How the Economic Policy Institute Wrongly Defended Critical Race Theory

Executive Summary

• The Economic Policy Institute is excellent when it comes to labor unions and public welfare.
• The EPI made false statements on CRT.

Introduction

For many years critical race theory was limited to universities. Critical race theory has always been something for those close to insane and easy to dismiss. However, this insanity is spreading as critical race theory has for some reason moved closer to the mainstream, with concepts of critical race theory finding their way into different conversations and propositions without necessarily specifically referring to critical race theory. What is concerning is to see the EPI support this black-centric brainless and racist ideology.

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Quotes from the Economic Policy Institute on CRT

Over the past several months, conservative lawmakers and activists have carried out a concerted assault against a wide range of efforts and ideas that raise awareness about the history of racial injustice in the United States, its embeddedness in our society, and the resulting inequities observed today. Attackers have grouped and conflated all these concepts and ideas into what they are dubbing “critical race theory.” But those carrying out this campaign are not interested in what the actual academic critical race theory (CRT) says. – Economic Policy Institute

Notice that the CRT critics are criticized but without presenting what CRT is. CRT declares it irrational because rational thinking and math are “white.” It also has a goal to remove the freedom of speech from whites, as I cover in the article Critical Race Theory Proponents Want Freedom of Speech Taken from Whites.

Critical Race Theory is filled with anti-white ideas, as I cover in the article Critical Race Theory Shows the How Diversity Means Anti White Ideas.

Only Academic?

Before the latest right-wing scapegoating tactic, critical race theory was seldom discussed among the general public. It is an academic discourse, mostly taught in law schools, that calls for an examination of our legal system from a racial lens, arguing that the law is not neutral and has been a tool to maintain racial hierarchy. – Economic Policy Institute

That is false. First, CRT is based on irrationality, unsurprising as blacks formulated it. It proposes that everything is about power, and therefore it is legitimate to make false statements if it increases one’s ability to gain power. This explains why BLM made false claims around police violence against blacks, as I cover in the article Why the Claims by Black Lives Matter on Police Shootings Are False.

Why should CRT be taken seriously if they reject rational thought and have it as the primary strategy to make false claims? If CRT is faulty, it should not be taught, and CRT thought has influences many corporate training programs on race and into educational curriculum in high school and middle schools. It is just not called CRT. But it does not matter how it is introduced; it is that CRT ideas have permeated many areas.

No Engagement With CRT Substance

Conservative attackers fomenting controversy rarely engage with the substance of critical race theory. Instead, they attack any public discussion, organizing movement, policy effort, or—most concerningly—public education that acknowledges that the founding of our nation is rooted in the enslavement of people of African descent for their labor, and the genocide and plunder of Indigenous peoples for their land. They also attack any call for changes in our economic, legal, and cultural domains to address some of these harms that have compounded for centuries. – Economic Policy Institute

This is also false. I just did, and parents do, and conservative commentators do. However, notice that EPI is not. They are not explaining what CRT is, but just claiming that anyone who critiques it is a racist, which is curious because many people who critique CRT are black, and according to CRT, blacks cannot be racist, but all whites are racist. This is textbook CRT.

A Backlash Against Black Progress?

These attacks are the latest examples of white backlash to perceived progress, upward mobility, and equality for Black people. Throughout U.S. history, reactionary politics have always followed periods of potential redemptive transformation. The short—yet significant—period of Reconstruction after the U.S. Civil War serves as a pivotal example of this. In what the historian Eric Foner calls “this first experiment in genuine interracial democracy in the South,” the Reconstruction era saw transformative voting rights legislation passed as well as the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed equal citizenship to anyone born in the United States. However, by the end of the 19th century, white backlash ended Reconstruction. The Jim Crow era of racial segregation—legitimized by the 1896 Supreme Court Plessy v. Ferguson decision—reigned supreme. Poll taxes and literacy tests replaced the Reconstruction universal male suffrage laws, and the Ku Klux Klan spread in influence and membership. White backlash and violence were prevalent both in periods of economic growth, especially Black economic growth as seen by the Tulsa Massacre of 1921 and others, and in periods of economic downturn, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. – Economic Policy Institute

Blacks have not made much progress. The worst areas of the US are all black cities, including Detroit, Baltimore, East St Louis, Oakland, etc. These are cities where blacks have taken over the management of the city. However, in every case, blacks have shown themselves unable to manage cities at anywhere near the level of whites. This should not be surprising as black civilizations have never been not only not at the levels of Western Europeans (the primary immigrant group that originated the US) but were never at the level of Latin American or Arab societies, both of which never attained the level of even Eastern European societies.

So there would be little need to react against something that does not exist. The entire logic for CRT in the 1980s was that blacks were not making much progress, so CRT was designed to promote blacks, but chiefly through lying, which would allow increased levels of race scamming. The analogy criticism of CRT and voting rights legislation has no validity. CRT continually makes false claims and is an anti-white ideology. It has nothing to do with pushing back on voting rights.

