Category: Ethics and Critical Race Theory

Ethics and Critical Race Theory – General and Philosophical Positions

Introduction

In previous posts, I discussed the role of suspicion in critical race theory (CRT), and there I included the influences of Nietzsche, Marx, and Freud. I also touched on the CRT analysis that power structures are based on white privilege and white supremacy. Moreover, critical legal studies helped reinforce the view that law is mainly about power, not morals. Michel Foucault argued that the dominant group’s power is transmitted and normalized through institutions, and radical feminism contributed how power relates to the construction of social roles, which results in largely unnoticed patterns of domination.

Now, I will explore some more key positions of CRT, starting with some general ones. Then I will look at some key philosophical views, including what is real, and how we know things. In the next blog entry, I will look at several key ethical stances of CRT.

Additional, General Tenets of CRT

First, racism is common, and it is not limited to individuals. It also is systemic, which is the focus of CRT. Second, there is racial disparity: there are differences in outcomes (such as for health and economic considerations) based on race. Third is interest convergence: only if the material interests of the majority group align with those of minoritized groups will the majority group cooperate with minorities.

Fourth, races are social constructions which are not fixed, for they are not rooted in biology. Instead, we all share in a common humanity. Roles and expectations are constructs. Fifth is intersectionality. That is, we all have many sources for our “identities” (or, our self-conceptualizations), and these can overlap in many ways to oppress people (e.g., a poor, black poor lesbian).  Sixth, hegemony is “domination by the ruling class and unconscious acceptance of that state of affairs by the subordinate group.”[1]

To help understand CRT better, let’s also look at some of the key philosophical positions of Crits.

Some Key Philosophical Positions

In addition to these key shaping influences, CRT also draws from the broader stream of thought of critical theory (CT). Like we have seen with CRT, critical theorists embraced the view that oppressed groups need to be liberated from their domination by the oppressor group. Moreover, like Marx, key critical theorists, such as Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and Herbert Marcuse were materialists and thus they rejected essential natures. So did Nietzsche.

If essences were real, they would have many implications. Why? Essences would define something as what kind of thing it is.[2] Foe example, for Aristotle, the essence of being a human is due its having a human soul, and not some other “principle of life.” However, Adorno rejected the idea that reality is objectively real with essential natures, for that leads us “to establish a single order, a single mode of representing and relating to reality.”[3] For him, on such a view, people would tend to fit into the definitions from the majority’s ideology. Yet, such a view was just a construct that undergirded the dominant group’s hegemony. Thus, peoples’ freedom to define their “true” selves would be undermined, leaving them oppressed.[4]

Likewise, Horkheimer believed that humans are nothing but material beings embedded holistically in nature.[5] Further, Marcuse believed reality is socially conditioned. Our “essence” is not some ontological reality. It is just a term for our human potential to achieve the ideals present in culture, which involves overcoming oppression:

Materialist theory thus transcends the given state of fact and moves toward a different potentiality, proceeding from immediate appearance to the essence that appears in it. But here appearance and essence become members of a real antithesis arising from the particular historical structure of the social process of life.[6]

So, what are some implications for their views if there are no essences? First, since there is no essence, such as the soul, to define and ground one’s personal identity (i.e., what makes someone the same person through time and change), it seems our “identity” is something that is definable by us. This can lead to a great sense of unrestricted freedom to not be bound by any of the dominant group’s ideological categories. Instead, people are free to define their “true selves.”

Second, it seems there are no universal qualities, not just for what it means to be authentically human, but also for moral principles and virtues. For example, suppose justice has an essence. Then it seems there would be an identical quality present in each instance of justice, and justice would be a universal quality. Yet, if there are no essences, then each instance would be particular, or nominal: we would call them all instances of justice, yet that is just due to the word we use for them.

Third, if essences are real, they would exist objectively and transcend our own conceptualizations. Yet, on CT and CRT, we are so shaped by our situating factors that all that we know is from a particular, historically situated standpoint. We cannot transcend those limitations and achieve a gaze directly into how reality is, apart from our “situatedness.” That is a strongly nominalist view. Özlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo, who seem strongly influenced by CRT, claim that knowledge is not “outside of human interests, perspectives, and values”; instead, it “reflects the social hierarchies of a given society.”[7]

The Next Step

In the next entry, I will explore the various moral positions of CRT.

[1] Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, 3rd ed. (New York: New York University Press, 2017), 175.

[2] J. P. Moreland and William Lane Craig, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 218.

[3] Andrew Fagan, “Theodor Adorno,” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://www.iep.utm.edu/adorno/, accessed July 11, 2019.

