Five Things Everyone Needs to Know about Critical Race Theory
Critical Race Theory rests on the unfalsifiable claim that racism exists everywhere, in every person and every institution, so all white people are inherently complicit in racism and all nonwhite people are inherently victims. This first dogma of CRT cannot be questioned.
Critical Race Theory is the opposite of Martin Luther King’s dream. CRT teaches that people should be judged on their race, which it holds to be the only or most important thing about a person, instead of the content of their character. CRT regards Dr. King as tool of racism.
Critical Race Theory is a Kafka trap, like classical Marxism or psychoanalysis: any argument against or disagreement with CRT is interpreted by Critical Race Theorists as evidence for CRT and proof of the racism of the dissenter. Counter evidence is always reframed as evidence.
Critical Race Theory presents itself as aiming at justice, but it doesn’t mean “fairness for everyone”; rather CRT understands “justice” as reversal: white people have been the oppressors, so now white people must become the oppressed.
Critical Race Theory wants to abolish everything that exists, including America and all its institutions, because by CRT’s first dogma, everything that exists is racist. This is CRT’s “critical” Marxian heritage, which also wants a total revolutionary overthrow of everything.
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“No X is perfectly free from Y; therefore, there is nothing wrong with injecting X full of Y.”
e.g. “Entertainment is never fully free from politics; therefore, it is good to make entertainment totally ideological.”
Everyone can see the error in
“No kitchen is ever perfectly free of germs; therefore, there is no need to have a clean kitchen, and in fact, you should make your kitchen is disease-ridden as possible!”
Things like “apolitical” and “objective” and “unbiased” and “impartial” are IDEALS which serve to REGULATE our conduct.
While it is true we are NOT PERFECT, it is nevertheless GOOD and RIGHT to approximate to ideals as best we can.
In our judicial system, no one can be forced to incriminate himself or herself.
An American has the right to remain silent regarding any matter that might lead to self-incrimination.
We do not have a right to withhold testimony touching on *other matters* however.
You can be *required* to give testimony on a matter regarding which you cannot incriminate yourself. This is key.
Because, if a prosecutor *grants you immunity from prosecution*, you *can be compelled to give testimony that would, if not for said grant, incriminate you.
So, the Cosby problem is this: Cosby was *compelled* to give testimony that was, in itself, incriminating, but was not incriminating solely because he had immunity.
Bill Cosby does not deserve to be free according to justice — but he does in line with human Law.
We cannot make exceptions to DUE PROCESS even for the sake of justice, because then exceptions will be made by calling it “justice” whether it is or is not—and there is no justice.
The law, which upholds the right to due process, only approximates justice. And it does it by treating everyone the same.
We make use of universal principles of the law and particular circumstances of each case in trial.
Universal principles respect our human equality of rights. They also, however, treat everyone alike: both the guilty and the innocent.
It offends our sense of perfect justice that the guilty should be shielded by rights—but because we are not angels, it is THE BEST WE CAN DO.
@benshapiro described the Woke as “race essentialists.”
He’s not wrong, exactly, but in a way, he is. Enough to clarify.
Race essentialism is the THESIS, race non-essentialism is the ANTITHESIS, and what the Woke hold is the SYNTHESIS. They both are and are not essentialists.
@benshapiro The way the Woke ARE race essentialists is that the treat race is as indelible characteristic of a person that marks and defines them, that cannot ever be escaped (consider how the Woke view transracialism).
The Woke aren’t race essentialists by not appealing to essence.
@benshapiro So the Woke can claim *technically* not to be essentialists, because essence isn’t what does the work for them, the same work that essence would do, but rather IDENTITY does the work.
It is a highly complex matter to sort out John Locke’s political arguments, especially in dialogue with Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, etc. It is graduate level work.
BUT — it is not hard to teach children that democracy is good and all men are created equal and have equal rights.
That is to say, one *can* (and we have traditionally done) teach children the PRINCIPLES and CONSEQUENCES of a broadly Lockean theory of political right. That is basically Americanism.
It's not necessary to teach the most difficult Lockean arguments re: representative democracy.