https://blackgirlnerds.com/why-we-need-to-care-about-critical-race-theory/
Critical Race Theory (CRT) is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that race is a social construct and that racism is not the product of individual bias or prejudice but something embedded in legal systems and policies. The basic concept of CRT emerged out of a framework for legal analysis in the late 1970s and early 1980s created by legal scholars Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and Richard Delgado, among others.
This academic understanding of CRT differs from representation in recent books and, especially, from its description by critics — usually conservative Republicans. They claim that CRT leads to negative dynamics, such as: a focus on group identity over universal divides people into oppressed and oppressor groups and urges intolerance.
Events over the last decade have increased the public’s awareness about topics like housing segregation, the impacts of criminal justice policy, and the legacy of enslavement on Black people. But there is much less agreement on what the government’s role should be in righting these past wrongs.
Needless to say, there is a great deal of confusion about what CRT means and its relationship to anti-racism and social justice.
To understand why CRT has become such a major topic in our culture, it is important to understand what it is and what it’s not. U.C.L.A. School of Law and Columbia Law School Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw said in an interview with the New York Times, “It is a way of seeing, attending to, accounting for, tracing and analyzing the ways that race is produced, the ways that racial inequality is facilitated, and the ways that our history has created these inequalities that now can be almost effortlessly reproduced unless we attend to the existence of these inequalities.”
Crenshaw also points out that the law can often be interpreted in a way that benefits the ruling class, regardless of what the law actually says. We’ve seen this concept play out throughout the years.
Critical Race Theory acknowledges deep-rooted racism in our society by placing topics such as slavery and colonization into the school curriculum. This is common in colleges across the United States but not as much in grade school and high school classrooms.
Let’s be clear. Many Americans are not able to separate their individual identity as an American from the social institutions that govern us because they perceive themselves as the actual system. They interpret calling social institutions racist as calling them racist personally. This really speaks to how normative racial ideology is to American identity, and that some people just cannot separate the two. Some people may recognize America’s awful racist past but have bought into the false narrative that the United States is now an equitable democracy. America is still not great for everyone.
Truth is, CRT is not saying that white people now are to blame for what white people did in the past. What it does say is that white people living now have a moral responsibility to do something about how racism still impacts all of our lives today. It’s the same thing as a white person saying, “I’m not to blame for slavery — I didn’t own slaves.” Okay, true. However, that white person is benefiting now from their ancestors that did. That fact causes them to be viewed, accepted and established in this country differently than Black people. White people have can change this if they can only separate themselves from the story.
As a college professor, I don’t have the opportunity to discuss race, as I teach accounting and business. However, I do find ways to incorporate the framework of injustice and inequality, as well as how it affects certain groups of people when I’m teaching business concepts within marketing and entrepreneurship. Students are surprised by how little they have learned about inequality. Some students don’t give much thought to it, depending on their generation. The reality is that schools, at every level, are not teaching CRT. But teachers are trying to respond to students by asking them why people are protesting and why Black people are more likely to be killed by the police.
Most professors of colorwork at majority-white schools which are better resourced than Black colleges and universities. We find ourselves doing “diversity” work that is not part of our job description. This is frustrating and draining, solidifying the wisdom of Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and creator of The 1619 Project Nikole Hannah-Jones, “For too long, powerful people have expected the people they have mistreated and marginalized to sacrifice themselves to make things whole.”
The 1619 Project puts the history and effects of enslavement – as well as Black Americans’ contributions to democratic reforms – at the center of American history. It has also fueled an incredible amount of criticism, simply because it reveals truths that some people just don’t want to believe or accept.
Critical Race Theory has been positioned as a political strategy and not an educational one. It’s definitely working. Since 2021, at least 36 states have adopted or introduced laws or policies that restrict teaching about race or racism. In most cases the language is vague, targeting anything believed to be “inherently divisive.” Quality education on race is not a problem, nor is it indoctrination. To not teach about our history with race and the implication today is to fail to teach the complete history of our nation. Purposely leaving the “bad parts” out, or trying to sugar coat atrocities is doing everyone a disservice.
We shouldn’t give so much weight to critical race theory itself, or the moral panic politicians have created from it. We should care more about appropriately educating the next generation on our history — all of it — which includes our history with race. Our current discourse is all the evidence we need to support doing better by our children.