[4] While I was a graduate student in the University of Southern California’s School of Religion, several fellow students were ex-Catholics who were angry that the Church’s hierarchy defined what is “natural,” especially sexually, for them by appealing to natural law and essential natures.

[5] See Max Horkheimer, Critical Theory (Repr.; New York, NY: Continuum, 1982), 24. In an effort to unify science and philosophy, Horkheimer endorses materialism.

[6] Herbert Marcuse, “Concept of Essence,” in Negations: Essays in Critical Theory (Boston: Beacon Press, 1968), 67.

[7] Özlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo, Is Everyone Really Equal? in Multicultural Education Series (2nd ed.; ed. James A. Banks; New York: Teachers College Press, 2017), 31. Though DiAngelo might be better classified as an “antiracist,” I include her here because she has embraced much of CRT.

Ethics and Critical Race Theory –CRT and Suspicion 

Suspicion

Before I dive into what CRT is, it would help to understand some important factors that helped give rise to it. Paul Ricouer developed the hermeneutics of suspicion, in which we interpret literary texts with skepticism, to surface their hidden, even repressed, meanings. He was influenced by three seminal thinkers whom he called the “masters of suspicion”: Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud. These influences of suspicion have shaped Crits too.

For Marx, more or less, the structures of society serve to protect the interests of the majority group and oppress those of minority groups. The explanation of historical events is due to differences between classes (historical materialism), not individual conscious motives, choices. Nietzsche contributed the view that while we used to think morals were universal truths, they really are just expressions of power, the will to dominate others. Freud added that we used to think that our behavior was due basically to our conscious thoughts and choices. Instead, the unconscious is really why we behave as we do (e.g., due to fathers and sexuality).

CRT employs this overall attitude of suspicion to at least three main areas in its critique of westernized societies. First is a suspicion of appeals to universal rights, freedom, equality, and dignity of all. So often, these are just words and empty promises. And, by focusing primarily on abstract, universal principles, we can overlook the suffering of particular people.

Second is a suspicion of liberalism, i.e., our form of government that focuses on the good of the individual as the subject of universal rights. Yet, so often, we focus on having fair procedures. But, these can end up being undermined in practice. Third is a suspicion of meritocracy. For Crits, it is a myth that we all can improve our lots by hard work and achievement.

What then is CRT? Let me quote at length the UCLA School of Public Affairs:

“CRT recognizes that racism is engrained in the fabric and system of the American society. The individual racist need not exist to note that institutional racism is pervasive in the dominant culture. This is the analytical lens that CRT uses in examining existing power structures. CRT identifies that these power structures are based on white privilege and white supremacy, which perpetuates the marginalization of people of color. CRT also rejects the traditions of liberalism and meritocracy. Legal discourse says that the law is neutral and colorblind, however, CRT challenges … liberalism and meritocracy as a vehicle for self-interest, power, and privilege. CRT also recognizes that liberalism and meritocracy are often stories heard from those with wealth, power, and privilege. These stories paint a false picture of meritocracy; everyone who works hard can attain wealth, power, and privilege while ignoring the systemic inequalities that institutional racism provides.”[1]

We can notice at least two of these forms of suspicion (liberalism and meritocracy) mentioned explicitly herein. The other one, with its suspicion of appeals to moral rights, equality, and dignity, seems to be embedded in claims such as that the power structures, which are dominated by the white majority, marginalize and oppress people of color.

CRT’s Development

Now, the development of CRT has had several significant, shaping influences. First, critical legal studies has, in part, helped foster the belief that law is mainly about power and not morals.[2] But, it did not originate that belief. Long before, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes divorced law from morality. As Albert Alschuler notes, for Holmes, “[a] law should be called good if it reflects the will of the dominant forces of the community even if it will take us to hell.”[3]

A second influence has come through the work of Michel Foucault. He helped develop the view that “power is transmitted, normalized, and internalized through social institutions,” which socializes people “into compliance with norms that serve controlling group interests.”[4] Third, radical feminism provided insights into how power relates to the construction of social roles, as well as the largely unnoticed patterns and habits that contribute to forms of domination (e.g., from patriarchy).

A fourth influence has come through the work of Jacques Derrida and his deconstructionist thought. Derrida denied that there are any essential natures which would define something as the kind of thing it is, or as what some author or speaker really meant. Instead, everything is interpretation. So-called universal truths (including moral ones) are power moves.

In the next blog, I will try to give examples of some key Crits. Then, I will explain several of CRT’s key tenets. Last, I will surface several of CRT’s key ethical views.

[1] “What is critical race theory?” UCLA School of Public Affairs: Critical Race Studies, https://spacrs.wordpress.com/what-is-critical-race-theory/, accessed June 16, 2022 (emphasis in original).

