The subject of Race Relations
in America is one of several that we have been reluctant to write about. It is a controversial topic that people
divide over and get angry about.
Opinions are entrenched and unlikely to change regardless of the merits
of the opposing arguments.
Furthermore, conservative
opinions about race relations are often labeled as racist dismissed without
fair consideration. It is easier to
label an idea as “racist” than it is to discuss it in a meaningful way. Lamp in a Corner has a Christian
worldview, and we are Conservative. We try
not to be racist; whether intentionally or inadvertently.
The primary purpose of Lamp
in a Corner is to tell others about Jesus Christ. Our comments about current events are
secondary. We are in an election year,
however, where Woke ideas like Critical Race Theory (CRT) are at issue, and an
informed electorate is a necessary component of democracy. It is our duty is to be informed.
The word “theory” is part
of CRT. Are theories reliable? The common understanding of a theory is that
it is “an educated guess.”
We have also heard it said that, “A theory is an unproven speculation about
reality.” However, theories are at their
best when they are based on what are believed to be known, tested, and proven concepts. They must be revised, however, if new
evidence makes it necessary.
A theory is only as good
as the underlying assumptions (axioms, postulates) that support it. Before we buy off on Critical Race Theory and
support Woke candidates, the basic assumptions of CRT need to be tested.
What is CRT? The NAACP defines CRT as:
“Critical
Race Theory, or CRT, is an academic
and legal framework that denotes that systemic racism is part of American
society — from education and housing to employment and healthcare. Critical
Race Theory recognizes that racism is more than the result of individual bias
and prejudice. It is essentially an academic response to the erroneous notion
that American society and institutions are “colorblind.”
Critical
Race Theory recognizes that racism is embedded in laws, policies and
institutions that uphold and reproduce racial inequalities. According to CRT,
societal issues like Black Americans’ higher mortality rate, outsized exposure
to police violence, the school-to-prison pipeline, denial of affordable
housing, and the death rates of Black women in childbirth are not unrelated
anomalies.
The
scholarly framework holds that racism goes far beyond just individually held
prejudices, and that it is in fact a systemic phenomenon woven into the laws
and institutions of this nation. A cursory review of U.S. history — or even
just news headlines from 2020, where far too many examples of police brutality
and violence against Black people propelled a historic racial justice movement
— proves the truth of this theory. The classroom itself, currently the focal
point of the ongoing fight to suppress uncomfortable truths about America, has
traditionally been the site of some of this nation’s most egregious acts of
state sponsored racism. This includes segregation, which the LDF has been at
the forefront of challenging since our founder and the first Black Supreme
Court Justice Thurgood Marshall successfully litigated Brown v. Board of
Education in the 1950s.”
To be manageable for a
Blog, (rather than to write a book), a more concise definition is needed. To fit our format, therefore, we will define
CRT as an attempt to show how racism is endemic in the legal, social, and
economic systems of society. CRT is a
key component in Woke ideology. It is a
change agent – a way of identifying and implementing corrective measures to
achieve social justice. The underlying
assumptions of CRT are still dynamic and subject to change or modification.
Accounts disagree about
origin of Critical Race Theory. Here is
what we have been able to learn:
Most Internet sources say
that CRT was developed by Liberal academics, lawyers, and activists in the
1970’s and early 1980’s, as an attempt to combine ideas that existed before
then into an organized system of thought. Conservative sources point out that Critical
Race Theory has Marxist origins,
and that it uses the Bolshevik (Communist) tactic of exploiting the grievances between
people groups to create division and hostility.
Thus, it turns perceived injustices into class warfare.
Both are correct – in
part. Things happen for more than one
reason. Although they are offered by
opposing points of view, these ideas about CRT should be studied together. They
cannot be fully understood independently.
