Friday, May 28, 2021

"Republicans Are Passing Laws To Suppress The Truth About Slavery's Enduring Legacy"

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Why...Critical Race Theory isn't even that radical! All it basically says is that there's some racism in the U.S.! 
Behold, the motte-and-bailey...
   CRT is an extremely radical descendant of Marxism that is very closely associated with--one might even say it presupposes--a radical epistemology (standpoint theory, which itself includes the rejection of objectivity) and a radical (and false) metaphysics of race (social constructionism). 
   No one who understands even the basics of CRT can deny that it's radical. It explicitly characterizes itself as radical--and anti-liberal. It's also closely associated--again, arguably to the point of presupposing) anti-white racist views (whites are as a matter of conceptual necessity, oppressors + "whiteness" must be eliminated/destroyed). 
   What conservatives are trying to do is to prevent students from being indoctrinated with this view. It's not optimal for legislators to tell teachers what they must teach--but it's better than permitting widespread, crackpot indoctrination. (And, at least here, the government already tells schools what they have to do; the only difference in this case is that the instructions are anti-leftist rather than pro-leftist.)
   This isn't even a view that ought to be taught in K-12, IMO. Most K-12 teachers aren't equipped to discuss the view objectively and critically. (In fact, most college professors aren't, TBH.) Views of this kind aren't typically discussed before college; even introducing it into a K-12 class makes it seem as if it's more important and reasonable than it is. Unless a class is already discussing outre philosophical and political theories, and CRT is just one such view among many, there is absolutely no justification for discussing it.
   Despite its pretensions, CRT isn't scientific, and isn't even on the side of knowledge. It's on the side of interpretation / speculation. The only reason to introduce it in K-12 is, let's be honest, progressive-left indoctrination: progressive teachers want to get students to believe it. They're not interested in it as a scholarly or intellectual matter. It's about brainwashing student with the content of the theory.
   This can't come as a surprise to anyone who's been paying attention. Progressive teachers and administrators have already introduced transgender ideology specifically in order to indoctrinate students with it. The progressive-left doesn't really argue nor reason; it decrees and indoctrinates. Its goal is not to win debates, but to suppress them--it introduces its crackpot theories and then suppresses disagreement via ad hominem attacks and character assassination. Given CRT's Marxist roots, this shouldn't be surprising.
   Again: this can come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the view. It is just one prominent aspect of a version of leftism that is bound up tightly with philosophical views that reject reason, objectivity, and truth. Indoctrination isn't a bug--it's a feature. Denials of indoctrination are especially incredible when they come from those who advocate a philosophy that entails that leftist indoctrination is not only permissible, but obligatory. Of course your average K-12 teacher has probably read approximately no philosophy, and a fortiori no critical theory outside of critical race theory. They picked up some CRT in ed school as undergrads--horrifyingly, CRT flourishes there. Teachers are clearly promoting their personal political views, which accord with the rabid leftist fad sweeping through our institutions. 
   It's as if they think that 1984 is an instruction manual--and that Marcuse's "Repressive Tolerance" isn't.

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