A reader thinks that any objections that people might have about critical race theory are dreamed up by right-wing media people to generate ratings. (A real reckoning with race, February 20)
Nope, there can’t possibly be anything remotely wrong with
it.
The reader then lists a number of questions to prove how beneficial
CRT is for everybody to learn.
The problem is that we are to assume that these are the only
things that CRT teaches and promotes.
And some people are also finding it problematic how these things are taught.
For example, we have all heard of the Ku Klux Klan. Mobs of hooded people with funny outfits wreaked
violent havoc on black communities. That
was evil, yet it was often and long tolerated by public authorities. And that was evil as well.
Now, please, those of you who are proponents of CRT, tell
us: does CRT teach that all white people are racist at heart, inherently and
immutably? Please tell us that it doesn’t,
though I doubt you will.
And what about America itself?
Is America itself inherently and immutably racist, built on
racism, such that our founding documents are racist documents, seeking to
perpetuate this evil to all succeeding generations?
This, dear reader, is our concern. We are not afraid of the truth.
But CRT does not limit itself to the truth. That is why it is called Critical Race THEORY. It starts with facts and builds a
comprehensive narrative about the good and mostly evil in our country.
Is the United States a perfect country? No. And
guess what? Perfect countries don’t
exist. Why? Because they are all composed of people. People are inherently and immutably flawed.
Does that mean that those flaws include racism?
That depends on what you mean.
It is a fact of life that not everybody will like everybody
else. And that lack of endearment can often
be generalized to whole groups of people.
And that, my friends, is nothing new.
That has existed from the beginning of humankind.
But is that racism?
The real issue with racism or supposed racism is not whether
people like you, but whether they are keeping you from pursuing and achieving your
dreams.
There is more freedom to pursue your dreams and achieve them
here in the United States than anywhere else in the world.
And many of us think that too many people today are spending
all their time trying to find fault with our country, such that too many people
are missing those opportunities to achieve their dreams. And that is because they are spending too
much of their time blaming other people for things that might appear to them as
obstacles.
Don’t waste your life hoping that things will be better in the future such that
you miss the present and what it has for you.
That’s what concerns the rest of us about CRT.
