Opposition To Critical Race Theory

Newsmax tonight (6/7/2021) carried an online article by write Jeremy Frankel writing for Newsmax. Let me quote the first two paragraphs of the article and then respond to them: "Republican Senators Rick Scott of Florida, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Mike Braun of Indiana, introduced a resolution on Monday condemning Critical Race Theory (CRT), which states that CRT is a “prejudicial ideological tool, rather than an educational tool.” The resolution, titled S.Res.246, also says that CRT should not be taught in K-12 classrooms, since it teaches students to “judge individuals based on sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.” My response: Teachers too often now are activists indoctrinating children's minds with Leftist ideology, rather than neutral pedagogues opening minds and educating the young. As Jordan Peterson often points out, the individual is the core sovereign concept underlying Western civilization, so to teach students to underplay and discount their own individuality, regarding each individual only as an avatar, another-determined avatar of one group identity, based on class, race, sex, ethnicity or national origin, is to seek to gut Western civilization of its ethos, of its most uplifting values. Let me quote three paragraphs from the short article, covering the objections personally voiced by all three federal Senators against CRT: "Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), said in a statement that the far-left wants Americans to believe that the U.S. is “inherently racist and bad” and that they want to “discredit the values America was founded on.” Scott added that “[W]e can’t stand by and allow ‘woke’ liberals to divide our nation. Students in Florida and every state across this nation deserve better and I’m proud to lead my colleagues today in a resolution to stand up against this dangerous policy.” Blackburn agreed, stating that the principles of CRT are based in the “destructive ideal of inherent racism,” and that it teaches children to “judge and self-segregate” based on skin-color alone, adding that “[I]n Tennessee, we believe in equality and opportunity for all. Students should not be discriminated against on the basis of race under any circumstances.” Braun’s statement said that “America’s kids need to know that the fundamental values of our country are liberty, equality, and opportunity for all – not racism and oppression.”" My response: though it is true that all people, regardless of color, sexual orientation or national origin, are inherently racist, by living as an individual that respects all others as separate individuals, whose race is interesting but not much relevant beyond that point, certainly no basis for acting or making decisions, Americans have become little racist and mostly accepting of others in this multi-ethnic society. We need to further emphasize individual attributes and accomplishments, mostly and deliberately downplaying the importance of someone's racial background, because to obsess about racism is to spread prejudice and racial conflict everywhere, as all view all in terms of their racial, tribal and group memberships. The only way to end racism is to no longer much care about it, more indifferent than forgetting it. Braun mentions that liberty, equality and opportunity are what America is about, not racism and oppression. Amen.