By guest author Russ Hepler
Critical Race Theory is one of the most controversial dogmas being pushed by the left in America today. It has infested almost every one of our institutions – education, government, the military, the law, social media, and the church. It is also subtly showing up more and more in the popular culture of Hollywood and professional sports.
We have been hearing numerous new terms for components of it; each of vital, complex importance according to its “evangelists.” Terms like “white privilege”, “white guilt”, “white fragility”, “intersectionality”, “social justice”, “equity”, and “wokeness” are all part of this multi-tentacled monster that is seeking to devour American culture.
Yet, the CRT jihadists seldom even mention it by name anymore in most applications. In education and industry it is called by more innocuous descriptions like “diversity training” and “tolerance goals.”
We are just now seeing parents rebelling against the stealth teachers’ unions’ efforts to slip it into school curricula. We are starting to hear more and more stories of how it is destroying industry and free market capitalism via “wokeness.” And, alarming reports are now coming out about how it is decimating military preparedness by weakening standards and creating division among the ranks.
So, exactly what is this current cultural plague and from whence has it come? Many others have written valuable critiques of the various components of CRT, so I will not repeat their work here. Each of the aforementioned terms has lengthy definitions and the companion criticisms are easily accessible to anyone seeking the truth.
But, the whole movement can be boiled down to a simple understanding of it being Marxism re-warmed. The armchair Marxists who have infested American academia for decades have been trying desperately to gain cultural traction for their cult since the 1950s. But, they have been largely without success in convincing the general public that American freedom is bad and an all-powerful government controlling every aspect of life would make the world a utopia.
That reality has changed in the past decade as more and more people, after 50 years of very flawed public education, have generally lost the ability to think for themselves. Those who have been indoctrinated in all things leftist, instead of educated, have become a growing flock of sheep in America who are willing to surrender real freedoms for illusory government guarantees of comfort, security, and faux happiness sans rules and morality.
In other words, more and more people today have drunk Marx’s “Kool-Aid” without tasting the cultural cyanide. And, the whole movement today is hiding within some next phase of civil rights for minorities.
The propaganda goes something like this: “Since it is a given that America is systemically racist, the whole system must be overthrown and replaced with a new social order of “equity.” But, herein lies the deception. The new CRT “social justice warriors” have replaced the real goal of civil rights – “equality” with the dubious, but similar sounding term – “equity.” (For them, equity really just means mediocrity – the least common denominator.)
Equality is a good thing – it is at the heart of America’s founding. (Yes, it did take a long time to realize the level of equality we have achieved today in a society of flawed human beings.) But, we need to understand that the Civil War and subsequent legislation culminating with the mid-1960s Civil Rights Act has ended all official government racism in America.
Now, these cranky cultural Marxists will deny that, but the proof is in the evidence existing right before our eyes. Just over a decade ago, the most powerful man in the world was a biracial US President. The wealthiest woman in the world is African-American. And, America has a healthy crop of minority millionaires in many different walks of life. None of these things would be possible if systemic government racism existed now in America.
So, why did the armchair Marxists shift their infestation efforts to CRT? Mostly because they have nowhere else to go to peddle their ideology. The abject failure and oppression of all Marxist regimes throughout the world over the past century has soured the public’s mind on America becoming Communist.
And, given the inroads Donald Trump made into the black and Hispanic vote in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, they are in serious danger of losing their political arm in America – the Democrat Party – forever.
So, using 1960s style rabblerousing, they stirred up racial strife and planted the seeds of fear and discontent among those who have failed to avail themselves of the real opportunities America presents. The BLM and Antifa movements are the best mobs the Marxists can rent. Democrat mayors and governors in several states haven’t had the political will to stop the mobs, so they have been proliferating.
The Marxists point to the unrest as their proof that systemic racism is real or there wouldn’t be so much anger and hostility. CRT is needed to “re-educate” the public in all areas to make it go away, they say.
But, America is greater than that. A nation built upon eternal truths will not be destroyed by a lie; especially a lie that has failed spectacularly everywhere in the world it has been tried. We strive for excellence here, not equity!
The troubling thing to this author personally is seeing CRT’s growing influence in the American Church today. Having lived long enough to see the culture “circle back”, it smells very familiar to 1960s Black Liberation Theology.
Marxism infested the liberal church during the middle part of the 20th century with Liberation Theology. It was first espoused by radical Catholic theologians in South America and it spread quickly into some progressive denominations of the American Church.
It also morphed and mutated to fit the cultural struggles of the day. Soon Liberation Theology had its subsets of “Black Liberation Theology”, “Feminist Liberation Theology”, “Gay Liberation Theology”, and “Environmental Liberation Theology.” All of these variants were Marxism simply stated, just using religious terminology rather than economic or sociological labels.
Today’s “Evangelical” Church is currently flirting with “wokeism” to its detriment. Black Liberation Theology 2.0 will not solve the current problems facing the American Church today. Only a good dose of repentance and a recommitment to the foundational principles of the Christian faith will accomplish that. It is a sad lesson that today’s leaders will have to learn or they will be seeing more and more churches empty out and close.
So, how do honest American patriots combat this multi-tentacled monster today?
First, we must expose the left’s agenda whenever and wherever we can. We will get no help from the main stream media. They are owned by the left and have no objectivity or journalistic professionalism remaining. We have to provide our own sources of information to the public. Big Tech will fight us every step of the way in this, but they dare not succeed. They are becoming the new Pravda in America. They must be reined in and forced to either quit or be fair in what they allow their platforms to publish. And, new sources of news and info must proliferate.
Second, we need to take back education. The public school system may be too corrupt and mediocre to be saved, so we must educate via private and homeschool options. When enough parents have finally had enough of left-wing educational failures, then they will exit the system in droves and it will collapse in on itself. Educational options breed both freedom and excellence. Government monopolies always lead to corruption and inferiority. We need to be sure the next generation is taught the 1776 Project, not the false 1619 Project!
Third, we must remove every “woke” politician from whatever office they are occupying. Anyone who wants to make government “god” is too dangerous to serve anywhere in government. Only those committed to our roots and founding documents should be considered for office.
Fourth, we must make our voices heard with our pocketbooks. “Get woke, go broke” needs to be more than a catchy slogan. It needs to send a shiver up the spines of every CEO in every company in America. We need to abandon all media outlets that push Marxism in any form, including CRT. This means we stop paying for entertainment sources that offend our beliefs and our nation with their propaganda.
Let the movies and TV shows fail. Let the stadium seats be empty. Let Hollywood unemployment numbers go through the roof. Remember, even American Marxist elites love money too!
This latest threat to our nation’s future can be overcome if we are willing to do the work. And, we must have faith that when we battle for truth vs. lies, the truth will win in the end. This commitment to eternal truth is what led to America in the first place. It will not fail us.
By Russ Hepler, Blue State Conservative
Image is a screen grab from Fox News.
