A review by davehershey
Critical Race Theory, An Introduction by Richard Delgado
4.0
The authors of this introduction to Critical Race Theory (CRT) define the it as “a collection of activists and scholars engaged in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power. The movement considers many of the same issues that conventional civil rights and ethnic studies discourses take up but places them in a broader perspective that includes economics, history, setting, group and self-interest, and emotions and the unconscious. Unlike traditional civil rights discourse, which stresses incrementalism and step-by-step progress, critical race theory questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law” (3).
Now, if you are a Christian or a conservative in America and you consume conservative Christian media, you have been told CRT is “the thing destroying both Christianity and our culture!” Its the scapegoat and bogeyman and bad guy to battle against.
Unfortunately, that’s how it goes for talking heads who make their living drumming up fear. I’m now old enough to remember when there were other boogeymen to be terrified of: postmodernism and relativism, multiculturalism and Islamic extremism. It seems like every couple of years there is some new idea out there, inevitably being promoted by cultural elites on university campuses, that is going to destroy your children! Be afraid.
And send money.
When I was in college and seminary, around 20 years ago, the big bad guy was postmodernism. Postmodernism was essentially just moral relativism and would ruin everything. Of course, thankfully I had some intelligent and open-minded professors at seminary who encouraged us to go a little deeper. They offered some nuance, recognizing postmodern philosophy consists of diverse ideas that are not all the same. Of course, this deep thinking and nuance might be why they were content teaching at a small Christian seminary. The big name traveling speakers and radio personalities got a large audience but were quite shallow. There’s a sad truth there - deep thinking and nuance rarely receive a large audience. Yelling and fear - that’s where the money is!
Anyway, I digress.
As I’ve heard more and more about CRT, I’ve been interested in learning about what it actually states. This book (this is a book review, I forgot there for a minute!) is a helpful place to start. It is, as the title says, an introduction. The authors take us through some principal figures and spin off movements to hallmark themes of CRT such as revisionist history and a critique of liberalism. They examine the import of storytelling for CRT. There is a brief section looking at and responding to criticism of CRT.
Overall, this is a helpful little book. It is clearly designed for undergrad use in a classroom, as it includes discussion questions and exercises. I think I have a better general understanding of CRT. Perhaps the best thing about this book is it ought to dissuade any honest reader from imagining CRT as a simplistic monolithic beast to be afraid of. There is complexity and conversation within the movement, including disagreement. Not all CRT scholars or activists are the same!
That said, the interested reader could find similar solid summaries on the internet. I will link to one such series below.
Overall, it makes sense why some Christians are worried about CRT. The critique of Liberalism and Enlightenment Rationalism is threatening when you see these as essential to faith. This is part of the problem with much modern Christian apologetics; they buy into modern presuppositions mostly uncritically. Plenty of historians and theologians have shown that modern assumptions are no more a default nor no better than any other assumptions. If anything, these modern assumptions are more detrimental than premodern (or dare we say, postmodern ones).
Another way of putting this is that while some are so worried about CRT, they have totally missed the real threats: White Christian Nationalism and unfettered capitalism. White Christians have made an idol of a mythologized view of American history, and we have seen how this plays out in real ways. Many Christians in this country are more committed to white America than middle eastern Jesus. We need a little revisionist history perhaps. Likewise, when you live in and benefit from empire, thinking capitalism is God’s gift to make you rich, any critiques sound scary. Is it creeping CRT to remember Jesus and the Prophets’ warning against money?
All this to say, CRT is no more a danger to Christianity than any other ideology. Like any other, we ought to not just uncritically accept everything. Nor should we simplistically throw it all out. We should listen for insights that point out blind spots we may not have noticed. We should be willing to put CRT in conversation with Christian intellectual history. Of course, we should also recognize that the biggest opponents to CRT tend to be white evangelicals which might just prove the need for CRT since some of what they are saying is echoed by black pastors, theologians and teachers.
Can we be humble enough to admit CRT might have something to teach us?
The Christian and Critical Race Theory, Part 1: A Survey of Traditional Civil Rights Discourse - https://thefrontporch.org/2020/06/the-christian-and-critical-race-theory-part-1-a-survey-of-the-traditional-civil-rights-discourse/
Part 2 - Segregationist Discourse and Civil Rights Retrenchment - https://thefrontporch.org/2020/07/the-christian-and-critical-race-theory-2-the-segregationist-discourse-and-civil-rights-retrenchment/
Part 3 - A Bridge: Derrick Bell - https://thefrontporch.org/2020/07/the-christian-and-critical-race-theory-part-3-a-bridge-dr-derrick-bell/
Part 4 - Alan Freeman and the Contribution of CLS - https://thefrontporch.org/2020/08/the-christian-and-critical-race-theory-part-4-alan-freeman-and-the-contribution-of-cls/
Part 5 - A Misalignment of Frames: Integrationism - https://thefrontporch.org/2020/10/the-christian-and-critical-race-theory-part-5-a-misalignment-of-frames-integrationism/
Part 6 - A Misalignment of Frames: The New Right - https://thefrontporch.org/2020/11/the-christian-and-critical-race-theory-part-6-a-misalignment-of-frames-the-new-right/
Now, if you are a Christian or a conservative in America and you consume conservative Christian media, you have been told CRT is “the thing destroying both Christianity and our culture!” Its the scapegoat and bogeyman and bad guy to battle against.
