Reverse Racism
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Original Question
It’s my understanding that critical thinkers see all racism as various forms of fallacious reasoning: Identity Fallacy, Bulverism, Genetic Fallacy, Stereotyping, etc. In critical thinking, if a white person says a black-person-specific slur that’s racism. If a black person says a white-person-specific slur that’s racism. No one can be racist to anybody. In Critical Race Theory racism can only go downhill in terms of group power. Racism = prejudice plus power, white people are a more powerful group than black people, therefore whites can be racist to blacks but not vice versa. For a white person to claim that a black person is racist to whites is called reverse racism, which is super racist according to CRT.
I think critical thinking is the better system. Is there any utility in the CRT view?
A larger question...How do logical people fight against racism? CRT is getting so big that it looks like it’s the only game in town. It’s my understanding that critical thinking is a better tool in the fight against racism, but CRT is much louder. What can logical people do about this?
Comments on Question
It is a matter of semantics not a matter of logic. Also critical thinking is not a better opposing system, it isn't a system at all.
Answers
3I think logical people fight racism by pointing out the inherent fallacious but also immoral nature of racism.
Critical race theory is activistic, highly relativistic (kind of practical postmodernism), and a meta-narrative that is supposed to reinterpret, problematize, deconstruct, and see racism everywhere (Robin DiAngelo's famous saying is "it's not if there is racism, racism is everywhere, you have to look for it"). It's potential confirmation bias in disguise. It can't resolve racism as it will always seek new other forms of "racism" and it proports that white people are always racist as they live in a racist system and help to maintain the system and thus they are all racist. Beyond that CRT also prioritizes personal experiences of minority groups over anything else. Thus, it's both very relativistic but also anecdotal.
I know quite a few people that are normally quite logical and rational when it comes to reasoning. But when it comes to moral and political views they let it all go. They tend to agree with the critical theories because it supports their political views, or they go around in social circles where there is social pressure to adhere to these views. And no matter how logical people are, they still are people and thus prone to social influences.
I think that it is important to fight racism wherever it shows its ugly face, but I don't think CRT is the right way to go(My personal view).
Any form of activism is very likely to be against critical thought, as activism is generally loaded with fallacies and biases. Activism is like sales in that it is not about truth; but accomplishing a goal. To put another way, an activist is much more like a lawyer than a scientist. Of course, activists, if they do manage to see the conflict with critical thought, justify the diversion through some form of the "greater good." This is why I metaphorically turned in my "humanist" card—the "movement" (at least in the USA) has become riddled with poor critical thinking and reasoning in favor of an agenda.
I know a little about Critical Race Theory, and from what I do know, it does indeed appear to conflict with good reasoning. I wouldn't say that CRT is an alternative to critical thinking; critical thinking, logic, and reason is foundational for all good thought, and some theories stick to the foundation more than others.
A larger question...How do logical people fight against racism?
As you have pointed out, "racism" has become a loaded word - also a meaningless one since, according to some, everyone is racist. At the heart of racism is prejudice and discrimination. Fight those. When one group is in "power," that simply means that they have more power to discriminate, since discrimination often happens in policy, etc. This is what CRT misses: power is not binary, and suggesting it is, is like saying that all men are stronger than all women. Of course, there are many women stronger than many men, and of course, there are many people of color that have far greater power than many white people. Nobody is exempt from prejudice and discrimination because of the color of their skin, even if the term "racism" does get redefined.
The main issue with the term 'reverse racism' is that it's generally used as a far-right talking point for fear-mongering that equality would mean losing their rights and that being held accountable for their racism and the loss of their systemic advantages means being discriminated against. Stuff like complaining about spaces and accommodations meant for people other than them, pointing out their privilege or making etc.
CRT is more of a field of study in social sciences than a singular viewpoint. It's basically about studying systemic racism within society and re-examining how we currently do things in relation to that. It's not some separate thing from critical thinking and you're likely to find a variety of viewpoints on various topics within it. In terms of what racism against white people, you'd need to look into how the terms racism, colorism and xenohpobia relate to eachother, colonialism and how 'white' has been defined in different contexts. Irish people weren't considered white back when they were being discriminated against due to colonialism, for example.
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"Racism = prejudice plus power"....this isn't really true though.