Lamp in a Corner would add that Critical Race Theory may have also
been influenced by Postcolonial Theory, which helps to account for the idea
that White people are to blame for the ills of society. For the sake of brevity, we will try to
summarize Postcolonial Theory in our own words:
It states that the Imperialism
of some European nations and England resulted in their conquest of large parts
of the world to create colonies. The
Europeans and English governed their colonies by force, or by exploiting the
conflicts between local rulers, tribes, and people groups.
The colonial powers
exploited the colonies by extracting whatever wealth they found. This provided the motivation to maintain the
colonies – often without the consent of the governed.
Colonization disrupted the
traditional religious beliefs, social values, and economic and political
systems that were previously the fabric of society that maintained the social
order of the colonized peoples.
In the Twentieth Century,
two world wars left the Europeans and the United Kingdom without the political,
economic, and military strength to maintain their colonial empires. The result was decolonization. Decolonization was rapid, and it often left
the former colonies poorly prepared to govern themselves.
Decolonization was
followed by Economic Imperialism. Industrialized
nations are said to have exploited the so-called underdeveloped countries for
cheap labor and raw materials. During the
Cold War, the Western Democracies and the Soviet Union attempted to divide the
underdeveloped nations into opposing spheres of influence.
In turn, this caused the years
of general chaos and political upheaval that followed. Consequently, White Imperialists are blamed
for many of the problems that continue to plague the world to this day.
If we want to be honest,
it is necessary to include opposing points of view. So, tell it all or don’t tell it at all.
Those who dispute Post
Colonial Theory think that colonization modernized native societies where the
ordinary people were oppressed, uneducated, and living in primitive conditions. Colonization improved public health and
education, and it upgraded living conditions for the common people. Although colonization was flawed, it was
preferable to the primitive conditions that preceded it.
Tribalism, religious
violence, border disputes, the pressure of urbanization, and transition into
the world economy are also contributing factors to the prevalence of worldwide
conflict. In short, there is plenty of
blame to go around for the world’s wars and chaos. Not all of it is the fault of people of
European or British ancestry.
Critical Race Theory
postulates that American society, is systemically racist. We are told that all
of our institutions were created by White people according to the behavioral
norms and the values of the White culture.
Therefore, our society oppresses People of Color because their cultural
norms and values are different.
It follows, then, that the
social system is systemically racist and favors White people over non-Whites,
due to their racial, ethnic, religious, gender, and lifestyle. They call this White Privilege. So, White Privilege is thought to give White
people a competitive advantage in all aspects of society … economic, political,
educational, medical, and so forth, while it holds non-Whites back.
CRT also provides its own
way of interpreting History. It focuses
on the way that Black people have been mistreated throughout American History. Slavery, and the decades of oppression that
followed, are a terrible blight on our collective past, and CRT attempts to exploit
that as proof of systemic racism. CRT
has advocated that reparations should be paid to compensate Black people for
their past victimization and the lingering effects our History has had on
social justice in American society today.
While it is true that
injustice has been part of American History, many of us disagree that the White
citizens of today are responsible in some way for the errors of the past. In short, we didn’t do it, and we don’t think
we should be required to pay for it.
Further, we do not want our schools and universities to shame our kids
for being White.
Unfortunately, CRT ignores
the fact that Americans eventually corrected many of the injustices that have
plagued our past. We fought a bloody
Civil War that abolished slavery, and the 13th Amendment made
slavery illegal. A decades-long civil
rights movement desegregated our institutions and achieved advances for persons
from all backgrounds in education, employment, equality before the law, and
other aspects of American society. We created
a safety net of social assistance to help provide for the needs of the poor. Affirmative Action was implemented in an
attempt to improve employment hiring practices in government agencies and
businesses that have government contracts.
The advocates of CRT have
created a conceptual model for the implementation of social justice. It is called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,
or DEI. To borrow from Britannica.com:
Diversity means that an
organization reflects the composition of the community. These include gender, ethnicity, race, sexual
orientation, age, disability, culture, class, religion, and life experience.
The concept of diversity
gets distorted when quota systems are imposed.
