What We Need to Know about Critical Race Theory

By Gary Wickham

“Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there,
no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.”
—Judge Learned Hand (1944 speech)

Law professor Kimberly Crenshaw, a Critical Race Theory (CRT) spokesperson, describes CRT’s foundational model as “drawing on a wide range of scholarly ideologies to include feminism, Marxism, and post-modernism.” Growing from a small group of academic radicals in the late 1980’s, CRT’s influence has alarmingly metastasized into classrooms, boardrooms, newsrooms, courtrooms, restrooms, shower rooms, Pentagon war rooms, surgery rooms, publishing houses, and even competitive sports. Yet most Americans have never heard of it, or they don’t understand it. No longer confined to the realm of ideas, Critical Race Theory has become a neo-Marxist political force that is rapidly changing our Constitutional Republic. It is urgent that we become more vigilant about the danger and rapid spread of CRT ideology so that we can counter it effectively. Greater awareness must begin now.

CRT is a Racist and Divisive Ideology

Dr Carol Swain, a black American academic and articulate critic, says, “Critical Race Theory is itself racist.” CRT is pulling our nation into “re-segregation” by creating class conflict between two classes of people—The “oppressors” (white people) and the “oppressed” (everyone else).

CRT maintains that America’s privileged and powerful bourgeois class has created the popular term “systemic racism.” The concept of “system racism” is based on a number of premises: that racism is completely embedded in our values, history, traditions, and structural institutions and that these must now all be “de-constructed” (or demolished) and replaced with a socialist/Marxist government. In an attempt to debunk the dangerous idea of systemic racism, Senator Tim Scott, a popular African-American Senator from South Carolina, forcefully declared during a nationally televised speech, “America is not a racist nation!” Many on both sides of the aisle agreed. This is a far cry from Dr. King’s civil rights era vision of mutual brotherhood and an America that is ever striving to fulfill its founding promises.

CRT – “Intersectional” Inclusions

Critical race theorists claim that, “Racial consciousness needs to be part and parcel of our efforts to address gender inequity worldwide.” The term “intersectionality” means that LGBTQ and other oppressed groups must all be “part and parcel” within CRT. This inclusion brings more than just additional stake holders under the CRT umbrella. More importantly, it gives CRT a self-ordained and reckless mandate to search for racism literally everywhere and use acquiescent leaders to indoctrinate their staff with racial and gender consciousness training. Intersectionality means grade school children are taught that one’s gender is based entirely on feelings, not biology, and students can “self-classify” their gender identity.

CRT is not Morally Superior

Promising a quick end to racism, CRT has captured the hearts and minds of many Americans, particularly among younger people and liberals. With cult-like enthusiasm, followers believe they are promoting a morally superior cause compared to the seemingly slow, even nonexistent, progress that has been made through the Civil Right Movement. (also see below). The result is that many public schools and businesses have jumped on the CRT bandwagon and are giving it a try. However, utopian idealism can only be accomplished by a powerful centralized government.

Critical Race Theory is neither noble nor honorable and is intolerant of any criticism. Any resistance, whether from white or black Americans, is labeled as “white frigidity” or “internalized opposition.” Additional resistance can lead to being labeled a racist, white supremacist, xenophobic, or homophobic, creating intense pressure to conform to CRT’s politically progressive ideology.

Revolutionary “De-construction” of American Capitalism

CRT insists that, “We cannot dismantle racism in a system that exploits people for private profit.” Because they believe our capitalist system is a major source of white privilege, their solution is to “de-construct” America and replace it with the same Marxism that is advocated by Professor Crenshaw. CRT’s purpose for overhauling America has never been to reform or improve, but rather to destroy our institutional systems they have already judged as systemically racist.

De-constructing America into a new and better society has revolutionary language attached to it. History records other failed “new society” experiments during the Reign of Terror in France, the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, and the Cultural Revolution in Communist China where hundreds of millions were jailed or murdered simply for believing differently. Other revolutions which took place in North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Lebanon, and Iran never came close to reaching their promised idealistic utopias. Sadly, they continue to be led by cruel dictators with ruined economies to this day.

CRT is Not a Continuation of the Civil Rights Movement

Proponents of Critical Race Theory have made it clear that their fight to end racism is not a continuation of the Civil Rights Movement. In fact, they see Civil Rights advocates, black and white, as being “complicit with cultural whiteness” and have accomplished little or nothing to end racism since the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement.

Critical race theorists seem to disagree with Martin Luther King’s dream for the future of America when he prophesied, “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” CRT overlooks the fact that even though 76.3% of the U.S. population is white, our country elected a black President – twice! By 2000, 44 % of African American households had an annual income of $50,000 or more compared to just 22% in 1969, and black American unemployment in 2020 was at an historical all-time low.

American Equality versus Woke Equity

CRT uses the woke word “equity” which can be confusing because it is so similar in spelling to the word “equality.” Equity means equality (sameness) of outcomes. “Equity means to adjust shares to enable citizen A and B to be equal. In a sense, equity is something like ‘social communism’. It requires giving certain identity groups privileges to redress the perceived imbalance.” (From New Discourses Commentary) Equity is racist and elitist because it assumes that certain classes or races are incapable of being successful.

On the other hand, equality before the law (or equality under the law) is the principal that independent beings must be treated equally under the law and that all are subject to the same laws of justice and due process. Therefore, the law must guarantee that no individual or group of individuals be privileged or discriminated against by the government. Everyone must be treated equally regardless of race, gender, color, ethnicity, religion, disability or other circumstances. Our government is not established to guarantee happiness but to maintain an open and free society for its pursuit.

We have a long way to go, but the fruits of the American Revolution have been raising the level of personal freedom unheard of in human history and have made us the most prosperous society on earth.

Critical Race Theory in Education

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says it best with this recent statement: “Let me be clear. There is not room in our classrooms for things like Critical Race Theory. Teaching kids to hate their country and hate each other is not worth one red cent of taxpayer money.” He continues, “They’re trying to make people view each other based on race. I want to do the opposite. I want to treat people as individuals. I want to treat people based on character.”

Doctor of Clinical Psychology Gary Thompson, who happens to be a black American, seems to agree: “It is horrendous and utterly harmful psychology to tell people, especially children and teens, who do not believe that they are racists, and actually despise racism, that there is nothing they can do to stop themselves from being racists. Schools are now teaching children as young as second and third grade that whiteness is evil and that police systematically hunt down and murder black men deliberately…they’re teaching this as if it were an uncontested fact.”

Critical Race Theory is not something that is coming in the future, nor is it in its early less potent stages of development. It is here, and it must be stopped.

Gary and Ann Wickham live in Fort Mill, South Carolina. They have been a part of Heritage International Ministries and Fort Mill MorningStar Church for over 10 years. Gary married his high school sweetheart and they have 4 grown children and 6 grandchildren. Gary’s passion is to shine light on the pressing issues of our day.