#046 What Problems Does Critical Race Theory Claim To Solve? What Do Reality And The Bible Say? -Further. Every. Day.


#046 What Problems Does Critical Race Theory Claim To Solve? What Do Reality And The Bible Say? -Further. Every. Day.


So, let's start out with the elephant in the room, no matter how we look at the plight of the African Americans in our society, there IS a problem. There may be more to it, however than simply discrimination, although that DOES happen, albeit not as it did in Jim Crow and Slavery days.

Statistically there is an issue with wealth distribution between Whites, Hispanics, Blacks, and Asian, but is this really an issue of systemic racism? How can the Naturalized Nigerian-American make more than 10% the average American, as seen in the below Yahoo Finance data? Is this a sign of discriminatory practices in a country that an immigrant can make more than the average income of its natural born citizens?

Before you read this next paragraph, I need you to consider that these are the statistics and data. They have little to do with race, as we will attempt to show in a moment, but the truth is what will help us aid those communities who have remained wounded and poor for centuries. When discussing police policy, many will point to the disproportionate incarceration of the African American, this is a reality. However, according to the below study on homicides and crime in 2019 America, over 50% of the homicides in this nation are committed by those of African descent. It is important to note that in 2019 America, 14% of the population fit this description. One critical piece to this puzzle lies in the next bit of information from the FBI Stats from 2019: 48.7% of the homicides in the United States occurred in the South.

As Christians, we are supposed to look to our Master and King for His solutions to oppression as well as matters of society. However, the Enemy of Our Souls, is in the business of offering counter solutions, like Legal or Critical Theory. The idea that the only dynamics in life are that of oppressors and oppressed is at the root of this theory and Critical Race Theory strives to critique the Western Culture (built on Judeo-Christian Principles) as a power structure of oppressors and oppressed that must be reorganized. (As we have discussed before, this is all derivative of failed Marxist Theory. It has simply been repackaged as a different set of oppressors and oppressed.)

So, what would the tenets of CRT be? Well, here are the 5 tenets of Critical Race Theory from Nicholas Daniel Harlep of University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in 2009:

“There are five major components or tenets of CRT:

(1) the notion that racism is ordinary and not aberrational;

“Firstly, racism is ordinary : the overall ethos of majority culture promotes and promulgates a notion of “color-blindness” and “meritocracy.” These two notions are mutually intertwined and serve to marginalize certain enclaves of people—predominantly people of color. Color-blindness and meritocratic rhetoric serve two primary functions: Critical Race Theory first, they allow whites to feel consciously irresponsible for the hardships people of color face and encounter daily and, secondly, they also maintain whites' power and strongholds within society.First, color-blindness legitimizes racism's need for an “other” in order to flourish and maintain its influence within the fabric of society. Racism and white supremacy are not aberrant, insofar as the oppressors—the status quo—exploit the “others” (the oppressed) in order to maintain their elitist control, as well as to claim that they are neutral. Close examination repudiates this false sense of neutrality. Second, meritocracy allows the empowered—the status quo—to feel “good” and have a clear conscience: many would ask why the powerful would not have a clear conscience since they maintain a majority of the wealth and power in society. The powerful maintain power and only relinquish portions of it when they have nothing to lose; furthermore, they receive platitudes and compliments when they do choose to dole out portions of their power”

(2) the idea of an interest convergence;

“Secondly, Bell's (1980) theory of interest convergence is a critical component within the cogs of CRT. Common sense belief s are formulated by the majority “status quo.” The beliefs created by the majority—the haves—oppress minority groups—the have-nots and have-too-littles. Stated more precisely, interest convergence is the notion that whites will allow and support racial justice/progress to the extent that there is something positive in it for them, or a “convergence” between the interests of whites and non-whites. CRT focuses on informing the public how certain stories act and serve to silence and distort certain enclaves of people and cultures (typically people of color), while simultaneously building-up and legitimizing others', typically the majority—status quo (which retains or gains even more power through these transactions).”

This author then continues with a parable about aliens and white people making a deal where white people get a perfect world after sacrificing the blacks to the aliens. This is to prove the point that whites only reverse racist behavior if it benefits whites. (Charming, right?)

(3) the social construction of race;

I totally agree with this one….

(4) the idea of storytelling and counter-storytelling;

“Fourthly, the idea of storytelling comes from its powerful, persuasive, and explanatory ability to unlearn beliefs that are commonly believed to be true. CRT calls this concept “storytelling” and “counter-storytelling.” This dichotomy—storytelling and counter-storytelling—is predicated upon the belief that schools are neutral spaces that treat everyone justly; however, close examination refutes this: simply evaluating graduation rates accomplishes this. School curricula continue to be structured around mainstream white, middle-class values. There continues to be a widening of the racial achievement gap (the separation of students of color's achievement and the achievement of Anglo-Americans). Whose needs do these values and curricula serve? It is not students of color?

Hackman and Rauscher (2004) draw attention to the fact that under the guise of mainstream curriculum certain enclaves of students become marginalized through curriculum and praxis that are insensitive and inequitable. Hackman and Rauscher (2004) state the following:[...] often under-funded [...] mandates across the nation leave many educators wondering how best to serve their students, particularly those students who do not fit into the mainstream [author's emphasis] profile or curriculum. In today's schools, the needs of students with disabilities and members of other marginalized groups often go unmet, and as such, more inclusive educational approaches need to be adopted to ensure that all students have access to a solid education. (p. 114) CRT's counter-storytelling is a necessary tool given the curricula in equity in the U.S. educational system. Without CRT's counter-sto rytelling, the true stories would never be publicly proclaimed, and perhaps the world would come to believe and perceive that all was fine.”

