Pushing Back on Critical Race Theory

Derrick Bell, a prominent Harvard Law School professor, who later moved to the law school at NYU, together with Alan Freeman of SUNY-Buffalo Law School developed the idea of Critical Race Theory (CRT), as an outgrowth of their work on Critical Law Theory and their disappointment in the slowing of race equality in the 1970s.  The work was widely viewed as ground-breaking within the progressive movement in defining the problems with achieving full equality.  I’ve written in the past on CRT, and the central position that only those in power can be racists while those not in power cannot.  Supporters of CRT translate this to cover the entirety of racial relationships between Caucasians and the rest of the world, seemingly oblivious to the fact Caucasians may not be the race in power in most of the rest of the world.

The problem I see in this theory is the assumption the minority can never be in control or exert their power over a majority.  Even when it proves otherwise, supporters of CRT adhere dogmatically that minorities cannot be racists and only the white majority, attempting to hold the minorities as subservient are the racists.

So here we are in the post-Obama years, when the nation elected a minority President who demonstrated his ability to use the power of the federal government against his opponents and further the goals of his supporters and use race as a club against those who would disagree with his political positions, yet still the left retains the idea that the majority population, by their mere heritage is and will always be racist.

With this assumption, I have to ask – is equality ever possible, or is it really just an illusion in the battle for political domination and the wealth that comes with it?  What I see today are the separate political activists (themselves minorities within the minorities, i.e. LGBTQ, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians) all fighting it out to demand the Caucasian majority submit to their vision of political correctness/control. I suppose I could be wrong in this view, but so far the evidence of how CRT is applied to the political dialogue directly supports it.  If I am wrong it would be nice for someone to show me how I am wrong, but as of right now I assume those who believe I am wrong will reflect I am wrong by asserting I am just another old white racist.  It truly appears to me to be the perfect example of Joseph Heller’s catch-22.

After the 8-years when the Obama administration used all the power of the federal government to attack their political opponents, we have seen a pushback by the usually silent middle class, looking for some sense of normalcy in government.  The average person, more concerned with leading a safe and secure life than changing the entirety of the human condition, has come to mistrust those who have no argument other than everything is the fault of the European-Americans.  Unfortunately, those who make this argument apparently have no recourse but to double down, as if that will prove the validity of their thinking. 

The most recent example is the NY Times hire Sarah Jeong to its editorial board as a specialist in technology.  Ms. Jeong has a long track record on Twitter of railing against the right and wishing that all “old white men” would just die off.  The Times defended its choice saying it had spoken with Ms. Jeong about how best to handle her critics, but clearly, they do not hold Ms. Jeong to the same standards as say a Rosanne Barr.  Clearly, as a Harvard educated woman of Korean heritage she cannot be a racist, so everything is okay.

What this dogmatic commitment to an academic theory is doing seems to be completely contra-productive to a goal of achieving equality and will, I am afraid, only accelerate the movement of rational centralists away from the DNC.  The party will find its power isolated to the rich urban areas where they are sure they are superior to those hicks in the ‘burbs, and as Trump showed in the 2016 election the coastal elites will not gain enough electoral votes to win against him, or whoever succeeds him.  

Of course, the radical left has little concern with this outcome as they riot in the streets, seeking to gain greater government response and hopefully reducing the belief in a government to provide a safe and secure environment for its citizens. 

Perhaps the best thing the Federal government could do is let the major cities deal with this disruption as they see fit, and just stop federal funding for all their services.  Unfortunately, this would create situations envisioned by John Carpenter in such Hollywood blockbusters as “Escape from NY” or “Escape for LA” starring the ever-popular Kurt Russell.  In those films, there was some apocalyptic event.  Maybe the nomination of Ocasio-Cortez as the DNC’s 2024 Presidential candidate will be that event (she will be 35 right?).