We are witnessing an evil phenomenon as it evolves rapidly across the country. This phenomenon is called Critical Race Theory and it is being aggressively taught in our schools to the detriment of the unity and cohesion the society needs to advance itself.
What is Critical Race Theory (CRT?) In simple terms it is a belief that Black people in America are descendants of slaves and have been systematically treated as people of lesser being by their oppressors who are the descendants of white slave owners. In other words, Blacks are permanently disadvantaged simply because of their color and whites are permanently advantaged by their race—hence the trending phrase: “white privilege.” And in order to get to this position, the promoters of CRT begin the story/history of Blacks in America in the year 1619.
Although the above is a simplification, in essence it is a good description of what CRT is, and this is a total and complete contradiction of what The Dr. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us and what he in effect, died for. King taught us that we humans must be measured by “the content of our character and not the color of our skin.” CRT states the opposite and is not only false but stupid!
Now, in order to install 1619 as foundational in their thinking, the proponents of CRT need to skip over many significant dates and happenings. They need to step over the achievements of President Barack Obama and now Vice President Kamala Harris; they need to cancel the achievements of the civil rights movement that culminated in the life, work and ultimate death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They need to cancel Justice Thurgood Marshall, Malcolm X and James Brown who once told us to “sing it loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud;” they then need to wipe out the work of Booker T. Washington and Du Boise, the Emancipation Proclamation and 14th Amendment before getting back to 1619 as the definitive time in our history.
More, they must also ignore the successes of great Blacks like Oprah Winfrey; Tyler Perry; Kanye West; Tiger Woods; the Williams sisters; and a host of other Blacks who have demonstrated that despite all the negatives in society, they could overcome them and succeed far beyond what most whites (their CRT oppressors) could ever come close to achieving. My mother always told me the ‘exception proves the rule!’
I think that any Black leader, be they politicians, civil rights leaders or teachers who upholds a theory that says their race is inferior to any other group is simply stupid. No race allows others to demean them like this and certainly, any race of people who joins others in demeaning them(selves?) with a theory of inferiority and oppression, as is inherent in CRT, desearves what they get. All sensible people describe themselves “up,” not down. What race of people allows others to define them as losers who need help? And when one considers the great things accomplished by Blacks in America in a short span of time, how could anyone tasked with interpreting historical developments conclude that it is advantageous to emphasize the weaknesses while ignoring the great achievements of a people who were deliberately held down, but still found ways to advance themselves. Sensible leaders accentuate the positive and challenge the faltering to rise up and emulate the Oprahs, Baracks and all the other people who succeeded despite the obstacles placed in their way.
Then these promoters of CRT say that all whites are privileged. What nonsense! A very large percentage of whites in America are relatively recent immigrants who fled to this country because of famine and oppressions. The Irish came fleeing a potato famine. They and many others like them who came to this country never owned Black slaves and many were serfs before they escaped the oppression experienced in their countries of origin. In Baltimore, as I drive along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, I see many desperate white people begging and often turn to my wife to point out some current examples of “white privilege.”
It is also very false to begin Black history, by dating it in 1619. Before this nonsense got a hold, Black leaders taught that Blacks came from greatness. They used to say that they came from kings and queens. This is true when we realize that in Africa there were many tribes each with their ‘king/chief’ who often participated in the slave trade themselves by capturing and holding their captured rivals to be sold as slaves in the West. In a sense, slavery actually saved many of our ancestors because until the slave trade, the men from the defeated tribes were often killed so they could not revolt, while the women and children were absorbed into the capturing tribe. If that is true, slavery in a strange way saved the lives of many of the ancestors of Blacks who otherwise would have been killed. Interpretation!
The worse thing about CRT, however, has to do with how its proponents plan to correct it—by introducing the concept of Equity. Equity? What is that? It sounds so good, but it plans to dumb down the population to the least common denominator. Just think about this for a moment. If equity is the goal and we have a genius child with an IQ in excess of 160 and another child with a normal IQ of about 100, there is only one way to achieve equity. Dumb down the genius to meet the ordinary. Also, a more extreme analogy would be that in order to get Equity between a blind person and one who could see, we may have to pluck out the eyes of the seeing person so that both will become blind. Where is there room for excellence within the theory of Equity? My mother used to tell me that I needed to be twice as good as the white man to succeed. And although it seems unfair, if I became twice as good, that was good! Good for me! Follow CRT and watch China “eat our lunch” academically!
To conclude, CRT is detrimental to Blacks and to the society we are trying to build. It is contrary to the philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who asks that we judge by the content of one’s character and not by the color of one’s skin. That is very good advice and we should follow King and cancel CRT. In conclusion, we need to emphasize excellence in achievement as we race to the top. We should not seek equity, but excellence in achievement.