If 25 percent of those incarcerated in a prison are Black, that does not
mandate that 25 percent of the correctional staff must also be Black. If 11 percent of a community is Hispanic,
that does not create a requirement for 11 percent of the public school employees
must be Hispanic. President Trump has
advocated that employment opportunities must be provided on the basis of merit,
to those who have prepared themselves by education and experience to add value;
that is to make the greatest contribution to the hiring organization.
Equity is the attempt to
make sure that a person’s identity does not govern the outcomes of their
participation in all aspects of society.
It seeks to ensure equal treatment by eliminating the systemic barriers
that keep some people groups from successful participation in education,
employment, health care, government, the military, and all other societal institutions. The goal is to ensure equal treatment by
causing organizations to change their methods of operation to cause successful
outcomes for individuals from every background.
Conservatives argue that
Americans from all backgrounds should have equal opportunity. We believe that positive outcomes are
achieved by an individual’s performance on the job, and not by government
manipulation of the operational practices of organizations.
Inclusion is almost self-explanatory. It involves efforts to enable persons from
all backgrounds to feel like they are included in an organization … like they
are part of the team. It tries to create the circumstances which
allow all individuals to make a significant contribution. Organizations are encouraged to accept and
support diverse ideas and recommendations.
We can agree that
organizations work best by cooperation and teamwork. We disagree with the idea that bad
performance, ideas or suggestions should be accepted because of a person’s
background.
The alternative President
Trump and his administration have implemented is a system in which hiring and
participation in business and government organizations are based on merit. It offers equality of opportunity, rather
than equity of outcome. Persons of all
backgrounds need to be able to meet the needs of their employers in order to be
able to participate in their activities.
The advocates of CRT
emphasize social justice. On the face of
it, most people favor a society that offers a level playing field to all of its
members. The American people value
fundamental fairness.
The United States of
America is not ruled by any individual or group. We are ruled by the laws created by our duly elected
government. Our constitution was written by White men, but it protects the
basic God given human rights of all US Citizens.
Section 1 of the
Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution states:
“All
persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State
wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge
the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any
State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of
law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
laws.”
Our constitution
safeguards freedom of religion, speech, the press, peaceable assembly, and
petition for redress of grievances. Private American citizens have the freedom
to keep and bear arms. Except in time of war, we cannot be required to house
members of the armed forces in our homes.
We may not be subjected to unreasonable search and seizure without a
warrant issued upon probable cause.
The US Constitution
provides that Americans must be indicted by a grand jury to be charged with
capital crimes and serious offenses, and they cannot be required to testify
against themselves. If acquitted, we
cannot be tried again for the same offense.
Citizens cannot be deprived of life, liberty or property without due
process of law, and our property cannot be seized without just
compensation. If we are charged with a
crime we have the right to a trial by jury, representation by legal counsel,
disclosure of the evidence against us, face our accusers, and to present
evidence and witnesses in our favor. The
accused have the right to post bail, and excessively high bail amounts are
prohibited. Americans are protected from
excessive fines and from cruel and unusual punishment.
As some are prompt to
point out, slavery is a blight on the history of our nation. A bloody civil war and the 13th
Amendment put an end to slavery. What
followed was decades of unfair treatment of Black people. We still have work to do to ensure that all
Americans are treated fairly.
This is the point at which
we find ourselves now. Most of us want social
justice. How to achieve it is where we
part company.
Our freedoms are basic and
time-honored human rights given to everyone by God, not the government. The constitution is a pledge to all our
people that the government will protect our God-given freedoms.
Social justice will not be
ensured by fundamentally changing our laws, Capitalist economic system,
educational institutions, and other social systems. Rather, we must make ourselves aware of
problems in how our social systems are applied and make changes where they are
needed; as we always have.
