Resources Issue: Media Bias

*PDF Download: In 60 Seconds – Critical Race Theory

Critical Race Theory is an academic discipline with Marxist roots.

Instead of working to close the achievement gaps, teachers unions and many public school districts are introducing radical concepts to impressionable students—pushing divisive and damaging curricula on race, teaching kids as young as elementary school about Critical Race Theory (CRT) and “white privilege,” and even dividing them into “affinity groups” based on race.

Due to backlash by parents, many schools/teachers now claim that they are not teaching CRT or systemic racism. They instead now call it structural racism, diversity training, making sure everyone is welcome and included, the golden rule… but in most cases the content and experience are based on CRT principles.

Here’s the issue of Critical Race Theory in 60 seconds:

What It Is

Critical Race Theory (“CRT”) is an academic discipline with Marxist roots.

• CRT is an off-shoot of Critical Legal Studies, a radical/Marxist field of study that analyzes the effect of economic power on law.
• While Marxists view history as an ongoing class struggle, CRT views history as an eternal racial struggle.

CRT Posits That

In America, racism is the rule, not the exception;

• American law and institutions are “illegitimate hierarchies”;
• Equal opportunity reinforces, rather than reduces, racism;
• Private property is a white construct

In recent years, Prof. Ibram X. Kendi has repackaged and popularized CRT under the name “Anti-Racism.” Kendi argues that:

• Non-whites cannot be racist, all whites are racist, and denials of racism are evidence of racism.
• One cannot be truly anti-racist without being anti-capitalist.

What’s At Stake

American Education

• Using dishonest rhetoric about “equity” and “anti-racism,” schools across America are eliminating opportunities, such as advanced or honors courses.
• Schools are encouraging teachers to adopt lessons on “white privilege” and to utilize “color conscious” teaching methods.
• These lessons discourage critical thinking and chill free speech by suggesting that objectors are complicit with white supremacy.

Enlightenment Ideals and the American Constitutional Order

• CRT claims that Enlightenment ideals such as reason, neutrality, logic, and the scientific method are racially-biased endeavors.
• CRT regards America’s constitutional structure as a mere smokescreen for racial oppression.
• CRT prioritizes group identity over individuality and encourages institutions to treat people differently on the basis of race.

Addressing Misperceptions