Dear Kentucky GOP, Stop Using The Fear of Black People To Keep You In Office

[TexasTowelie]

Over the weekend, I watched an exchange with USA Today reporter Phillip Bailey and the Louisville GOP about an email sent by the Kentucky GOP titled, “Does Democrat Craig Greenberg Stand with Greg Fischer on Critical Race Theory?” This is a tried and true method of the Republican Party — use racism to scare people into voting for them, but I can guarantee, if you were to ask all the members of the Kentucky GOP to define critical race theory, they couldn’t answer the question. (These are the same people that question science during a pandemic. Reflect on that.)

Link to tweet

Critical race theory is a straightforward concept. It is a practice that seeks to understand the role of race and racism in society and how racism impacts systems, particularly the legal system. Critical race theory examines social, cultural and legal issues primarily related to race and racism. One tenet of critical race theory is that racism and disparate racial outcomes result from complex, changing and often subtle social and institutional dynamics rather than explicit and intentional prejudices of individuals. I have said this many times, and I understand this is difficult for some people to fully grasp, but racism impacts every system in America.

Many people don’t want to think of racism in that manner, because it is easier to point to a person and say, “If we just get rid of that person, we will eradicate racism.” For instance, after the 2020 election, when Joe Biden was elected, many thought all would be right with the world because they saw Donald Trump as the source of racism. However, we have clearly seen removing one person doesn’t end racism. You have to view racism as the Hydra — a monster with many heads. While many attempted to defeat the Hydra by cutting off one of its heads, they failed to understand if you cut off one head, two more grow in its place. They had to completely cut off the Hydra’s main head. That is how I view racism. Removing one person doesn’t make a difference because racism is baked into every single system — banking, housing, education, policing, etc. So, to truly impact racism, we cannot focus on one person; we must focus on racism as a whole and understand how racism has played a part across systems in America.

Critical race theory is not about saying all White people are evil. Many of those in power know that, but they understand they can toss out these phrases that they have worked to place negativity around, and their base will fully support them. Critical race theory has become the Willie Horton issue of the upcoming elections. It is a big, bad theory that many elected officials cannot explain. Still, they know their constituents immediately associate the concept of critical race theory with being Black, and in America, that is often enough to shift the results of an election.

Read more: https://www.leoweekly.com/2021/09/dear-kentucky-gop-stop-using-the-fear-of-black-people-to-keep-you-in-office/