Why do Woke politicians,
Democratic Socialists, left-wing educators, and activists say that the
constitution is obsolete, outdated, not relevant, and racist? Why do they want to get rid of it? Could it be that under Socialism the people
are the servants of the state, rather than the way it is in a Constitutional
Republic where the government is the servant of the people. Is it about power? Is it that they think they have a superior
understanding of what is best for the people – even more than the people
themselves do? Do you think they might
want to take away our freedoms, and control us through the imposition of a
socialist nanny state?
College students, kids who
have been indoctrinated by the public schools, rebels in search of a cause, and
others who are easily led are quick to say that the constitution must be
radically altered or replaced. They say
that it is “old school,” and that it doesn’t have meaning in today’s
world. That is because they have been
kept ignorant of what is in it.
Today’s young people have not been taught the basics of History, Civics,
or Business. Instead, they are steeped
in the half-truths of CRT.
“Go ahead! Make my day!”
Tell me how our freedom of the press, speech, religion, peaceful
assembly, or equal protection under the law are not as precious today as they
were when they were written 250 years ago.
Tell me which of our constitutional freedoms does not benefit Black
people, Hispanics, Asians, Jews, transgender persons, women, and everyone else.
Public opinion is fickle
and changeable. It is here today and
gone tomorrow. To guard against the
erratic, variable, and unpredictable nature of public opinion the founding fathers
purposely made amending the constitution difficult, yet it has been done 27
times. It can and will be done again …
if there is sufficient need for it.
Attempts by radicals to circumvent the constitution, or do away with it,
happen because extremist ideologues lack the broad public support needed to
successfully amend it.
Any reasonable person must
recognize that the basic human rights that are protected by our constitution
ensure that we are among the freest people in the world. We are one of the most just societies on Earth. CRT aims to fix something that isn’t broken. Social
justice will not come from big government intervention into every aspect of our
lives.
Whether you agree with CRT
or not, there is a dark side to it and to the whole Woke movement. It is antidemocratic and dangerous because it
tries to suppress opposing points of view.
Social media allows
conservatives to be “flamed” in the most vile language imaginable. Conservative voices have been cancelled out,
and the persons who provide conservative opinions have been threatened. On most of the Liberal major broadcasting
networks, smirking, patronizing TV news personalities, feigning deep concern, present
100 negative segments on President Trump and the Republicans for every positive
segment. (These figures are figurative – no pun intended.)
On our college campuses conservative
students’ grades are adversely affected if they express conservative
ideas. They are shouted down by other
students, and some have been beaten up. When
Conservatives are invited to speak on campus, they are shouted down, and some
have had to be escorted out for their own safety.
Conservatives have lost
their jobs because they spoke out on issues like abortion and sexual
orientation. Christian business owners
have been persecuted because they would not provide services to same sex
weddings.
The list goes on and
on. Take fair warning, fellow
Americans. Will it be your turn next?
CRT also employs
scapegoating:
“Scapegoating,
sometimes called playing the blame game, is the practice of singling out a
person or group for unmerited blame and consequent negative treatment.”
The most salient example
of the evil of scapegoating is found in Adolph Hitler’s persecution of Europe’s
Jews. He blamed them for all of the
problems the Germans had, especially following World War I, and he used that to
justify his “final solution,” which was the extermination of European Jewry in
his death camps.
If we allow White people
to be falsely accused and blamed for all of the woes of the world, what will
come of that? CRT has been opposed by President
Trump. What will happen if Conservatives
lose control of the US Senate, House of Representatives, and the Presidency? The 2026 midterm election is about more than
a lot of our voters realize.
Adult US Citizens have the
right to vote in free, fair, and legal elections. We must be vigilant, because evil people,
foreign and domestic, are constantly trying to influence the outcomes of our
elections. The right to vote, and the
integrity of elections, are foundational to democracy. There is nothing in our governance that is
more vital.
Get out and vote for
Conservatives. *
*NOTE: The politically
correct terms for referring to people groups are always changing. It is difficult for us to know the latest way
to properly refer to people of different backgrounds. If we got it wrong, it was not intentional,
and no disrespect was intended.
