One of the defenses of Critical Race Theory is that it is just a “theory.” Hell, it says so in the title. It’s not only a college discipline, but a grad-school-level study of race and it’s impacts on American institutions like law and politics.
I think we are giving CRT (and its bastard cousin, DEI) an amount of gravitas it doesn’t deserve. CRT is less theory than it is method. The method is to see EVERYTHING through the prism of race. Even things that have nothing to do with race, social interactions, etc. It develops neither racial consciousness nor racial awareness. It develops racial *obsession.*
Granddaddy had a saying. (He actually had a LOT of sayings, most of which would earn me a social media timeout.). He said if you looked hard enough for shit, you would find it…just about anywhere.
All this falls under the more family-friendly theory that “you see what you are looking for.” And if you train your brain to see race everywhere, you will find it. You will also find the racism you are looking for. Let me introduce you to the Reticular Activating System.
The RAS is the part of the brain that processes trust. The conscious part of the RAS takes in 40 bits of info per second…while the subconscious part takes in 40 MILLION bits of info per second. The RAS’ function is to filter for what is important to focus on. That is a critical role, since otherwise there would be too much information for your brain to focus on and you would be functionally paralyzed by the sheer volume of information demanding to be processed.
The most amazing thing about the RAS is that it can be reprogrammed to focus on certain things and to filter out certain things. Quite often that is achieved through repetition. If you are familiar with the “Tetris Effect” this will ring a bell. A group of students were tested by letting them play hours and hours of the popular game. Afterwards, the students reported that they began seeing Tetris blocks EVERYWHERE! When walking down the street they could “see” buildings being turned over to fit into the puzzle their brain had focused on for 48 hours. They had “re-trained their brain.”
This happens on smaller scales as well. Three years ago my wife and I purchased a new (for us) vehicle. It was a maroon-colored, 2015 Ford Escape. After getting the car I immediately noticed a LOT of similar-looking cars in my city. They didn’t magically appear after we brought our new car. They had always been there. But I didn’t see them. More accurately, I didn’t see them because I was not *looking* for them.
It is not difficult to see how a constant focus on race can produce similar results, leading a person to see it in all things, no matter how innocuous. If you train your brain to see race as the main factor in everything, well, race then quickly becomes the main factor in everything. It is only natural that you then conclude that everything that has ever been done, is being done and ever WILL be done includes that same myopic focus on race. The thought that race is *not* a factor in something is simply not allowed in your world. In your world, the mere suggestion that we judge people on their character and not their skin color is DefCon Level 1 Blasphemy. MLK is truly dead.
The entire CRT/DEI mindset is simply poisonous. Psychologists often use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to treat depression. CBT urges patients to stop ruminating over perceived slights and failures while avoiding black and white thinking and/or emotional reasoning.
But the culture of CRT/DEI does the exact opposite: It encourages people to dwell on these slights and failure (real or imagined). It prods them to engage in black and white thinking and to prioritize their emotions above all other things. It’s the polar opposite of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
So what happens? Instead of being taught to overcome or accept uncomfortable experiences, negative thinking and emotional instability; students are told to not just dwell on them, but to obsess over them. And even to base their entire identities on them.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, when victimhood becomes a source of prestige and is turned into literal and metaphorical currency, there’s no incentive to do anything else. And when students learn their weaknesses can give them an excuse to bully others, there will be a LOT more bullying. And a lot more weaknesses. When students’ worst and most juvenile behavior is indulged and rewarded, it is not surprising that students grow more juvenile and ill-behaved.
This does no one any good. Quite the opposite.
Don’t get me wrong. The opposite of all this would also be bad. Refusing to see race’s obvious role in things like prison sentences and the like is also a fool’s errand. That’s why when I tell people my goal is to be “color-blind,” I am quick to point out that this is not a literal thing. The goal is NOT to “not see color.” The goal is to make sure it does not play a central role in how I regard a person.
And yes, I will point out that the obsession with race that CRT/DEI attempts to engender is the same obsession with class that Marxists try to promote. Honest to God if you replace “race” with “class,” then your standard CRT syllabus or DEI mission statement is nearly indistinguishable from Das Kapital.
I am not in favor of the spate of laws states are passing to prohibit CRT-based teaching. This is a battle over the soul of our nation. Will we utilize an approach that hyper-focuses on immutable characteristics? Or will we instead hyper-focus on the limitless opportunities each person brings to the table? Opportunities that will NOT be met if they are taught to view themselves and others primarily by their skin color.