappings she had in the city. Despite the danger to her life, she still wanted the physical things she left behind.

The tragedy of her story is she ultimately refused God’s mercy and attempts her save her. God’s mercy was available to her as Genesis 19:16 says “for the Lord was merciful to them” and his mercy is always available to all of us. Even during difficult times, like now as the world deals with the COVID-19 outbreak and resulting quarantine, even in the worst times, the most difficult situation and the hardest circumstances, he is there stretching out his hand to lead us to safety. We have become creatures of comfort. In our society, it is rare to find someone who isn’t attached to certain comforts. They may even be thought of as weird. Although, in my experience, when someone says they have no attachment to physical items or comforts, it is usually a lie as no one is completely with some form of attachment, whether it be to something or someone Test your level of attachment. By carving out time away from work, TV, the phone, the internet, anything that can distract you from God. Set aside time and a place in your home, even if its for a few minutes, for silent prayer.

In conclusion, Lot’s wife turned back to look at the smoldering city. Clinging to the past, she was unwilling to turn completely away and accept her new future. Are you looking back longingly at an old life while trying to move toward God? Is there anything in your past that God is urging you to let go? I know I do. It is a daily struggle and a daily prayer for the strength to finally let go. Sometimes I can and sometimes memories of good times pull me to that desire again. I know like a father with his child, God will continue to help me with this lesson. You can’t make progress with God and in your future, if you are holding onto pieces of your old life. Seek out God and his mercy. He will help you turn away from your old life and find a new life in him.

The Hobbit: first published September 21, 1937

The Hobbit or There and Back again by JRR Tolkien (1892-1973) was first published September 21, 1937. A fantasy novel which has gripped the imaginations of its readers since its publication. It was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and was awarded a prize from the New York Herald Tribune for best juvenile fiction. It is the quest of home-loving Bilbo Baggins to win a share of a treasure guarded by the dragon, Smaug. He is accompanied by 13 dwarves who seek to reclaim their home under the Lonely Mountain. The book was such a success that a sequel was requested by the publisher. The Lord of the Rings was published in three parts: The Fellowship of the Ring (July 29, 1954), The Two Towers (November 11, 1954) and The Return of the King (October 20, 1955) to great success and established Tolkien’s Middle Earth in the hearts and minds of generations.

The genre of The Hobbit is the narrative models of children’s literature. It is one of a handful of children’s books to be accepted into mainstream literature. Another example would be J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Although Tolkien’s books are now shelved with adult fiction while the Harry Potter series is still found in the children’s sections of bookstores. The writing style of The Hobbit is unpretentious and straightforward narrative which provides details in a down-to-earth and causal style. This style draws in the reader into the reality of Middle Earth as events of a past long ago rather than a mystical world of another place.

Tolkien was highly influenced by William Morris’ reconstructions of early Germanic life in The House of the Wolfings (1888) and The Roots of the Mountains (1889). Character names such as "Gandolf" and the horse Silverfax were used by Tolkien as tribute to Morris. Tolkien’s The Necromancer was influenced by Samuel Rutherford Crockett’s The Black Douglas (1899), a tale about the fall of the great House of Douglas is the focus of this romance set in 15th century Scotland. George MacDonald’s The Princess and the Goblin (1872) influenced Tolkien to create his goblins. MacDonald’s works also influenced Tolkien’s thinking on the role of fantasy with his Christian faith. Tolkien drew heavily from mythology. In particular, Norse mythology for the Dwarfish runes. Also the Old English epic poem of Beowulf, the hero of the Geats who comes to the aid of the king of the Danes to defeat the monster Grendel. Beowulf is the oldest surviving poem (8^th – early 11^th century) in Old English and is cited as one of the most important works of Old English literature. Tolkien was among the first to present Beowulf as literature not just history in his lecture Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics (1936), a lecture which is still required reading in some Old English courses.

There are many themes present in The Hobbit. Some scholars believe that the book is a parable for Tolkien’s World War I experiences. The hero who is plucked from his home, thrown into a far-off war with traditional types of heroism were futile and ingenuity helps him survive.  The classic quest which tests the hero’s strength, resolve and abilities to see it though. The quest also influences the maturity and personal growth of Bilbo by the novel’s end is in contrast with the dwarves’ arrested development. Bilbo learns to survive by his wits and stands up in the face of great danger. Bilbo learns to overcome greed and selfishness in order to prevent war over greed for the treasure.

The Hobbit has never been out of print and is considered a classic among other works like The Pilgrim’s Progress, Gone with the Wind, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and many and many others. It was named the most original and best fantasy ever written by the Schools Library Association. It is geared toward boys between 11-14 years old; however, every one of all ages can enjoy Tolkien’s books. Of course, the Peter Jackson’s films have helped bring Middle Earth to broader audience. If you have never read The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, I highly recommend it.