Getting Critical about Critical Theory/White Fragility/BLM/etc.

[Baldanders]

This is mostly a repost of videos that have been shared (mostly by me) in the CC "Critical Theory" thread. Given recent developments, I think these ideas deserve the widest audience possible. I have a feeling many Americans will be dealing with the New Political Correctness a whole bunch for awhile.

In short, Critical Theory or Critical Race Theory is the intellectual underpinning of the ideological core of the BLM group and "anti-racists," and it is the foundation of leftist identity politics.

A good, fairly short intro originally posted by @Doc_Glock.




Here's a long analysis of Critical Theory, with criticism from the left:



A further exploration by the same two guys:



A more recent video by Chris Shelton, his guest Boyce has a long series of videos detailing the "Woke Revolution" at Evergreen University (he was a student there).



If you watch only one of these videos, watch this one:



Kendi is perhaps the most public face of the New Order next to DiAngelo, coming soon to a corporate seminar near you. He wants a Department Of Antiracism to have veto powers on all laws and the power to punish public officials for racism in word or deed.

[Clusterfrack]

The Dehumanizing Condescension of White Fragility
The popular book aims to combat racism but talks down to Black people.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...gility/614146/

The Intellectual Fraud of Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility”
https://thelogicalliberal.com/2020/0...ite-fragility/


Mandatory Implicit Bias Training Is a Bad Idea
It's all the rage. But in the view of some, it's seriously counterproductive.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/b...ng-is-bad-idea

Diversity Training Isn't Just Expensive, It's Counterproductive
"Well-intentioned efforts to celebrate diversity may in fact reinforce racial stereotyping," say two Carleton College faculty.
https://reason.com/2020/08/07/divers...terproductive/

"What a stupid f*cking way to have a really important conversation": Reflections On A Yearlong White Fragility Training
https://barpodcast.fireside.fm/bonus2

[Nephrology]

"I'm Black and Afraid of White Fragility" by Cedric-Michael Simmons

The Dehumanizing Condescension of White Fragility by John McWhorter

I have more kicking around somewhere.

[Joe in PNG]

It all boils down to the idea that the white supremacist are correct, but that's a bad thing.

[rob_s]

It all boils down to the idea that the white supremacist are correct, but that's a bad thing.

Which is pretty much the core of the liberal agenda. To them, I’m the racist for insisting that everyone is responsible for their own life and that anyone can make anything of themselves, albeit possibly having to overcome their own struggles that may revolve around race, gender, orientation, religion, health, hair color... whatever. They, however, are the heroes of the world and totally “woke” because they assume that no black, gay, or female human could ever succeed or get ahead without the help (or off the back of) of the white, straight, Christian, man.

ETA:
I’ve recentLy been learning a lot about the theory of Locus of Control. Turns out, it may well be the #1 indicator of potential for success. What it comes down to is that those who blame others and never find fault in themselves for their failures are nowhere near as successful as those that take responsibility for their own failures (and successes).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locus_of_control

Like all political ideologies, people’s beliefs boil down to what’s best for them, and the left are so intent on excusing the failures of the “disadvantaged” because they themselves would like to be absolved of responsibility for their lot in life.

[Joe in PNG]

Which is pretty much the core of the liberal agenda. To them, I’m the racist for insisting that everyone is responsible for their own life and that anyone can make anything of themselves, albeit possibly having to overcome their own struggles that may revolve around race, gender, orientation, religion, health, hair color... whatever. They, however, are the heroes of the world and totally “woke” because they assume that no black, gay, or female human could ever succeed or get ahead without the help (or off the back of) of the white, straight, Christian, man.

ETA:
I’ve recentLy been learning a lot about the theory of Locus of Control. Turns out, it may well be the #1 indicator of potential for success. What it comes down to is that those who blame others and never find fault in themselves for their failures are nowhere near as successful as those that take responsibility for their own failures (and successes).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locus_of_control

Like all political ideologies, people’s beliefs boil down to what’s best for them, and the left are so intent on excusing the failures of the “disadvantaged” because they themselves would like to be absolved of responsibility for their lot in life.

Telling people "it's not your fault" and selling them the promise of better things to come is also a great way to get votes.

That it works out about as well (or worse) than turning your 401k over to a Nigerian prince never seems to click.

