Do Critical Race Theorists Know What Racism Is?
The subtle art of missing the point.
Let’s be honest; you’re not quite sure what critical race theory (CRT) is.
Don’t get me wrong, you probably know it began as a tool for examining how legal systems produce racial inequality. You’ve almost certainly heard of some of its offshoots, like intersectionality and “whiteness” studies. You might even have read the foundational work of people like Derrick Bell or Kimberlé Crenshaw. But whether you’re a critic or a supporter, CRT has pretty much become shorthand for, “that thing that proves the ‘other side’ are the real racists.”
This isn’t an accident.
Back in March, Christopher Rufo, one of CRT’s leading critics, freely admitted that he’d set out to confuse the American public about what CRT is:
We have successfully frozen their brand — “critical race theory” — into the public conversation and are steadily driving up negative perceptions. We will eventually turn it toxic, as we put all of the various cultural insanities under that brand category.
The goal is to have the public read something crazy in the newspaper and immediately think “critical race theory.” We have decodified the term and will recodify it to annex the entire range of cultural constructions that are…
