What Everyone Gets Wrong About 'Critical Race Theory'

"Critical Race Theory" is the newest political buzzword floating around both on and offline. But few people seem to know what it really means.

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Edited by John Ivory
#T1J #the1janitor #CriticalRaceTheory

[TJ]

Gonna pin this because I think I am going to get Eskimo comments forever until the end of time if I don't. So as most of you understood, I was quoting the book when I used the term; it's probably not the terminology I would use myself. For what it's worth, the book was written in 2001, and while I'm pretty sure the controversy around the term "Eskimo" existed then, it was probably not as well known that some people find the term offensive. That said, many (although I'm guessing not most) natives still to this day refer to themselves as Eskimo. It's similar to the term "Indian" when describing Natives. Many natives refers to themselves as Indian - but I acknowledge that, in general, we should probably use better terms than Eskimo and Indian. I always raise an eyebrow when a bunch of (generally white) people jump at the chance to be the social justice police on behalf of another group - e.g I've learned recently that "Latinx" is a great example of white people trying to force something that the actual group in question mostly doesn't give a shit about, but would love a perspective from anyone who is actually from the group in question.

[NoiseDay]

If Jessie Gender can talk about Star Trek and trans rights, you can talk about Marvel, Smash and race.

[LucasWills]

Every time I hear CRT I think of old TVs…

[slimfrinky]

White middle aged male in Mississippi here. Thank you so much for this video and helping me understand more about CRT. I can't tell you how valuable your videos have been to me, and how much they have taught me about race relations in America. Please don't ever stop, and if you end up in my neck of the woods you'll have a beer waiting for you.

[LarsFromNorway]

I'm not always in the mood for this channel and its extremely serious topics, but when I am, I'm unfailingly impressed by your ability to be so fair and reasonable about the subject matter. It's been that way for years. The intricate logical labyrinths you take us through are always fantastic.

Also, I'm very intellectually stubborn, yet somehow you've managed to change my mind on a few things. That alone deserves a medal or something. A+

[Mezzer]

I may not be the norm here but I'd love to here you talk about marvel movies and smash!

[fideldely]

"it's not slavery... was an involuntary unpaid internship..."

joke apart, spot on. will re watch in a while

[KatBlaque]

Hmmm...

So, the problem with "reason and logic" is not that it is something only white people can practice, but that when someone leaning heavily into white supremacist ideology, whether consciously or subconsciously cites it, it ignores that often times the "facts" they reference aren't free from white supremacy. I think it's kind of silly and very reductive to argue that people are wrong to point this out. Popular example: "America is only 13 percent black, but black people are over represented in prisons" or whatever diatribe they often give. That's a reference to statistics that may indeed be true, but it also completely ignores how black folks are over policed, how white folks are under policed and how black folks often receive harsher sentences than their white counterparts. People will point to those "facts" as proof and evidence that black folks are just more naturally predisposed to violence and criminality, but that's ignoring so many other factors. White supremacy influences so much in this country and at the end of the day, the vibe I get from people who criticize CRT is that they simply don't want to acknowledge that.

[theoutsiderhumanist]

Probably the most clear, rational, even-handed, generally non-stupid treatment of CRT I've seen.

[inter]

English teacher in florida here: there is no CRT curriculum. But you’re right; “Florida Edition” textbooks, particularly American literature & American history, are whitewashed. Small mentions or straight up omissions of the “darker” parts of American history. Or in the case of American literature...American genres such as Southern Gothic are referred to “an American southern tradition using gothic tropes” than “exposing the ills of the Jim Crow South using horror tropes.” Small word changes like that, glossed over details, or convenient omissions is rampant in red states, particularly Texas and Florida.

[Kuhmuhnistische_Partei]

Marxism was actually more systematic oriented.

"To prevent possible misunderstanding, a word. I paint the capitalist and the landlord in no sense couleur de rose [i.e., seen through rose-tinted glasses]. But here individuals are dealt with only in so far as they are the personifications of economic categories, embodiments of particular class-relations and class-interests. My standpoint, from which the evolution of the economic formation of society is viewed as a process of natural history, can less than any other make the individual responsible for relations whose creature he socially remains, however much he may subjectively raise himself above them."
~Capital Volume I; Preface to the First German Edition; Marx: 1867

The whole thing with "capitalists are evil!" was more part of the agitation of the communist political organizations to make it a bit more spicy and to get angry people more involved.

[noahr]

I NEED videos like this. I am a white guy in small town rural Ohio with little to no exposure to other than white people. Most people around me are happy being oblivious to issues facing people outside of our bubble and little sympathy for other races. I appreciate you providing an easily digestible explanation of CRT. Excellent video, thank you.

[amalsinkarina]

just like with every truly controversial thing ever: it's complicated

[andrewpowell]

You can combine two subjects by talking about Ta-Nahesi Coates run on Captain America.

[kyle-silver]

If CRT didn’t exist, the right would have just picked a different academic philosophy that acknowledged systemic racism. In fact, the misrepresentation on both sides actually makes CRT an even better scapegoat — the more meaningless the phrase becomes, the more the right is able to imbue it with falsehoods until the term is completely poisoned

[TasTheWatcher]

I don't think most Marxists agree that attacking individuals based (only) on the social class they belong to is okay

[YisYtruth]

This is what happens when people start using academic jargon outside of acadamia.

[OriginalJohnnyCage]

*"It wouldn't be color-blindness after all it would be just one color... White."*

Yup! That's what happens when people see white as the default and other races are classed as "political"

[etxnjmu]

Hey T1J, as someone who graduated with a science degree, I can say that science is not nearly as simple as "What do the data say?" The collection of data itself contains preconceptions, because no-one just does things at random. You're always asking a question, or looking at a specific environment, or going off a specific theory. The scientist approaches the construction of the experiment with some mindset, and many of the base assumptions a scientist makes will align with the interests of the dominant culture. Hence why eg. oil companies fund studies with the aim of casting doubt on climate change, because you can easily construct studies which make things ambiguous.

Does this mean we should throw away science? No! Reason is an indispensable tool for humans. It means we have to be critical in engaging with science, because it is not as simple as true/false. "Just the facts" is a barren concept, all facts have context. And, as you can see from conservative discourse, "just the facts" is typically employed in order to silence people questioning the established order.

[alarcon]

19:52 the problem is, when you live in the south (Florida in my case), most white people (who may feel they're honest and good faith, and are generally the kind of people who wouldn't hurt a soul) simply do not believe these *true facts* (such as the higher rate of incarceration of people of color) because it goes against who they believe themselves to be. and because most of us are not even exposed to the most minimum of history (such as the Tulsa Race massacre or the Marais des Cygnes massacre), there's no need to question or criticize your beliefs about race. this problem is currently being played out all over latin america where people still cling to the importance of their european ancestors aka colonizers