Elliott, I have not accused you of bad manners, and your “mild pushback” is unimportant to be because it was posited in ridiculous terms. If you should be taking anyone to task, and I don’t know whether or not you have, then it should be the millions of people who talk about CRT without knowing what it is. Yes, Elliot, I do know what it is.
If I want to read the Bible, then I’m perfectly fine reading it in whatever language I prefer. Now, if I wanted an understanding that was as close to “original” meaning as I could find and be freed from later interpretations, then I could probably do so if I learned Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin, but I don’t need all that. Neither do most folks who simply want to understand.
If I want to learn to swim myself or advise someone who wants to, I would tell them to go the the Y and take a class from someone who knows what they’re doing. In my opinion, that’s equivalent to suggesting reading a good foundational text on CRT. I have the $30 one, but I have others as well, which I have no obligation to prove to you, or anyone else.
What I am doing, and will continue to do, is to attempt to get people to learn for themselves what CRT is — not what they hear from Republicans, nor what they hear from people who believe they are progressive but who still do not distinguish CRT from more inclusive American History. Those people, particularly, are not helpful, as they face the conservatives with chants of “I teach CRT,” thus frightening people who don’t understand, and pleasing Republicans who have now fooled people who should know better into saying just what they want them to say.
I have heard anchors on “so-called liberal” news channels misinform viewers about what CRT is; not because they wish to misinform deliberately, but because they have simply adopted the popular misunderstanding and are now spreading it to others who will then repeat the myth.
Authority? I “postured” as some sort of “Authority?” In your point of view, perhaps. In my point of view, I’m pointing people to reliable sources of knowledge from which they can gain some basic understanding of what CRT is and isn’t, both to demonstrate to others how it is NOT the bogeyman the Republicans claim it is and to keep well-intentioned people from falling into the Republican trap. If I appear impatient, then, yes, I am. I am tired of lack of knowledge in public discourse, and I’m REALLY tired of the indignation some people have when you attempt to point them to an original source. If some Americans don’t want more inclusive History, then fine, as long as they don’t mistake it for CRT and allow others to use it as a catch-all for anything they don’t like from “The Left.” If they don’t know what Critical Thinking is, but disapprove of it anyway, because they don’t like the sound of the word “Critical,” then that’s on them, too. Again, as long as they don’t conflate it with CRT, I won’t bother them.
For anyone who might care to attend to the dialogue between Elliot and me, then this is how it goes. You write something giving mild corrective advice, which is often taken with a “thank-you” for those who appreciate being led in the right direction. There is always someone out there who will want to demonstrate their erudition at your expense. They will go to the length of mentioning such entities as The Frankfurt School and its Critical Theory, with which most readers won’t be familiar. They may cite Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, which many folks have heard of, but have not read. This tack not only serves to imply that they are familiar with such schools and texts, but also to imply that you are not. Why they would want to do this is beyond me. (Personal to you, Elliot: I don’t need to know what all of those foundations are to understand what CRT is, but since my dear husband, Steadfast Mister, has a Philosophy Ph.D., and teaches Philosophy at the university level, I know just a bit more about them than do most members of the general public.)
If you want to perform any public service, then please encourage people who don’t know what CRT is to learn about it in the best way you know. That would be much more useful than trying to demean me. Now, go in peace, if not in silence.
