Critical Race Theory and the Churn of America’s Social Relations

I sense there’s something missing from all the current debates about critical race theory and anti-racism. And it feels just slightly risky to draw attention to it, because I don’t want to give an inch to people I consider bad actors and ideologues.

But there’s a certain almost cyclical and generational churn in American race relations that I think is recognizable when white Americans say something like, “I was taught to say, x, but now I’m told that’s racist and I’m supposed to say y instead.” The CRT and anti-racist movements sometimes honestly reflect this generational churn, and, sometimes, I think they are merely parasitic on it.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

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I sense there’s something missing from all the current debates about critical race theory and anti-racism. And it feels just slightly risky to draw attention to it, because I don’t want to give an inch to people I consider bad actors and ideologues.

But there’s a certain almost cyclical and generational churn in American race relations that I think is recognizable when white Americans say something like, “I was taught to say, x, but now I’m told that’s racist and I’m supposed to say y instead.” The CRT and anti-racist movements sometimes honestly reflect this generational churn, and, sometimes, I think they are merely parasitic on it.