Víctor Ray

Yep; you’re already either interested or disgusted by this book and what it represents.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is everywhere in the news, and seemingly everywhere spoken against; and yet, in truth, it is not really Critical Race Theory which is under discussion, for most of the people who would condemn CRT and speak dismissively or derisively of CRT have not done the research to understand what CRT is and actually teaches. Instead, they use the CRT penumbra in order to cast doubt and suspicion on antiracist advocates and initiatives and to serve as a Trojan horse by which they are able to advance ideas and policies which would reinforce a status quo which redounds to the benefit of the inheritors of the legacy of white supremacy.

Victor Ray does well at presenting a digestible and understandable introduction to critical race theory in On Critical Race Theory: Why It Matters & Why You Should Care. Victory Ray is a Black man who can pass as white and has the intellectual background which provides him great credibility in writing this work.

The book is kept affordable and the following summary should not be considered sufficient for full and complete understanding; please buy it and read it. Ray begins with explaining what CRT is, the reality of white backlash to recent civil rights advances, and how the whole hullabaloo about CRT ironically reinforces the validity of CRT. He then explores various domains which often fall under the CRT umbrella. First: race is a social, not biological construction, a collective hallucination but one reflecting existing power structures. That power structure continues to enshrine racism and the evidence for it cannot be denied. He explores the “colorblind” premise and the attitude behind it, and ultimately demonstrates how there can be racism without people consciously attempting to be racist on account of those existing power structures. He then considers the myth of progress: he grants the very real progress which has been made but exposes the delusion that progress is inevitable for what it is, and expresses how fragile and easily reversed racial progress can be. He then explores interest convergence, in which advancement for Black people or other people of color only happens when it aligns with the interests of the (generally white) powers that be; the property of whiteness and how it provides material and social benefits to those reckoned as white. He then exposes the stories we like to tell ourselves about our country and our organizations and demonstrates how they were set up in ways which advanced and promoted white supremacy. He tackles intersectionality, a concept which has been distorted well beyond its original premise, and which even Ben Shapiro cannot deny in its original premise: the legal challenges which attend someone who is not just Black but also female, or perhaps of other ethnic groups and other forms of marginalized communities. He also speaks of identity politics, how they are used and abused, and puts to lie the idea that “identity politics” is only a recent and leftist phenomenon.

Critical Race Theory is not wrong; it is, in fact, something far worse. Critical Race Theory is offensive. The idea the United States was built by and for white supremacy is deeply offensive to Americans and American ideology. Exposing systems as racist is offensive. Pointing out the origins of “colorblindness,” the highly selective quoting of Martin Luther King, Jr., and showing who benefits and who remains disadvantaged when “colorblindism” is maintained is offensive. The reality that white Americans have been maintaining their own form of identity politics for generations is offensive. Critical Race Theory stands at significant variance with the story we have told ourselves and want to continue to believe about ourselves, and so it is offensive.

Yet its offensiveness, and sensitivity to the claims contained therein, reveals much more about ourselves than we might care to admit. Why do so many have so much difficulty in recognizing how they have participated in and benefited by a racist system? How come people you would imagine would be good, God-fearing Christians have no difficulty confessing they have sinned and even how they have participated in sins of greed, lust, and other such forms of immorality, but become extremely offended and belligerent if one would likewise suggest they participated in the sin of racism and upholding the legacy of white supremacy? According to the preacher’s adage, it’s the hit dog that yells.

Therefore I encourage you strongly to consider On Critical Race Theory. Educate yourself so that even if you remain opposed, the way you communicate about the subject at least demonstrates some engagement with the substantive ideas behind it. Seriously grapple with the presentation and the evidence supplied. Be willing to consider that the United States of America was built and set up to the advantage of certain people, and how that setup and those benefits are rendered invisible to such people, but become quite apparent to those for whom the USA was not built and set up to provide advantage. Reckon, in prayer and in conversation, with the “offensiveness” and sensitivity about the subject. After all, as we claim, if we know better, we should do better.… (mehr)