“Critical Race Theory”—you’ve heard the term bantered about on talk radio and seen it in news headlines. But what is it, really? And why are so many parents and teachers upset about it? Below is a sample Q&A to help you understand the issue, as well as communicate with others about it:

Question: “Critical Race Theory” sounds philosophical, but I hear about it appearing in school lessons. What exactly is it?

Answer: At its heart, Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a philosophy that views the problem of racism as a power struggle between collective groups of people and societal systems. As a result, CRT proponents often resort to a purist type of argument that everything about American history and our society is implicitly racist and that the world is basically divided up into oppressors and the oppressed. And thus, the only way to fix the ultimate problem is to dismantle entire societal foundations. CRT also is …

informed by a Marxist worldview that sees society through the lens of collective social struggles—except that CRT moves the original Marxist focus on social class into the sphere of racism.
heavily influenced by identity group politics. For instance, according to CRT thinking, if you identify as LGBT than you experience a higher level of oppression—and your oppression levels escalate in increasing amounts according to the number of categories you identify with that are viewed as being oppressed. On the other hand, if you happen to have a lighter skin tone, you are more likely to be automatically categorized in the oppressor column regardless of your personal character or actions.

In short, it’s a socialist ideology touted as the “woke” answer to racial tensions and equity problems that has been seeping into school trainings and curricula across Virginia and stirring significant controversy.

Question: But as Christians, shouldn’t we be supporting things like this that stand for racial unity and against oppression?

Answer: I agree that as Christians we should be the first to address the sin of racism in our nation with tangible actions, not just verbal promises. Unfortunately, though, CRT is yet another attempt to fix a real problem with the wrong solution:

It primarily focuses on external, government solutions rather than addressing the internal issue of sin in the human heart. For instance, one of the most popular CRT proponents, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, calls for a federal government office charged with punishing “racial inequity,” monitoring private and public organizations and wielding “disciplinary tools” (in his book, How to Be an Antiracist). He also concludes that “The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” In other words, the only solution is for the oppressed to gain power and restore justice by enforcing reverse discrimination. Besides being a totalitarian solution, that approach is antithetical to a redemptive, biblical worldview: The Bible makes it clear that Jesus’ work on the cross—taking the punishment each of our sins deserves—paves the way for person-to-person forgiveness and reconciliation. But CRT leaves us trapped in a spin cycle of collective power struggles and “eye-for-an eye” societal revenge that only creates more victims.
CRT also encourages the stereotyping of collective people groups as being more evil or unjust than others, while God’s Word encourages us to view each other as “individual image bearers of God who have a shared identity,” explained Pastor Ray Goodlett of Redemption Hill Church (watch his video interview). Scriptures tell us that every human being without exception has sinned (Romans 3:23, I John 1:8) and that God examines the inward heart of individual people rather than the external appearance (I Samuel 16:7). At the same time, biblical passages such as Ephesians 2 discuss how God accomplished racial, cultural unity through Jesus’ work on the cross.
In short, CRT is the opposite of a redemptive, Christ-centered view because it views society through a lens of a collective group stereotyping rather than seeing all human beings as individuals uniquely created by God and equally in need of His forgiveness and grace.

Question: Ok I see the problem biblically speaking, but don’t we need some way to rectify racially-based, unequal treatment in our society?

You’re right—this is a real problem that needs to be addressed. But equity as defined by critical race theorists is not the same thing as equality. Equality refers to the principle our Founding Fathers put in the Declaration of Independence—that because we are created by God, we have equal, inalienable rights and equal opportunity to pursue life, liberty and happiness. By contrast, CRT demands equity rather than equal opportunity—and that means it requires the government to manipulate outcomes for equal distribution. Truth is, putting that into practice means reliving the worst years of communism and socialism.

Question: But how are we going to continue the civil rights movement in this country—doesn’t CRT help us do that?

Answer: There’s a vast difference between postmodern CRT—and the Judeo-Christian basis of the civil rights movement led by true heroes like Martin Luther King, Jr., and Frederick Douglass. This becomes clear when you read the famous “I Have a Dream’ speech made by Dr. King. He envisioned building a nation where people would not be judged “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. “ Rather than rejecting the Founding Fathers because they were flawed humans, Dr. King challenged Americans to live up to the eternal principles espoused by them. He said, “I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” Clearly, Dr. King was not advocating for the dismantling of American ideals —he was calling for Americans to practice them. Neither Dr. King nor Frederick Douglass sugarcoated the blatant hypocrisy they saw around them. But they both unapologetically approached it from a Christ-centered perspective. In 1889, Douglass mourned that the “malignant prejudice of race” still “poisoned the fountains of justice” in our nation. And yet, he based his hope on a “broad foundation laid by the Bible itself, that God has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth.”

Question: Ok, I understand, but maybe people are overreacting—I mean, how is this theory actually affecting our schools and businesses?

Answer: Following the Marxist tradition of shaming into silence anyone who doesn’t comply, proponents of CRT and similarly themed “equity” programs create a hostile environment for educators, parents, students and employees—really, anyone who dares to dissent:

In Loudoun County, former and current educators brainstormed on social media ways to sabotage any parent or citizen who publicly critiqued the theory. Among other things, suggestions were to hack their websites and create fake profiles to infiltrate social media channels for fodder to publicly shame them into silence. Nevertheless, brave teachers like this one, are still speaking about how this theory creates division, rather than reconciliation.
In Virginia’s largest school district, Fairfax County, parents learned that their school officials made it a priority during the COVID crisis to spend more than $40,000 on a one-hour video conference and books featuring the previously mentioned, radical CRT proponent—Dr. Kendi. Just for a quick frame of reference, Dr. Kendi gained notoriety for tweeting a scathing statement about Justice Amy Coney Barrett having adopted black children (at the time, she was a Supreme Court nominee). Apparently, he was trying to argue that adopting black children did not exclude the nominee from being a racist. But his tweet illustrates the militant tone of CRT seeping into many schools and companies.
Also, Coca Cola came under fire for encouraging employees to access a training featuring tips that encouraged people to “try to be less white” and that “to be less white” is to be “less oppressive … less arrogant.” The training was developed by another CRT celebrity, Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. But clearly, stereotyping a people group as “arrogant” based on race, is the polar opposite Dr. King’s vision of judging people not “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. “

While there’s no denying we’re in an intense battle between conflicting worldviews, says Pastor Goodlett, he still has hope for the future, not only because he believes in God’s redemptive plan for humanity, but also because he believes it’s possible for members of the next generation to lead a redemptive transformation in our nation. He encourages Christians to: