Futile Resistance  

Critical Race Theory

Christopher Rufo, 4 of 6

   Thus far, attempts to halt the encroachment have been ineffective. 

   First, too many Americans have an acute fear of speaking up about social and political issues, especially those involving race. According to a Gallup poll, 77 percent of conservatives are afraid to share their political beliefs publicly. 

   Worried about getting mobbed on social media, fired from their jobs, or worse, they remain quiet, ceding the public debate to those pushing these anti-American ideologies. The institutions themselves become dogmatic, suspicious and hostile to a diversity of opinion. Conservatives in government and schools have told me that their "equity and inclusion" departments serve as political offices, stamping out any dissent from official orthodoxy. 

   Second, critical race theorists have constructed their arguments like a mouse trap. Disagreement with their program becomes irrefutable evidence of a dissenter's "white fragility," "unconscious bias," or "internalized white supremacy." 

   Diversity trainers will make an outrageous claim - such as "all whites are intrinsically oppressors" or "white teachers are guilty of spirit murdering black children." Then when confronted, they adopt a patronizing tone, explaining that participants who feel "defensiveness" or "anger" are reacting out of guilt and shame. Dissenters are told to remain silent, "lean into the discomfort," and accept their "complicity in white supremacy." 

   Third, Americans across the political spectrum have failed to separate the premise of critical race theory from its conclusion. Its premise - that American history includes slavery and other injustices, and that we should learn from that history - is undeniable. 

   But its revolutionary conclusion - that America was founded on and defined by racism and that our founding principles, our Constitution and our way of life should be overthrown - does not rightly or necessarily follow. 

   Fourth, the writers and activists who have the courage to speak out against critical race theory have tended to address it on the theoretical level, pointing out the theory's logical contradictions and dishonest account of history.   

   These (worthy) criticisms move the debate into the academic realm, which is friendly terrain for proponents of critical race theory. They fail to force defenders of this revolutionary ideology to defend the practical consequences of their ideas in the realm of politics. 

Wednesday: Political Engagement

Friday: Courage