Equity Over Equality: Critical Race Theory (CRT)
Most of us were taught, by parents and in classrooms, that we Americans are blessed with equal treatment under our nation’s rule of law. Equality among individuals and groups, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or place of national origin. Well, regrettably, those honorable and traditional American thoughts and principles are, today, considered by those on the Left as old school. Buckle-up as we explore this emerging and threatening-to-our-way-of-life, new school of thought, termed Critical Race Theory, where equality of opportunity (and equality of most everything else) is simply no longer satisfactory to the emerging CRT theorists, as they merrily toss the outdated, no longer acceptable bed-rock American concept of equality into the dumpster.
So then where has all of this anti-equality CRT stuff come from. Well, you’ll be delighted to know that, rather than being the nice socially-helpful idea of a well-meaning do-gooder group, CRT apparently traces back to those swell, compassionate, common-people loving (and then, later, destroying) tyrants, the Marxists. Yep, what a pleasant surprise. Born directly out of the Commie legacy.
Seems the Marxists originally constructed their evolving regime on the basis of class conflict, which should sound vaguely familiar thinking about civil agitation today. Back then, dear Mr. Marx observed that there existed an “imbalance of power between capitalists and workers.” His solution: revolution. Not just a war of words. But an actual domestic war. The capitalists/industrialists were ultimately defeated, and in their place, “a new socialist society” was created. Several countries during the 20th century tried pure, all-controlling Marxist-Socialism. All these violently imposed systems became abundant failures, and at the cost of millions of lives (Stalin comes to mind). As subject expert, Christopher Rufo, reminds us about those Communist wonderlands: “They are remembered for gulags, show trials, executions and mass starvations. In practice, Marx’s ideas unleashed man’s darkest brutalities.”
Unfortunately, Marxian theories have, it appears, been born anew in the west, generally, but specifically and regrettably, now here in America. But the twist today is to substitute class animosity and ‘warfare’ for claimed disparities amidst “racial and ethnic categories.” Thanks to the civil rights movement and the passionate peaching and wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during and beyond the 1960’s, groups sought to fulfill the “American promise of freedom and equality under the law.” The preference back then was “the idea of improving the country, rather than overthrowing it.” And we’re all thankful for that, and especially for the leadership and teachings of the Revered Dr. King.
That was then, and to-date, it’s far different than what seems to be happening now. In the view of Christopher Rufo: “Critical race theory is an academic discipline, formulated in the 1990’s, and built on the intellectual framework of identity-based Marxism. Relegated for many years to universities and obscure academic journals, it has increasingly become the default ideology in our public institutions over the past decade.” Those who embrace CRT populate it with terms like “equity”, “social justice,” along with “diversity” and “inclusion.” Pretty sure that, with the curtain pulled away, this CRT concept is now sounding quite familiar to you.
You’ll note perhaps the newest of the identifying terms, “equity.” Often confused with, or assumed to actually be, “equality.” Not the case at all. Equality means equal opportunity, as we’ve all long known. Equity, however, refers to, and strives for, equal outcomes. That’s completely different. Rather than championing learning, hard work, persistence, and commitment to achieve, ‘equity’ essentially implies skipping all of those traditional factors on the American pathway to success, and, instead, doing whatever is necessary (think government influence and assistance) for underachievers to become just as successful reaching a goal as those who worked their butts off to make it. And that could mean lowering academic standards, holding achievers back through lack of advanced course offerings, bringing the slow learners up and holding the excelling learners back, to the end of creating a homogenous, middle-level (if not, mediocre) learning experience imposed on all. That’s equity. Achieving a bizarre form of socialist equality, now achieved through the back door, by boosting the weak and hog-tying the strong, so they all reach the perceived finish line together.
Political commentator Scott Johnson chooses to summarize government-dominated equity like this: “Equity is not equality (i.e., equal rights). It is a substitute for equal rights. Equity requires the authorities to determine who gets what according to the race, the ethnicity, or other status of the beneficiaries. It is updated Marxist claptrap in which race replaces class.” He concludes: “The mania for perfect equality of results and conditions is never to be satisfied. It provides a permanent rationale for perfect tyranny.” In other words, government must step in to assure equity of outcomes, likely by pressure, and then remain involved, since the equity task can never be satisfactorily completed!
