How to Apply Critical Race Theory

A Real World Problem 

To find out what is causing all the hubbub in America, I went Britanica. Why? Racism is real. It still exists. Yet, a large portion of our population doesn't want us to know about it.

 Critical Race Theory (CRT), intellectual movement and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour. Critical race theorists hold that the law and legal institutions in the United States are inherently racist insofar as they function to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites, especially African Americans.

Bias?

As an example of the unconsious bias that permeates our society, the job numbers for June were really good. According to an article by Kristan Broady and Carl Romer of the Metropolitan Policy Program, the Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report for June, released earlier this week, showed a continuation of the steady economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Nationally, 850,000 jobs were added last month. The unemployment rate ticked up slightly, to 5.9%, after falling from 6.1% in April to 5.8% in May.

The numbers are robust, but the gains are uneven. Blacks continue to have the highest unemployment rate, an established trend. 

A Racist Trope

A lot of jobs are opening up. Yet, many postions are going unfilled. I know people who would say, "They're just lazy." "Black people have no incentive to look for work because of government payouts." Both statement are based on bias. If they are true, there are plenty of white people who would take those jobs. Please ask yourself, why haven't they? 

Rational Reasons

The article from The Brookings Institute, "Despite June’s positive jobs numbers, Black workers continue to face high unemployment", points out mitigating circimstance. 

While June’s 850,000-job increase is promising, the number of people who are not in the labor force but who currently want a job is at 6.4 million—up by 1.4 million since February 2020. These people are not counted in the unemployment rate because they had not actively looked for work within the last four weeks. Racial disparities in unemployment also continue, with Black workers—particularly, Black teens—experiencing the highest unemployment rates. As the recovery continues, employers, government officials, and policymakers must continue to consider Americans who will be impacted by expiring enhanced unemployment benefits, as well as those who are not actively looking for work due to problems in transportation access, a lack of child care, or other issues.

The situation is not as simple as some would have us believe. 

Critical Race Theory would have us start the discussion from a point of an informed conversation, taking into account all of the factors that have led us to this point. In other words, we need to take in perspectives that have been suppressed or withheld for more than four centuries and apply them to today's problems.