Kerby Anderson

Yesterday I talked about how even some liberal commentators are very concerned about the arguments for Critical Race Theory. It turns out that if you are a critic of Critical Race Theory, you will be labeled as ignorant and racist. Tom Gilson addresses those charges in a recent commentary. He quotes from a Texas state board of education member who writes that critics “have no idea what critical race theory is, what it does, who the founders are. They’ve never read a book, much less a paragraph on it.” From there she goes on to use language I won’t use on radio or in this commentary. He also quotes from another article that argued that critics don’t want to talk about racial disparities because they want to normalize the behavior and allow current patterns of behavior to continue. Tom Gilson says that the words “talk” or “talking” showed up eight times in the article. But Critical Race Theory isn’t just about “talking about” racial disparities. He quotes from a standard source (Understanding Critical Race Theory) written four years ago and hardly the most controversial book on the subject. That book provides the quote that I mentioned yesterday. It explains that “critical race theory questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law.” The book also argues that “radical measures are in order” because society is so racist. When it was written, the authors may not have meant “radical” involved riots, protests, and burning cities. But we have seen the natural result of arguing that America is systemically racist, full of white privilege, and in need of a social revolution to overturn the existing order. I agree with Tom Gilson, He concludes that the critics of Critical Race Theory oppose it not from ignorance but because they truly understand its dangers.