[Nephrology]

Which is pretty much the core of the liberal agenda. To them, I’m the racist for insisting that everyone is responsible for their own life and that anyone can make anything of themselves, albeit possibly having to overcome their own struggles that may revolve around race, gender, orientation, religion, health, hair color... whatever. They, however, are the heroes of the world and totally “woke” because they assume that no black, gay, or female human could ever succeed or get ahead without the help (or off the back of) of the white, straight, Christian, man.

ETA:
I’ve recentLy been learning a lot about the theory of Locus of Control. Turns out, it may well be the #1 indicator of potential for success. What it comes down to is that those who blame others and never find fault in themselves for their failures are nowhere near as successful as those that take responsibility for their own failures (and successes).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locus_of_control

Like all political ideologies, people’s beliefs boil down to what’s best for them, and the left are so intent on excusing the failures of the “disadvantaged” because they themselves would like to be absolved of responsibility for their lot in life.

The idea of a locus of control is a big piece of the book "The Coddling of the American Mind" that I won't shut up about. They argue that the environment cultivated on college campuses is making students feel as if they are not in control, something which they learn when the campus nanny squad constantly intervenes on their behalf to 'protect them' from 'dangerous speech' (but not actual violence because we need to #DefundCampusSecurity).

On a related note, here's a message I got from my former college professor when I asked him how things had changed on campus.... keep in mind this was from 2016 (I graduated in '10), so things can only have gotten worse:

"Increased medical exceptions, anxiety attacks, inability to turn in work, flakiness on important tasks (the [Junior qualifying exam] is a nightmare, at least a quarter can't even turn stuff in on time), lowered threshold of being offended, appealing to authority to resolve disputes rather than working it out themselves, etc. Could also be admissions changes, a shift in population, students who previously wouldn't have made it to college without meds and diagnoses, or any number of other things."

[rob_s]

Telling people "it's not your fault" and selling them the promise of better things to come is also a great way to get votes.

That it works out about as well (or worse) than turning your 401k over to a Nigerian prince never seems to click.

it works out great when your end game is growth of one's personal wealth. Witness the Al Gore "green" movement wherein he has whipped the electorate into a frenzy in order to drive revenue to the green companies in which he has invested.

The idea that ANY politician actually has ANYONE's best interest in mind other than their own is probably the ACTUAL greatest trick the Devil ever pulled...

[fixer]

To go back a bit further, Critical Theory comes from the infamous Frankfurt school: a group of disaffected Marxist intellectuals that sought to continue the struggle Marx promulgated. Thus the post modern left was formed. They went from Frankfurt to Columbia university. From there the philosophy expanded to other ivy leagues, Berkeley, and then virtually every university in existence.
In simple terms the philosophy and movement was to move beyond and transcend the Marxist goals of purely economic struggle. They new aim was to crush hierarchies of oppression. Instead of proletariat vs bourgeoisie, workers vs capitalists, it is oppressors vs oppressed. The philosophy gained huge traction in media, culture, and higher academia. Now we are living with it as formal policy.

There are some good youtube videos explaining the thinking based on Adorno, Horkheimer, Foucault, Marcuse if you care to go down a real rabbit hole. Forewarning this stuff is real mental vomit. Its astonishing how anyone buys into this as any sort of reasoning.

[Baldanders]

The idea of a locus of control is a big piece of the book "The Coddling of the American Mind" that I won't shut up about. They argue that the environment cultivated on college campuses is making students feel as if they are not in control, something which they learn when the campus nanny squad constantly intervenes on their behalf to 'protect them' from 'dangerous speech' (but not actual violence because we need to #DefundCampusSecurity ).

On a related note, here's a message I got from my former college professor when I asked him how things had changed on campus.... keep in mind this was from 2016 (I graduated in '10), so things can only have gotten worse:

"Increased medical exceptions, anxiety attacks, inability to turn in work, flakiness on important tasks (the [Junior qualifying exam] is a nightmare, at least a quarter can't even turn stuff in on time), lowered threshold of being offended, appealing to authority to resolve disputes rather than working it out themselves, etc. Could also be admissions changes, a shift in population, students who previously wouldn't have made it to college without meds and diagnoses, or any number of other things."

I think all those things are factors, but the cultivation of a consumerist mentality towards education strikes me as the biggest factor. Which has been pushed by right and left-leaning folks as "all student failures are the fault of the instructor/institution." The left often proposes "social justice" solutions and the right acts like vouchers/the free market will solve everything, even though charter schools do no better than public schools on average.