Related Links:
7 Places in the U.S. to Learn More About Black History
Review: Steve McQueen Chronicles Britain’s Violent History of Racism in ‘Uprising’
Critical Race Theory (CRT) is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that race is a social construct and that racism is not the product of individual bias or prejudice but something embedded in legal systems and policies. The basic concept of CRT emerged out of a framework for legal analysis in the late 1970s and early 1980s created by legal scholars Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and Richard Delgado, among others.
This academic understanding of CRT differs from representation in recent books and, especially, from its description by critics — usually conservative Republicans. They claim that CRT leads to negative dynamics, such as: a focus on group identity over universal divides people into oppressed and oppressor groups and urges intolerance.
Events over the last decade have increased the public’s awareness about topics like housing segregation, the impacts of criminal justice policy, and the legacy of enslavement on Black people. But there is much less agreement on what the government’s role should be in righting these past wrongs.
Needless to say, there is a great deal of confusion about what CRT means and its relationship to anti-racism and social justice.
To understand why CRT has become such a major topic in our culture, it is important to understand what it is and what it’s not. U.C.L.A. School of Law and Columbia Law School Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw said in an interview with the New York Times, “It is a way of seeing, attending to, accounting for, tracing and analyzing the ways that race is produced, the ways that racial inequality is facilitated, and the ways that our history has created these inequalities that now can be almost effortlessly reproduced unless we attend to the existence of these inequalities.”
Crenshaw also points out that the law can often be interpreted in a way that benefits the ruling class, regardless of what the law actually says. We’ve seen this concept play out throughout the years.
Critical Race Theory acknowledges deep-rooted racism in our society by placing topics such as slavery and colonization into the school curriculum. This is common in colleges across the United States but not as much in grade school and high school classrooms.
Let’s be clear. Many Americans are not able to separate their individual identity as an American from the social institutions that govern us because they perceive themselves as the actual system. They interpret calling social institutions racist as calling them racist personally. This really speaks to how normative racial ideology is to American identity, and that some people just cannot separate the two. Some people may recognize America’s awful racist past but have bought into the false narrative that the United States is now an equitable democracy. America is still not great for everyone.
Truth is, CRT is not saying that white people now are to blame for what white people did in the past. What it does say is that white people living now have a moral responsibility to do something about how racism still impacts all of our lives today. It’s the same thing as a white person saying, “I’m not to blame for slavery — I didn’t own slaves.” Okay, true. However, that white person is benefiting now from their ancestors that did. That fact causes them to be viewed, accepted and established in this country differently than Black people. White people have can change this if they can only separate themselves from the story.
As a college professor, I don’t have the opportunity to discuss race, as I teach accounting and business. However, I do find ways to incorporate the framework of injustice and inequality, as well as how it affects certain groups of people when I’m teaching business concepts within marketing and entrepreneurship. Students are surprised by how little they have learned about inequality. Some students don’t give much thought to it, depending on their generation. The reality is that schools, at every level, are not teaching CRT. But teachers are trying to respond to students by asking them why people are protesting and why Black people are more likely to be killed by the police.
Most professors of colorwork at majority-white schools which are better resourced than Black colleges and universities. We find ourselves doing “diversity” work that is not part of our job description. This is frustrating and draining, solidifying the wisdom of Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and creator of The 1619 Project Nikole Hannah-Jones, “For too long, powerful people have expected the people they have mistreated and marginalized to sacrifice themselves to make things whole.”
The 1619 Project puts the history and effects of enslavement – as well as Black Americans’ contributions to democratic reforms – at the center of American history. It has also fueled an incredible amount of criticism, simply because it reveals truths that some people just don’t want to believe or accept.
Critical Race Theory has been positioned as a political strategy and not an educational one. It’s definitely working. Since 2021, at least 36 states have adopted or introduced laws or policies that restrict teaching about race or racism. In most cases the language is vague, targeting anything believed to be “inherently divisive.” Quality education on race is not a problem, nor is it indoctrination. To not teach about our history with race and the implication today is to fail to teach the complete history of our nation. Purposely leaving the “bad parts” out, or trying to sugar coat atrocities is doing everyone a disservice.
We shouldn’t give so much weight to critical race theory itself, or the moral panic politicians have created from it. We should care more about appropriately educating the next generation on our history — all of it — which includes our history with race. Our current discourse is all the evidence we need to support doing better by our children.
