Critical Race Theory teaches that all people are individuals but they are also members of social groups that are valued unequally in society with unequal access to the resources of society. Because of this, members have a moral obligation to challenge the status quo.
- It presumes to explain what is wrong with a free society.
- It presumes to be practical (non-abstract).
- It presumes to carry a moral agenda.
In a nutshell, I see it as the academic implementation of Oppression Olympics. It's Affirmative Action on Steroids. But that's too simple and perhaps hyperbolic of me. Maybe there's a better way to explain it.
In a nutshell, CRT (Critical Race Theory) is just applied post-modernism. So, then what's post-modernism? James Lindsay gave an analogy of post-modernism, that it's like acid, in chemistry. While acid certainly has its uses in chemistry, it breaks apart certain molecules, we don't just pour acid on everything and think we're doing chemistry.
CRT is like indiscriminately pouring acid everywhere, academically speaking.
"Racial literacy" is a codeword for Critical Race Theory, most of the time. https://t.co/LtGP8PidVZ
— James Lindsay, relevant white dude (@ConceptualJames) September 10, 2020
I mean, you want to be racially literate, right? But CRT weaponizes this desire. By the way, Critical Race Theory is just one of the Critical Theories and Critical Methods being explored by the academy.
It's not just race. Critical Methods are in law, art, philosophy, biology, architecture, and every conceivable discipline. If you want to take a real deep-dive on the topic, here's a playlist I'm maintaining:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKRVjHc7RPeScjGE7dgwGP8wDF59ryU-X

If you think this is too hard on literary criticism, read the Wikipedia article on deconstruction.