[2] For a discussion of CRT in relation to CLS, see Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, 3rd ed. (New York: New York University Press, 2017).

[3] Albert W. Alschuler, Law Without Values: The Life, Work, and Legacy of Justice Holmes (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002), 59.

[4] Özlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo, Is Everyone Really Equal? 2nd ed., in Multicultural Education Series, ed. James A. Banks (New York: Teachers College Press, 2017), 75-76.

Ethics and Critical Race Theory – An Introduction

Critical race theory (CRT) is everywhere, it seems. It is taught, whether explicitly or implicitly, in middle and high schools, as well as universities, whether secular or Christian. It is in the news constantly. There are many buzz words associated with it, such as “systemic racism,” being “woke,” and more. Its very mention has a polarizing effect on people, with many (such as “progressives,” whether secular or Christian) endorsing policies consistent with it, while others assume it is of the devil. Several conservative politicians and commentators denounce CRT, condemning it as Marxist, un-American, and even atheistic. Some conservative Christians also have joined in, warning against CRT from various biblical standpoints.

I get the impression that several Christians seem to think that if they can identify CRT as Marxist, they can dismiss it from any consideration. But, I think that move could be shortsighted for at least a few reasons. First, I have seen a similar response to the “emergents.” I have written two books on the emergents, Truth and the New Kind of Christian (2005), and Authentically Emergent (2018). In both books, I note that they have several helpful insights for evangelicals. However, in 2010, Brian McLaren published his book, A New Kind of Christianity, and it became clearer that he was advocating changes to core Christian beliefs. It was after that that I saw how some other Christians were quick to not listen, apparently even to the good things he or others had to say. After all, they were heretics, so let’s move on. But in that attitude, they could miss the good things the emergents had to say. So, if “Crits” are indeed onto some key observations, it would be shortsighted to dismiss the whole view out of hand.

Second, in my experience, if a view has some “staying power” and influence, it usually is making some key observations. It is tapping into some aspect of reality to which people can relate. Just as the emergents did that to certain respects, I think we need to carefully examine CRT to see to what extent that may be the case, too. For instance, George Yancey, a Christian sociologist at Baylor University, notes that today “few Americans [and very few biblically conservative believers] want to openly participate in a racist social system.”[1] Nevertheless, Crits continue to offer evidence that racism still is at work in society. Instead of focusing mainly on individual racists, they study institutions. Yancey, who himself is not an advocate of CRT, argues that racism has become more subtle, working through systemic, institutionalized ways that obscure “its effects on the opportunities and freedoms of people of color.”[2] If so, then as a descriptive tool of analysis, CRT can help us notice if such practices are indeed at work, which we then could change. That is a contribution of CRT.

Third, having a better understanding of CRT would help Christians to participate more fruitfully in the many conversations taking place about racial matters. This is especially so for young adults, whether Christian or not. People who are part of Gen Z are very attuned to concerns with racism, such as with ways police treat minorities.[3] They have been grown up during police shootings of many unarmed black people, hatred toward Asians during the COVID pandemic, and suspicion of Muslims as terrorists after 9/11. To the eyes of Gen Z people, American society has promised justice, rights, equality, opportunity, and more. Yet, they have seen justice violated many times.[4] So, understanding CRT would help Christians to understand some important mindsets of Gen Z.

Crucially, Crits are making rhetorically powerful ethical claims that resonate deeply because of the history of racism in the U. S. They are arguing that racism is more pervasive than we realize, being embedded in systems and institutions, despite civil rights legislations’ effects. This is a descriptive claim about what is in fact the case. They also argue that people of color should be treated with equality, dignity, respect, and justice, yet racism is preventing them from being treated appropriately. This latter claim is a normative, ethical one, of what ought to be the case.

CRT has several other presuppositions including, for example, that people of color are being oppressed by whites, and they should be liberated from this oppression. It also presupposes certain views of what is real, including humans, namely materialism. It also maintains that we can know what is true only from our particular standpoints. Now, I will start from what CRT presupposes, that racism is morally wrong. But, a key question is this: can CRT make good on its key moral claims given its various presuppositions? That will be the focus of this series.  

[1] George Yancey, Beyond Racial Gridlock: Embracing Mutual Responsibility (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 67 (bracketed insert mine).

[2] Ibid., 67-68.

[3] They also are deeply concerned about many social justice issues, such as environmental justice, sexism, economic disparities, issues involving gender, poverty, and capitalism, and how these intersect with race.

[4] Moreover, unlike previous generations, Gen Z is growing up in an age marked by many factors, including of terrorism, human trafficking, perpetual wars, nuclear threats, distrust of politicians, and more. If the “system” is not working, it can become easy to think that people should change the system.