Related Links:
7 Places in the U.S. to Learn More About Black History
Review: Steve McQueen Chronicles Britain’s Violent History of Racism in ‘Uprising’
As fans who grew up on button-mashing action become game developers, beat’em-ups are having a moment right now. This genre is fueled by nostalgia, but it’s driven forward with each new release willing to change up the classic formula. One of the best recent examples is Young Souls, a 2D brawler / RPG hybrid that merges modern day gaming with its retro roots.
Developed by 1P2P and published by The Arcade Crew, it’s obvious from Young Souls’ pedigree that it knows the 2D streets (of rage) it came from. The game goes deeper than that – literally – when twin orphans, Tristan and Jenn, discover their adopted father has been kidnapped. Mounting a rescue requires the twins to descend into a subterranean society.
Jenn & Tristan will equip weapons, armor, and more in search of their legal guardian. As they descend into combat the underground hordes, combinations of movement with attack and jump buttons can be expected. Young Souls’ RPG influence adds parrying / blocking, secondary weapons, and mana-based attacks.
The challenge here is a mechanic tied to Young Souls’ characters themselves. Jenn and Tristan are a matched set: either via two player co-op or a single player alternating between twins. Downed players can be resuscitated once apiece, but losing all health on both twins results in an express trip back to the entrance.
Thankfully, the eventual return trip allows you to keep whatever experience and items you found on your last delve for leveling up your character. This can only be done outside of the underground, which encourages players to get to know the less-violent locals and upgrade their characters.
All the while, Young Souls distinguishes itself with eye-catching art direction. Its pastel palette of digital paper dolls is immediately engaging. Practically every piece of clothing and equipment can be visibly altered on Tristan & Jenn. The result balances between YA animated series like Disney’s Gravity Falls and Netflix’s Trollhunter.
Young Souls expresses this balance both narratively and mechanically, as the hybrid mechanics attempt to reconcile its two genre influences. Take the ‘Happy Fit Gym’ minigame. Every two experience levels, the characters gain access to the gym’s stat-boosting minigame. Maximum gains require carefully tapping a button to keep within a constantly moving target.
Staying within this ‘sweet spot’ earns a rating of up to five stars, but it’s tricky to manage. It’s a tension felt throughout the game, especially on the Switch. Loading times can be rough, with hectic fights resulting in screen tearing, slowdown, and crashes. In 2-player mode, it’s even possible to lose one of the characters offscreen if the twins fight too far apart.
In the end, these critiques should be weighed against the ways in which Young Souls is trying to push the boundaries of the genres it’s straddling. An RPG beat’em-up with tag-teaming combo capabilities is a rare beast. Young Souls’ 2D planes reveal surprising depth. Here’s hoping this new potential hybrid genre is given room enough to grow.
SCORE: 8.0 out of 10 Mana Potions
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The post ‘Young Souls’ Rage Beneath the Streets appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Afronerd Radio can now be heard LIVE courtesy of Apple Music/Itunes
Greetings to our loyal Afronerd Radio listeners and avid supporters. Listen to a new episode of The Mid Week in Review airing this and every Wednesday at 8 p.m. on the BTalk 100 internet broadcasting platform. Check out the latest meanderings of your Khonshu-powered AFROnerdists discussing the following (mid) weekly issues: legendary comedian, Dave Chappelle, is attacked by a wannabe rapper for no apparent reason while performing at the Hollywood Bowl to a packed audience. Has the Will Smith-Chris Rock debacle from a few weeks ago exacerbated more attacks on controversial comedians?
The nation reacts to news reports affirming that a leaked draft of an upcoming Supreme Court decision to overturn 1973's Roe vs. Wade pro-abortion decision is in fact real; a new DC animated trailer entitled, Green Lantern: Beware My Power, (John Stewart GL version) hit the cyberverse today;
Our thoughts about the early reviews of the highly-anticpated marvel event film, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness; Moon Knight on Disney plus concludes with today's season (versus series) finale we have our thoughts; The Comics Beat highlights DC animated shorts through the iconic works of Jack Kirby and Darwyn Cooke; an RPG based on the longstanding Blade Runner film franchise garnered almost 1M in investment funding in one day on Kickstarter ; And lastly, if time permits, the crew will touch on Gun Honey comic news, a proposed Viola Davis -Amanda Wallace HBO Max solo series and the new CW Tom Swift trailer:
One thing that Dburt is doing (finally) is investing in cryptocurrency, courtesy of Roundlyx. We would implore our followers to investigate, discern and then explore by using our referral code: afro-87A4BF
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