Unfortunately, that’s how it goes for talking heads who make their living drumming up fear. I’m now old enough to remember when there were other boogeymen to be terrified of: postmodernism and relativism, multiculturalism and Islamic extremism. It seems like every couple of years there is some new idea out there, inevitably being promoted by cultural elites on university campuses, that is going to destroy your children! Be afraid.
And send money.
When I was in college and seminary, around 20 years ago, the big bad guy was postmodernism. Postmodernism was essentially just moral relativism and would ruin everything. Of course, thankfully I had some intelligent and open-minded professors at seminary who encouraged us to go a little deeper. They offered some nuance, recognizing postmodern philosophy consists of diverse ideas that are not all the same. Of course, this deep thinking and nuance might be why they were content teaching at a small Christian seminary. The big name traveling speakers and radio personalities got a large audience but were quite shallow. There’s a sad truth there - deep thinking and nuance rarely receive a large audience. Yelling and fear - that’s where the money is!
Anyway, I digress.
As I’ve heard more and more about CRT, I’ve been interested in learning about what it actually states. This book (this is a book review, I forgot there for a minute!) is a helpful place to start. It is, as the title says, an introduction. The authors take us through some principal figures and spin off movements to hallmark themes of CRT such as revisionist history and a critique of liberalism. They examine the import of storytelling for CRT. There is a brief section looking at and responding to criticism of CRT.
Overall, this is a helpful little book. It is clearly designed for undergrad use in a classroom, as it includes discussion questions and exercises. I think I have a better general understanding of CRT. Perhaps the best thing about this book is it ought to dissuade any honest reader from imagining CRT as a simplistic monolithic beast to be afraid of. There is complexity and conversation within the movement, including disagreement. Not all CRT scholars or activists are the same!
That said, the interested reader could find similar solid summaries on the internet. I will link to one such series below.
Overall, it makes sense why some Christians are worried about CRT. The critique of Liberalism and Enlightenment Rationalism is threatening when you see these as essential to faith. This is part of the problem with much modern Christian apologetics; they buy into modern presuppositions mostly uncritically. Plenty of historians and theologians have shown that modern assumptions are no more a default nor no better than any other assumptions. If anything, these modern assumptions are more detrimental than premodern (or dare we say, postmodern ones).
Another way of putting this is that while some are so worried about CRT, they have totally missed the real threats: White Christian Nationalism and unfettered capitalism. White Christians have made an idol of a mythologized view of American history, and we have seen how this plays out in real ways. Many Christians in this country are more committed to white America than middle eastern Jesus. We need a little revisionist history perhaps. Likewise, when you live in and benefit from empire, thinking capitalism is God’s gift to make you rich, any critiques sound scary. Is it creeping CRT to remember Jesus and the Prophets’ warning against money?
All this to say, CRT is no more a danger to Christianity than any other ideology. Like any other, we ought to not just uncritically accept everything. Nor should we simplistically throw it all out. We should listen for insights that point out blind spots we may not have noticed. We should be willing to put CRT in conversation with Christian intellectual history. Of course, we should also recognize that the biggest opponents to CRT tend to be white evangelicals which might just prove the need for CRT since some of what they are saying is echoed by black pastors, theologians and teachers.
Can we be humble enough to admit CRT might have something to teach us?
The Christian and Critical Race Theory, Part 1: A Survey of Traditional Civil Rights Discourse - https://thefrontporch.org/2020/06/the-christian-and-critical-race-theory-part-1-a-survey-of-the-traditional-civil-rights-discourse/
Part 2 - Segregationist Discourse and Civil Rights Retrenchment - https://thefrontporch.org/2020/07/the-christian-and-critical-race-theory-2-the-segregationist-discourse-and-civil-rights-retrenchment/
Part 3 - A Bridge: Derrick Bell - https://thefrontporch.org/2020/07/the-christian-and-critical-race-theory-part-3-a-bridge-dr-derrick-bell/
Part 4 - Alan Freeman and the Contribution of CLS - https://thefrontporch.org/2020/08/the-christian-and-critical-race-theory-part-4-alan-freeman-and-the-contribution-of-cls/
Part 5 - A Misalignment of Frames: Integrationism - https://thefrontporch.org/2020/10/the-christian-and-critical-race-theory-part-5-a-misalignment-of-frames-integrationism/
Part 6 - A Misalignment of Frames: The New Right - https://thefrontporch.org/2020/11/the-christian-and-critical-race-theory-part-6-a-misalignment-of-frames-the-new-right/