A Devil's Advocate response to Thomas Sowell

 h/t to @philllosoraptor for putting this in front of me

As brilliant as this argument is in taking down the notion that the lingering effects of slavery, Jim Crow, redlining, etc. necessarily remain with us today, it stands no chance against the shiftiness of CRT thinking. 

In answer to Sowell's questions 5 and 6, the Critical Race Theorist would unhesitatingly say "yes." Because getting married or having reading material at home are both forms of "whiteness." And the racist has structured society to favor whiteness over all other ways of being.

That is to say, the Critical Race Theorist thinks that society is structured around essentially arbitrary institutions. Why build a society upon family cohesion, education, and work ethic? Why not build society around something else? Why not the opposites?

The idea that one way of doing things might actually work better than another is—for the most part—outside CRT thinking. To the extent that they have it at all, they see the (historically minor) imperfections of modern life and conclude that "anything would be better than this."

Put slightly differently, CRT sees society as completely and artificially structured, and that the keys to success were in some sense decided. This is not to say that society is in no sense structured, but the idea that any of what "works" was discovered is anathema to CRT.

~~~

Phil importantly notes (in response to troll): "The excerpt says absolutely nothing about justifying redlining. It is dispelling the argument that redlining half a century ago is still *the primary factor* that determines the outcomes in the black community. My asterisked phrase is important here."

Comments

  1. ArgentGaleMarch 30, 2021 at 5:00 PM

    That's exactly how it works with these types all right and it's just one more piece of insanity I'm at my wit's end with. I keep wondering where the general public is in all of this and why they keep getting away with this and honestly I'm afraid of what the answer might be at this point. Regardless it's exhausting to follow this and even more exhausting to realize just how little it seems like people who see through this nonsense can actually do anymore.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. andToddsaidApril 2, 2021 at 6:38 AM

      Hey ArgentGale, I really need to get my notifications in order. CRT is inherently shifty and arguing with it is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. I get that it's exhausting. I seem to have a knack for slipping into its mode of thinking. It really is a you-get-it-or-you-don't sort of thing. People like James Lindsay are doing yeoman's work in translating a completely different manner of logic to people outside of it. In fact, even that is a sticking point. Lots of people think there is simply Logic and not different varieties of logic.

      Delete

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