Essentially these authors are saying that those that oppose CRT oppose the rights of blacks to vote. That is curious because I oppose CRT, but I don’t oppose the rights of blacks to vote. So how accurate is this analogy?

This analogy by EPI is so baseless that it makes one question the entire logical capability as well as the honesty of the authors of the EPI article. However, if these authors follow CRT, then any lie that can be told to gain power should be told. As under CRT, there is nothing true or false, it is only to be used in a quest to gain power.

Historical Context That is Invalid Matters?

This historical context matters because, as the current anti-CRT vitriol shows, these trends continue today. The historical backlash, violence, and racist legislation not only destroyed lives, livelihoods, and wealth at the time, but crucially, cut off wealth-building and intergenerational wealth. White backlash and violence have persistent economic effects and impact current inequality and material wellbeing. Recent scholarship, for example, has shown that areas with high rates of lynchings have lower Black voter registration today. – Economic Policy Institute

A historical context does not matter if it very obviously is illogical, which this weak attempt at an analogy is. And again, notice who the EPI seems to be doing everything they can not discuss what CRT is. Why is EPI so disinterested in discussing the content of CRT? I will tell you why because the content of CRT is embarrassing and can’t be defended. This is much like Muslims trying to defend the Koran, Sira, and Hadith against critique but being very careful never to address the critiques of the passages within these books. This is because as soon as you read these documents, they contain downright embarrassing information, and the documents and religion can not be defended.

Stopping CRT From Being Taught is Censorship?

The attacks against “critical race theory” are not a random occurrence by a few fringe agitators—they are pervasive and insidious state-sponsored attempts to disempower and disenfranchise marginalized and racialized communities. These right-wing attacks have escalated from a mere dog whistle into serious and concerning legislative action and censorship. – Economic Policy Institute– Economic Policy Institute

Yes, states should disempower CRT. Furthermore, not all non-white communities support CRT. CRT promotes the idea that all non-whites are victims, which many non-whites don’t like and disagree with. I am not a “right-winger” I have certainly never voted or been a fan of Republicans, but I have “attacked” CRT myself. Although notice the term “attacked.” If one is critiquing something, is it really an attack? CRT is highly dismissive of all whites and makes highly aggressive claims that it cannot support and admits it fabricates to gain power. Is no one allowed to critique CRT without being categorized as an “attack?” Should everyone accept false claims by CRT proponents? Is that the system we want, where stupid and false ideas are never critiqued?

Furthermore, critiques of CRT have not been coming from a singular “racist” source as proposed in this quote.

Finally, CRT is demanding to be taught in K-12 schools, which is odd because the previous claim of EPI and other CRT proponents is that it is not taught in K-12 schools. So why do these schools see the need to pass legislation to stop the teaching of CRT? And this brings us to this highly misleading quote.

Several states have passed legislation banning or hindering teachings on the country’s history of racial and gender-based hierarchy and its contemporary ramifications, mostly in K–12 schools. These states include Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. In Florida, Georgia, and Utah, school boards have restricted teachings on race-related topics. – Economic Policy Institute– Economic Policy Institute

This is not legislation to ban and hinder the teaching of the country’s history of racial and gender-based hierarchy. There is plenty of that in the curriculum already, which stops teaching CRT’s version of these things. And the CRT version is false. For example, we don’t teach about magic or creationism or how aliens live on earth. Those subjects are “censored” because they are not true. This false claim continues.

Policymakers in dozens of other states have introduced legislation or campaigns to restrict education on racial injustices and related biases in what are thinly veiled attempts to censor and promote a revisionist whitewashed history. Some, such as Alabama’s pre-filed bill, ban the teaching of any concepts about critical race theory and make broad statements such as “The Alabama State Board of Education believes that the United States of America is not an inherently racist country, and the state of Alabama is not an inherently racist state.” Arizona’s signed bill prohibits the teaching of unconscious bias or responsibility for historic acts of racism. Tennessee’s signed bill withholds funding from schools if teachers connect events to institutional racism. – Economic Policy Institute– Economic Policy Institute

CRT can’t support its claims — and the school boards realize this. They are doing what their responsibility is.

Conclusion

CRT is a doctrine designed for the non-thinking and will eventually lead to violent conflict. It is a blueprint to increase tribalism and to ruin society. CRT has invaded the mainstream and is either being promoted by or is simply increasing independently with the BLM movement. It is massively discrediting the Economic Policy Institute to support CRT. Like CRT, the article just critiqued was filled with inaccuracies and deception in that it never actually addressed the CRT philosophy. CRT is based upon race scamming that has as its foundation irrational black thought. It is concerning how such a large percentage of black writing is unreasonable. And irrational thinking, no matter what the source, should be rejected. Not only is CRT irrational, but this article supporting CRT is also irrational and highly deceptive.