Racial identity is said to be the desired means for the incessant drive toward equity (in plain language: skin color). But lurking in the shadows is Marxism, which is the desired end result. And as you well know from history, past and present, Marxism is the enemy of capitalism, along with most every other element of societal success and individual freedom. Painting a dark, but sadly realistic picture of our nation under the potential strangle-hold of Marxism, Christopher Rufo accurately describes its end result here: “An equity-based form of government would mean the end not only of private property, but also of individual rights, equality under the law, federalism, and freedom of speech. These would be replaced by race-based redistribution of wealth, group-based rights, active discrimination and omnipresent bureaucratic authority.”
Noted commentator Daniel Greenfield has written some poignant comments on CRT, Communism and the implications we could one day face: “Critical race theory encompasses racist conspiracy theories that have nothing to do with fighting racism just like setting up a Communist dictatorship had nothing to do with relieving the plight of the working class. Soviet Communists seized the system in the name of the working class, before repressing it. The Left wants to seize the system in the name of black people only to repress them the way it already does in most cities.” That’s a critically important point. The papa bear raises, nourishes, then eats his young. All those protesting for a system other than capitalism and personal freedom will eventually themselves become dominated subjects of the state should, heaven forbid, anything like Marxism actually ever take hold in America. That shiny promised silver lining is nothing but tin foil. Greenfield continues: “Ordinary racism would not suffice for hijacking institutions and societies. And it is precisely because racism is less visible than ever, while the conviction that it is growing more serious has become widespread due to political and media narratives, that the conspiracy theories spawned by critical race theory have found fertile soil.” “The critical theorist’s job,’ wrote Bradley Devlin, “is to acknowledge, analyze, and bring awareness to the oppressive nature of these systems (e.g., democracy, capitalism) to generate the class consciousness necessary for liberation.” Recall that America was “liberated” from the stifling control of the British monarchy over 230-years ago. We do not need to even think of having our freedom and national security “liberated” into Socialist Marxism by the continuing unrest generated by the self-centered and self-profiting CRT “systemic racism” and “white supremacy” proponents! And, in that regard, it’s good to realize and remember that “the state (federal government) cult of systemic racism is less about racism and more about the power of the state.”
The Biden administration seems to be on-board with the cause, rationale, spread, and imposition on America’s institutions of critical race theory, from elementary schools, to universities, to corporations, to our military, and on to every other aspect of life. In his article, “Biden’s ‘racial justice’ agenda: Judge everyone by the color of their skin,” Michael Barone reflects on the ‘equity’ initiative introduced by the administration just six days into Mr. Biden’s term. Wrote Barone regarding ‘government resources reaching Americans of color and all marginalized communities:’ “There are a lot of preferred categories, but one suspects that, as in George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm,’ some preferred groups will be more preferred than others. What we’re being promised is racial quotas and preferences in every conceivable program, in every possible corner of American life. That suggests that the Biden (administration) and corporate elites project to create a United States of Racial Quotas and Preferences in conflict with a strong underlying current of American opinion that favors equal rights under law.”
The New York Post editorial board summed up the newspaper’s position on the administration’s seeming push for “woke equity” vs. equality: “The ‘equity’ approach assumes that any outcome that doesn’t meet inane racial quotas is the result of bias. Liberals used to call (rightly) for equality of opportunity – to have every American treated the same way before the law. ‘Equity’ demands equal outcomes. If some group of Americans is doing better than another, no matter the reason, government must fix it.”
And the current administration plan seems to be to spread CRT nationwide, and certainly within our public schools, K-12! In his article, “Get set for dangerous Critical Race Theory in every school in America,” writer Stanley Kurtz outlines and reacts to the plan. Said he: “Biden’s Department of Education has just released the text of a proposed rule establishing priorities for grants in American History and Civics Education programs. That rule gives preference to grant “projects that incorporate racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse perspectives.” Wave good-bye, it would seem, to historically honest, truthful, accurate teaching of American history, if in fact, in too many cases, we fear, it already isn’t being taught with historical integrity anymore anyway. Really want to be wrong about that. Perhaps the distortion doesn’t begin until the instruction of history within certain universities. Kurtz continues: “The rule explicitly endorses the wave of woke Critical Race Theory sweeping through America’s schools. That is why it is urgently necessary for states to pass laws barring action civics and Critical Race Theory from the K-12 curriculum and teacher training. Without such laws in place, it will be almost impossible to resist the carrot and stick grants soon to be deployed by the Biden Education Department with the aim of forcing ‘action civics’ and CRT onto America’s schools.”
