Understanding Critical Race Theory and DEI

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is an academic discipline created by Harvard law professors in the 1970s.  Over the years it has grown in popularity and is now taught in many universities and K-12 schools in the United States.  In a nutshell, CRT teaches that disparities between racial groups are due to racism, and that the solution is race-based discrimination.  For example, if black kids on average score lower on the ACT than white kids, then the test must be racist, and the solution is to either change the test (if possible) or make the college ACT requirements lower for black students than for white students.  

James Lindsay is one of the leading experts against CRT.  In a video for PragerU called "What is Critical Race Theory?" he said that CRT promotes the following ideas:  

• The most important thing about you is your race.
• If you are black, you are a victim of a system rigged against you.  If you are white, you are privileged and an exploiter of the system, whether you intend to be or not.  All black people are victims, and all white people are oppressors.  
• Racism occurs in all situations.  CRT proponents can find racism in anything.
• Racism did not die with the end of the slavery or the Civil Rights movement; it only hid itself better.
• MLK was wrong and naive.  White people cannot avoid racism.  It is impossible for them to treat black people according to their character rather than their color.  

Christopher Rufo is another leading expert against CRT.  In a paper for the Heritage Foundation called "Critical Race Theory Would Not Solve Racial Inequality: It Would Deepen It" he said that CRT "posits that America's institutions are 'camouflages' for racial oppression," and that "the United States is a nation founded on white supremacy, patriarchy, and oppression and that these forces are still at the roots of our society."  He added that "critical race theory's key analytical and rhetorical framework is to portray every instance of racial disparity as evidence of racial discrimination."  

What about DEI, which stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?  DEI is simply CRT in action.  It involves organizations or departments within organizations which teach the ideology of CRT and implement policies and procedures to achieve equal outcomes among races.  This usually translates to imposing quotas.  DEI experts or departments are responsible for identifying disparities and then implementing "solutions," and then convincing everyone that purposeful discrimination in the name of non-discrimination is just.  To use the example above of the ACT test, the DEI department would be responsible for identifying the disparity in the test results, and creating and implementing a solution to eliminate the disparity such as making the ACT requirements for black students easier than for white students.  

In a video for PragerU, Christian Watson said that DEI is about "applying unequal standards to ensure preferential outcomes for individuals and groups based on race, sex, and gender identity."  So, DEI aims to correct not merely racial disparities, but unequal outcomes for women and the LGBTQ+ community.  Watson goes on to say, "DEI is ultimately about only one thing: advancing those who are not white, heterosexual and male at the expense of white, heterosexual men, regardless of their respective qualifications."  In the end, DEI is condescending toward black people and fosters a sense of victimhood.  "DEI assumes black people can't hack it on their own.  Neither can women or anyone else who falls under the LGBTQ+ umbrella.  They all need what only DEI can give them because no one can compete with the white, heterosexual superman."  

As Christians we must reject CRT and DEI.  The Bible teaches that all people are equally valuable before God, regardless of race.  The founding fathers of America understood this principle and aimed to create a new nation that reflected it.  In the Declaration of Independence they wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."  In practice, our nation has not always abided by these values.  In the 1960s, a Baptist pastor by the name of Martin Luther King Jr. started the Civil Rights Movement which led to several major changes in the law, making racial discrimination illegal.  King's aim was that in the United States people would be judged not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.  This is the goal that Christians must continue to pursue, both in action and in policy.  This is the opposite of CRT and DEI, which both aim to correct disparities with discrimination, treating people by the color of their skin and not the content of their character.  In the words of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts, "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."