Woke in Plain English: "Critical Race Theory"

Critical Race Theory. Critical Race Theory states that racism is the everyday, ordinary state of affairs. The critical race theorist believes that racism takes place in every situation and tries to figure out how, not if, racism was present. Many critical race theorists believe that there can be no actual progress for black Americans. For example, they believe it is an illusion that African American incomes could be rising. Critical race theorists think that if African American incomes are increasing, it's only because white people have allowed that to happen because it served them in some way. Maybe it served white people to allow black people to earn more because it discouraged black people from revolting, or maybe because it would deter black people from voting for laws that would be in their interest. In all cases, for the critical race theorist, racism is permanent and ordinary.  As such, they are single-mindedly focused on identifying racism and calling it out, especially when it is not evident.

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Critical Race Theory is a major topic of discussion in our political discourse today. What are some of your experiences with this ideology?