Fortunately, some state legislatures are, in fact, working on laws to prohibit race-based or race-excluded instruction. Wrote Christopher Rufo: “Several states have introduced bills to achieve the goal (of) preventing public institutions from conducting programs that stereotype, scapegoat, or demean people on the basis of race.” Most often, along with revising and tightening state voting policies and practices, the states working on eliminating CRT-type programs and instruction, have legislatures with Republican majorities. So, there is good news out there, and we’re seeing more of it each week. May it continue. Rufo concludes his comprehensive CRT basics and impact article with a suggested way to overcome the CRT negatives: “Diversity, as most of us understand it, is generally good, all things being equal, but it is of secondary value. We should be talking about and aiming at excellence, a common standard that challenges people of all backgrounds to achieve their potential.” And here are his spot-on closing remarks on the value of teaching the truth about our great nation’s history: “Genuine American history is rich with stories of achievements and sacrifices that will move the hearts of Americans – in stark contrast to the grim and pessimistic narrative pressed by critical race theorists.”
To state it again, CRT presumes that America is fundamentally racist, but yet, ironically, it then intends to teach us to look at every social situation and every person on the basis of race. So, in complete contradiction, we’re supposedly racist as a nation, but rather than working to resolve that supposition, their theory reverts back to viewing everything on the basis of race. One-time liberal, now staunchly conservative, eloquent Black American commentator, Leo Terrell, has very strong opinions on the damaging spread of CRT: “The implementation of the critical race theory would be government-sponsored racism. It’s not grounded in fact. It is a lie. They’re pushing down critical race theory to our young people. Teaching them how to hate each other based on skin color, not content, not qualifications, not skill. This is a threat to America’s society because it affects our young people.”
Fox News host Laura Ingraham has also expressed strong feelings about the federal government-encouraged implementation of CRT in our public schools. Said she during a recent telecast: “The neo-Marxists know that to really end the old normal, with its objective standards, the primacy of the nuclear family, and the focus on Western civilization, they have to indoctrinate our kids to hate traditional American institutions – and also hate history – as much as they do. The sad fact is, all this critical race theory nonsense, it’s not going to do a darn thing to help kids live better, more productive, more harmonious lives.”
Now seemingly endorsed by the White House, the spread and content of critical race theory, and its many component parts (e.g., ‘action civics,’ social justice, etc.), present a challenge to a nation founded on liberty and equality, the latter aided immensely, and thankfully, by the 1964 Civil Rights Act (and subsequent Affirmative Action mandates), where now all Americans have the absolute freedom to work hard, excel, and achieve success. As stated above, the goal is excellence and innovation, not sameness. Scientific and medical break-throughs don’t result from sameness, from ill-conceived efforts toward this impossible-to-fulfill false premise called ‘equity.’ Opportunities in America are limitless, especially these days for American women and citizens of color. Let individual effort and free enterprise continue to reward those from all backgrounds, who have the willingness, the encouragement, the ability, and the commitment to excel. Without the need for government interference, individual freedom, solid education, and the capitalist system, will continue to reward those who work hard to achieve and succeed, within the long-standing fairness policy and promise of equality.
(Basics of Marxist & equity quotes via nypost.com, Christopher F. Rufo, 5-6-21; Equity definition quote via powerlineblog.com, Scott Johnson, 1-28-21; Greenfield CRT/Communism quotes via dailywire.com, Daniel Greenfield, 4-15-21; CRT “liberation” quote via dailycaller.com, Bradley Devlin, 9-10-20; State cult of racism quote via dailywire.com, Daniel Greenfield, 4-15-21; Barone racial quotas quotes via nypost.com, Michael Barone, 1-29-21; Equity abandons equality quote via nypost.com, Editorial Board, 1-30-21; CRT in every school quotes via nypost.com, Stanley Kurtz, 4-23-21; Diversity, yes, but excellence & history instruction quotes via imprimis.hillsdale.edu, Christopher F. Rufo, 3-30-21; Terrell quotes via foxnews.com, Staff, 5-5-21; Ingraham quotes via foxnews.com, Staff, 4-17-21).