WHAT IS CRITICAL RACE THEORY? AND WHY IS IT CONTROVERSIAL
By: Bc Degraff
Tags: George Floyd, BlackLivesMatter, Critical Race Theory, Martin Luther King Jr, Civil Rights

(OPINION)

Critical Race Theory (CRT) was invented in the 1970's because of a lack of a curriculum. The theory is that it’s intentional. It very much was. In the 1970’s there didn’t exist a curriculum that told the story of people of color in America. It was white washed information. Stories like the Rosewood massacre weren’t being told in schools. History books didn’t contain the Tulsa Race Massacre.

The creators of Critical Race Theory were several American legal scholars; Derrick Bell, Alan Freeman, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Richard Delgado, Cheryl Harris, Charles R. Lawrence III, Mari Matsuda, and Patricia J. Williams. These studies were about how people of color are treated throughout history and how no legal actions were taken or often miscarriages of justice are carried out over race; Example: Emmett Till’s murder and the trial of the murderers that led to no one being charged in his murder.

Conservatives believe that Critical Race Theory is harmful to children and some parents don’t want their children being taught the study, ignoring what the study is meant to do. Claims that the message of the study is to be an anti-white movement and not the injustice and historical relevance that it truly is. In fact, in many schools across America, students aren’t even taught civil rights, Martin Luther King Jr. or even Malcolm X. It’s certainly clear that the conservative agenda is to find offense in the actions of the people who lived before them creating an necessary delusion that they’re being blamed for the actions made in historical violence. The truth is, they are manipulated by a political agenda to push their personal beliefs on to others and often times manipulate others into believing that the theory often taught in colleges is teaching supremacy. The reality; it’s a clear deflection. These people are manipulated by YouTube videos and stereo-typical mindsets about the subject.

Throughout history, there has been racism an institute within the entire US System. The same system designed for a country of enslavement.

These people who attack the theory are only enhancing the need for the study and the need for the results. Derrick Bell believed that racism was forever. His very words are profoundly true today. There is a culture war happening in our school systems and it’s got millions brainwashed against the theory because the of the material behind the study. The United States is built by slaves on the blood of native Americans and that upsets the modern day conservative and it triggers them beyond reason. And so, they go to the internet where it provides them with their narrative against the study and a way to ignore the reality of American history, claiming they are protecting their children; this is an outrageous lie. The study is to combat racism, arm students with the knowledge of American history, a concept that terrifies conservatives.

There are conservatives who call George Floyd a criminal and remove guilt from Derek Michael Chauvin. These people are not allies, they’re not comrades. They’re people who are brainwashed by the content and narrative they choose to believe rather than the sound truth which is often ugly.

I recently spoke to a former teacher on the subject, he had this take on CRT;

What’s your push back on our students learning American History? Our history from the beginning of time as was mentioned in the 1619 Project by Dr . Hannah Jones which claimed that anti — black racism still shapes American Society . The author of this 1619 Project offer a darker vision of our nation in which America have made less progress than they think and in which Black people continue to struggle indefinitely for rights they may never realize. Then comes the Critical Race Theory — and here’s the push back . Many folks are not willing to acknowledge our country’s racist history and how it affects the now. -Fel Patton

In conclusion. It is very apparent that certain Americans would rather deny the racist history of the United States rather than accept that it’s American History.