This translates to a disdain of the Scientific Method, Mathematics, Logic and Rhetoric, for less logical and more empathetic “story based learning”. (Because melanin, prevents people from thinking logically… oh yes, this ultimately came out of 1930s Germany. This makes more sense now.)



(5) the notion that whites have actually been recipients of civil rights legislation.

Fifthly, whites have actually been recipients of civil rights legislation. It is worth

citing Taylor (2009) at length:

Fifty years post Brown, de jure separation has been replaced by de facto segregation, as White flight from public schools has created a two-tiered system in many cities and student assignments have shifted from mandatory busing to neighborhood preferences. Most children of color currently attend schools with relatively few Whites; very few White children attend schools where they are the minority. Clarenton, South Carolina, one of the case schools used by civil rights lawyers Thurgood Marshall and Charles H ouston, remains as segregated as it was before 1954. The educational progress of African Americans that has occurred has thus been allowed only if it is perceived by the majority as cost-free, or nearly so. Preferably, these changes have come incrementally, and without social disruptions such as marches, boycotts, and riots. Importantly, for most Whites, advances must come without affirmative action. (p. 6-7)

The irony is that, although whites have undeniably been the recipients of civil rights legislation, it has also been verified that affirmative action, too, best serves whites (e.g., Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Delgado, 2009). Delgado (2009) exhorts and explicitly requests that “[...] we should demystify, interrogate, and destabilize affirmative action.

The program was designed by others to promote their purposes, not ours” (p. 111). Lawrence (2002) states this similarly: “The dismantling of affirmative action is segregation. Its purpose and meaning are the same as the Jim Crow laws'' (p. xv).”



I actually agree here to the point that the majority of well intentioned laws, and some of them ill-intentioned, leveled at fixing racism do not fix the problem. These laws only create more problems more egregious than the original issue.

So, instead of simply smelling a rotten egg, let's attempt to figure out how we are to fix the issue. But before we do, it is important to note how we got to where we are. Let's look to Thomas Sowell for some history. In a great commentary on the issue “The Origin of Black American Culture and Ebonics, Sowell deconstructs the origins of certain behaviors and characteristics of different cultures. He starts out reading a historical excerpt describing a terror of a people decending on 1950s Indianapolis, people who did not regard work, the law, their children, and who's moral standards were so low that they would shame an alley cat. The folks of Indianapolis were not making a racist cry for relief from African-Americans settling in their towns, but white rednecks. These Celtic rough and rowdy characters would sooner kill their brother or best friend than take an insult. This subculture is one that Sowell, and other historians, trace to modern day hood culture. With a link below, it is an interesting listen, but Sowell makes several very good points. The most salient, I think, is the fact that these white southerners were in a cycle of intergenerational poverty that even freshly arrived Germans, Danes, and even freed African slaves would out perform in every way from education to commercial success. This intergenerational poverty had been present in these families before they even came to the New World from the British Isles. Not only did these lack the Protestant Work Ethic, but promiscuity was rampant. One clergy member noted that 9/10 of those brides he officiated for were pregnant at the ceremony. This was in stark contrast to those in the North where such things were far from normal. Rape was also often punished less severely than petty theft, whereas in the North, rape was a hanging offense. This culture of Godlessness was the culture that many poor and enslaved African Americans lived within, even after emancipation. They had picked up the most destructive tendencies of Anglo Culture.

After gaining their freedom, Sowell notes, those who escaped the RedNeck Culture often ultimately made it to the middle class, some even before the 1960s. Now, this does not mean that things were at all easy, but this is not simply an issue of oppressed and oppressors. The presence of successful members of society with high melanin content in their skin suggests cultural issues. This is where the Church needs to step in.

What does our Father in Heaven say about the philosophies of this World?

Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

If it does not comport with scripture, it should be out. This counter reality narrative is vain, deceitful, and destructive.

Ibram Kendi once wrote in regards to antiracism, a component of CRT: “The only remedy to racist discrimination is anti-racist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”

In A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Meditations for Renewal Chanequa Walker-Barnes, a self-proclaimed theologian prayed: “Dear God, Please help me to hate White people. Or at least want to hate them. At least, I want to stop caring about them, individually and collectively. I want to stop caring about their misguided, racist souls, to stop believing that they can better, that they can stop being racist.”

Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

James 2:9 “But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.”

CRT is toxic and antithetical to the Biblical Worldview. It may sound nice, like every other trap the Enemy of Our Souls lays before us, but in the end, bitter sadness awaits.




We as a Church need to not only be informed about what CRT is, and we also need to be a Holy people. We need to address racism in every form, whether it is racism or the new ant-racism of CRT, we need to unify as one diverse body under and in Christ. If the World sees that, perhaps some will realize how wrong this belief truly is.



https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-could-actually-more-nigerian-133011858.html

https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/ucr.asp?table_in=2

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/fact-sheet/facts-about-the-us-black-population/

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED506735.pdf