What a dishonest article.
Yet with so many white people across the country in a total freak out over "critical race theory," it appears few, if any, of them could even explain what it actually is. That's because, despite what Fox News is telling them, critical race theory — the actual academic framework that was developed in law schools to understand the historical reasons our legal system perpetuates racial inequalities — is not, in fact, being taught to 3rd graders or even 11th graders. Claims otherwise are a complete lie, ginned up by right-wing propagandists who are desperate to keep the GOP base whipped into a racist frenzy.
CRT can be understood by a narrow definition (as presented here), or very broad ones as they are presented by the academics involved themselves:
"Critical race theory is a practice. It's an approach to grappling with a history of White supremacy that rejects the belief that what's in the past is in the past, and that the laws and systems that grow from that past are detached from it," said Kimberlé Crenshaw, a founding critical race theorist and a law professor who teaches at UCLA and Columbia University.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/01/us/critical-race-theory-explainer-trnd/index.html
Thus, what is meant by teaching CRT in schools? That the approach to history is of one that deals with white supremacy, and insists that it is an on-going fundamental reality in the US.
It would essentially be reenforcing ideas like
Critical race theorists believe that racism is an everyday experience for most people of color, and that a large part of society has no interest in doing away with it because it benefits White elites.
(Also from the above link).
Is there a movement to bring these into schools? Yes.
Is there a movement for American history to be taught this way? Of course.
Now, why is it linked to Marxism? Because many of the players are Marxists - some of the founders of BLM are self-described Marxists.
CRT is also relatable to what can be more broadly understood as Critical theory.
Max Horkheimer first defined critical theory (German: Kritische Theorie) in his 1937 essay "Traditional and Critical Theory", as a social theory oriented toward critiquing and changing society as a whole, in contrast to traditional theory oriented only toward understanding or explaining it. Wanting to distinguish critical theory as a radical, emancipatory form of Marxist philosophy, Horkheimer critiqued both the model of science put forward by logical positivism, and what he and his colleagues saw as the covert positivism and authoritarianism of orthodox Marxism and Communism. He described a theory as critical insofar as it seeks "to liberate human beings from the circumstances that enslave them."[6] Critical theory involves a normative dimension, either by criticizing society in terms of some general theory of values or norms (oughts), or by criticizing society in terms of its own espoused values (i.e. immanent critique).[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_theory
And one cannot really understand critical theory as something that is apart from Marxism, even when Marx is beign used in a relatively normal sense.
... and... What does Wikipedia say about Critical race theory?
Both critical race theory and critical legal studies are rooted in critical theory, which argues that social problems are influenced and created more by societal structures and cultural assumptions than by individual and psychological factors.[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_race_theory
@Duchess64
"Many, if not most, white Americans demand that US history books be censored"
Liar.
Troll.
Racist.
17 Jun 21
The post that was quoted here has been removedLike Tom Hanks (who recently wrote an article in the New York Times about this), I went all the way through school, and even through college, without once ever hearing about the 1921 Tulsa Black Wall Street massacre. Like him, the first I heard about it was about a few months ago. I was shocked that I had never heard of this before now, despite the numerous US History classes I've taken, but I never for a moment believed that it did not happen, because of what I've learned about the widespread prevalence of racism in the US and what I've seen with my own eyes and what I've learned by talking with people here "on the street".
I agree that Critical Race Theory absolutely should be taught in America, if only to remove this embarrassing ignorance of endemic and systemic racism among white people. Maybe then we can come together in this country closer to the realization that we are ALL in this together and excluding a significant portion of America is NOT what America *should* be about. We're better than this, and it's well past time that we take positive steps to abandon this widespread ignorance.
17 Jun 21
1 edit
@philokalia saidAre you denying that there is, in America, a societal structure that believes in and wishes to codify into law white supremacist values? Racism IS "an everyday experience for most people of color", and it's also true that "a large part of society has no interest in doing away with it because it benefits White elites." It also IS "an on-going fundamental reality in the US." I'm not really sure what your criticism here is, since these things should be evidentially obvious to anyone with eyes to see.
What a dishonest article.
Yet with so many white people across the country in a total freak out over "critical race theory," it appears few, if any, of them could even explain what it actually is. That's because, despite what Fox News is telling them, critical race theory — the actual academic framework that was developed in law schools to understand the historic ...[text shortened]... dividual and psychological factors.[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_race_theory
17 Jun 21
The post that was quoted here has been removedI cannot disagree.
The sheer amount of obsequiousness showed to the white ruling class by most of the white working class is unfathomable. It's completely servile and subservient. Yet they are still convinced they have 'liberty' and 'freedom'. Obtaining one's liberty and freedom from above is antithetical to America's founding documents. These documents stress that liberty and freedom come from 'the people', not a tyrannical monarch. Yet the current Republican Party exemplifies and amplifies this tyrannical monarch that they swear fealty to.
Political ideology is political ideology. You are free to believe as you wish, but you do not have the right to tell others what they must believe.
For instance, you may believe that Barak Obama is a black man, therefore he has ancestors who were slaves in the US. You might believe that only black people were slaves.
Your beliefs would be wrong, but you are free to believe. Just do not force your beliefs on others.
@dood111 saidExactly.
Why the panic over teaching Critical Race Theory to K-12 students?
Because it teaches white students to be ashamed of being white and it teaches brown/black students to be hateful and resentful towards them.
As long as the schools teach kids that they should be up in arms over race relations, the relations will never normalize.
We were on a good path before the uber libs came along.
@dood111 saidThat's like saying Germans shouldn't teach kids about the Holocaust because it teaches them to be ashamed of being German. History needs to be taught.
Why the panic over teaching Critical Race Theory to K-12 students?
Because it teaches white students to be ashamed of being white and it teaches brown/black students to be hateful and resentful towards them.
Besides: aren't conservatives like you always complaining about "hurt feelings"? You guys complain about one school changing the names of holidays but then cry that teaching history hurts your feelings.